I voted other. I like GC's but if you have ever shot on a Metro with double shimed pocket, you would fall in love with it. Its like a Diamond along the rails with the pocket inserts . Just a great table.--Smitty
What's the best gold crown?
- Thread starter RShellhouse
- Start date
The best Gold Crown is a Diamond Pro-Am.
Not for nothing, but if we are talking about who copied whom, Brunswick,
and plenty of other table manufacturers, built tables with 4 1/2 inch
corner pockets about 100 years before the Diamond boys were born.
I'm just sayin'...
Dale
Really...name one?
Brunswick's tournament edition GC4&5's have 4 9/16" corner pockets, not 4 1/2" as most would like to believe...and inconsistent pocket sizes from one corner to the next. I'm not knocking GC's, but believe me, they're NO BETTER than the mechanic that works on them, and neither is a Diamond for that matter. A great table mechanic can take shit and turn it into ART, but a bad table mechanic can take the best tables built...and turn them into SHIT in NO TIME at all. There is no such thing as a bad Gold Crown, they're all almost the same design with a few minor changes from one design to the next, but Diamond didn't copy Brunswick to get their tables to play the way they do today, that's all Diamond, just like a Gold Crown is all Brunswick. Either table is a great table to own, but look at the resale value of the Gold Crowns vs the resale of Diamond's, that SHOULD tell you something overallGlen
I've played on every model and I like the V the best. They are solid and they keep you honest pocketing balls.
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http://tommcgonaglerightoncue.com
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http://tommcgonaglerightoncue.com
I voted for GCI but I also found the II's great. Difference, GC I's have a flint based slate that's repairable if cracked and they have much thicker (poplar)slate frames to raise the play surface to 31'' since the leg pads don't adjust. Since there is more area to attach the cloth too when pulled tight, the wood is likely to be in better shape, especially the newer models that use inferior wood frames. The pocket irons on a GCI have barrel holes for the bolts to run thru and don't wiggle loose in a commercial enviornment like others can. (Hm use this should not be a concern). The ball counters on the I and II are the same and work well compared to Any other comparable overseas made counters. The GC I' and II's also have ball boxes for other games and the top rail laminates are nearly indestructible, I've seen later models peel up, tho this is rare and may be due to improper storage. If you get the earlier models, the cushions may still be in good shape due to their quality, but where and how they were stored are of concern. Make sure you look at each slate before your purchase, and make sure they are a matched set, there's usually a common mark across em all that was there when made, and they must match perfectly. Take a tbl mechanic with you to help. Good luck,
I know many Gold Crowns from the 60's that play well with original rubber.
...and a few Anniversaries.
The GC-1V is a nice table but the ones I've played are already showing
some soft spots in the rails...ball banks a little wide and slow, you hit one
inch farther and it banks normal.
I had a GC-1 re-rubbered with Super Speed 4 years ago...it needs new
rubber and it's gonna be Artemis.
Haven't played on a GC-V yet.
The North American auto industry was taken over by the money men in
the early 50's ( before that, the car-freak engineers had the last word )
We the public paid for that with cars that were inferior until imports
made them mend their ways.....
..I gotta feeling Brunswick has gone this route.
onefortheroad
Registered
GCI or II?
I've been lurking here at AZ for years and only recently joined and started posting. My vote is GCII. Pretty much the same as GCI with leg levelers. When I was finally ready for a table I knew I wanted an original Gold Crown for several reasons. 1. Can't afford new. 2. Prefer nostalgic vintage stuff, this was THE table when I was a kid. 3. When you ask a master level player if they would like to come over to shoot pool the first question they ask is what kind of table do you have. When you say "a 9ft. Gold Crown I" they ask what time to be there. I found a bunch of info on the GC's here on AZ when researching the differences. From what I learned my table is probably what some refer to as a GC 1-1/2. Supposedly the first GC's had no leg levelers but they started using them before officially going to a GC2. I think there was also a change in the way the rails bolt to the slate. Also mine has the original red monarch cushions and still plays great, at around 50yrs. old! Newer versions got lower quality rubber and don't last like the old ones. I also learned that they went downhill as they progressed and cheapened up the frames (GC3's), but can be modified to overcome their shortcomings. I really don't know anything about the GC5's except that I can't afford one. This one was $1000 but cost another $1000 to ship from Cincinnati to Chicago burbs with professional installation and simonis 860 tournament blue. Someday if I have the money I'd like to get the plastic skirts replaced.
I've been lurking here at AZ for years and only recently joined and started posting. My vote is GCII. Pretty much the same as GCI with leg levelers. When I was finally ready for a table I knew I wanted an original Gold Crown for several reasons. 1. Can't afford new. 2. Prefer nostalgic vintage stuff, this was THE table when I was a kid. 3. When you ask a master level player if they would like to come over to shoot pool the first question they ask is what kind of table do you have. When you say "a 9ft. Gold Crown I" they ask what time to be there. I found a bunch of info on the GC's here on AZ when researching the differences. From what I learned my table is probably what some refer to as a GC 1-1/2. Supposedly the first GC's had no leg levelers but they started using them before officially going to a GC2. I think there was also a change in the way the rails bolt to the slate. Also mine has the original red monarch cushions and still plays great, at around 50yrs. old! Newer versions got lower quality rubber and don't last like the old ones. I also learned that they went downhill as they progressed and cheapened up the frames (GC3's), but can be modified to overcome their shortcomings. I really don't know anything about the GC5's except that I can't afford one. This one was $1000 but cost another $1000 to ship from Cincinnati to Chicago burbs with professional installation and simonis 860 tournament blue. Someday if I have the money I'd like to get the plastic skirts replaced.
Attachments
Really...name one?
Glen
You're half right - and me a mathematical genius - Greg was prolly born
around 1945 give or take, since 1845 was the year John Brunswick
made his first table in Cincinnati, let's say 50 years.
BTW - perhaps you could use your delicate little finger to point out exactly
where I said in my post that GCs were better than Diamonds, 'Cause I can't find it.
Arcade
Regent
Brilliant Novelty
Kling
Hudson
Urban League
Regina
Arcadian
The 5 x 10 Cenntenials used in World Championship tourneys
untill 1950.
Are you bored yet?
Dale(without looking at the Brunswick site)
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None of the tables you mentioned had factory built 4 1/2" pockets
they were 5" or biggerNice table poolhustler.
None of the tables you mentioned had factory built 4 1/2" pockets
If you look into it, you'll find 4 1/2 was standard in the early part of the
20th century. Most of the huge old rooms in large cities had 5 x 10
tables. 4 1/2 inch was used on World(and US) Championship tables
untill they changed to 9 foot tables.
But thanks for stoppin by.
Dale
Yes on the gc5 tourney edition and also the metro
Tournament edition I have here. Which I love.
You just couldn't be more correct.
Even the early GCs already had so many compromises to reduced
production costs and "style" they were far inferior to even an Anniversary
and the rest of that previous generation of tables.
Even the 'entry level' Sport King, is a much, much better table than the
Gold Crown.
Comparing GCs to an Arcade is enough to make a strong man weep.
It was a cruel twist of Fate that table design froze with the Gold Crown.
How much better it would have been to have 60 years of variations on
the Anniversary instead.
Dale
Very nice , i'm jealous . Old room feel. All pool table pictures require a full rack though :grin:
Nice Crown road.
If the rails bolt into a figure eight plate - It's a GCI.
The GCIIs used a burried nut, so all you see is small hole on the underside
of the rail. IMHO - perhaps the only change done to actually improve the
quality of a table.
Dale
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union made
The GC1 was carpenters union made , everything overbuilt to last. mine is 50 this year and it plays great. Original red rubber and double shimmed to 4 3\8 corners. Best to wait for a gc1 avoid the 3 as said before.
The GC1 was carpenters union made , everything overbuilt to last. mine is 50 this year and it plays great. Original red rubber and double shimmed to 4 3\8 corners. Best to wait for a gc1 avoid the 3 as said before.
i have a 3 and there is nothing wrong with it at all. table is well made and sturdy