What Do The Cue-Makers Play With?

Bavafongoul

Bavafongoul

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I wasn't sure which section of the Forum to start this thread but this section certainly seems the most appropriate.

As cue-makers, you have a different understanding of pool cues that most players have about the cues they play with. When it comes to custom cues, when the order is placed with you, the customer either tells you what they want in terms of the cue specs or the customer asks for your advice.


Well, how about situations when the cue-maker is the customer.....you could be ordering the cue from another cue-maker or building it for yourself. When you are going to build, or order a pool cue, what do you want? How would you build the cue, forgetting for the moment the question of looks. The appearance of the cue isn't of any consequence to this thread or my query.......what would your cue's anatomy be?

Cue playing weight, any weight bolt? Shafts....size, weight, taper, ferrules, tips? What type cue joint....wood, phenolic, steel, ivory, etc..... thread type(5/16x14, 3/8 x10 etc.) ? How about cue wrap, or butt diameter? How would the cue you want to play with be built?

Here's what I posted on Shooters08 thread ...."Theoretical best playing cue design....
"I'd like to learn what the "cue-makers" play with more so than even the pros. They can build themselves any type of cue, any weight, type of wood, different composition materials, shaft weight and diameters, ferrule and tips, etc. If Dennis Searing, Barry Szamboti, Joel Hercek, etc, built themselves a cue to play with....how would they build it....what would be the cue's anatomy......what would they choose to have and how would they build the cue.....13mm shafts & ivory ferrules with soft tips vs. 12.6mm shafts, short LBM ferrules, and rock hard tips or how about steel joint vs. wood joint or ivory, etc.? Would they want their cue to be a spliced cue and what type?

I'm going to start a thread in the Cue-Maker section asking if the cue-makers would share their version of the ideal cue for their personal play....I think it would be interesting and informative to read."
 
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HawaiianEye said:
I play with rejects too, but I think he was asking about your cue. :)
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I kid you not though. I play with my rejects .
I can't afford to make my one . A cue I keep goes a long way if I sell it .
My playing cue now is a reject BEM front with cork wrap .
Nothing wrong with the playability but, I had to reject it for standard reasons.
Makers, like players, have different specs preferences .
19 oz and 12.5MM tips if fine by me.
 
JoeyInCali said:
I play with my rejects .
So do my brothers.
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Yea.... I am playing with a 2 year old reject... no body liked the yellow heart color so I kept it. I also use it for experimental stuff... tips, ferrues, shaft tapers ,,,, etc

Kim
 
I play with the 1st cue I ever built. My goal was solid feel, medium hit and about 18 oz. That was it.

Merry Widow Birdseye Maple
Phenolic Joint
3/8-10 Pin
Black Lizard Wrap
Coco Trim Rings at all 5 positions
I built it for an existing OB2 shaft I already had, because I prefer OB2 shafts.
Weighs in at 17.86 oz.

I did have to repair the butt plate a year or so back thanks to an ordeal with a less than sober compadre, so it now sports a phenolic buttcap.

I try to make them all play as well as mine.
 
I want the hit of my cue to evolve and to know exactly why.

For that reason I usually always play with different cues. So I don't fall into the trap of "my cue is the way a cue is suppose to feel"

As of recent the lineup goes like this

My reject (shaft re-tapered 20 times)
Vigus....I have 2 but usually have to borrow one cause I forget to bring cue
Davis/Prince
Tucker
 
Thanks for The Replies......

It's clear that cue-makers would rather sell their cues for a profit instead of building themselves one.....but tell me more about these reject cues......the reason for the reject is irrelevant.......but the cue specs aren't.

So let me rephrase the question.....if you could play with any "reject" cue, what would be your ideal specs be for that reject cue? I know people say "I can play with any cue, it doesn't matter." Phooey.....any good player knows what they prefer in a cue and that's what I'm driving at.

So imagine there are a dozen reject cues made by other cue-makers laying on a pool table at a tournament and you have to choose one to play with. You just don't grab one at random and conclude it's just perfect.....you may handle them all or only a few of the cues....but the weights and shafts are all different......which would you pick?

Since I didn't give you a dozen specs to choose from, just post what you'd prefer the cue specs to be, even if none of these cues met your specs.....it's a relatively easy question to answer....IMO. For example, just start with your favorite cue joint, then go onto the shaft sizes and shaft weights....very important in my opinion. Can a shaft be too light.....I believe it can......and what about too heavy....I also believe it can.......what do actual cue-makers think? I recently spotted a cue for sale that only had 3 ounce shafts which seems way too light and the cue is a fancy, expensive custom cue too......I was dumfounded by that but maybe shaft weight isn't that important for a cue-maker? As a player, for my custom built cues, I specify what the shaft weight should be, as well as the taper, ferrules, tips, etc. and obviously a whole lot more as well.

LGSM3's signature states he's re-tapered his reject cue shafts over 20 times.......that says the previous 19 versions weren't to his playing preference or he's beating the shit out of the shafts which I doubt is the situation. So he's making the shafts closer to what he likes to play with or is experimenting.......doesn't matter why......he changing the shafts until he gets what he wants........that's what I'm aiming for.......what does a cue-maker want? Heck, I know what I want in a cue and I'm not a cue-maker.

TX,

Matt B.
 
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About 2 years after I started making cues I made myself a nice cue, maple forearm, 6pt with ebony high/low points with some silver and ivory inlays. I also made with purpleheart handle to Southwest/DPK specs as I do all my cues.

Anyway I played with the cue for a year and a friend from my home town said he wanted a cue and it was the one I was playing with. I told him I would make him one just like it but he was would not let it go and I did have a whole case full of other cues so I sold it to him.

Here is where it got interesting. I got the case out and started hitting some with every cue in there, as they were all made the same way as that one and yet none of them hit the same. I went through 12 cues and they all hit good but none as sweet as that one.

I tried to get that cue back for years but he would not let it go as he knew how sweet it played.

Well about 2 years ago I hear from his brother that my friend has past away and wanted to know if I wanted to buy his cues and case. To make this story short I did purchase his cues and got my cue back. It still hits a sweet as I remember and I will not sell it again.

He also had bought a couple of my Merry Jane cues and they hit just as good. I guess whenever he found one that was extra special he bought them.

My suggestion to any one that wants to purchase a cue is to test drive every cue you can put your hands on till you find the one you want.

You never know what you might find.
 
I also play with rejects , They hit just as good as all my cues . I have one old cue I made probably 12 yrs ago , that I just can't quit using . Jim
 
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A Souped up Ebony Dufferin Conversion
Ivory Joint and Ferrule
No weight bolt or bumper(its there I just don't shoot with it in)
3/8x10 Pin
Shaft came from an old Brunswick that I converted

I just posted another cue in the gallery yesterday, 99% chance that one will be my next shooter. My Dufferin is being eyeballed so I will probably be parting with it.

Steve
 
Hmmm, so this is piquing my interest... What would a "reject" look like? Apparently rejects still play fabulously according to their makers, so what makes a reject? Unpopular woods? Incorrect designs? Accidental nicks and dents? Etc...?

There are outlet shops selling less desirable (but still functional) designer branded products at a discount... Is something similar worthwhile for the cue market?

Just throwing some open-ended questions out there for discussion... :-)
 
klone said:
Hmmm, so this is piquing my interest... What would a "reject" look like? Apparently rejects still play fabulously according to their makers, so what makes a reject? Unpopular woods? Incorrect designs? Accidental nicks and dents? Etc...?

There are outlet shops selling less desirable (but still functional) designer branded products at a discount... Is something similar worthwhile for the cue market?

Just throwing some open-ended questions out there for discussion... :-)
Click to expand...

Bad points, ugly spot showing up in the wood, brain dead and glued wrong ring pack, the list goes on.
 
The Next Question Would Be How Much For a Blem Cue?

I'm sure there are many of us that would love to own a blem cue from a cue-maker we admire. You see this all the time with other merchandise and sporting goods where the item is sold "as is" without any warranty but the flaw is pointed out in the merchandise up for sale. There's lots of great bargains that can sometimes be found.....if you could get a Louie Vitton Purse on sale at 50% off because the zipper was sewn uneven or the straps were a slightly different color shade, it's still a great present to get someone.

When things are manufactured for sale to the public at large, it's expected there will be some product rejects, even if it only involved a misprinted label on the garment or the color shade was different, etc. But some things are not worth releasing, especially when there's a limited number of items. Aside from a pool cue, another example is paintings. I think there will be very few painters that would put one of their works up for sale at a discount because it had a flaw in the canvas, or the paint colors were unevenly matched or the size proportions of the scene were incongruous to what the painter had in mind........Nope, those paintings get destroyed or never seen until the artist dies. There's too much pride and reputation involved and maybe some of that rubs off on cue-makers. I know there are curios, currency, newspapers, artifacts that can have a mistake which renders them the most rare of rare types of its kind....like a misprinted Treasury Note.......but that's not the norm.....but it might apply to cues.....I dunno?

Look, it's one thing to say you're playing with a cue because the points & veneers were off or the inlays didn't align evenly but the cue still plays as well as any you ever made, That's a cue you might also consider passing along to someone that's a close acquaintance and definitely one you'd play with but it's not one you want out on the streets representing your cue-making. Nope, I tend to think that when you decided to become a cue-maker, you made a contract with yourself to be the best cue-maker you can be....and it's a contract that's hard to ignore when the cue-maker is honest and truthful with himself, as much as with his customers. I don't foresee pool cue building mishaps eventually contributing to any market evolution in the future for "blemished cues for sale".

Thanks for the replies.....I see some folks expressing a definite preference which is what I was imagining would be the case.

Matt B.
 
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