MIKE BENDER
EBONY 60" WONDER
WITH IVORY SPEARS
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Here's a chance to pick up a beautiful and great playing cue by Mike Bender at a bargain price. It is a used cue, but in excellent condition. I just had it reconditioned (refinished and rewrapped), and both shafts cleaned. The shafts both show some bluing, but are clean and in good shape - no dings, scratches, etc. It is 60 inches long, and it is so straight it is scary.
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If you've never played with a Bender, you'll be in for a treat with this one. His cues have a reputation for how well they play - a nice, solid yet soft hit. This one is no exception. I took it out and hit some balls with it, and it is a great player. It's also an eye-catcher. People will notice this cue - there's a ton of ivory, and it's done very tastefully.
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| This is an eight-point cue - four long and four short ebony points into a rock hard maple nose. Each point is tipped with ivory "arrow heads." Then, he inlaid long pure ivory spears into each point - a total of eight long ivory inlays.
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The butt sleeve is also of ebony, with shorter versions of the same ivory spears inlaid. Again, eight pure ivory inlays going around the butt of the cue. He certainly didn't spare the ivory when he built this one.
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As with a lot of Bender cues, it has laddered silver rings, in this case, at all desirable locations - at the butt cap, above and below the wrap, at the joint, and on the ring collars of each shaft.
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It has a really nice black textured leather wrap with a great look and feel to it. This cue is made to play.
I want to point out that the shafts on this cue are slightly different from each other. First of all, one is about 12.5mm and the other is 13mm plus. They both have LBM ferrules of some kind, maybe elforyn or aegis. They are both shorter than usual, one is one inch and the other is 3/4 inch. The longer one MAY be ivory, but I can't tell by looking. It seems to show some grain, but some of the substitutes are so good they sometime are hard to detect, so I'm saying LBM to be safe.) I am guessing that the shorter one is not original to the cue. Nonetheless, they feel great when playing. One shaft has what looks to be a LePro tip with a pad and the other has some kind of layered tip.
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He adds an ivory substitute sleeved joint and builds it into his flat-faced wood-to-wood joint configuration with his standard proprietary 3/8X10 stainless steel pin.
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Bill Shick told me once that Bender should be considered one of the top five cuemakers - his work is that good. Best of all his cues are tremendous playing cues - great hit and balance. Here's a chance to get one at a great price. This one would be up in the four thousand dollar range if new. For someone looking for a cue with a little extra length, this is a real opportunity.
It weighs 19.1 ounces, has the two shafts, and is 60 inches long with one shaft and 59-3/4 inches with the other. This cue was originally custom made to be long, which is important for feel and balance.
PRICE: $2850
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