This cue shows some usual and some unusual Frank Paradise details. It seems like every time I see a Paradise cue, I see something new. This is the first one I've seen with a pointed joint screw.
I have no doubt that Paradise came up with the idea for what we call the "reverse" blank, with an ebony nose and maple points and reverse veneers of the typical colors.
It's nice to hear that Paradise's shop built some of their own forearms. I figured as much. I have compared some of the Palmer shop built blanks with some of the Paradise blanks and they are impossible to differentiate - and they are not Spain blanks. Some of the Palmer employees jumped ship in the mid 1960's and they were skilled at building forearms with a splice joint in "shortie" style.
When Paradise could buy blanks, he did. The supply from Spain was unreliable. Frank was less of a cue builder and much more of a designer, innovator and salesman. He knew all the players, many big name celebrities, like Sinatra and Martin, and he was, in fact, a celebrity himself. He was highly regarded by the pool players of this era, and he could easily get orders - but many times couldn't deliver in a timely way.
Many of the other cue maker's designs during the 1960's were take off's of Paradise's original designs, but when it came time to actually building the cues himself, this was not his great talent. He was unorganized, was slow in his work, and was a little sloppy. His genius was in the designs and visions he had for cues - and his designs are now classics.
Palmer designs, especially in the first and second catalogs, were heavily influenced by their work at Paradise, but they took everything to the next level, were able to deliver ordered cues much faster, and did a superior job on the final details, especially the inlays.
Palmer also built many of their own "reverse blank" ebony nosed forearms starting in about 1968.
Chris
I have no doubt that Paradise came up with the idea for what we call the "reverse" blank, with an ebony nose and maple points and reverse veneers of the typical colors.
It's nice to hear that Paradise's shop built some of their own forearms. I figured as much. I have compared some of the Palmer shop built blanks with some of the Paradise blanks and they are impossible to differentiate - and they are not Spain blanks. Some of the Palmer employees jumped ship in the mid 1960's and they were skilled at building forearms with a splice joint in "shortie" style.
When Paradise could buy blanks, he did. The supply from Spain was unreliable. Frank was less of a cue builder and much more of a designer, innovator and salesman. He knew all the players, many big name celebrities, like Sinatra and Martin, and he was, in fact, a celebrity himself. He was highly regarded by the pool players of this era, and he could easily get orders - but many times couldn't deliver in a timely way.
Many of the other cue maker's designs during the 1960's were take off's of Paradise's original designs, but when it came time to actually building the cues himself, this was not his great talent. He was unorganized, was slow in his work, and was a little sloppy. His genius was in the designs and visions he had for cues - and his designs are now classics.
Palmer designs, especially in the first and second catalogs, were heavily influenced by their work at Paradise, but they took everything to the next level, were able to deliver ordered cues much faster, and did a superior job on the final details, especially the inlays.
Palmer also built many of their own "reverse blank" ebony nosed forearms starting in about 1968.
Chris
