Parris visit

[LucLex3119]

I can see the points being made in this thread but I have to say this.
I'm sure John Parris has a very close eye on how his cues are made. There is no possible way he can make all of the cues on order himself but surely he makes sure they go to customers in top condition?
Would you stop buying Nike trainers because Phil Knight doesn't hand make every pair made like he did in the beginning?
Would you stop buying Versace shirts knowing Versace had them machine stitched due to massive orders?
What about iPhones, Levi jeans?
My point is that although the inventor of a certain product does not make that product by hand any more doesn't mean it is a bad product.

[svendh]

I can see the points being made in this thread but I have to say this.
I'm sure John Parris has a very close eye on how his cues are made. There is no possible way he can make all of the cues on order himself but surely he makes sure they go to customers in top condition?
Would you stop buying Nike trainers because Phil Knight doesn't hand make every pair made like he did in the beginning?
Would you stop buying Versace shirts knowing Versace had them machine stitched due to massive orders?
What about iPhones, Levi jeans?
My point is that although the inventor of a certain product does not make that product by hand any more doesn't mean it is a bad product.

nerver mind, this is just the odd parris bashing thread

[LucLex3119]

An email I got from John about the stack of shafts in his shop. See below.

A couple of people have told me about this post I hadn't seen it myself or
the pics but we do have shafts out in the shop from time to time as this is
where I do my selecting for individual cues. I lay out the job tickets on
the snooker table and pick out the most suitable shaft for that particular
order.
Is it unusual for a cue maker to have batches of shafts around, I have to
make the shafts first before I can do the splicing work.
If I had anything to hide would I be stupid enough to leave the shafts in
full view in the shop.

Some models are hand planed more than others, the shafts in the shop this
week were for a batch of Classic up to Regal cues from our Parris collection
range.
All our cues are hand planed to their final taper, the ones in the shop
where still 12.5-13mm at the tip so still had Quite a lot to come off and
that will be done by hand.

What we say on our site is that everything is made on site here in our
London workshop, which it is, so I am surprised what would make people think
we buy shafts in just because you see a batch of shafts in the shop.

I know this sort of thing goes on with some cue makers but I can assure you
I have too much pride in my product and integrity to do that.
I do find it frustrating when I go to great lengths to find and select the
timber and take a lot of trouble making the shafts for people to say we buy
them in.
There are much bigger batches with hundreds of shafts in various stages
throughout my workshop, so batches of shafts are not an unusual thing to
see.
We need to make a lot of shafts to give us the choice to select from and we
usually end up rejecting and cutting up over a third of the ones at the
stage you see in the photo to keep the quality.

It seems standard practice for some people on the Snooker Forum to
immediately come to the wrong conclusion and spread malicious rumours about
us.

It's a shame the person that took this picture felt he had to be sneaky and
didn't have the curtisy to take the trouble to ask me about the shafts
instead of posting it up suggesting what at best is malicious speculation. I
would like it if he had the decency to give me a call to discuss why he felt
he should do this but I doubt that will happen as most people hide behind
made up user names.

I hope this clarifies everything for you but if not please do not hesitate
to give me a call to discuss this further. Sorry if it's a bit of a rant I
did not mean to shoot the messenger. Thanks for bringing it to my attention
and not jumping to the conclusions that many seem to do.

Please feel free to share this with the forum. I tend to stay off it as much
as possible as lot of things about Parris cues on there are completely
inaccurate and do tend to wind me up, plus I am far too busy actually making
cues.

[cueman]

I think there are a few people on here who owe JP a full and frank apology!

[golferson123]

Not really ,whichever way you look at it those are turned shafts.which makes those cues hand finished and not hand made ergo if not bought in then he has a wood turning lathe

[Ramon]

An email I got from John about the stack of shafts in his shop. See below.

A couple of people have told me about this post I hadn't seen it myself or
the pics but we do have shafts out in the shop from time to time as this is
where I do my selecting for individual cues. I lay out the job tickets on
the snooker table and pick out the most suitable shaft for that particular
order.
Is it unusual for a cue maker to have batches of shafts around, I have to
make the shafts first before I can do the splicing work.
If I had anything to hide would I be stupid enough to leave the shafts in
full view in the shop.
Some models are hand planed more than others, the shafts in the shop this
week were for a batch of Classic up to Regal cues from our Parris collection
range.
All our cues are hand planed to their final taper, the ones in the shop
where still 12.5-13mm at the tip so still had Quite a lot to come off and
that will be done by hand.

What we say on our site is that everything is made on site here in our
London workshop, which it is, so I am surprised what would make people think
we buy shafts in just because you see a batch of shafts in the shop.

I know this sort of thing goes on with some cue makers but I can assure you
I have too much pride in my product and integrity to do that.
I do find it frustrating when I go to great lengths to find and select the
timber and take a lot of trouble making the shafts for people to say we buy
them in.
There are much bigger batches with hundreds of shafts in various stages
throughout my workshop, so batches of shafts are not an unusual thing to
see.
We need to make a lot of shafts to give us the choice to select from and we
usually end up rejecting and cutting up over a third of the ones at the
stage you see in the photo to keep the quality.

It seems standard practice for some people on the Snooker Forum to
immediately come to the wrong conclusion and spread malicious rumours about
us.

It's a shame the person that took this picture felt he had to be sneaky and
didn't have the curtisy to take the trouble to ask me about the shafts
instead of posting it up suggesting what at best is malicious speculation. I
would like it if he had the decency to give me a call to discuss why he felt
he should do this but I doubt that will happen as most people hide behind
made up user names.

I hope this clarifies everything for you but if not please do not hesitate
to give me a call to discuss this further. Sorry if it's a bit of a rant I
did not mean to shoot the messenger. Thanks for bringing it to my attention
and not jumping to the conclusions that many seem to do.

Please feel free to share this with the forum. I tend to stay off it as much
as possible as lot of things about Parris cues on there are completely
inaccurate and do tend to wind me up, plus I am far too busy actually making
cues.

good point !!

well, I think this will clarify the issue for everyone.
LucLex ,, thanks to consult this matter with JP and give us the right information about this matter .

[LucLex3119]

Would it really matter if the shafts are turned to start with. John says these specific shafts are 12-13mm and will be Plained by hand to their final taper. All the main tapering and splicing is done by hand which is the important bit. I just think people are eager to slag off rather than phone the man himself to ask the question.

I spoke with John for 20 minutes earlier this evening and he explained everything.

[LucLex3119]

No problem.

[Ramon]

not to say that I change my opinion about those waiting times btw,,
.as i said, no matter to me where those shafts come from.3 year waiting time for a cue, is in my opinion not fair to the customers.
I know JP is busy but sum how i hope he give his comment about those waiting times as well and clarify this issue for everyone on this forum.

[LucLex3119]

The specification for an ultimate 1pc is so high that it takes a very long time to select the right shaft. John told me that after the selection has been made he still doesn't know for sure until the final planing stages of the shaft if it is still going to be good enough. If there is any discrepancy whatsoever it is rejected. The blemish can be removed by cutting the shaft down and using what's left for a 3/4 ultimate. That depends obviously on where the the blemish is. If not suitable the shaft will be removed from the process. It's then back to the drawing board to find another suitable plank of ash. This adds massive amounts of time to the whole process. And the fact that his cues are so sought after the back log must be massive.

[LucLex3119]

But I definitely agree, 3 years for a cue is a very long time. As I know from experience the customer is told all the details when ordering the cue.

[Ramon]

But I definitely agree, 3 years for a cue is a very long time. As I know from experience the customer is told all the details when ordering the cue.

yes sum of them. I also know sum who is told 12 months an after 3 yrs , the cue is still not finished . which imo is not fair.
do'nt get me wrong, i undrstand that every cue maker regardls jp or sumone els , need time to make sure you get what u payed for .
JP is not the only one . DC has about 2.5 yrs waiting time ?? What about TW ? also about 2 yrs .
Lets face it , in this case JP has also more Customers an orders comper to TW . So , He is busy.
He has also sum agents in other cntrys ( like china ), those agents re also a important factor in this matter. ( not saying i blame that guy . cus i do'nt. I would do it either . everyone wants to make sum money from his bussines ).
But , I do belive he has to stop taking niuew orders until he can catch up . ( like DC or TW did ). Cus this is not fair to people who were told btn 12 an 16 months an re still waiting.
anyway, it's just my opinion about this matter. ( maybe i'm wrong ).

[LucLex3119]

I understand what your say and can agree with it but I do not agree that anyone was told 12 weeks and had to wait 3 years. the only cue to have taken that long is an ultimate but that time frame is more recent. It used to be 12-18 months. The Parris collection range had a 12-16 week range and those would never take 3 years. Sorry but I feel you have been misinformed there.

[RogiBear]

I don't feel as if I owe john an apology at all. There is nothing malicious in what I have posted imo. I also don't really need to ask him any questions about the process as I can see it clearly and secondly I don't really care whether it has been turned or hand planed. I have had a number of his cues knowing this. The reason I posted the thread was because a month or two ago a certain masterblaster was giving it all that about how all of johns cues were hand planed. This picture clearly shows the opposite, thats all I was showing. However whether they are turned on site or not I'm not sure. The cuts on the shafts did look fairly industrial though.

[Ramon]

I understand what your say and can agree with it but I do not agree that anyone was told 12 weeks and had to wait 3 years. the only cue to have taken that long is an ultimate but that time frame is more recent. It used to be 12-18 months. The Parris collection range had a 12-16 week range and those would never take 3 years. Sorry but I feel you have been misinformed there.

i did'nt say every one !! i said sum people .
btw, i said 12 months , Not weeks.