Jack Madden said:
And you want the cuemaker to change faces and put out those spec cues. It (at least in my case) lets me be creative and try new designs and new ideas.
You damn right I want them to and there's nothing wrong with it. It's just business. You can't wait all day for the phone to ring to have someone order a true "custom cue", unless you're one of the guys with a 5-6 year waiting list. And even then, THEY throw in a couple of overruns, "extra" cues, or spec cues with their batch of pure customs and put them up for sale. Why not? IT's MONEY!!
Hey...I'm in the same boat as you. Do you see what my name is? It's Drivermaker...just like Chris Hightower's is Cuemaker. There's no difference other than the product...a cue vs. a golf club.
What amuses me at times is how a number of forum members are so hung up on getting a "custom" cue from a no name cue maker just because the word "custom" is associated with it or on his business card. "CUSTOM CUEMAKER". Big f*#king deal. I'll explain what I mean from a golf standpoint which is no different.
Let's assume that a guy is an avid golfer and wants to learn how to either work on his golf clubs by changing his own grips, or decides that he wants to learn how to build them. He orders some catalogs with components such as shafts, heads, grips, ferrules, and all the tools to do the job. (Like Atlas Billiards) He then gets a VHS tape, CD, or illustrated book that goes through the steps of repairing and building a club. In the process of learning, he destroys a few of his own through screw ups, but after a while he learns how to slap some epoxy together with the various components, install a grip, and before you know it he has his own golf club that he made. He then starts doing some work for friends and before you know it, he wants to open his own shop. So he rents space, buys more equipment, gets his business cards made up along with his storefront sign and they all read the same....
"CUSTOM CLUBS". There you go... the magic word...."CUSTOM".
Big f*#king deal!!! At his point of his business career, he's basically a moron without the slightest indication of how to build a TRUE custom golf club with all of the finite measurements and specs that go into one which MUST BE ATTUNED TO THE GOLFERS SWING THAT HE'S MAKING THE CLUB FOR!! And most of them NEVER get to that point because they aren't professional golfers and have a true understanding of the golf swing to match the club to it.
So, what do you see lined up in his shop for sale...golf clubs that he slapped together in his back room and they're called "custom" golf clubs. Why? Because he's an independent builder of clubs not associated, affiliated, or working directly for a big name production company. WHAT A MISNOMER!
The same thing as in the cue making business. Basically, he IS a PRODUCTION company, just in a much smaller way than the major golf producers. Plus, his products are typically inferior in quality as well as workmanship to the major producers. There's nothing "CUSTOM" at this point. They're a "spec" club which he mass produced to fit his little shop.
Yet...somehow or another, that magic word "CUSTOM" rings through the skulls of buyers and makes them think they're getting a superior product or something over and above what they're getting otherwise from the major names, but ESPECIALLY in pool cues.
In my case, I AM a professional golfer that knows the golf swing and have been for longer that I want to admit. And although drivers aren't the only clubs that I produce, I also change faces in the way that I do business and produce clubs.
When a person calls me up, whether they're a pro or amateur, and says..."I want a driver that's 45 inches long; 460 cc in volume; 9.5 degrees of loft with a 1 degree closed face and a high center of gravity; a shaft that flexes out at 262 cpm's and a cut torque of 3.2 degrees; an overall weight not to exceed 11.5 oz. and a swingweight of D-4; and a grip that's 1/16" over;
THAT IS A "CUSTOM" Club and I am in my CUSTOM DRIVERMAKER MODE.
We can actually go beyond that. Sometimes pro's and amateurs will say, "I need a new driver but I have no idea what would work best". What do we do"? At that point we go a driving range where I can watch his swing and evaluate that first. Then we have him hit all kinds of different clubs with a myriad of spec differences to see what works best. At that point I have to evaluate what I have in front of me and formulate the correct factors into it to make the ultimate weapon for that individual. There aren't a whole hell of a lot of individuals out there that can do that...especailly the vast majority of "CUSTOM" club maker douche bags in their little shops slapping glue.
That is a FITTED CUSTOM CLUB and again, I'm in the CUSTOM clubmaker role.
As of last year, for the last 3 years, I produced the longest hitting driver that held the record at the world finals of the RE/MAX long driving championship that's shown on ESPN and held annually which measured over 415 yards, and I've been able to get a couple of guys to qualify for that highest level of competition.
At other times, I do exactly what Jack Madden did. I play mad scientist and experiment with different shafts, head combinations, etc. and make a whole bunch of new and unique "SPEC" clubs. They're made to certain specifications with the assumption that I'll eventually find the GOLFER who will FIT that particular club and like it. Which means, it is NOT a CUSTOM club, it's a SPEC club that just happened to work for someone.
If I find a particular combination that seems to work for a vast majority of golfers, for whatever reason, I'll mass produce them and sell the club to whoever wants to buy it. That's when I'm in my PRODUCTION company face and that's all those clubs are. But there's not a damn thing wrong with them because they're built with the same care, workmanship, quality, and know-how behind them as a custom or a fitted custom.
But I go through all kinds of phases from custom, to fitted custom, to spec, to production because that's just business and I always strive for ZERO defects in everything produced. So the word "CUSTOM" doesn't mean shit. The only thing that's important is HOW GOOD AND EXPERIENCED IS THE MAN BEHIND THE PRODUCT. All in all I've found major production companies in golf and pool to put out an excellent superior product. You can find it there, or in "CUSTOM", but the word in itself is meaningless if the person behind it really isn't a pro.
In the golf world, I have nothing but the highest praise for the big name production companies. They put out great products. They're for the masses, but they're starting to all get smarter with fitting programs like the PGA pros receive.
If a customer comes to me and it make him feel good to think that he's coming to a "CUSTOM" club maker, then so be it.
In my case, I don't need an ego boost with the word custom, I'm just a Drivermaker and that's what customers will get. A damn good one though...I must admit.
I know as I got the Pair Pictured Below by Madden..... 
