Looking to sell my John Parris Classic Cue BUT first... What is red glue?

[Big Splash!]

You can't wield a great weapon without skill. Fact. The naysayers wouldn't be any worse off with a hundred quid Cue Craft but they can't say this because then average players would question buying expensive cues off them. Just because a kid owns a lot of toys, doesn't mean he knows how to play with them! :biggrin-new:

[Davebarker1978]

I purchased a JP elite cue early last year off ebay. Usual selling points, owned by an ex pro etc. Purchased from John Parris shop in th early 90's. The pictures weren't very clear but i could see that wood used for the splices were not the normal tuilip wood used for that model.

Anyway (I will get to the point soon), the ferrule was in bad shape, down to just over 8mm at the tip so I took it to JP's shop (fortunately only five miles from me). John was in the shop so I showed him the cue and explained that I would like a new ferrule fitted, whilst talking to John I asked him to check the cue and verify that it was one of his. He checked the cue over and stated it was and that it was strange as they had used a kingwood for the splices. He checked the cue and dated it at mid 90's. My cue is not a red glue. He then noticed a solid extention piece that was in my case (the type that screws into the shaft), he then dated my cue build date to the early 90's.

I remember reading a thread here long ago where it was stated that red glue was only used for a period of ten or so years and this was not when JP himself was soley making the cues. He didn't mention red glue when dating my cue so the use of red glue must of been mid 90's to early to mid 2000's

The only thing red glue guarantees is a higher purchase/selling price. It doesn't mean it was made by the man himself and certainly doesn't mean it's a better cue. At the end of the day it is just the glue that was used.

[itsnoteasy]

Nice post Dave, very informative, thanks.

[Big Splash!]

Interesting stuff Barker. I'd like to read Deano's thoughts on this as the OCD one has been counting JPUs and cataloguing dates made, so he should know something about red glue, timelines, etc.

[ste bed]

I purchased a JP elite cue early last year off ebay. Usual selling points, owned by an ex pro etc. Purchased from John Parris shop in th early 90's. The pictures weren't very clear but i could see that wood used for the splices were not the normal tuilip wood used for that model.

Anyway (I will get to the point soon), the ferrule was in bad shape, down to just over 8mm at the tip so I took it to JP's shop (fortunately only five miles from me). John was in the shop so I showed him the cue and explained that I would like a new ferrule fitted, whilst talking to John I asked him to check the cue and verify that it was one of his. He checked the cue over and stated it was and that it was strange as they had used a kingwood for the splices. He checked the cue and dated it at mid 90's. My cue is not a red glue. He then noticed a solid extention piece that was in my case (the type that screws into the shaft), he then dated my cue build date to the early 90's.

I remember reading a thread here long ago where it was stated that red glue was only used for a period of ten or so years and this was not when JP himself was soley making the cues. He didn't mention red glue when dating my cue so the use of red glue must of been mid 90's to early to mid 2000's

The only thing red glue guarantees is a higher purchase/selling price. It doesn't mean it was made by the man himself and certainly doesn't mean it's a better cue. At the end of the day it is just the glue that was used.

I bought a superior for him in 2004 it had the red glue a ultimate in November 2006 also had the red glue and a classic from the snooker shop in levenshume in Manchester probably late 2007 and it didn't.

[ste bed]

He's a good lad Ste bed , we have our differences but he posts how he sees it, nowt wrong with that IMO. He is a bit grumpy though

Cheers Itsnoteasy made me smile. Sorry the point I was trying to make is he most likely had employees making cues when he was still using the red glue he probably had a hand in making them then as he probably does now. He couldn't have made all the cues himself even back in the late 90s very early 2000s to many cues for 1 person to churn out.

[narl]

When i first got my special in 98 i noticed the red glue around the edges of the splice tips and called to ask about it.

He said to me that "not many people seemed to notice it but he couldn't really tell me why it was there".

I got the impression it was to identify the cue as being a genuine cue. He never outright said that but the way he didn't directly answer gave me that impression. Makes sense i suppose as its such a small detail that you wouldn't really notice unless you were looking really closely, more than likely a story formed at some point about them being only made by him years later to inflate prices on the second hand market.

[ADR147]

When i first got my special in 98 i noticed the red glue around the edges of the splice tips and called to ask about it.

He said to me that "not many people seemed to notice it but he couldn't really tell me why it was there".

I got the impression it was to identify the cue as being a genuine cue. He never outright said that but the way he didn't directly answer gave me that impression. Makes sense i suppose as its such a small detail that you wouldn't really notice unless you were looking really closely, more than likely a story formed at some point about them being only made by him years later to inflate prices on the second hand market.

it is just the glue that he used at the time - he changed it when he found a better glue - this is not an urban myth I have spent a long time chatting to John about it!

[Big Splash!]

it is just the glue that he used at the time - he changed it when he found a better glue - this is not an urban myth I have spent a long time chatting to John about it!

Yeah, but it's not just a JP, it's a RARE RED GLUE JP. Like stamp misprints, it's value increases again. People pay for badges, why not pay for glue as well! LOL It will take a clever someone with a nice permanent marker to fake one and upset the apple cart. LOL

[itsnoteasy]

it is just the glue that he used at the time - he changed it when he found a better glue - this is not an urban myth I have spent a long time chatting to John about it!

Do you have any official dates that it was used ADR ?because if I'm honest ,until this thread and the lads that can officially date their own cues with the glue, I thought it was the very very early ones that were the red glue ones (just by going on what is written on the eBay splurge)

[DeanH]

there is no hard-fast date when the red glue was last used, I have info of red glue being used around 2007/2008, but before that time there were cues made with non-red glue

[itsnoteasy]

Cheers Dean, very strange how this myth has sprung up around it.

[DeanH]

yep, myth that a red glue cue has mystical properties made by JP HIMSELF!
it only hints to being made in a certain period, and not necessarily that long ago, and that is all; many of the very early cues did not have red glue