What Cues shaped History?

semoquer said:
Cuetec!!! Just kidding. Haha
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actually they did some cutting edge stuff a few years back and had solid marketing, I know your joking around a bit and it is funny, I laughed but then thinking about it-when they launched(dont know if you were in the pool world bak then) it was a big thing. Before the internet so with little info in the analog ages(pre internet) the magazines were the spot to see things. They hired Earl which was a good idea IMO and he played with the white cue-I called it the florescent tube as it looked like a light bulb more so than a cue, Shane has one as well-the White Florescent Tube(in my house as a back up if he ever needs it & once he did when the airline lost his bags or held them up when he came and spent the night a few years back).

I have hit balls with some of their newer stuff and its actually pretty good, to real good.

On a serious note(not all that serious) Cuetech did take production cues another direction, McD, Mali, Muecci, Joss East(semi production), Viking, and a couple others were all building very similar looking cues. Cuetech thought outside of the box and started building "Sporting Goods Cues" thats what I call them, Predator does now, they design new materials for wraps, othe things for "more power", the gimmick stuff the golf industry has done for years. Dont get me wrong I like some of their stuff I love my BK2, I break horrible but better with it than anything else I tried. I think it was Lucasi who stated in a ad 2 years ago that the cue had some shock resistance "so your shooting arm wouldnt get tired ofter long sessions", that was way over the top, who in the world gets a tired arm or tennis elbow from pool? and how can a cue prevent that. That angle they played was PURE MARKETING sizzle not what Cueteck did years ago. So yeah Cuetech is relevant in the history of cues. Its also clear i cant remember how to spell cue tech LOL

best
eric
 
Herman Rambow by far had the most influence on pool cues imo.

But the cue makers cue's that most shaped history was Balabuska. His cues began the modern era of pool cue collecting. Before Balabuska, a pool cue was just a wood stick... His cues were sought after long before the Color of Money came along (why do you think they used his name in the movie), but that movie did help pool on a whole, even prices of cues.

Meucci was very popular in the 80s. Everyone had a Muecci it seemed. They shaped the 80s.

The 90s was influenced by a cue making BOOM... To many to list.
 
From the top of my head:

1. Late 1800's - the jointed billiard cue. Adding a joint meant the cues could be carried around easily.

2. Brunswick 36 early 1900's - brought the fancy billiard cue to the pool world.

3. Brunswick No. 20 - early 1900's - became the basis for all four prong house cues to follow.

4. Brunswick 26 1/2 - early 1900's 4 veneer one piece cue the Titlist was based on. Became the basis for the Titlist, the Willie Hoppe Pro and the modern custom cue.

5. The pro taper. Later in the 1930's Brunswick introduced the term "professional taper" which is the taper most modern cues use. Rambow influenced all of these designs.

6. Herman Rambow as an independent custom cue maker, 1940's - the grandfather of all custom cue makers to follow.

7. Paradise 1950's - introduced plastics and lavish ornamentation into the making of custom cues.

8. Palmer 1963 - became the first company to produce custom, highly decorated personalized cues made to spec order quickly in a production format.

9. 1970's Joss - one of the early companies to use pantograph inlay techniques to speed production and accuracy of pointed cues.

10. Meucci - 1970's for mass marketing theme cues designed to be collectible.

11. Jump Cue - I don't know who made the first modern jump cue but it changed the game forever.

12. Predator - 1990's introduced the low squirt shaft and turned the pool world upside down. Nobody even knew what squirt was before that.
 
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I would think Paul Newman's personal cue would be cool to have. I know a guy that has some of he old racing gear. Paul LOVED to race, and play pool. My friend said he could tear it up in both arena's very well. I would say since he played the best known pool character, his actual cue would be cool to have.

best,

Justin
 
Fatboy said:
actually they did some cutting edge stuff a few years back and had solid marketing, I know your joking around a bit and it is funny, I laughed but then thinking about it-when they launched(dont know if you were in the pool world bak then) it was a big thing. Before the internet so with little info in the analog ages(pre internet) the magazines were the spot to see things. They hired Earl which was a good idea IMO and he played with the white cue-I called it the florescent tube as it looked like a light bulb more so than a cue, Shane has one as well-the White Florescent Tube(in my house as a back up if he ever needs it & once he did when the airline lost his bags or held them up when he came and spent the night a few years back).

I have hit balls with some of their newer stuff and its actually pretty good, to real good.

On a serious note(not all that serious) Cuetech did take production cues another direction, McD, Mali, Muecci, Joss East(semi production), Viking, and a couple others were all building very similar looking cues. Cuetech thought outside of the box and started building "Sporting Goods Cues" thats what I call them, Predator does now, they design new materials for wraps, othe things for "more power", the gimmick stuff the golf industry has done for years. Dont get me wrong I like some of their stuff I love my BK2, I break horrible but better with it than anything else I tried. I think it was Lucasi who stated in a ad 2 years ago that the cue had some shock resistance "so your shooting arm wouldnt get tired ofter long sessions", that was way over the top, who in the world gets a tired arm or tennis elbow from pool? and how can a cue prevent that. That angle they played was PURE MARKETING sizzle not what Cueteck did years ago. So yeah Cuetech is relevant in the history of cues. Its also clear i cant remember how to spell cue tech LOL

best
eric
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It's spelled QUU-TACK, kind of like Honda's V-TACK... LOL.
 
flyvirginiaguy said:
Before Balabuska, a pool cue was just a wood stick... .
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Its a somewhat common notion, but I have to respectfully disagree.
Customized and highly refined cues were with us long before Balabushka was born.
He was simply continuing the tradition, in ways that were unique to him.

This is certainly not meant to discredit his work, he was a fine cue maker.
 
I can't believe no one has mentioned Cognoscenti.

Joe Gold was using the G-10 pin in the early 90's,way before anyone else could even GET G-10 I believe.

Supposedly,it was only available thru NASA for several years.

David Kersenbrock was also an innovator. Compound tapers,the flat-bottom pin,and the table saw/lathe combo I've always referred to as the Kersenbrock machine.

I have to agree that Cuetec also play a role in the history of cues.

Before them,you couldn't buy a truly decent cue in their price range. Tommy D.
 
King Henry VIII liked his cue so much he spent way too much time playing and made the Pope mad at him, causing Henry to form the church of England bringing about the reformation, How's that for shaping history! I can't remember the cue makers name. It was Sir something or other.
 
Tommy-D said:
I can't believe no one has mentioned Cognoscenti.

Joe Gold was using the G-10 pin in the early 90's,way before anyone else could even GET G-10 I believe.

Supposedly,it was only available thru NASA for several years.

David Kersenbrock was also an innovator. Compound tapers,the flat-bottom pin,and the table saw/lathe combo I've always referred to as the Kersenbrock machine.

I have to agree that Cuetec also play a role in the history of cues.

Before them,you couldn't buy a truly decent cue in their price range. Tommy D.
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I'll have to ask Keith, but I want to say he was using G10, hand made pins, in the mid-late 80's. I could be wrong, like I said I'll have to ask. I know he was using G10 for ferrules/tips in mid 80's for sure.

I would also bring up Mike G for pantenting the Sledge Hammer. Seems like that's on every one's list of break cues to get.
 
Tad Kohara had a large part in opening the cue market to Japan and other asian countries. This resulted in a "step change" in pricing that all American cuemakers benefitted from.
 
The first disinegrating cue by Thomas Wayne is widely considered to be the "start" of the art cue movement.

Porpers cue lathe should go down as the machine that turned (no pun intended) hobbyists, into cuemakers...

The Model C by Palmer is the first intentional "tribute" cue.

JV
 
PickPocket said:
Who held what, accoplished what with it, and when?!

Where did that cue end up?

Or maybe instead of the cue havening made history due to the "Player", what about a "Cue Makers" defining momments in which the result was a cue known "around-the-world"? and for what?

Anyone have anything interesting to add here?

Just looking to read about some more interesting stories! Please share!
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I would think that the Brunswick Willie Hoppe and the Master Stroke may have been the first two two piece cues many pool players ever owned. They were like $27.00 and $22.00 at the time. I knew even pros who used these cues. A Hoppe is the first cue I ever owned in the 60's.
 
Nice list.

Please forgive my additions in red, I don't mean to criticize your list, just add some thoughts.


TATE said:
From the top of my head:

1. Late 1800's - the jointed billiard cue. Adding a joint meant the cues could be carried around easily.

2. Brunswick 36 early 1900's - brought the fancy billiard cue to the pool world.

3. Brunswick No. 20 - early 1900's - became the basis for all four prong house cues to follow.

4. Brunswick 26 1/2 - early 1900's 4 veneer one piece cue the Titlist was based on. Became the basis for the Titlist, the Willie Hoppe Pro and the modern custom cue.

5. The pro taper. Later in the 1930's Brunswick introduced the term "professional taper" which is the taper most modern cues use. Rambow influenced all of these designs.

6. Herman Rambow as an independent custom cue maker, 1940's - the grandfather of all custom cue makers to follow.

7. Pardise 1950's - introduced plastics and lavish ornamentation into the making of custom cues.

8. Palmer 1963 - became the first company to produce custom, highly decorated personalized cues made to spec order quickly in a production format.

Late 60's, National cue, a Nexus of cue makers that would go on to change cue making.

9. 1970's Joss - one of the early companies to use pantograph inlay techniques to speed production and accuracy of pointed cues. Also one of the first to standardize their joint size (about 68 or 69). In the 80's one of the first to effectively apply CNC. In the 90's they went to fully cored cues as well, another landmark.

10. Meucci - 1970's for mass marketing theme cues designed to be collectible.

1980's McDermott- Probably the most successful mass producer at that time. Made the wood-to-wood "big pin" joint their standard...which is now so popular among many custom and mass produced cues. C and D series of that era are legendary and collectible as well as still great players. Their earlier cues are legendary as well, and the pre-1975 McDermotts are treasures IMHO

11. Jump Cue - I don't know who made the first modern jump cue but it changed the game forever.

Dedicated break cue- I don't know who started it, but it certainly changed things.

12. Predator - 1990's introduced the low squirt shaft and turned the pool world upside down. Nobody even knew what squirt was before that.
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While we're at it....

TATE said:
1. Late 1800's - the jointed billiard cue. Adding a joint meant the cues could be carried around easily.

^early to mid 1800's. See Phelan's offerings below from 1860

2. Brunswick 36 early 1900's - brought the fancy billiard cue to the pool world.

^'fancy cues' per say already existed by then. unless you meant something more specific?
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1860 Phelan on Qs.JPG
 
I think it was the great men who used them is what got them
to the forefront of Pool History.
 
jhanso18 said:
It's spelled QUU-TACK, kind of like Honda's V-TACK... LOL.
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lol i know much more about cues than spelling, it seems impossible for 3 year college student to misspell a easy word/name 4-5 times in one post.:embarrassed2::embarrassed2:

i can do math im my head that amazes some people, and i can recall probably over 1000 phone numbers, i just have a hard time with letters i try and sound it out, i cant connect the sound to a string of letters, its just jelly in my brain, I test out with a high IQ. funny how the brain works.


if your ever mad at your $$ give me a ring and steak me in a big time Scrabble game(I had to look up Scrabble rite now to get it right and then went back to this post an had it wrong. I cant remember more than 2 letters at a time. Giveme a 10 digit phone number and 70% of the time i have it right, after 2-3 tried i will have it locked down, easy. so why numbers are easy and letters are impossible, interesting topic.


next post is a cue post i promos
 
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