John Parris Cues

[Wity]

Don't forget the lathe to fit the jelly tot though Spud that's essential.

[Watford]

You can get special laminated jelly tots from Wity at £10 a pop!

[mattyuk]

Ever since I got more interested into looking at a new cue, (because for about 5 years I played with a BCE!), I became totally fascinated by cue making. I would love to watch a top cuemaker like Trevor or Mike make a cue from start to finish.

One day I will make a cue!

[Darth_Spud]

Don't forget the lathe to fit the jelly tot though Spud that's essential.

HAHA! I didn't bother with a lathe after though, I made myself a 'cue turning device' (patent pending ) out of plywood and some old rubber wheels kind of like the NiveCraft Pocket Lathe. Works a treat! Ill send you the quick sketches I made if you want to make one of your own Wity

Back on topic

Has anyone seen this on Ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JOHN-PARRIS-SP...QQcmdZViewItem

Surly this John Parris cue can't be worth £300? Certainly doesn't look it anyway.

[ADR147]

hopeful price for a centre split pool cue spec i would have though 150-200 nearer the mark.

[platt]

That cue was on ebay a few weeks back (hit and miss) ?

[Argee1977]

There are so many good cue makers out there just now that there is a great choice for any buyers, from what i've seen in the cues i've gone through i'd agree with ADR, Mike Wooldridge cues are in many cases a work of art, but it doesn't guarantee you will play any better than with a Parris cue or others. I've just switched from a Wooldridge cue to a Hunt & Osborne and have to say that the feel of the H&O cue is better for me, but in reality if i was to take that cue to Wooldridge, Parris, White, etc they would all produce a fantastic cue that would have a very similar feel.

I guess what i'm trying to say is that the best thing for a cue maker is the personal touch, being able to talk to them or even better, visit them and test a few cues to give them the exact specification that you want.

[hegeland]

Interesting thread, I can see many similarities with the debate the pool community has had about Predator.

For me, I prefer cues that are not custom made. I don't like any fancy looking stuff, just a plain cue with the latest "technology" inside.

[keith auld]

Thank goodness there is the choice, variety and quality difference out there. There is a place for all in this market from the cheaper mass produced cues for the beginners to the handcrafted bespoke cue for those that appreciate the quality and can afford it. Fortunately there don't appear to be any cowboys in the ranks of bespoke cuemakers in this country, survival in a competitive market ensures that any cowboys will disappear fairly rapidly, the snooker community are fairly picky about what they will accept or not as the case may be, and this is illustrated by the response to the threads received. In some ways it's healthy that John Parris is continually talked about in this fashion as he set the original benchmark of a successful small cuemaker in the global market and this has encouraged the other cuemakers to make, advertise and be judged on what they produce against this original standard. It is therefore understandable that the bar standard has been raised and what the respected bespoke cuemakers are now making are, to a degree, 'works of art', the quality of which is exceptional due to the time and care each of us takes over producing and finishing an individual cue. I'm sure as cuemakers, we'd love to have John's orderbook and considering the number of cues he must make or have made for him by his employees in the course of a year, I personally wouldn't wont to undertake, and that he maintains the standard he does is remarkable, I know from my point of view that receiving orders for cues with complex patterns and colours, balance points, descending arrows on shafts etc., is very exacting and difficult to achieve in large quantities, so when I receive orders for 10 or 20 cues with these sorts of requirements, it's a struggle to maintain delivery dates and complete other individual orders at the same time, and maintain the quality you'd like in a perfect world.
Long may the competition continue between all us cuemakers - the only people who can benefit in the long run is the customer, you lot out there wanting our cues; however bare in mind that individual craftsmanship comes at a price and we all have either mortgages and families to support, so don't try to squeeze us to hard for that deal you're after!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[trevs1]

Thank goodness there is the choice, variety and quality difference out there. There is a place for all in this market from the cheaper mass produced cues for the beginners to the handcrafted bespoke cue for those that appreciate the quality and can afford it. Fortunately there don't appear to be any cowboys in the ranks of bespoke cuemakers in this country, survival in a competitive market ensures that any cowboys will disappear fairly rapidly, the snooker community are fairly picky about what they will accept or not as the case may be, and this is illustrated by the response to the threads received. In some ways it's healthy that John Parris is continually talked about in this fashion as he set the original benchmark of a successful small cuemaker in the global market and this has encouraged the other cuemakers to make, advertise and be judged on what they produce against this original standard. It is therefore understandable that the bar standard has been raised and what the respected bespoke cuemakers are now making are, to a degree, 'works of art', the quality of which is exceptional due to the time and care each of us takes over producing and finishing an individual cue. I'm sure as cuemakers, we'd love to have John's orderbook and considering the number of cues he must make or have made for him by his employees in the course of a year, I personally wouldn't wont to undertake, and that he maintains the standard he does is remarkable, I know from my point of view that receiving orders for cues with complex patterns and colours, balance points, descending arrows on shafts etc., is very exacting and difficult to achieve in large quantities, so when I receive orders for 10 or 20 cues with these sorts of requirements, it's a struggle to maintain delivery dates and complete other individual orders at the same time, and maintain the quality you'd like in a perfect world.Long may the competition continue between all us cuemakers - the only people who can benefit in the long run is the customer, you lot out there wanting our cues; however bare in mind that individual craftsmanship comes at a price and we all have either mortgages and families to support, so don't try to squeeze us to hard for that deal you're after!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Could'nt agree more with this part.

[JP1]

Thanks for proof reading my post Mike, maybe they would have been more successful using my spelling?

John Parris has summonsed the demons himself by proclaiming to be the worlds leading cue expert whose products are of a standard others try to aspire to, and he will be judged by that claim, if you care to compare, John has lifted much of what he claims straight from the Peradon website, so much for innovation.
Anyone may knock Parris but you cannot deny his ability to market himself and to project a trade logo recognized around the world, all of that has been associated with and probably still is a lot of hard work and dedication, not to mention the money, the cues he provides pro bono for the leading pros have got to be paid for by other means.

As the old saying goes, the harder I work the luckier I get.

My opinion is that problems and complaints arise when the product fails to live up to the sales hype, I invite everyone to look at these two Parris ultimate cues for sale on ebay no's 110253901259 & 110253910775 and tell me that this is the pinnacle of cue craftsmenship, and before the usual Parris defence force jumps in, these cues are 100% authentic, you may also ask ebay why they no longer remove obvious Parris copies from their site, the answer you will get is that John had complained in the past that EVERY cue on ebay was a fake, for obvious reasons, it has crossed my mind that he may be quite happy to have these fakes float around on ebay, it offers a convenient way to explain away some of his lesser creations, oh that cue, yes that is an obvious fake;;
He could easily produce cues in a way which does not allow copies to be made, but I suspect he may not want to, as this would lock in those cues to him. No one can claim that cues produced in Asia are worse then those produced in England, you get good and bad in both countries, England has the edge simply because all the snooker events take place there, all the players are there and it is easier for them to get in touch with the cuemaker whenever they need to, the cues made today by O Min or Master Cue are as good as the best produced in England, and they have moved to protect their product by hallmarking the brass joints and logo discs in a way that is not easy copied, O Min was the first to use the vacuum joint, he hallmarks the joint which was patented by Luo Pei who founded the Hengxuan Billiards Factory in the south of China, and not in England,all those who know Luo Pei will also know of his early association with most, especially the better known, cue manufacturers in the UK, there are some diabolical cues being made in China as well, if Dominic Dale is still on this forum he may give his comments on cues he had made by Luo Pei and how they compare to the very best produced in England ?
Buying a cue is a personal thing, not just from what suits you length weight and feel wise, I have a number of one off cues, including a very early Parris one piece, which is a truly magnificent cue, I would not buy one of his current cues because they are not made by him, but that is just me, just a few eeks ago I took delivery of another special made by what I regard as one of the best cue makers in England, I appreciate the tradition of English cue making and effort that went into finishing that cue, I have the exact same cue made by Master Cue & O Min both at least as good in quality and better in finish, there is not one linishing mark visible on the butt from both O Min & Master Cue, and they were 4 times cheaper, so from a players point of view, these cues are superb cues to own and play with, I am happy to pay what I have paid for the English cue,and will continue to buy on that basis, it is my decission and that in my opinion is how it should be, if you are happy to buy just a name in John Parris knowing he had nothing to do with the creation of your cue, then do so, it is your choice and your money, feeling happy about your cue will allow you to play your best whether you pay 20or 2000 pounds for a cue.

I have never had a cue made by Keith Auld, if you read this post Keith how can I get hold of one of your cues? would love to have one.

[keith auld]

Hi JP - I agree totally with everything you've said - it's reasoned, fair, unbiased and what's more contains information that I didn't know, from which I've now learnt, and hopefully will be the wiser for it.
You can contact me through my temporary website (a new one is being constructed at the moment that will accept orders and paypal and also allow individual cues to be extracted from the sight and blown up in size, for a better look) at www.cuemaker.co.uk
or email me at cuemaker1@aol.com - I look forward to hearing from you in due course and would relish the opportunity of making a cue that you could compare against all those others you have/had.

[poolqjunkie]

Well, at least John Parris is not over charging his customers like Kevin Deroo does with his butterfly spliced cue in the USD $800+ mark.

I now own a John Parris that he made in the early 90's. I like it. It plays better than my other Parris cues from before. I was thinking real hard about getting another cue, and I came across this JP. I got it because it really played very nicely for my liking. There was a Will Hunt that I tried, and it was a great cue, but I ended up getting the JP--I was able to get more action on the white ball with less effort with this JP. The shaft was a bit warp at the front end, but I like it a lot. The Will Hunt was a nice cue, with very solid hit and was fancier. The price difference was not really that big a deal, but the way the cue played was what made the difference to me.

I agree however that his web site is a bit misleading, but let's face it, it is marketing. I think he should have rephased his words a bit differently. It is very difficult to follow up on what cues the pros are using at present, so it is impossible to make an accurate claim by saying something like what he is saying unless he is paying them money with a contact to bind them to use his cues exclusively for a period of time. John Parris could have said such and such have won such and such championships with his cues--without getting into whether such and such is still using his cues now.

As for the John parris cues now, I think he must have pre made a bunch of parts or have set up his machinery to build cues with a certain length and dimension so he can finish them much faster. Therefore, it would take him extra time to reset all his set up to build a cue that is shorter or longer. With the amount of orders he is getting, he would never be able to get anything done if he builds every cues from scratch.

Now about the claim that he was buying blanks from Thailand, I think if he was, then the points of his recent cues would have been more even......just joking.

Putting his perhaps misleading claims aside, I think no one can dispute the fact the John Parris is a great cue maker, and has set the standards for many to follow, right?

[ADR147]

hey keith, who is your sales guy? he knows an awful lot about you, and has said a lot of the same things you have said on here about joints and things. quoted from another forum.

http://www.snookertalk.com/archive/i...hp/t-2608.html

20.11.07
"The best cues are still made by Keith Auld - He's been making cues for over 30 years and preceeds all the individual cuemakers like Parris, Will Hunt (Hunt & O'Byrne), Wooldridge and others by a number of years. Robert Osborne was one of his many apprentices (so if you like Robert's cues - you now know who taught him). Last year Keith was featured on BBC's South Today TV channel showing how to handmake snooker cues and also headed a cue making day at the Royal Victoria Country Park, to help budding cuemakers trying to learn the trade. His cue joints are still made by Mick Reece, who also used to make all the cue joints for Hunt & O'Byrne in the 80's, and designed and made the original spirolok quick release joint used by Hunt & O'Byrne and later copied and still used by Robert Osborne. Moreover Keith is the only cuemaker mentioned in the Matchroom Snooker book (first published in 1988).
Keith still makes genuine handmade cues in Southampton, Hampshire and they're a lot less costly than many others - check them out on www.sotonsnooker.com (http://www.sotonsnooker.com) - what's more he straightens and re-builds cues as well and is possibly the only cuemaker who trains and teaches the cuemaking art to the next generation - definitely still the best cuemaker
Y. Barrett"

[MikeWooldridge]

wtf?!?

one month later:

http://www.thesnookerforum.com/board...ght=keith+auld

remarkably similar....