TRUE OR FALSE: If you can't break a century, you shouldn't be making cues

[thelongbomber]

I wonder, how many cue makers are century breakers and does the ability to make centuries qualify you as a cue maker? I'm eager to hear because I'm thinking of getting into cue building and tip making as a hobby on the side and perhaps one day, a career.

John Parris? Yes
Mike Woolridge? Yes
Tom Gauthier? Yes, several perfects also
Aurora?
UT?
Burroughs and Watts?

Thoughts?

[Stick]

I wonder, how many cue makers are century breakers and does the ability to make centuries qualify you as a cue maker? I'm eager to hear because I'm thinking of getting into cue building and tip making as a hobby on the side and perhaps one day, a career.

John Parris? Yes
Mike Woolridge? Yes
Tom Gauthier? Yes, several perfects also
Aurora?
UT?
Burroughs and Watts?

Thoughts?

Don't think it is the main criteria. Ronnie O' Sullivan might be a great player but is probably a lousy artisan

[Freddie Ng]

abit off topic here.. but certainly not every one with John parris and MW or TW has very high or century breaks..

[thelongbomber]

Bit of a misunderstanding Freddie. Question should more precisely be "How many of the following cue makers have made a century?"

[hotpot]

I think the ability to make a good cue as little to do with your ability to play the game .

I know Trevor White is a very good player and has probably made countless centuries .

[Neil Taperell]

I like the question . Very interesting .

Its a bit like how many golf coaches where very good pro's . Most where not top class golfers but they coach very well .

[Oldgit]

Trevor White is indeed a very good player and has made over 300 century breaks!! I think it helps that a cuemaker is also a good player. Mind you, most century break snooker players can play with any cue!

Its NOT the cue, its the player!!

Oldgit

[el nork]

I don't think that you need to be a good player to make a good cue...

A little off topic but I know a guy who has his own buisness making some fantastic fishing rods - some of the best I have ever used - and he hates fishing (mainly because he is lousy at it). I see the same logic applying - if you have talent working the wood and know what makes a good cue/cue which makes people happy...

[cazmac1]

You don't have to be a century break player but it can't do you any harm.
My question is if your a very good player and make a cues for one of your customers and have a few hits with it and think to yourself, I don't like this cue. What do you do. Do you sell it anyway or make another. I can guess what the answer will be.
Just would like to add that I've seen posters on this forum make statments like, this is the best cue I ever had and then when you look at their stats, their highest breaks is something like 30. I just don't see how anyone whos has never made any more than 40 could have any real insight as to how a cue should perform.

[Acrowot]

Just would like to add that I've seen posters on this forum make statments like, this is the best cue I ever had and then when you look at their stats, their highest breaks is something like 30.


Original Source: http://www.thesnookerforum.com/board...#ixzz12Fsu1czu
TSF - TheSnookerForum.com

I think like you on this subject cazmac.

There seem to be quite a few that tell others what to do, but it seems that they do not have much knowledge themselves and then newbies think that whatever they say can be learned from.
:snooker:

[atm147iwish]

You don't have to be a century break player but it can't do you any harm.
My question is if your a very good player and make a cues for one of your customers and have a few hits with it and think to yourself, I don't like this cue. What do you do. Do you sell it anyway or make another. I can guess what the answer will be.
Just would like to add that I've seen posters on this forum make statments like, this is the best cue I ever had and then when you look at their stats, their highest breaks is something like 30. I just don't see how anyone whos has never made any more than 40 could have any real insight as to how a cue should perform.

great post

[trevs1]

You don't have to be a century break player but it can't do you any harm.
My question is if your a very good player and make a cues for one of your customers and have a few hits with it and think to yourself, I don't like this cue. What do you do. Do you sell it anyway or make another. I can guess what the answer will be.
Just would like to add that I've seen posters on this forum make statments like, this is the best cue I ever had and then when you look at their stats, their highest breaks is something like 30. I just don't see how anyone whos has never made any more than 40 could have any real insight as to how a cue should perform.

To answer the question in the above post, yes, you sell it.

Reason being, that if it's to the specs they gave you, and, the quality is there, it is ultimately what they asked you to produce, and so as a maker you have fulfilled your brief.

As to the rest of the post, I agree that a player who has minimal ability or experience in playing beyond a certain level, can only be guessing as to whether ANY cue is as good as they feel it is. Still, by the same token, if it works for them and gives them a feeling of improvement, then their statement may well be accurate to some degree.

To answer the O.P's question......

No, I don't think it is too important that a maker has the ability to use a cue to the level to make frame winning (or century) breaks on a regular basis. However, it "might" give those makers who can some kind of advantage in empathising with players of a broad range of ability / experience. I use the word "might" above because any ability of a cue maker to play to a high standard is only useful if that maker can verbally convey that ability and experience in a way that the majority of "players" can understand, and, in a way that benefits them in relation to cues.

[cazmac1]

Hi trev, I hope you didn't think that my post was directed at you. I was merely making the point that a cue maker is also a business man, so as business man their first priority is to make money so to some extent any perceived knowledge of how a cue should perform could work against him. At the end of the day no one, no matter how good a cue maker is can say how a cue will perform until it's made. So to answer the question, no you don't have to make frame winning breaks to be a cue good cue maker.

[trevs1]

Hi Pete,

I didn't think it was aimed at anyone in particular, so no worries there.

My response was simply to give my own view of what any maker would do...probably.

The rest of what I wrote was in response to the Original posters' question.

I would make one point though, it is possible to predict pretty well what a cue will perform like before it's made, but, only when the specs of such a cue are within certain parameters. Where it becomes a little less predictable is when you have to follow a the guidance given by the person paying to have a cue built. At times, their choice on that is perhaps not the best one they could make to get the very best cue.

[thelongbomber]

Of course, looking back it now, understanding wood, finishing, and wood curing is such an important process in the making of cues, and that has nothing to do with your ability to play the game. I would guess that a world-class furniture maker and timber curer could probably make a first-rate cue.

Makes sense as well that playing gives you a bias towards certain cues and cue profiles so customers asking for something outside your preferred playing dimensions in a cue might be difficult to achieve if you are just a good snooker player and not necessarily a good cue maker and wood finisher. Being empathic towards a person's individual ability also helps I would imagine.

I bring up this question because there are several cue makers here that have supposedly produced great cues, but I have never seen them play snooker. Take Aurora for example. I have never seen him play, but the cue reviews on here say that his product is top class.

Another example is the late Tom Gauthier. I have owned and played with several of his cues. Some of his work is top class and could easily be the best cue a player ever owned. It's also no coincidence that Tom and his brother Rene were also century-breakers and have many perfect games. They were both held in high regard in snooker when they were playing their best.