The Great And Not So Great Flock To Schuler Cue In Wheeling.
November 05, 1995|By Mark Mandernach. Special to the Tribune
All pool cues are created equal, right? Those would be fighting woods to Ray Schuler, who has spent the last 20 years creating what he considers the perfect cue stick.
The Arlington Heights resident is the owner and driving force behind The Schuler Cue, a pool cue shop in Wheeling that handcrafts more than 1,000 custom cues each year for customers such as accounting magnate Arthur Andersen, the Orlando Magic's Horace Grant, noted pool author Bob Byrne, baseball Hall of Famer Al Kaline and a number of pro players, such as 29-time world three-cushion billiard champion Raymond Ceulemans from Belgium.
Schuler also supplies entire pool rooms, such as Slate Street Billiards in Vernon Hills, which has 65 of his cues for use at its 19 tables.
"Hands down, Schuler cues are the best playing cues on the market," said Jim Harp, one of Slate Street's owners. "They provide a good, solid hit, and Ray Schuler is a manufacturer who stands behind his product. Ray does not compromise on quality. There are hundreds of cue manufacturers, but for us, Schuler cues were an easy choice."
Ray Schuler, 64, looks like a guy who feels at home shooting pool. With his ever-present stogie stuck in the side of his mouth, teasing wit, Hemingwayesque beard and untucked polo shirt, Schuler looks and sounds like an extra from a scene in "The Hustler." How old was Schuler, who grew up in Chicago's Rogers Park, when he went to his first pool hall?
"My father's dead now, so I can tell you," he replied. "A friend and I visited our first pool hall when we were 15. Boy, it was great. Pool fed my need for a game that required thinking, like chess or bridge or golf. Striking the ball well, using good table management. I love it. And while I'm not a gambler at heart, I suppose I'd place occasional wagers back then."
Schuler went to John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio, and the University of Detroit, where he received a degree in chemical engineering in 1953. He worked in various sales and engineering positions until 1975, when he started making pool cues part time.
"Herman Rambow (of Chicago) was a legendary cue maker for 40 years, and when he died in the late 1960s, it left a real hole in the Midwest for cue manufacturing and repairs," Schuler said. "So I started doing repair work, putting on tips and restoring and refinishing cues. Through word of mouth, I got more business. Then I went to a billiards tournament in Minneapolis that changed my life."
At that time, he was a sometimes participant (he doesn't play competitively anymore), but this time he went to watch. Roy Shaffer, a former professional billiards player from Louisville, challenged Schuler to create a cue stick. It took him nine months and hundreds of hours, and Shaffer paid him $250. Schuler sold his second stick to Mike Weiner of Chicago, another former pro who twice finished second in the National Amateur Billiard Championships.
"I've still got my Schuler cue, and it plays as good today as it did 20 years ago," Weiner said. "It's a beautiful stick, and Ray engraved my initials in the shaft and marked it `Cue No. 2.' Ray's a true craftsman."
In 1978, Schuler went into the cue-making business full time. "It was a scary transition, especially when that first payday came and went and nobody was there to hand me a check," Schuler said, relighting his cigar. "It hasn't been easy over the years, but we've had a lot of fun. I'm firmly convinced that we've got the best pool cue in the market, but that doesn't necessarily mean much. You still have to go out there and sell them."
What's different about a Schuler cue? Schuler invented a technology where the shaft and butt are connected with a flat-faced, wood-to-wood joint, rather than having a metal connection.
"The wood-to-wood joint gives the solid, consistent feel that players love," Schuler said. "First of all, the weight is distributed evenly throughout the cue, instead of having three ounces of metal deposited at the joint. Second, the wood-to-wood contact transmits the full intensity of the stroke to the ball, without a chunk of metal in the way to dampen the force or the feedback."
Schuler was also the first cuemaker to offer interchangeable shafts and butts. "That means any Schuler butt fits any Schuler cue, and vice versa," he said.
Schuler cues are also beautiful. His team of seven craftsmen use sterling silver, gold, pearl and coral to decorate the butts, along with 40 different varieties of wood. Irish linen is used on the grip. And all cues are signed by Schuler. Prices start at $225 and rise to several thousand dollars.
"There are an amazing number of steps that go into making a quality cue stick," said Schuler, who noted that it takes about six months working off and on to complete a cue. "The simplest stick takes more than 200 steps. When I made my first one, I was wondering if there'd ever be an end to it. But people like owning a nice piece of equipment."
November 05, 1995|By Mark Mandernach. Special to the Tribune
All pool cues are created equal, right? Those would be fighting woods to Ray Schuler, who has spent the last 20 years creating what he considers the perfect cue stick.
The Arlington Heights resident is the owner and driving force behind The Schuler Cue, a pool cue shop in Wheeling that handcrafts more than 1,000 custom cues each year for customers such as accounting magnate Arthur Andersen, the Orlando Magic's Horace Grant, noted pool author Bob Byrne, baseball Hall of Famer Al Kaline and a number of pro players, such as 29-time world three-cushion billiard champion Raymond Ceulemans from Belgium.
Schuler also supplies entire pool rooms, such as Slate Street Billiards in Vernon Hills, which has 65 of his cues for use at its 19 tables.
"Hands down, Schuler cues are the best playing cues on the market," said Jim Harp, one of Slate Street's owners. "They provide a good, solid hit, and Ray Schuler is a manufacturer who stands behind his product. Ray does not compromise on quality. There are hundreds of cue manufacturers, but for us, Schuler cues were an easy choice."
Ray Schuler, 64, looks like a guy who feels at home shooting pool. With his ever-present stogie stuck in the side of his mouth, teasing wit, Hemingwayesque beard and untucked polo shirt, Schuler looks and sounds like an extra from a scene in "The Hustler." How old was Schuler, who grew up in Chicago's Rogers Park, when he went to his first pool hall?
"My father's dead now, so I can tell you," he replied. "A friend and I visited our first pool hall when we were 15. Boy, it was great. Pool fed my need for a game that required thinking, like chess or bridge or golf. Striking the ball well, using good table management. I love it. And while I'm not a gambler at heart, I suppose I'd place occasional wagers back then."
Schuler went to John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio, and the University of Detroit, where he received a degree in chemical engineering in 1953. He worked in various sales and engineering positions until 1975, when he started making pool cues part time.
"Herman Rambow (of Chicago) was a legendary cue maker for 40 years, and when he died in the late 1960s, it left a real hole in the Midwest for cue manufacturing and repairs," Schuler said. "So I started doing repair work, putting on tips and restoring and refinishing cues. Through word of mouth, I got more business. Then I went to a billiards tournament in Minneapolis that changed my life."
At that time, he was a sometimes participant (he doesn't play competitively anymore), but this time he went to watch. Roy Shaffer, a former professional billiards player from Louisville, challenged Schuler to create a cue stick. It took him nine months and hundreds of hours, and Shaffer paid him $250. Schuler sold his second stick to Mike Weiner of Chicago, another former pro who twice finished second in the National Amateur Billiard Championships.
"I've still got my Schuler cue, and it plays as good today as it did 20 years ago," Weiner said. "It's a beautiful stick, and Ray engraved my initials in the shaft and marked it `Cue No. 2.' Ray's a true craftsman."
In 1978, Schuler went into the cue-making business full time. "It was a scary transition, especially when that first payday came and went and nobody was there to hand me a check," Schuler said, relighting his cigar. "It hasn't been easy over the years, but we've had a lot of fun. I'm firmly convinced that we've got the best pool cue in the market, but that doesn't necessarily mean much. You still have to go out there and sell them."
What's different about a Schuler cue? Schuler invented a technology where the shaft and butt are connected with a flat-faced, wood-to-wood joint, rather than having a metal connection.
"The wood-to-wood joint gives the solid, consistent feel that players love," Schuler said. "First of all, the weight is distributed evenly throughout the cue, instead of having three ounces of metal deposited at the joint. Second, the wood-to-wood contact transmits the full intensity of the stroke to the ball, without a chunk of metal in the way to dampen the force or the feedback."
Schuler was also the first cuemaker to offer interchangeable shafts and butts. "That means any Schuler butt fits any Schuler cue, and vice versa," he said.
Schuler cues are also beautiful. His team of seven craftsmen use sterling silver, gold, pearl and coral to decorate the butts, along with 40 different varieties of wood. Irish linen is used on the grip. And all cues are signed by Schuler. Prices start at $225 and rise to several thousand dollars.
"There are an amazing number of steps that go into making a quality cue stick," said Schuler, who noted that it takes about six months working off and on to complete a cue. "The simplest stick takes more than 200 steps. When I made my first one, I was wondering if there'd ever be an end to it. But people like owning a nice piece of equipment."
