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Pokermonster
07 Nov 14 15:23
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Date Joined: 14 Sep 04
| Topic/replies: 12,992 | Blogger: Pokermonster's blog
Somebody trying to sell a John Parris cue for £2,300.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/John-Parris-Ultimate-Set-1-Piece-Cue-/271650957619?pt=UK_SportingGoods_SnookerPool_RL&ha****m3f3fa8a933

I find it amazing how many people waste their money on very expensive cues.  I was a cuemaker myself for several years so am equally guilty of profiteering on the back of the erroneous "the more it costs, the better it must be and the better I'll play" belief of many players.  This simply isn't the case for pool and snooker equipment.  Whatever the model, most cues used to cost me less than £25 to make and I retailed them from between £50 and £160.  The more expensive models (although no better at all in quality) were by far the most popular.

John Parris cues are excellent, as good as anything available on the market, but believe me there are equally good examples available elsewhere for £100 or less.
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Report Pokermonster November 7, 2014 3:27 PM GMT
Some of the cues coming out of China these days, in particular, are top notch.
Report jed.davison November 7, 2014 3:28 PM GMT
Incredible how JP cues hold their value. I've got a JP Champion, beautiful piece of wood, £485 new, I reckon I could get £350 for mine and have been considering selling it and getting a more whippy cue, try to go back to my natural cueing. The JP really helped me when I bought it, but I'm now using it as a scapegoat for my lack of form.

I think the guy selling the one in your example was recently trying to sell the case alone, it was up for silly money.
Report jed.davison November 7, 2014 3:29 PM GMT
Got a JP aluminium case and extension too, think the £350 will include those as well.
Report Pokermonster November 7, 2014 3:36 PM GMT
Good afternoon, Jed. I hope you are well, sir.

I used to know John quite well, he's a very nice fellow.
Report Pokermonster November 7, 2014 3:41 PM GMT
at the other end of the scale, a friend of mine recently purchased on of these sets from eBay.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OMG-60-TOP-3-4-BURL-AND-EBONY-SNOOKER-CUE-WITH-CASE-TSS6-/151408727207?pt=UK_SportingGoods_SnookerPool_RL&ha****m2340a9d4a7

I initially advised against it, thinking it must be a Chinese scam of some sort.  Anyway, he didn't listen to me, ordered it and it arrived withing the week.  I was completely astonished.  The cue itself is A1 quality, absolutely fantastic.  How on earth there is a profit in it for the seller is beyond me.
Report jed.davison November 7, 2014 3:43 PM GMT
Yeah I met him when I got mine, only briefly obviously. Was a good fifteen years ago. Hit a few balls on that section of table he kept in his showroom, sold. I hadn't played for a few years at the time after some ar****le nicked my previous one. 

I'm off for some practise quite soon, I'm not far away from giving the game up the way I've been playing. Flying at pool though, think I might be playing too much pool and the snooker is suffering because of it.
Report jed.davison November 7, 2014 3:45 PM GMT
A boy I've been helping recently bought a very nice cue from the Cue Doctor in Southend. He likes it, but I'm not sure about it, cost him £200ish.

And thanks, I am well, I hope you are too.
Report Pokermonster November 7, 2014 3:50 PM GMT
Is the Cue Doctor called Mike somebody?  Mike Woolbridge maybe?  I think I remember the fellow, made some nice cues.  £200 is fair enough for a genuinely hand made cue, a man's got to make a living after all.

The Chinese must be killing everyone in the trade at the moment, the quality of the stuff they're churning out is phenomenal.
Report jed.davison November 7, 2014 3:53 PM GMT
I think he's called Gary Taylor, but I wouldn't be sure, not been there myself.
Report Pokermonster November 7, 2014 3:56 PM GMT
A lot of punters get confused when faced with the choice of machine-spliced or hand-spliced, not helped by the fact many unscruplulous sellers imply that the (invariably more expensive) hand-spliced models are hand-made.  This is simply not the case: the vast majority of hand-spliced cues are made by a machine just like the rest.
Report Pokermonster November 7, 2014 3:58 PM GMT
Ah, Gary Taylor, I don't think I know him.  I definitely remember the nickname of Cue Doctor, though.
Report jed.davison November 7, 2014 4:01 PM GMT
Mike Wooldridge is a different guy, just looked up his website.

You're right about quality and price though, best cue I've used - or at least the one I could miss fewest balls with - cost about £20 and was in the rack of a snooker club I went in when I was younger. Then one day I went there, and it wasn't there any more. very sad day, because then I had to go out and buy one.
Report Pokermonster November 7, 2014 4:05 PM GMT
Unlucky, Jed.

I remember some lovely old cues at my local snooker club, too, back in the day.  Notable how light they used to be in weight and, conversely, how thick the old-timers used to favour the butt ends.
Report Burton-Brewers November 7, 2014 4:14 PM GMT
my one piece cue was made by Glover Cues when Tony made them at his house (1986) before moving to the current workshop he now owns. A mate had a lovely old cue which I really got on with, and Tony copied it exactly using a micrometer to measure all the way down the shaft, even the centre of balance was spot on. Ash shaft and plain ebony hand-spliced butt and it cost me all of £70. A couple of years later a friend broke the last inch off the cue so then I had to have 4 snakewood splices added to the bottom to get the length back, I had to get the butt tapered down to get the weight correct but it was never really the same. A member of the England pool team offered me £750 for it in 1995, he loved it and was desperate for it but I never sold.
Report Pokermonster November 7, 2014 4:24 PM GMT
Good afternoon, BB.

I'm of the opinion that if a cue is similar to the sort that suits your style it only takes a day or two to get used to it.  I've got a collection of about twenty, all roughly the same weight, tip size etc, and I could pick out any one of them and play to my usual standard.
Report Burton-Brewers November 7, 2014 4:32 PM GMT
a friend I played snooker with was a landscape gardener, and if he came across any useful woods during his work he used to save them for Tony. In return he used to make him a free cue, probably a couple a year, and he then used to sell them to players in Hong Kong as they went absolutely crazy for them.
Report Pokermonster November 7, 2014 4:36 PM GMT
That sounds like a nice deal!
Report maleuk01. November 7, 2014 6:55 PM GMT
the way i play snooker, it woudnt matter if i had a £500 cue or a set of chopsticks!

but i draw a line at the cues in the snooker hall i frequent most, all bent with the old fashioned pool tips rammed on the top Laugh
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