The true worth of a cue?

[carlos1981]

I recently placed an order with Mike Wooldridge, I had owned my previous cue (a pretty crap cue craft black butt) for almost 15 years, it cost about £90 at the time and served me well, but after a lot of research I decided to jump in at the deep end and spend a fair few hundred quid on new a cue. After a long search, it looked like the best of the best came from Mike Wooldridge.

Since placing the order i have taken a fair bit of stick from my mates, most of whom think that the price i paid is far more than needed and in their eyes a waste of money......What a load of s*ite!

One of my friends plays keyboard in a band, his current keyboard is worth £2000, or it was when he bought it. I asked him how many times he uses it in a week, maybe 2 or 3? I will use my cue at least 4/5 times a week, if i get the chance more. When he bought the keyboard, 6 months ago, it cost £2000, now it’s worth no more than £1300. I asked him how many times he will use this keyboard in 3 years’ time....ummmm, rarely, probably not at all. How much will it be worth, probably a couple of hundred quid? I will still be using my cue 4/5 times a week, it will STILL be worth around what i paid. And what about in 15, even 20 years’ time? When his keyboard is sitting on top of a skip, or looking "retro" in someone’s spare room with outdated technology, I will still be using my cue, it will be worth as much as i paid for it if not more, and then we will see the true "worth" of my cue.

I think you can make this analogy with many things, and although spending £600/700/800 on a cue may initially seem crazy to a lot of people, i believe that if we try hard enough.....we can almost justify it!

Now I'm not saying that you can't find a decent cue for much less, obviously you can, and if you find THE cue for £50 then well done!

Not sure the missus would understand all this mind, she's not too up on analogies!

[MikeWooldridge]

like anything in life, some people will appreciate extra levels of quality, some won't.

but time is money and if something takes more time, it costs more.

i am a musician also with my own band. my keyboard is a nord stage that costs around £2500. my guitar is a gibson custom shop at around £1500. my p.a. is bose at around £3000.

i spend a fortune on my equipment, not cos it makes me better, but simply cos you cannot beat quality and i appreciate all the little things being just a little better made made etc..

if you know what you want, and can afford, then why not? you can't take your money with you when on your final trip upstairs (or downstairs in my case).

yes, you can be lucky and find the perfect playing cue cheap. and if you can, then good luck. if not, the choice is any number of bespoke makers who will go the extra mile to try to make something better than a bog standard mass produced cue.

of all sports, i would guess snooker/pool players spend the least. look at the price some golf clubs can be! and how often do golfers 'treat' themselves to a new driver? tennis players constantly replace their rackets. etc., etc..

a cue, theoretically, is for life, so if you get what you want and are happy with, at whatever cost it is, then overall it's an extremely cheap pastime and a small cost when weighed up with the amount of pleasure it may give you for many years.

[carlos1981]

Wish I'd known you were a musician Mike, could have offered to trade in some of my old Jap acoustics! Had an Ibanez 12 string with the most amazing Brazilian Rosewood that I'm sure you would have appreciated!

[lloouu]

a cue, theoretically, is for life, so if you get what you want and are happy with, at whatever cost it is, then overall it's an extremely cheap pastime and a small cost when weighed up with the amount of pleasure it may give you for many years.[/QUOTE]

100% + 100% agreed with. For a great cue, even you willing to pay a lot, it doesn't you will get a good one. Lucky I got a very very good one from Mike. Thx Mike and please check the email I sent you. Another order is pending... :snooker:

My brother want to rob my cue after he tried on it. But I won't let go unless I receive another one from you.

[frenchi]

1)Sorry, my English is poor!!!
2) I joined Mike!
I was a professional musician, my set: Gibson Les Paul Custom, 69 Fender Strat, Gibson 335 ... Amps: Mesa Boogie, Marshall Plexi, Fender Deluxe ... I dare not give the price of all this, but the price is (almost) nothing compared to the pleasure given and received. Yes the quality is often a price, I would do not the world ... Today, after going through several top-level sport, I am a professional snooker and Blackball coach. Yes, I tried tons of cues, and yes it is possible to find cues that are convenient for low price but it is very rare and unfortunately, the quality does not in time ... So I am interested to professionals: There are things that you can watch and are quite objective such as the accuracy of splicing work, rafters and the quality of the tree, the softness of the finish, flexibility of the shaft .... Of course, there is something very annoying: you can rarely try before ordering! A good cue maker always say: If this cue does not suit you, return it to me, I'll make you a better cue! This has never happened to me, but the price that we put in this kind of cue is guaranteed, and of course, if this should come, it must be very rare, you can request it without remorse. Consider also that you can sell it one day if you really want to part with a good price!
And now you ask me about which cue i'm playing? HEUUUU ...How long my cue is ready Mike Ok, you work on it, I expected ))

[maxz]

i believe all the hard work people put in deserve a recongition. so what u paid is not just a piece of wood. its somebody hard work and time spend to attune this piece of wood into a cue to allow u to perform to ur best possible. that why we work hard to improve our living standard all the time. )

[denja]

like anything in life, some people will appreciate extra levels of quality, some won't.

but time is money and if something takes more time, it costs more.

i am a musician also with my own band. my keyboard is a nord stage that costs around £2500. my guitar is a gibson custom shop at around £1500. my p.a. is bose at around £3000.

i spend a fortune on my equipment, not cos it makes me better, but simply cos you cannot beat quality and i appreciate all the little things being just a little better made made etc..

if you know what you want, and can afford, then why not? you can't take your money with you when on your final trip upstairs (or downstairs in my case).

yes, you can be lucky and find the perfect playing cue cheap. and if you can, then good luck. if not, the choice is any number of bespoke makers who will go the extra mile to try to make something better than a bog standard mass produced cue.

of all sports, i would guess snooker/pool players spend the least. look at the price some golf clubs can be! and how often do golfers 'treat' themselves to a new driver? tennis players constantly replace their rackets. etc., etc..

a cue, theoretically, is for life, so if you get what you want and are happy with, at whatever cost it is, then overall it's an extremely cheap pastime and a small cost when weighed up with the amount of pleasure it may give you for many years.

I own a Gibson ES 175D and a top of the range Gypsy Jazz Guitar (Django) the one thing about owning a top of the range instrument is you can no longer blame your tools for crap playing, the instrument will take you as far as you want to go, I paid over £1000 for my guitar many years ago but the amount of pleasure and not wishing to be mercenary money from gigs it has made me, it has paid for itself many times there is a old saying "WHATEVER FLOATS YOUR BOAT" I look at people with top of the range phones that do everything and think "Ye Gods" all that money for a b****** phone when you boil it down its for making phone calls not for watching a farting cat bet someone out there has that apps. but that "FLOATS THEIR BOAT".

[MikeWooldridge]

Amps: Mesa Boogie

yikes! i forgot my mesa gear. formula pre-amp, 2 x transatlantic heads, small cab, wide body cab, nomad combo.

man, i gotta sell some of this stuff, it's just sitting there gathering dust...

[denja]

yikes! i forgot my mesa gear. formula pre-amp, 2 x transatlantic heads, small cab, wide body cab, nomad combo.

man, i gotta sell some of this stuff, it's just sitting there gathering dust...

Polytone Mini Brute, Roland, Jazz Chorus, Boss Digital Studio BR532 a real oldie, Upright Double Bass. Two Gitane Gypsy Jazz guitars Yep Mike that dust gets everywhere.

[shaun]

Let me point out two things

1. A cue should be personal, and according to Steve Davis you should stick with it for your whole life (unless damaged or stolen) and play with it so much that it becomes an extension of your arm, and if you are blindfolded and given 8 or 10 cues to feel, you should be able to identify your own cue, if you cant then you are still not married to your cue yet. so it makes sense when people want to spend a bit extra for a cue which will be used lifelong, but also to me it simply dosent make sense to spend extra money on the badge, i would rather pay a bit more on the shaft.

2. Within UK we have a lot of good cue makers, they all make good cues, but some will rip you off because of their high reputation, some wont because not many pros use their cue, but it dosent mean that they make bad cues.

I received my custom made Mastercraft few weeks ago, to my surprise the quality of the shaft, grains, craftsmanship is as good as any John Parris cue selection, i know because i have visited the John Parris shop many times to see how their cue feels.
I am so glad i managed to get the same quality cue but at a less price.

Now the worth of the cue will increase as time goes by if you are talking about custom made MW or John parris cue. Because a second hand MW or Parris cue can be bought and used straight away whereas if you order a new one you have to wait at least 8 months, but the drawback of the second hand ones are they are expensive because of the shorter waiting time and also finding a splicing design which you fancy can take a lot of research.

How much will i charge for my cue (if i want to sell it) after 4 years?
i would say £5000,
sounds silly, also it clearly means that i actually dont want to sell it, it would become one of my limbs by then.