Your Cue Stick History?

Cues

What is your cue stick history? Here's mine

Unknown, gone in 3 days.
Schmelke, leather wrap
Viking, leather wrap
Josswest, leather wrap
Meucci, filled
Joss, Limited Edition, Irish
McDermott, all wood
Dominiak, Irish
Schmelke,Bocote, blk leather wrap

That took about 46 years and counting.

First cue Adams paduk then McDermott D-15. Guffy sp. Bloodworth sp. Shurtz 4 pt. DZ wrap less. Jim Ingram tuxedo. Joe Bouska breaker. Current player is DZ. Best players DZ, Shurtz and Ingram. Coming- Tucker!! Never sold any cue!!
 
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What is your cue stick history? Here's mine

Unknown, gone in 3 days.
Schmelke, leather wrap
Viking, leather wrap
Josswest, leather wrap
Meucci, filled
Joss, Limited Edition, Irish
McDermott, all wood
Dominiak, Irish
Schmelke,Bocote, blk leather wrap

That took about 46 years and counting.

I had:
A no name
An Adams
Another Adams
A Gina
A Viking
A Meucci
A McDermott
A Richard Black
A Gina

Here's the story of my first one back when I was a teenager growing up in San Francisco.

#####
(insert flashback music)

My first cue was a carefully considered investment I made one day after another of my runs through the sports department of The Emporium, a glorious downtown department store on Market Street, right across from the cable car turn platform. The store was a throwback to San Francisco’s post earthquake glory days, with its huge glass dome, and was the place my family purchased a good many of our necessities over the years.

The Cue that became the object of my lust was displayed in a glass case there. The first time I saw it I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. And, with every passing visit, my desire grew and grew until it could not be denied. Somehow I scrimped and saved the $29.00 ransom the store wanted for The Cue -- with its own faux leather luggage-style case, with red flocked interior (of course), and which showed off the cue to best advantage -- and sealed the deal one memorable weekend.

The Cue was a transcendent thing of beauty: polished brass joint; rich polyurethaned walnut forearm; red and black specked nylon wrap (genuine); and a butt plate of iridescent multicolored rings. I thought my Mom and Dad were going to kill me when they found out I had squandered most of my meager funds on “a pool cue?!” and I did suffer some withering words, offered in fatherly counsel, about “wasting” my money. But I did not care. It was worth it all.

I remember frequently locking myself in my room and lovingly wiping down the forearm of The Cue, using several paper towels and much of my Mom’s can of Pledge. To this day, like catching the wafting scent of a perfume favored by an old flame, a whiff of lemon-scented Pledge still reminds me of that cue and our first summer together. After a few months I came to realize that the black luggage-style case (with red flocked interior) made my look of aspiring hustler somewhat less than credible and I switched over to a soft plain black zippered case.
#####

Lou Figueroa
 
I took me about 20 mins to go through them all:
McDermott
Little Al Romero
Judd
Carmeli
Judd
Schon R5
Bender
Judd
Carmeli
Paul Casanova
Ned Morris
Chris Nitti
Al Romero



Hey-

I see a California flavor in there.

Casanova-How /when ? Still have? Don't see many of these. Nice looking cues.

Others pretty nice too.
 
I grew up playing primarily snooker, so my first cue was an ash BCE 2-piece, which I gave to a friend late in my teens. Next cue was a Burroughes and Watts snooker cue, very nice, but I never felt comfortable with it, and gave it to a different friend. Third snooker cue was another BCE, gave it to a friend (a pattern emerges...).

In 1995, I bought my first pool cue, a Dufferin with an aluminum joint. Didn't care for the hit, so gave it to a friend. Bought a Falcon, loved it, still have it. In 2000, I bought another Falcon, loved it too, still have it.

In 2002, I had a custom snooker cue made for me by Kevin Deroo. Love it, intend to keep it forever.

In 2008, I bought a Predator SP, which I recently traded with an AZ member for another of the same, with a joint conversion. Love it. Keeping it.

This past winter, I received a custom order from 2010. I like it, and will probably keep it.

That's it so far.
 
Willie Mosconi (the KMart one with the tennis grip wrap)
Dufferin
McDermott D2
Huebler Sneaky Pete
Numerious low end McDermott D series and Meucci's
Schon 4 pointer with veneers (r Series early 80's)
Szamboti (warped butt)
Omega DPK (traded the Szam and got $400 cash from the Omega DPK at the International Pool Tournament in 91)
Sold omega to john Wright 1 month later as I needed the money
McDermott D-14 (lost in car wreck)
Meucci Sneaky Pete
Stopped playing pool...
Joss basic 4 pointer
Schmelke Sneaky Pete
McDermott basic cue
Chad Carter 4 pointer (current player)
 
Playing Cues

Viking
Joss
Espiritu
Schon
Joss Custom
Scruggs
Heubler
Buss
Espiritu
JossWest
 
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Confessions of a serial cue owner

Aluminum no name cue (1972) Sold
Adam M/A-3 (1973) Gave away
Adam Jim Rempe PJ JR-4 (1982) Gave away
Joss MW (1985) Still own
Meucci MO-7 (1987) Sold
Meucci S/P (1991) Still own
South West (1991) Sold last year
Scruggs (1995) Sold
Schick (1993) Still own
Szamboti (1986-8) Sold
Tucker (2011) Sold back to previous owner
Peppers (2012) Still own
Showman (2000) Still own
 
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This is my 20ish year cue list in order, looks like i was slowly building up as i learned what i liked.

1st $40 dufferin (still have it)
2nd $125 Falcon (still have it)
3rd $425 Viking (sold it to help pay for the RB :()
4th $1250 Richard Black (still have it)
5th $1000 Schon (still have it)
 
Cuetec
Espiritu (sold Cuetec)
Action j/b
2 Olivier (traded Espiritu)
Kikel
Gilbert j/b
Barenbrugge
Gilbert (traded 1 Olivier)
Diveney SP
W Hunter (traded Diveney)
Josey Fancy SP
James White (traded Gilbert)
Durbin (traded James White)
OB Break Cue (sold Gilbert j/b)
 
Willie Hoppe
Willie Hoppe
Palmer 1965
Gina 1968
Joss (early) 1972
Richard Black 1996
Dennis Searing 1996
Randy Mobley (with Gus Szamboti shaft. Gift from my good friend Ray Martin)
Richard Black 1986
David Jacoby ( signed, no logo stamp. Gift from my good friend Ryan Roy)
These are cues that I have owned and played with. Have owned many others. The Jacoby
is the one I have used for almost ten years now. Thank you Ryan.
 
Not a lot of turnover.

1.) Mali Merry Widow. It wasn't the best-hitting cue I tested, but it was the best-hitting one I could afford. I used it in college and for a few years after, until I used it to win a...

2.) 1990 Phillippi custom. Guy challenged me and was so confident in his abilities he bet his cue against mine. Boy, was he surprised. He stormed out and I felt kinda bad so I gave his girlfriend the Mali. Left the Phillippi with the pool room owner (who I knew) and came back for it the next day. Shot a few racks with it and realized what a nice cue actually felt like. But it was way too nice to play with, IMHO, so I packed it up, sent it back to Sir Richard for a refinish, re-wrap, and an extra shaft, and set about looking for a cue to replace the Mali. The Philiippi went to live in an It's Greorge 1x2 and rarely comes out to play, and I ended up with a...

3.) Brunswick Merry Widow. I test drove a bunch of cues, and was narrowing it down to a couple of Joss models, when I noticed a few closeout Brunswicks at the end of the display case. I knew about Gold Crowns and Centennials at that point, but I was still unaware of Brunswick's rich history in cuemaking as well. I tried a few and was surprised that the felt as good as the Joss cues did to me. The fact that the plainest one was a quarter of the price of the Joss cues sealed the deal. I played with that cue through graduate school and beyond, but my job and a wife that didn't play pool meant I wasn't playing as much. My wife's brother, however, had caught the bug, and so my cue was on semi-permanent loan to him. When my wife and I split, I decided not to ask for the cue back. We'll see if it ever returns; I definitely earned more using that cue than the hundred bucks I paid for it, so I didn't feel bad letting it go. Anyway, one upshot is that now I had more time to play, which means I needed a cue (I'm still hesitant to bring the Phillipi out to do anything but look at it lovingly for a few minutes, rub my fingerprints off with a microfiber cloth, and put it back in its case). Problem was, now I was living in a place where the breadth and depth of cue selection is not as ample as I was used to growing up in a big city. I did remember, however, that when I first bought the Mali, I had also tested a few two-pronged Meuccis and loved the feel, as much as the two-point look. So, a little bit of hunting on eBay, and I wound up with a...

4.) Meucci 97-8. It was pretty beat-up; the ferrule was blue, the shaft was green, and the butt had a bunch of dents, dings, and a nick or two. But the tip was round, the ferrule wasn't cracked, the shaft was smooth, the joint didn't rattle, and the butt wasn't warped. It was the perfect sleeper cue, something that would perform reliably but not draw much attention to itself in a poolroom, or even a bar (with only one pool room that I wouldn't call big, there are a surprising number of players that show up at the bars in town, cue cases in hand, and not even on league nights). I thought that would be the end of line, but it turns out that my girlfriend, who likes to play, has been considering upgrading to something more consistent than a house cue, but doesn't want to spend the cash on a new cue. So I gallantly offered her the use of the Meucci, which left me to put together my current playing cue: a

5.) Joss 10-16. This one has a plain black ring at the joint, rather than the dashed rings shown on the Joss web site. It also has five points, rather than the four described on the site (but I haven't seen another 10-16 to compare it to, so it could just be a preproduction photo or a typo) Feels even more point-and-shooty than the Phillippi, which I attribute largely to the Katana shaft.

Five cues over about twenty years, of which I still have three. Not bad, I reckon.
 
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Schmelke A1. (gifted at age 8 in 1985, sold in 2012)
Wilson import.
Schmelke S series.
Schmelke pj.
Cuetec fancy.
Meucci 95-12.
Meucci sneaky.
Orlandi conversion. (picked up in 97 sold in 2012)
---Stopped playing 1998---
Navarro PI import.
Bludworth.
Schuler original.
Pierce.
Klapp.
Unknown sneaky
Bludworth BH.
Spates sneaky.
Pruhliere pj.
Gulyassy bj.
Bludworth sneaky.
Bludworth.
Espiritu 96.
Espiritu 98.
 
Myron-playing cue/plain/BEM//BEM shaft
Myron-break cue
Myron-playing cue w/inlays/BEM//BEM shaft

thanks Myron-they still hit good
 
Cues

What is your cue stick history? Here's mine

Unknown, gone in 3 days.
Schmelke, leather wrap
Viking, leather wrap
Josswest, leather wrap
Meucci, filled
Joss, Limited Edition, Irish
McDermott, all wood
Dominiak, Irish
Schmelke,Bocote, blk leather wrap

That took about 46 years and counting.

Adams Paduk, McDermott D-15, Bloodworth SP, John Guffy SP, Shurtz 4 point, DZ wrap less, first true custom! And with great luck my current player a Murry Tucker full splice purple heart hoppe. Playability nod goes to Tucker and DZ. Very close on these two. Greatest value and played great is the Shurtz, $180 . Guffy SP $45 used. Guffy SP's are never for sale and I know several players who have played them forever. One guy I play golf with has owned his Guffy his whole life! Never owned another cue! No LD in my barn and never sold a cue.
 
Mizerak fiberglass shaft kept about a month
Lucasi not a bad cue
Meucci gambler black dot shaft didn't care for shaft to whippy.
Mcdermott m79a 2007 cue of the year pretty stick kept about 6 months
Schon stl 7 OB1 shaft still had it about 3 yrs still my player
Phillipi ebony sneaky really like this cue bbut not as well as the Schon so I let it go.
 
Unknown cue when I was 13 (46 years ago) and still have it

Huebler

Huebler (both Hueblers stolen from a friends van)

Joss (sold to a young guy at the hall that broke the shaft....I want to break his head as this was a solid hitting cue)

Jerry Olivier

Jerry Olivier (daily player since 2005, ebony and ivory w/ ivory joint)
 
viking ( still have )

4 players - ( gave away ) wish i had kept one particular one

another player ( sold )

meucci gambler ( sold )

another meucci ( sold )

2 mc dermotts ( still have )

predator 1st generation blak 4 ( still have )

unknown pawn shop find ( still have ) best break cue i have ever used

fancy phillipi , ivory and abalone inlays , and silver stitch rings. ( daily player ) i like to look good even though i dont shoot good :)

oh yea , had a couple of cues i gave away about 30 years ago when i quit shooting to raise a family , bought them in a pool hall about 40 years ago, just dont remember what they were.
 
I had way too many to mention, my first cue was a $7 dollar cue from kmart, it had a screw on tip, and made a tink sound every time I hit a ball. I called it Tinkerball. A great hustle trick. Do a search for old loves on here, and you will see some of my cue history. My new cue is something bumperless and Hoppe,lol. Now that's history.
 
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Covering 42 years

Unknown aluminum cue 1971 (sold)
Adam wrapless 1973 (sold)
Adam Rempe Merry Widow 1982 (gave away)
Joss Merry Widow 1985 (still own)
Meucci HoF-1 1987 (sold after 15 yrs)
South West 1991 (sold after 20 yrs)
Meucci S/P 1992 (still own)
Scruggs 1996 (sold)
Schick 1997 (still own)
Szamboti 2006 (sold after 7 yrs)
Tucker 2011 (sold)
Peppers 2012 (still own)
Showman 2013 (still own)

The dates indicate when I purchased the cues. Since ordering the Joss, I have owned 10 cues and still have 5 of them. The only cues that were made for me were the Joss and the Peppers. I have heard that Joss was not making custom cues in 1985. But my cue was ordered to my specifications and took 3.5 months to receive. I also have 2 extra Showman shafts, 1 extra Schick shaft and 1 Predator 314-2.
 
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