What cue do I have???

[Cornerman]

But why were there both helmstetter and Adam on the market? I always thought a factory that made Adam cues was contracted to make helmstetters. Now, to heard they were both richard's ventures...doesn't make sense that Forman would stand for competition from within especially using the same equipment and machines.

I don't get it.

Once they got going, they started several lines:

Adam
Helmstetter
Stamboulini
RCH

They were just lines of cues. They could have all been named Adam Cues if they had wanted to, but their marketing was to have different names of cue lines, all built by the Adam Custom Cue company and the equipment Richard setup.

Freddie

 

[Black-Balled]

Once they got going, they started several lines:

Adam
Helmstetter
Stamboulini
RCH

They were just lines of cues. They could have all been named Adam Cues if they had wanted to, but their marketing was to have different names of cue lines, all built by the Adam Custom Cue company and the equipment Richard setup.

Freddie

Thanks for addressing that, Fred. I now recall the rch line...can't say I ever heard of stambolini. I think you mighta made that up.

 

[Cornerman]

Thanks for addressing that, Fred. I now recall the rch line...can't say I ever heard of stambolini. I think you mighta made that up.

LOL!!!

They were marketed as "Julio Stamboulini Cues." I have no idea if there ever was a Julio Stamboulini for whom the cues were made, player or otherwise.

If memory serves, the RCH line was actually called, "RCH VIP."

 

[TATE]

These were not isolated innocent. I would hear one of these stories every week or two as they would tell me this preposterous story with a completely straight face.

I have no idea what they were thinking, if they actually believed what they were saying of just plain making stuff up.

For this reason when someone tells me something about a cue, I have no problem doubting them no matter how sincere they sound. Like I said, they tell me these stories with complete straight faces.

Hence we get the expression "buyer beware". When it comes to resale cues, nothing could be truer.

 

[bgood]

Hence we get the expression "buyer beware". When it comes to resale cues, nothing could be truer.

LOL!!!

They were marketed as "Julio Stamboulini Cues." I have no idea if there ever was a Julio Stamboulini for whom the cues were made, player or otherwise.

If memory serves, the RCH line was actually called, "RCH VIP."

I have one of Julio Stamboulini Cues, it hits great and i have had since the late 90's

 

[ROB.M]

Post

Something like that.

Richard Helmstetter formed the cue building company Adam Custom Cues in Japan with David Forman . Helmstetter was, of course, the cuemaker for Adam Cues and continued on to build that factory into a mass production machine. The early cues were more of the "hands on" techniques long before the more automated presence.

So, Richard Helmstetter made the cues for Adam Cues. It wasn't like he was using Adam Cues as a contract manufacturer. Richard Helmstetter WAS Adam Cues.

Freddie

-

Thanks for getting that in line.

For the OP, remove the screw from the bumper and expose the bolt and remove it.
Let me know if the butt cap is floating. Do the weight bolt have a Allen head or is it slotted?





Rob.M





Rob.M

 

[Kobachi]

LOL!!!

They were marketed as "Julio Stamboulini Cues." I have no idea if there ever was a Julio Stamboulini for whom the cues were made, player or otherwise.

If memory serves, the RCH line was actually called, "RCH VIP."

I posted this a while back, I found an old Stamboulini brouchure in my archives, if you guys want to keep for reference. Happy Holidays, Kevin.

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=308416&highlight=Stamboulini+kobachi
.
.
.

 

[Cornerman]

I posted this a while back, I found an old Stamboulini brouchure in my archives, if you guys want to keep for reference. Happy Holidays, Kevin.

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=308416&highlight=Stamboulini+kobachi
.
.
.

Nice brochure. I'd hate for people to believe that there was a violin maker that started making cues. That wasn't reality, unless by "violin maker" he was a wannabe violin maker and by "making cues" he worked for David Forman at the Adam Shop in Japan.

As far as I've heard, there was no Julio Stambolini making cues. Maybe someone should ask Forman or Helmstetter, but I thought we already did this 15 years ago and settled it then.

{edit: yes, in 1997, Thomas Wayne answered this in RSB - no Julio Stambolini violin maker}

Freddie <~~~ the second thing to go

 

[macguy]

I have one of Julio Stamboulini Cues, it hits great and i have had since the late 90's

I sold a lot of those cues, they were nice cues for the money. I remember giving one to Danny DiLiberto, he liked and played with it for months.

 

[nine o nine]

OK, here it is with no sugar coating. My tail is tightly curled between my legs as I was totally WRONG about the cue in question and so many of you guys were RIGHT. I didn't get it in '65 as I said I. I played this morning with the same crew I started with in '65 and they remember me buying a cue back then but NOT this one. I remembered a flea market cue I got when I was discharged. They all believe I brought the pictured cue into the poolroom in the mid 70's
So having said that I sincerely and deeply apologize for the confusion and doubt. Apparently the cue I've been talking about is an Adam GB-3 which I bought from a friend back then but totally misremembered about the true origin.
Again I humbly apologize and defer to all on AZB who have displayed their knowledge. Mitch

 

[WildWing]

No problem Mitch, memories fade, and specific years of cue production are sometimes hard to identify. However, your crew is still off in memory by the better part of a couple decades. The cue is late 80s at the earliest, or more likely, early 90s. Here is the original brochure from Adam on this Balabushka series. On the last page are words from Helmstetter himself, saying he first contacted the family in 1987 to produce this series. Suffice it say, certainly no earlier than that, and most likely a bit later.

Not picking on you, just setting the record straight on timelines. This is a good place to come for cue research.

 

[nine o nine]

Looking at the brochure I see that all of the series have "signature" whereas mine doesn't. Can I assume then that my cue is an earlier Taiwanese copy done to look like the GB-3 before Adam/Helmstetter was authorized by the Balabushka family? Thanks for yoiur input. Mitch

 

[hang-the-9]

Looking at the brochure I see that all of the series have "signature" whereas mine doesn't. Can I assume then that my cue is an earlier Taiwanese copy done to look like the GB-3 before Adam/Helmstetter was authorized by the Balabushka family? Thanks for yoiur input. Mitch

You said it had work done on it, the signature was probably wiped off during the work (refinish would do that).

 

[nine o nine]

Yes...certainly may have been removed during a refinish. Mitch

 

[rexus31]

I thought the early Adams 'bushka copies didn't have the signature.

 

[WildWing]

I thought the early Adams 'bushka copies didn't have the signature.

This series of Adam Balabushka tributes had signatures, though no doubt some could have been made, or special ordered without. What you might be thinking about though, are other Adam cues, built to resemble Balabushka-type designs. Here are a couple pages of another brochure, which pictures, among others, the AH-10, which strongly resembles a well-known bushka design. These, as far as I know, did not contain any signatures.