Suggestions for a home pool table
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I'd caution anyone debating 14' and reading the below/ bold to indicate the room width is only a factor for the shots indicated...that is crazy talk.
A normal backstroke is 4-10" and shots are taken from all angles related to the rail, from parallel to perpendicular.
And many folks have cues that exceed 57" these days, too.
A normal backstroke is 4-10" and shots are taken from all angles related to the rail, from parallel to perpendicular.
And many folks have cues that exceed 57" these days, too.
Opinions differ on this point....
Here's a previous post that may as well be repeated in this thread.
Try standing back and thinking about how you would change a GC to make it better. If you can think of nothing then you are not afflicted with my problem: engineer's attitude.
I have scars on my knuckles because some Brunswick idiot decided to put scorewheels and nameplates exactly where my knuckles pass if I use a nice, level stroke.
I get nasty, greasy goo on my cue when I have to bridge over the cheap fake rubber pocket liners which often stick out and help balls rattle.
People get dings on their cues because the pocket irons are not flush with the rest of the table.
The rack hanger (GC3) is another idiot design.
The scorewheels often don't work, maybe because they get gummed-up with blood.
Put the balls into the front of the table at 1 pocket and they either rattle back and forth or they slide through to your opponent's side. Sometimes they hide behind the obnoxious Brunswick logo/nameplate, which makes counting difficult.
Pretty much every GC3 installed in this area about 1995 has dead/dying cushions. Technically, this is not a design misfeature, but it is broken supply chain monitoring. They started dying within a few years of installation. It makes every cushion contact an adventure.
The GC3 does not have doweled slates. (Usually there are brass pins that pass between adjoining slates to keep them aligned.) Some idiot at Brunswick decided to save a little money on the so-called top-of-the-line table. Good job, fool. This may not apply to all GC3s, but it does to the one I often play on where the foot slate started to buckle up.
The diamond sites on the curved rails are often hard to see.
The drop pockets ("drop" means there is no ball return) hold only three balls if you care about hard shots not being rejected. I shot a shot last night into an empty pocket and the ball took a loop around the bottom of the pocket and jumped back onto the table. Here's a trick I learned from Tony Annigoni: if you are going to shoot a ball hard, make sure there are exactly two balls in the pocket. One sits centered on the drain hole and is likely to spring the new ball back. Two balls are random enough to damp the extra energy. Three starts to be too full, and four is very, very dangerous.
All of the cheap, thin plating has worn off the pocket irons where I play. That happened in the first five years or so. Probably more cost-cutting on the "Cadillac". On older GCs, the metal trim leaves your light-colored pants streaked with oxide.
You might be interested in this comment from the official history of the Brunswick company, an excellent book called "Brunswick - The Story of an American Company - The First 150 Years", written by Rick Kogan and published in 1995 by Brunswick (page 97):
During the 1960s, billiards experienced a renaissance thanks to a film called "The Hustler," starring Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, and George C. Scott. It re-introduced Americans to poolrooms around the county, and new facilities began to go up in suburban shopping centers and middle income neighborhoods. Many of these featured wall-to-wall carpeting, ersatz Tiffany lamps, and pastel tabletops. Most of them featured Brunswick tables. In 1966, some 3,000 new poolrooms opened, the majority called "family billiard centers." Though families sampled, they didn't stay. By 1970, this boom too was bust, and billiards would not again play a major role in Brunswick's operations .
Addendum: Now that Brunswick Billiards has been sold, maybe the new management will change things.
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Anyone who bangs their cue on any part of the table is at fault, not the table.
I am not going to address the rest of your rant. All the GC 3's I have restored are excellent tables and problem areas have been remedied! Miss Cue South has 9- 9' I restored for them. They are all the same, look and play awesome! Working currently on 8 more 9' tables at Miss Cue North! As I mentioned, it takes knowledge and experience to set up all the different versions of GCs
TFT
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But your backstroke can't pull the cue back beyond your bridge hand and your hand is on the table. Ideal minimum is an inch or two inside the outer edge of the rail plus 58 inches. 14'8" is what I consider the number.
Sent from the future.
If the cb is on the rail, you whole hand is behind the ball, aka: complete,y on the rail, no?
It wasn't really a rant although parts of it were stated "actively". It was an accurate portrayal of the problems I've had with Gold Crown tables. That you don't seem to be able to see those same issues is telling.
The GC1 design was bad. It was broken. Eventually Brunswick fixed some things that were wrong with the GC that were made clear to them by Diamond.
Right, but it can't be beyond the rail....I'm suggesting a safe distance is the full width of the table, including the rails plus 2x58" . My point is you can't take a 10" backstroke if the ball is against the cushion. Your bridge hand would be off the edge of the table out in space. The max is maybe 6".
48 + 6 + 6 +58 +58= 176 inches = 14' 8"
Sent from the future.
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StraightIn
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I agree with you totally about your thoughts. If I had a choice, I would make my room at least 15' wide but both walls are load bearing. The OP wanted to know if he could play pool in a 14' wide room on a 9' table. I didn't say 14' is an ideal width. I have been playing in this 14' wide room on a 9' table for over 10 years and the number of times the walls come into play is not as much as you would think. Maybe over this time period I have learned to live with the obvious backstroke issue or maybe I am more careful in cue ball placement. This could be part of my thoughts on this topic.
I still have had years of enjoyment playing pool in my narrow 14' wide room on my 9' tables.
The GC1 was a tank! It was the start of the most successful commercial line of pool tables in
history: FACT. Yes it had some issues, but, people banging their cues or knuckles on them is
just plain ole stupid. I have NEVER had that issue.
I have worked on all of the different models of GC's, know their issues and can make them
right(sub-rail work I use Jack Z). I was clear about that in my posts. ALL pool tables have issues
and yes, even Diamonds. I am diamond trained to build the Pro Am & Professional from the ground up....
The only thing Brunswick followed them on was flush pockets on the GC4.... There is nothing you can tell
me about a Diamond Pool Table. Diamond gives me these very nice business cards
TFT
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Is this a Gold Crown 3?
https://offerup.co/qFFjhE7SH4
Do all GC3 come with slate?
Is there anything wrong with buying one that is disassembled?
https://offerup.co/qFFjhE7SH4
Do all GC3 come with slate?
Is there anything wrong with buying one that is disassembled?
Can you buy these or are they pretty much DIY these days?
This is a Gold Crown I. It has been stripped and refinished. It also has the original Monarch rubber, which may still be in good shape. However, if you ever wish to have the cushions replaced, the sub-rails should be updated, to accept a modern-day K55 cushion.
I’m leaning towards this one over the GC3 for $1500.
Do you have a ballpark figure on subrails and cushion replacement?
Depending on who you contract to do the work, and which cushions you wish to have installed, figure somewhere between $800-1500.
A word of caution: select someone reputable to do this work. You'll want to be sure that the contractor has specialized tooling, which will allow the rails to be bolted down, as they are modified. The same results cannot be had by simply running the rails through a table saw. There are a number of reasons for this.
For reference I just bought a Gold Crown 4 in matte black for $2200. Needs cloth, rails are good, only one set of staples to pull out, looks like it was barely used. And came with a light. Drove 3 hours to pick it up.
I've seen some GC 2 tables for $2100 with small pockets and a couple that were in need of repair for waaay less. I was set on a Diamond but $8k installed for a 9' Pro Am is too steep for me at this point in my life. And you don't just find used ones that much.
I've seen some GC 2 tables for $2100 with small pockets and a couple that were in need of repair for waaay less. I was set on a Diamond but $8k installed for a 9' Pro Am is too steep for me at this point in my life. And you don't just find used ones that much.
Did you end up getting this one?
I'd pay a premium for a GC that was never in a pool hall, and only privately owned. Did you check with this seller if that one was always privately owned?
That is how I got my GC4. I was the third owner, first was original owner brand new, second bought it from him, then me. The difference in battle scars is huge. The pool hall ones all the metal is pitted to hell, regardless if its a GC1-4. There will be lots of dings on the aprons, and the formica might have lots of tiny scratches/fading at the top of its hump.
Edit: the GC1-4 metal gets pitted to hell in a commercial environment. I don't know if that was fixed on the GC5 and 6.
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Room Size Calculator
Here's a Room Size Calculator that shows how much stroking room you get with various size tables in your room. Your 20' length is no problem, but your 14' width cramps your style at least a little for any table over a 7-footer.
(58 1/2" cue allows for a 1/2" bumper.)
pj
chgo
[EDIT: Oops! Guess I'm a little late to this party...]
Here's a Room Size Calculator that shows how much stroking room you get with various size tables in your room. Your 20' length is no problem, but your 14' width cramps your style at least a little for any table over a 7-footer.
(58 1/2" cue allows for a 1/2" bumper.)
pj
chgo
[EDIT: Oops! Guess I'm a little late to this party...]
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