What did this Balabushka guy do anyway?

As is Royce Gracie to the UFC, so is Balabushka to the cue world.

Sure it has evolved. But, by damn it, he is where all of the new and established techniques evolved from.
 
Let me jump in here. First, Fred, AV and Jay have mentioned wondefully cogent points, as opposed to Mr. Cinti, who seems to represent equally as well today's "who needs history (so I'm doomed to repeat it....)" contingent. Therefore, a couple of additonal points....

George started using a buska ring, which is still used today. For the first time, the "buzz" that can occur at the A joint was controlled.

At a time when glues are nowhere close to the quality they are today, George's stuff is pretty sound, which is a testament to the tolerances used to craft his cues.

He also had a pretty good eye for fashion. He would grab inexpensive materials from the shop next door and use them to create new and beautiful cue butts.

Just an assembler ? So who was it that made the shafts ???

George can be compared to the Funk Brothers. Drummer Uriel Jones said that other people used to say that folks thought it was the building, the water, special food or the instruments, when in fact, it was just that they were the baddest jazz playing cats of their day. Gus was a better cuemaker, IMO, but without George, there would be no Gus.

tim
 
Willie Mosconi did a demonstration at IU in the early 70's and played a young kid by the name of Mac Ashby. Mac got an opening and had a good run leading by 40 plus after the first couple of innings. Mosconi got it going and quickly closed the gap and beat Mac. I do not know the final score or number of innings. After the match they left the Union and Willie went back to Mac's apartment where they ate frozen TV dinners (don't forget Mac was a college student).

Willie told Mac about Balabushka and said it was worth the money and would make a difference in his game. Willie helped Mac order his. The cue I think was $185 and Mac paid $50 down the rest was COD. I think he waited over a year for it.

Willie did not mention any innovations that Bushka had on making cues, he just told Mac that they were the best. Mac sold the Bushka in the late 90's.

Mac recently told me this story at the Indiana State tourney. He plays at Airport Billiards in Indy.
 
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Cornerman said:
You have to remember that at the time, there were very few cuemakers. In everything he did, Balabushka did it with the highest degree of quality and care. Some of his contemporaries seemed to eschew quality, fit and finish and strived for looks, while Balabushka strived for solidity and repeatability.

It's easy to look at today's cues and compare it to George's stuff. But, George was the start. He was the father of modern cuemaking. Without George and his meticulous attention to detail, other cuemakers may never have followed in his path.

It should be no surprise how many champions played with his cue, even after he passed! His greatest contribution may have been the buzz ring at the A-joint.

Fred
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I never understood the concept of the 'buzzring'. Could someone explain it's design and just how it helps?
 
Craig Fales said:
I never understood the concept of the 'buzzring'. Could someone explain it's design and just how it helps?
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This is one of his innovations that has transformed the cue industry. Burton Spain, a certified Genius, relates in his book, Making Blanks, how George Balabushka used a piece of phenolic between the wood at the A-joint. Mr. Spain tells us he thought it was strange at the time, and only later did he realize the significance of what Mr. Balabushka's engineering accomplished. Mr. Spain explained how using that method produced a more solid joint because the glue adhered better between the Phenolic and the wood as opposed to wood to wood. He further explained that over time, as the joint weakened from vibration due to play, the "buzz" was much less pronounced than a wood to wood joint produced. The systematic analysis of the greatest Cue Maker's work at that time, allowed Mr. Spain, as well as those who learned from him, to produce cues that are revered almost as much as the Master, George Balabushka.
 
hangemhigh said:
This is one of his innovations that has transformed the cue industry. Burton Spain, a certified Genius, relates in his book, Making Blanks, how George Balabushka used a piece of phenolic between the wood at the A-joint. Mr. Spain tells us he thought it was strange at the time, and only later did he realize the significance of what Mr. Balabushka's engineering accomplished. Mr. Spain explained how using that method produced a more solid joint because the glue adhered better between the Phenolic and the wood as opposed to wood to wood. He further explained that over time, as the joint weakened from vibration due to play, the "buzz" was much less pronounced than a wood to wood joint produced. The systematic analysis of the greatest Cue Maker's work at that time, allowed Mr. Spain, as well as those who learned from him, to produce cues that are revered almost as much as the Master, George Balabushka.
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Finally among all the bickering a post that I can understand.
 
dabarbr said:
Finally among all the bickering a post that I can understand.
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When wood rubs against another surface, not with the grain, it frays and that rubbing causes the "buzz". I actually had a copy of Burt's book, but gave it to Mike Webb. To this day, he never makes a cue without a buzz ring...or as he puts it, a phenolic ring at the A joint.

tim
 
hangemhigh said:
This is one of his innovations that has transformed the cue industry. Burton Spain, a certified Genius, relates in his book, Making Blanks, how George Balabushka used a piece of phenolic between the wood at the A-joint. Mr. Spain tells us he thought it was strange at the time, and only later did he realize the significance of what Mr. Balabushka's engineering accomplished. Mr. Spain explained how using that method produced a more solid joint because the glue adhered better between the Phenolic and the wood as opposed to wood to wood. He further explained that over time, as the joint weakened from vibration due to play, the "buzz" was much less pronounced than a wood to wood joint produced. The systematic analysis of the greatest Cue Maker's work at that time, allowed Mr. Spain, as well as those who learned from him, to produce cues that are revered almost as much as the Master, George Balabushka.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info. I never persued the reason for the buzzring and now I know.
 
Cornerman said:
You have to remember that at the time, there were very few cuemakers. In everything he did, Balabushka did it with the highest degree of quality and care. Some of his contemporaries seemed to eschew quality, fit and finish and strived for looks, while Balabushka strived for solidity and repeatability.

It's easy to look at today's cues and compare it to George's stuff. But, George was the start. He was the father of modern cuemaking. Without George and his meticulous attention to detail, other cuemakers may never have followed in his path.

It should be no surprise how many champions played with his cue, even after he passed! His greatest contribution may have been the buzz ring at the A-joint.

Fred
Click to expand...

Nice shot, Fred.

Having run with and played with Bill Stack's Balabushka over a 10 year period I am surprised no one has mentioned the uniqueness of his A-Joint. Balabushka, was the first and only cue maker at the time, that incorporated a "Lock" into his joint. When you screwed the shaft onto the butt it felt like the joint was tight yet you had to make another small turn and then you heard and felt a "Click". This told you that the shaft and joint were locked together. All Balabushkas were made like this.
 
I'm not sure but I think I heard Balabushka was the first to use
1-delrin butt caps
2-stainless steel joints
3-recessed bumpers
4-nickle silver trim rings
5-linen based phenolic
 
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