up and coming cue makers not well known yet ?

[shooter_Hans]

Another thing is shaft production. Custom cues usually have bad shafts because the mindset is that the customer will swap it out for a carbon shaft. Shafts are often neglected in my opinion due to the norm of using carbon.

A lot of these cue makers will have to adapt to the shafts out in the market and these companies keep pumping the next greatest carbon shaft in new pin joints and sizes. It’s to get you to buy new equipment unfortunately.

It has taken the similar path as golf. The newest and latest drivers or putters.

 

[jasonlaus]

Another thing is shaft production. Custom cues usually have bad shafts

Just when I thought your posts couldn't get any....trying to think of the right word....dumber, there you go and impress me like never before.

 

[David in FL]

Younger players want tools to use, not closet queen collectors items. I play in a large place(30+) tables with quite a few under 45 players. They all use production stuff. Might be one custom per every 30 players if that.

That's interesting.

Where I play, a high-end room with 23 diamonds, I would guess that it's probably 50/50 high-end production versus custom cues.

And some of the customs will take your breath away

Nitti, Cohen, Black, Kikel...

 

[shooter_Hans]

Where I play, a high-end room with 23 diamonds, I would guess that it's probably 50/50 high-end production versus custom cues.

And some of the customs will take your breath away

Nitti, Cohen, Black, Kikel...

My pool hall is like that except the numbers of high end customs vs production cue isn’t as high as yours. The guys with the high end cues are 3 old guys and all of them want to sell them. Manzino, Gina and Ed P. They’re afraid their kids don’t know what it is when they pass.

As for the others it’s a bunch of high end production cues and shaft. A lot of break cues now and jump cues.

High end cues have a stigma here and it’s the retired old guy stigma. There are more but they haven’t came back since covid or either passed away.

High end custom cues are a thing of the past. Those were fun days when people use to show them off. Like how pool is dwindling in players the high end collectors too.

 

[David in FL]

My pool hall is like that except the numbers of high end customs vs production cue isn’t as high as yours. The guys with the high end cues are 3 old guys and all of them want to sell them. Manzino, Gina and Ed P. They’re afraid their kids don’t know what it is when they pass.

As for the others it’s a bunch of high end production cues and shaft. A lot of break cues now and jump cues.

High end cues have a stigma here and it’s the retired old guy stigma. There are more but they haven’t came back since covid or either passed away.

High end custom cues are a thing of the past. Those were fun days when people use to show them off. Like how pool is dwindling in players the high end collectors too.

The guys and girls in my room are playing them

That's what they were meant for!

 

[dendweller]

Well the only one, Black Boar (Tony), seem to have passed on his skills to another maker. That’s just one I know of.

Who are the others? LOL

I think there is probably more cue makers out there now making excellent cues than there were years ago.

And to be honest, I think a lot of them have knowledge and tools that some of the famous ones would of liked back when they were making cues.

Can all these cue makers make a living out it? Hell no. Have they taken a hit because of shaft technologies, probably so.

I'm not a cue maker but I do work on my own cues so I hang out in the cue maker section here and ask questions occasionally. There is
a ton of knowledge given out, some of which I don't think was around when all the famous makers you're speaking of were building cues.

Diekman wrote a book and put out videos, Hightower did the same, I believe DPK put some type of write up out on his taper etc but it's not
something I've seen.

I don't think that the lack of sharing of info on these famous makers part has contributed to the decline in custom cues. I think a lot of them are still being sold. There's a thread somewhere on this board about cue makers and wait times, some are really long.

 

[wrldpro]

any makers to check out , not in main stream yet ?

Anthony Milanesi (AM CUES). Anthony worked at Black Boar with Tony for several years. His cues are built the same as Black Boar cues without the gigantic price tag.

 

[Bavafongoul]

Gosh, if the maple shafts on my custom cues are bad, then it is because of me, not the different cue makers I’ve used.
Just like the weight of the cue butt is what I specify it to be, so too are the shafts in terms of ferrule length, material, tip
brand, diameter of the shaft, length of the taper & the weight of the shaft especially since my cues’ shafts are flat faced.

So if these shafts play bad, that’s on me, not my cue maker. Besides, I always maintain the best weight proportionality of
the cue shaft and cue butt so I have never been disappointed with how my different cue shafts play. And every one of
my cue shafts is still straight, even the 3 original shafts that Bob Runde made for my Schon cue nearly 40 years ago.

If, and when, you encounter a cue with a straight shaft that you think plays bad, pay close attention to the length of the
shaft taper, gram weight of the shaft and cue butt and also verify if there’s any weight bolt and its actual weight. It’s presumed you would know the hardness of the cue tip because that genuinely does affect the feel and acoustics of your stroke.

In almost every instance when you know the information for the aforementioned questions, it is easy to figure out why
the shaft doesn’t live up to your expectations. A 3.5 oz. shaft coupled with a 15.9 oz butt (w/1 oz. bolt) will feel different
than the same cue made with a 4.3 oz. shaft & 15 oz. butt sans any weight bolt & same tip. Both cues weigh 19.3 ozs.

Original maple or ash shafts from a cue maker are only bad usually when a cue maker has not yet perfected his trade or craftsmanship. Jerry Rauenzahn was a master at matching select grades of wood for building a cue. Bob Owen uses a little different design shape for his cue shafts that you’d otherwise not notice until it’s pointed out like was done for my benefit.

At the moment, I’m tussling about ordering a Kielwood shaft (12.5 mm, >4 ozs, flat faced, big pin & pro taper) to be built.
I have to decide which thread since my cues basically are radial, 3/8x10 and 3/8 x11 so I have to choose which version.
I’ve tried different CF shafts and none appealed to me. However, torrified wood is a different critter & really intrigues me.

 

[Willowbrook Wolfy]

Gosh, if the maple shafts on my custom cues are bad, then it is because of me, not the different cue makers I’ve used.
Original maple or ash shafts from a cue maker are only bad usually if the cue maker has not yet perfected his trade or craftsmanship. Jerry Rauenzahn was a master at matching select grades of wood for building a cue. Bob Owen uses a little different design shape for his cue shafts that you’d otherwise not notice until it’s pointed out like was done for my benefit.

On that shaft comment. I knew the O1 felt funny at first. I love that thing now. Its not to show off either. I designed myself, Bob put his own spin on it, I paid good money for it, and now I play with it sometimes. Its not just a trophy that gets babied.

There arent that many customs in the hall I play at. But every once in a while a new one pops up. Seems like as players get better and start taking their games more seriously they start liking custom designs a bit more. Even if they are throwing a different shaft on it. And that makes sense too. I never thought to buy a custom at first either.

Why buy full predator cues when you can just buy a butt from Wally World and slap a predator shaft on there to save $500. They all hit the same anyway since the butt doesn’t matter. The butt does matter and there will always be a place, even if small or shrinking, for customs. They all can hit a little different.

Im actually surprised so many people prefer LD and CF shafts anyway. I personally get thrown off by a short ferrule. Even worse. Trying to play with a black shaft. Black stands out from the cloth a lot more than wood does.

 

[Sealegs50]

That's interesting.

Where I play, a high-end room with 23 diamonds, I would guess that it's probably 50/50 high-end production versus custom cues.

And some of the customs will take your breath away

Nitti, Cohen, Black, Kikel...

How old are the guys with the custom cues?

 

[David in FL]

How old are the guys with the custom cues?

I'd say that most are well over 40.

But then, it's likely that most of the regulars in the pool room itself are over 40…

There is one Junior that I can think of playing with a nice David Elliott.

 

[Sealegs50]

I'd say that most are well over 40.

But then, it's likely that most of the regulars in the pool room itself are over 40…

There is one Junior that I can think of playing with a nice David Elliott.

Custom cues and Harley-Davidson motorcycles were mostly popular in the same demographic. I fell into both traps. No regrets. High end stereo systems might have similar limited appeal, but may have a bit broader support.