MIKE DURBIN
FOUR POINT SNAKEWOOD CUE
WITH BRIDGED POINTS
THE "SHAZAM"
|
Here is a very rare build, for a couple of reasons. The forearm is snakewood, with ebony points. And the lightening bolt inlay concept is really unusual. It's a pattern you don't often see. Mike has used it several times, but never to this extent.
|
Cue makers seldom make snakewood cues. Some never do. It's a difficult wood to work with. It takes a lot of aging and special treatment, and even when properly prepared it's hard to work with. But if they're willing to put in the extra time, the results can make it all worthwhile.
|
He builds it with four long points of ebony, bridges them at their base, and then frames them with an unusal undulating veneer.
|
And of course, the lightening bolt pattern used heavily in the butt sleeve and also in the bases of the points, earn this stick the nickname "SHAZAM" after the movie character of the same name.
|
The points are nice, long and sharp, and even the oscillating veneer suggests an electrifying feeling.
|
He uses a very classy ring pattern of silver rectangles at all the strategic locations.
|
The bridged points add even more work to this already complicated stick, but again the results pay off. All these extra corners and miters are expertly handled.
|
These veneers are more complicated than they look at first glance. Pinch this picture up and look closely, and you'll see a thick black layer next to the snakewood, then blue, black, the natural rippling veneer, then black and blue again. Very complex!
|
Look closely at the inlay work in this butt sleeve - not only the lightening bolts but all the small silver dots. Keep in mind Mike's work is all done with pantagraph. There's a lot of work putting in all those small silver dots and lightening bolts. And the work is really tight.
|
The grain in the snakewood is very pretty, the kind of thing you only see in snakewood.
|
Snakewood comes from Central and South America, but mainly from Surinam. It is one of the most dense woods there is (thus, heavy) and is extremely hard to work with. Cutters must be exceptionally sharp to avoid splitting the wood when cutting, and it's often bad news for the cutters. It's also difficult to drill and hard on drill bits. But once finished, it is very hard and strong. Building a snakewood cue requires a lot of expertise to keep the cue's weight within normal playing parameters. It is also considered to be the world's rarest commercially available species of wood. Some sources suggest it is getting more and more difficult to import and if you want it, you should buy it now.
|
He builds it with a white LBM joint, along with a white butt cap.
|
|
He wraps the handle with an exceptionally pretty black embossed leather that once again, I haven't seen before. It feels great and is really beautiful.
|
It is made with a flat-faced joint with a 3/8 X 11 steel pin. It weighs 19,5 ounces and (16.1, 3.4, 3.4) is 58 inches long.
|
It comes with a very pretty set of matching joint protectors made from ebony and snakewood, each with a silver disc on top. The butt protector has matching ringwork and is engraved with the Durbin name, and the shaft protectors have the numbers 1 and 2.
|
| It comes with two 13mm keelwood shafts with LBM ferrules and LePro tips. Keelwood shafts have undergone a "torrefication" process that makes the wood super dry and solid, and minimizes deflection. Advocates say they are very comparable to carbon fiber shafts with regard to deflection, but still retain some of the positive features of natural wood.
|
Just in case you're not familiar with keelwood, it's a kiln dried wood that is dried at high heat to get all the moisture out quickly, not over a long period of time. It is called torrified wood. It's the same process that is used with some high end musical instruments, like guitars, to achieve the sound of an old guitar without actually buying one. Why buy a 1953 Martin for a small fortune when you can buy a new one that already sounds old and has similar tonal qualities?
| |
This is a very handsome cue that reeks of pure class. He pulled out all the stops - snakewood, special veneer work, bridged points, fancy ringwork, special wrap, and custom joint caps. But most important is the hit. I test-hit this cue myself and it is hard to put down. It is very solid and extremely well-balanced. This will make someone a beautiful, lifetime cue.
PRICE: $6000 PLUS SHIPPING
|
|
