GAMES : Banking on a Custom Cue

There are few games in which brinkmanship is for sale, but pool is in the top rank. True, you might be able to get a mild rise out of a golf partner by showing up with a new set of graphite-shafted irons, and you could, conceivably, slightly spook an opponent by arriving at the lanes lugging a bowling ball emblazoned with flames and “Kill! Maim! Destroy!” in black Gothic letters.

But saunter into your local poolroom carrying a two-piece custom cue in a case and watch the greenhorns start fumbling with the chalk and sidling their way toward the bar. Screw the cue together and you’ve just performed a gesture that’s a first cousin to Arnold Palmer hitching up his pants, Ali doing the shuffle or Nolan Ryan leaning in and slowly shaking his head yes.

Whether you’re any good or not, somebody in the room believes he’s about to get his clock cleaned.

But what’s the truth? Will a custom cue make you a better player? Probably. Will it make you a lot better? Probably not, at least not right away. Will it give you an edge? Could be.

People buy their own custom cues, said Joe Fiscella, owner of Triangle Billiards, Bar Stools & More in Orange, because they’re looking for a sense of consistency in their equipment and in their play.

“First of all, it’s yours and yours alone,” he said. “You get a kind of energy from your own cue. The tip is shaped the way you want it, the balance is the way you want it, the grip is the way you want it. There’s no old perspiration on it, no grit, no old powder. You’re not playing with someone else’s equipment. You know what you’re going to be getting every time.”

And, with such a cue, custom means custom. Length and thickness of the shaft (the thinnest part of the cue), configuration of the tip, weight and balance between the shaft and the butt (the thick end)--all can be cobbled together in the most facile personal combination.

The choice of these characteristics is highly personal, Fiscella said, and is generally arrived at through a few years of play with dozens of different generic cue types in dozens of different poolrooms (although Fiscella added that many of the newer upscale pool clubs are providing higher quality cues).

“There’s no particular science to it,” Fiscella said. “It’s just based on past experience.”

Most domestic cues, he said, have shafts made from kiln-dried Canadian maple. The wood and the curing process harden the shaft and help it to resist warping. Other warp-resistant materials in use are fiberglass and graphite, but these are still few.

It is the butt end of the cue, however, that has the most cachet, offers the true gee-whiz factor and, to a great extent, determines the cost.

The butt, away from the business end of things, is where the cue-maker’s art can flourish. It is here that the decorative inlaying, airbrushing and other decorative touches appear. And the price of the cue, Fiscella said, depends in large measure on the precision, extent and intricacy of the adornment, as well as the materials used. The overall determinant of worth, he said, is consistency of design and perfection of workmanship. The cue should present a solid heft, with no rattles at the joint when a shot is struck, and a smooth feel when the stroke is made. A single tiny unintended ripple in the grip, for instance, might be cause to send the cue back to the factory as a reject.

Many cues are wrapped with tightly wound thread around the butt, and materials vary from nylon, which provides a rougher grip surface, to pressed and polished Irish linen, which is fine and smooth.

Prices vary hugely. A custom cue from Taiwan with minimal inlays and no wrapping can be had for around $60. There are many in the $150 to $1,000 range, depending mostly on the detailing on the butt. And there are others, which Fiscella called “investment-grade collectible” cues--either new or used--that can cost several thousand dollars depending on their quality and rarity. Some manufacturers, he said, often make one-of-a-kind cues for this purpose, and the prices reflect that.

Prices of cases, too, vary. An inexpensive zippered vinyl case can cost around $20, while a custom-made leather case with pockets for accessories and room for more than one shaft can run more than $300.

No, it ain’t cheap. But then again, what price can you put on gaining the upper hand before the balls are even racked?