Jazzboxblues bought that table from me. On 5/25 he started a thread, " Want to buy a Gold Crown and trick it out. What to do?" In his posts he mentioned he lived in a house in Chicagoland which didn't have room for a table. He was about to move into a house that did have room and he was looking for a GCIV. I was moving out of a house with a GCIV in the basement and into a place which didn't have room for it. I planned on putting my GCIV in storage. About a month later I changed my mind and decided I wanted to sell it. I sent Jazzboxblues a private message, told him I lived in Chicagoland and had just what he was looking for.
I bought the table in the spring of 2014 on the North side of Chicago at a little used table dealership called "Jubarek's Billiards." It had the 5.1" factory pockets; so, I hired Jerimy Chambers to extend the sub - rails and make the corners 4 -3/8, install Artemis intercontinental 66, install Simonis 860 HR, and set the thing up...... Jazzboxblues came out, played on it for about a half hour, liked it, and bought it.
I was impressed with Jazz. He came out a second time, took half the table apart, and put it in his pickup truck. He came out a third time briefly, and dragged away the skirts. Finally, he came with a helper, and the two of them picked up those three 209 pound pieces of slate and walked up and out the stairs with them. Then there were those big, long squares of wood that must have been carved from big logs. ( What kind of wood is that?) Anyhow; I sat in a chair and cheered them on!
So Jazzman...I tried explaining this to you. I write better than I talk though....I love those pockets! I absolutely love them! I've written this in a few posts over the last 3 years. First of all; The balls either go in easily or they are firmly rejected. There's no wishy washiness! It's very frequent that balls will rattle between the points and remain right between them. It's very, very infrequent however, that a ball will teeter on the lip. The balls either go in easily, are firmly rejected and bounce back out inches on to the table, or they rattle between the points, until they stop between the points, without ever going anywhere near the lip. This is something I really liked.
As to the 4 - 3/8 vs. 4.5......Measure them! I've measured them many times. I've measured a corner and it looked 4 - 3/8 to me. I've measured the same corner again and it looked 4.5 to me. The next time it looked 4 a 7/16! Basically; they're just a tad below 4.5. I originally wanted to make them 4.5. Jerimy thought that was fine.
I then asked him how the extension would affect the shelf. He said it would reduce the length somewhat. I wanted pockets similar to the Diamond pockets. I told Jerimy I thought maybe the shortened shelf would make them play easier than the Diamond pockets. I asked him what he thought about making them 4 - 3/8. He said, " Sounds good to me. I discourage customers from going 4 - 1/4 though."
Anyhow; after playing on the table for about 2000 hours over 3 years, here's my final thought on the subject: Sometimes I think a ball I hit deserved to go in, but didn't because the pocket was too tight. Every time this happens it's on a ball that rattled between the points and stayed there without going near the lip. How often does this occur? I'd say on 5 % of NOT ALL MY SHOTS; but, on 5% of those shots that rattle between the points and stay there.
I'm pretty damn happy in this regard. As I said, I love those pockets. Sometimes I wonder if I should have made them 4.5. Maybe then I wouldn't be unhappy at 5 % of the shots that stay between the points that I think should have gone in. Then again, maybe I'd discover that there are a few shots that I think I didn't I hit well enough to deserve to go in but went in anyway. Nothing's perfect.
As I said...I love those pockets! know one thing for sure. On that particular table, the appropriate size for the pockets is somewhere between 4 - 3/8 and 4 - 1/2. I DEFINITELY would not have wanted them 4 - 1/4 or 4 - 5/8. I'm talking appropriate for 9 ball now. You were telling me you heard the standard for 14.1 was becoming 4 - 5/8. Well...you're a 14.1 player.....if that's a concern....I just can't see though, paying all that money to change them from 4 - 3/8 to 4.5. I'll say it one more time....I love those pockets!...All in all, I hope you enjoy the table as much as I did!
