Now that was well spent money :thumbup:
Who is really the best?
- Thread starter Monstermash
- Start date
Now that was well spent money :thumbup:
Tony Scianella, Dennis Searing, Joel Hercek, Barry Szamboti, Ed Prewitt, and quite a few others, are all living legends and can do it all in cuemaking.
Pick one? Tony Scianella's 8-pointers of the last 10 years or so...good investments, appreciating in a bad market, and fantastic players executed perfectly. Best Bang for the Buck: Joe Callaluca.
Pick one? Tony Scianella's 8-pointers of the last 10 years or so...good investments, appreciating in a bad market, and fantastic players executed perfectly. Best Bang for the Buck: Joe Callaluca.
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Everybody on here keeps saying all the big names who are popping out lots of cues a year that yes look and play good and they get good money for so im going to say 3 locals to me one pretty unknown but is in the cue bluebook for his "chess" series by the name of Roland Becker who will pretty much make you anything you want and for damn good prices and they hit terrific ive seen people trade him schons straight across for one of his thats worth half the price of the schon because they like it that much better. Then a little more known would be Ernie Martinez who makes a great cue both for looks and the way it plays and has great resale value from what ive seen. Then there is the pretty well known Kikel and as i actually said on another thread earlier his cues are greatly desired by some, to the point i know 2 guys who basically said they would buy any that they found out there, they are beautiful cues all of them, play great, and decent to great resale value depending on the person.
Same here...I bought a Joss J11 for about $450 back in '91...used it as a player for about 2 months, then got a custom GEM I loved the hit of and used the Joss as a break cue for 15 years (never changed the tip!)--straight grain maple nose, it hits like a sledgehammer. Broke the shaft collar about two years ago breaking like Sigel, bought a new shaft ($150) and gave it to my son as his player. With the new shaft, it's flawless (like the day I bought it) and the best money I've spent on any cue for the mileage. :thumbup:
I think it's a good topic. But sticking Bill Shick and the like in here, I think, is exactly what the OP is talking about. I have heard that Schick's are great cues...heard that about Gina's too. But they are expensive. Sugartree's are great players too...but again expensive. So I believe the question is geared towards getting a great cue at less than those prices....at least I think that was the premise of the question.
Anyway...my votes...Tony Zinzola, Bob Frey....but then again..I've sold the ones I've had and play with a cue from a guy none of you ever heard of and honestly believe I've never played with a better cue. If you are curious the maker's name is Bud Diehl.
Anyway...my votes...Tony Zinzola, Bob Frey....but then again..I've sold the ones I've had and play with a cue from a guy none of you ever heard of and honestly believe I've never played with a better cue. If you are curious the maker's name is Bud Diehl.
I guess that I am too easy!
I've bought a few cues and I liked them all. They don't play the same or look the same, but maybe that's why I like to keep mixing them up.
I don't think that I have ever shot with a cue and said this is horrible, I hate it, I can't shoot with it! Even that warped bar cue can do just fine, just keep the bow pointed up or down.
I know there are junk cues out there, but I would still rather be playing with a bad cue, than not playing at all.
Best value; it's the cue your using for the next game of pool.
What's the best, what's the worst, we will never know.
I've bought a few cues and I liked them all. They don't play the same or look the same, but maybe that's why I like to keep mixing them up.
I don't think that I have ever shot with a cue and said this is horrible, I hate it, I can't shoot with it! Even that warped bar cue can do just fine, just keep the bow pointed up or down.
I know there are junk cues out there, but I would still rather be playing with a bad cue, than not playing at all.
Best value; it's the cue your using for the next game of pool.
What's the best, what's the worst, we will never know.
Fine point...and why buy a car that can go over the speed limit?
There is no best anything...
But I would say Pat Diveney's cues are the best. And you can get one for well below $500.
OK here is my take on it and i have by no means played with all the cue makers out there. There is a difference between playing cues and artictic cues. Not all artistic cues play well.
Of the cues i have played and owned
Gus
Barry
Schick
Kikel
Bender
Southwest
Perry Weston
Searing
I will say the workmanship is flawless, as for playability I have only owned more than one Bender and Weston so these are the only ones I can compare as far as playability, but if you, we were to play for $$$ you take one cue i take the other, who shoots better, luck, etc will determine the winner as there are no flws that you or I have a valid reason for faulting in any of these cues.
Of the cues i have played and owned
Gus
Barry
Schick
Kikel
Bender
Southwest
Perry Weston
Searing
I will say the workmanship is flawless, as for playability I have only owned more than one Bender and Weston so these are the only ones I can compare as far as playability, but if you, we were to play for $$$ you take one cue i take the other, who shoots better, luck, etc will determine the winner as there are no flws that you or I have a valid reason for faulting in any of these cues.
He is talking about playing value, not resale value.
Sound like part of his question is who makes the best playing cue under $1000 ?
It's a good question for new buyers who are concerned about playability more than anything else. You keep seeing post after post about how a custom cue made by "XXXX" plays so amazing.
From a playability standpoint do custom cues out perform high end production cues like Schon, Mezz, Joss, etc. ? From all the glowing posts on custom cues, it looks that way.
Does a $2k+ plain jane or sneaky from one of the exclusive well known makers outperform a $800 from a less known maker ?
Sound like part of his question is who makes the best playing cue under $1000 ?
It's a good question for new buyers who are concerned about playability more than anything else. You keep seeing post after post about how a custom cue made by "XXXX" plays so amazing.
From a playability standpoint do custom cues out perform high end production cues like Schon, Mezz, Joss, etc. ? From all the glowing posts on custom cues, it looks that way.
Does a $2k+ plain jane or sneaky from one of the exclusive well known makers outperform a $800 from a less known maker ?
Don't own one but pound for pound a lot of value and nice hitting.
Josey would be my choice. For a few more dollars I would go Gilbert. I have always been impressed with Layani but his styles are not for me (though he seems flexible on this. I think his joint is special and provides perfect feedback.
http://www.layanicues.com/sitexml/Files/main-en.html
Nick
Josey would be my choice. For a few more dollars I would go Gilbert. I have always been impressed with Layani but his styles are not for me (though he seems flexible on this. I think his joint is special and provides perfect feedback.
http://www.layanicues.com/sitexml/Files/main-en.html
Nick
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I'll have to say Randy Mobley. His work is absolutely FLAWLESS and
he plays, so, he has a good idea of what a cue should or should not do.
Just MHO.
he plays, so, he has a good idea of what a cue should or should not do.
Just MHO.
Joe Calaluca's cues are tough to beat from an overall bang for the buck stand point. Great hitting, wonderful design and execution and just a great guy to deal with.
Best hitting cue is Tim Scruggs. His designs are also top notch. If I could have one cue it would be a Tim Scruggs calendar cue he made back in the 90's. Cue and cushion has this cue for sale for $12,500 I think is the price. The best artist would have to be Richard Black. He has more original designs than anybody else. I have owned many cues by the top cue makers and that is what I make my opinion on. Besides that, I build cues and I think I know what makes a cue special.
The last few weeks a Paul Dayton sneaky is my choice however I wonder why Measureman did not mention Terry McFadden.. I have 2 Scruggs, a Sugartree, a Judd, and a McFadden and the McFadden always is played in between each of the above cues... The McFadden is a real player!!! Look good too... Ebony into BEM... Remember it is not the arrow, but the Indian!!!!
This here is a matter of perspective. Just because YOU think they are priced 2-10 times "what they're really worth" does not make it so. They are worth whatever anyone is willing to pay.
Everyone has something that they are willing to spend money on. This group usually spends it on pool related items that other people would shake they're heads at. My nephew spends a lot of money on Warhammer stuff (it's a game, look it up) that I think is ridiculous. For my brother-in-law it is Harley stuff and they both wonder why I spend a few grand to restore a Centennial (or two).
Then there is the rule of supply and demand. If there is a demand for something and the supply is limited the price goes up.
my .02 cents
Value is in the eye of buyer. I for one would never spend $1000+ for a PJ or Sneaky Pete/Hustler cue. NEVER! If I want one of those I will got to Pechauer or Joss thank you very much. They make great cues of that type for under $300 and I can be completely satisfied by the quality. Having sold dozens of those brand cue models over the years, I know whats there.
There are plenty of great hiting cues that can be gotten for between $500 to $1000 from Schon, Pechauer, Jacoby, Joss, McDermott, and Viking and even used Nova's. They all offer great selection of designs, quality construction, and a good hit. They all in my book offer a tremendous value to any pool player who is a beginner to intermediate level player. They generally all provide good quality customer service. What more do you want there?
When I spend over $1000+ of my money then I begin looking for what more I can get in terms of the combination of design, construction quality, and hit. At this point there are different levels of value based on who is making a cue and what the cue is selling for. And its all in the eye of the buyer. There is no right or wrong answer. If I had enough money I would buy everthing that I liked no matter who the cue maker was. But thats not possible, so you focus what dollars you can put together and get what you most desire at the moment. Hell I've been wanting a Richard Black cue since my college days in the 80's. Have not gotten one yet, but I still have a nice small collection of cues that I can be proud of.
At a certain level of high dollar cue the issue of Artistry comes into play into defining a value for a buyer. There are numerous great cuemakers that fall into this category, and alot of those names have already been mentioned in this thread. As a collector I know what cuemakers whose design style I like best, and when I can I will obtain cues of those cuemakers. What my choices are can be totally different from someone else's and thats perfectly fine, and there is nothing wrong with that. It's called variety, and it's the spice that makes life interesting.
The best thing this forum can do is simply educate future cue buyers as to the different levels of quality cue brands that are current, and what to expect at those different levels and among the different brands. And that's it. Because the final selection is the buyer's choice and no one can fault what that choice may be best for them.
There are plenty of great hiting cues that can be gotten for between $500 to $1000 from Schon, Pechauer, Jacoby, Joss, McDermott, and Viking and even used Nova's. They all offer great selection of designs, quality construction, and a good hit. They all in my book offer a tremendous value to any pool player who is a beginner to intermediate level player. They generally all provide good quality customer service. What more do you want there?
When I spend over $1000+ of my money then I begin looking for what more I can get in terms of the combination of design, construction quality, and hit. At this point there are different levels of value based on who is making a cue and what the cue is selling for. And its all in the eye of the buyer. There is no right or wrong answer. If I had enough money I would buy everthing that I liked no matter who the cue maker was. But thats not possible, so you focus what dollars you can put together and get what you most desire at the moment. Hell I've been wanting a Richard Black cue since my college days in the 80's. Have not gotten one yet, but I still have a nice small collection of cues that I can be proud of.
At a certain level of high dollar cue the issue of Artistry comes into play into defining a value for a buyer. There are numerous great cuemakers that fall into this category, and alot of those names have already been mentioned in this thread. As a collector I know what cuemakers whose design style I like best, and when I can I will obtain cues of those cuemakers. What my choices are can be totally different from someone else's and thats perfectly fine, and there is nothing wrong with that. It's called variety, and it's the spice that makes life interesting.
The best thing this forum can do is simply educate future cue buyers as to the different levels of quality cue brands that are current, and what to expect at those different levels and among the different brands. And that's it. Because the final selection is the buyer's choice and no one can fault what that choice may be best for them.
I love big name cues and have owned and shot with a ton of them but I decided to order a new shooting cue from much lesser known cuemaker out of the Detroit area, named Mike Pancerny. When I moved to Michigan this past summer I visited his shop and was really impressed with the work he was doing and was able to hit with several of his cues. His workmanship, attention to detail, quality of materials, and pride of work make me confident in my decision.