Why convert a titlist?

classiccues

classiccues

Morgan set complete...
Silver Member
So since my other thread is going quite well, :thumbup: I wanted to get opinions on why do you like converted tilists, or what reason's would you have to convert a titlist?

Is it the history.. the look... the tradition... the one piece hit?

Just curious, we all love them.. what's the attraction?

JV
 
Just kind of a cool tie to the past.

Classic veneer pattern, connections to Rambo, Bushka, Greenleaf, Mosconi.

Finding and hitting with a true full splice build 60-70 years ago.

In a word, functional nostalga.
 
Nice topic....would love to hear others' thoughts on this.

I enjoy Titlist conversions primarily because they are nostalgic, but many don’t realize they are also generally a very stable/solid foundation upon which to build a simple, nice playing pointed cue.

Here are a few things that I enjoy about a nicely done Titlist conversion......well-seasoned woods, extra deep spliced points, that classic look with those colors and the thicker veneers. Titlist conversions give today’s cuemakers a chance to craft something simple and classic, something they might not normally do. It’s also imo a nice opportunity for them to pay homage......standing on the shoulders of those cue making giants that came before them. :)
 
JoeyInCali said:
Warpage.
I don't think Brunswick used seasoned woods in making hundreds if not thousands of them.
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Honestly joey don't you think because of the AVERAGE Age of these Titlists they have had time to seasoned. Also many are big and bulky, so there is enough wood to cut down?
 
CocoboloCowboy said:
Honestly joey don't you think because of the AVERAGE Age of these Titlists they have had time to seasoned. Also many are big and bulky, so there is enough wood to cut down?
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Not the shafts. I have yet to find one that's saveable.
A lot of them are twisted and off-grain.
The problem with them seasoning AS A WHOLE is they are already assembled.
Normally you season woods before assembling.
 
I like the idea (don't have one yet) because of the reasons mentioned, but more importantly for me (well, AS important might be a better way to say it), the length of the old one-piece cues (and two-piece for that matter) are too short for my comfort.

I like a 59" cue, and the oldies are 57".:grin:
 
JoeyInCali said:
Not the shafts. I have yet to find one that's saveable.
A lot of them are twisted and off-grain.
The problem with them seasoning AS A WHOLE is they are already assembled.
Normally you season woods before assembling.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, I was think of the ONE Piece Titlist that are being Converted!
 
I was at Searings shop probably 8 years ago and seen an Oak titlist that he had sitting in a bin waiting for him to work on it. Dennis goes, Hey Dave check this out ...look at how straight this cue is...

Sure enough this titlist was as straight as any cue ive ever seen. Hard to believe that a cue that was 50+ years old could be that straight.

Ive seen others too that have been straight but generally JoeyinCali is right, they usually have warped shafts.


I love Titlists for a number of reasons:
1) I really like the look of titlist cues and enjoy the different custom work cuemakers do to add their vision of what a Titlist conversion should look like.
2) titlist conversion can hit tremendous. I have a Scruggs one right now that is the best hitting cue I own behind my Gus. Ive picked up quite a few conversions that have also hit tremendous. Not sure why, but I always thought it was the old full spliced wood.
3) its kinda neat to tell someone that this cue is older than most people alive today.
 
Normally when you see titlists that have been converted and have rings above the wrap it means the cue has been cut into a shorty. Do you think that cuemakers with the sleeving/coring technology of today, can turn the cue down, slide the rings on, then put a sleeve handle on just to put a wrap over it, and maintain that solid one piece hit?

Or when you see rings do you immediately think.. damn waste of a good titlist?

JV
 
classiccues said:
Normally when you see titlists that have been converted and have rings above the wrap it means the cue has been cut into a shorty. Do you think that cuemakers with the sleeving/coring technology of today, can turn the cue down, slide the rings on, then put a sleeve handle on just to put a wrap over it, and maintain that solid one piece hit?

Or when you see rings do you immediately think.. damn waste of a good titlist?

JV
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I think "Damn waste of a good Titlist!"

Theroetically, you could turn the entire handle down to 3/4-7/8 diameter, slide on ring work, slide on a handle sleeve and then a butt sleeve and have something aproaching the original feel with rings above the wrap, but that is a lot of turning that would have to be done over quite a while to keep it straight I think... Maybe someone wants to try it with a much less desirable house cue first? Seems like it could possibly be done without loosing TOO much wood from the original cue...
 
There is more than 1 way to skin a cat.

Full splice CA$H cue with A-Joint ring

DSC00896-2.jpg
 
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classiccues said:
So since my other thread is going quite well, :thumbup: I wanted to get opinions on why do you like converted tilists, or what reason's would you have to convert a titlist?

Is it the history.. the look... the tradition... the one piece hit?

Just curious, we all love them.. what's the attraction?

JV
Click to expand...

For me personally it is a combination of everything you said above, but most importantly the age and stability of the wood. The wood in these cues is aged beyond anything available anywhere today, if the cues were stored properly over the years. Wood that is from 50 to 100 years old is as stable and as naturally dry as it gets if it handled properly. The next thing in my opinion would be the strength of this wood, this wood in most cases would be classified as Old Growth. For instance many times when I separate the shaft from the handle, I find that the maple used for construction will have 30 to 60 GPI.

In addition over the years I have accumulated more than 300 Brunswick 1 piece house cues that I also use for conversion. Those that are not suitable for conversion can still be cut up and used to make ring billets, Butts, and other parts of cues. As far as I am concerned using these old cues gives anyone a stable platform for conversion cues and it will also give a person access to wood that can not be bought anywhere else. In the end, cues produced from this process can be considered GREEN when you look at their effects on the environment, or just another method of recycling.

Last, it also makes for some great playing cues, that are strong if assembled correctly, and that have a hit that is hard to duplicate with woods currently available to the cue building community.

Just my thoughts
 
classiccues said:
Normally when you see titlists that have been converted and have rings above the wrap it means the cue has been cut into a shorty. Do you think that cuemakers with the sleeving/coring technology of today, can turn the cue down, slide the rings on, then put a sleeve handle on just to put a wrap over it, and maintain that solid one piece hit?

Or when you see rings do you immediately think.. damn waste of a good titlist?

JV
Click to expand...

Honest answer which is, It depends on what is there to work with. not all titlist are over sized. Hope that's an acceptable answer.
 
Back in the 1960's a friend of mine owned a large Brunswick Bowling Alley in the midwest area. I could have bought any amount of titlist through his business at his cost. At that time they were quite cheap to buy. Most pool halls had them on the walls as standard players.
You look at RAMBO. Why did he convert them? Why did other cue makers in the 50's through 70's use the forearms of titlist on their cues?
Titlist cues are a piece of history, great to convert but most of all they are wonderful cues to shoot with.
 
classiccues said:
So since my other thread is going quite well, :thumbup: I wanted to get opinions on why do you like converted tilists, or what reason's would you have to convert a titlist?

Is it the history.. the look... the tradition... the one piece hit?

Just curious, we all love them.. what's the attraction?

JV
Click to expand...
This is why I like to convert Titlist!!
I get to take something that is older than I am that is maybe warped a little and faded colors in it. I get to to go through it, put a new handle in it.
Add a some inlays here and there. Add a Ivory joint and a finish. I like to call it putting some of me in the cue! Basically to me, it is like restoring a old car. You get to take something that is old and in most cases beat up and get to bring the life back to it. No to mention the fact the I personally love the looks of them and the hit !! Not only that it feels good to take something that old put some elbow grease into it and see what you can do with it!!! And then the finished product is another thing!!
One more reason I like to convert them. I like to keep the memory going!! If is wasnt for Brunswick and some of these other companies where would we be right now with cues!!!!

Just a paragraph out of one chapter of the book I could write on this subject!!
 
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I had a rosewood Titlist converted by Lee Pepper a while back & haven't played with hardly anything else since. Man I love it. So much history, classic looks & color, great seasoned wood. Was a total shock to me how well the straight grained maple & rosewood work together. And isn't it just a great widespread kind of "kindred" thing whan you can tell someone "...it's a Titlist conversion..." and there's this immediate common appreciation?
 
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