VINTAGE JOSS
FANCY FOUR POINT
IN IVORY
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Here is a rare find - an original old Joss. Not a new, production model Joss, but an authentic vintage one from the days when Bill Stroud and Danny Janes were still together and were still making custom, one of a kind cues.
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This stick has a distinct Bill Stroud "look" about it. The design is similar to a lot of things he did later, after he and Danny split up and Bill was making Josswest cues. The little rectangle with the cut-off corners and the short veneers running through each end eventually became an inlay pattern used a lot among the top cue makers, including Tad and Ginacue. I'm not sure who did it first, but I'm relatively sure if Bill were here, he'd say it was him.
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Except for the delrin butt cap, everything in the cue that is white is ivory. The butt cap itself is engraved with the Joss trademark.
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To add to the mystique of this wonderful old cue, it has a great history. Not only is it about a half-century old, it was Mark Griffin's favorite personal playing cue. For anyone who doesn't know, Mark was the owner of the well-known "Griff's" pool room in Las Vegas. Just before Mark's passing last year, I bought a number of cues from him, and this was one of them.
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Another unique thing about this cue is on the opposite side of the butt cap there is a nickname engraved - "BRO" - which I assume was that of the original owner. I don't know anything about him.
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The forearm of this cue looks great - four long points of ebony, with a "flame" combination of veneers. In the base of each point is short veneer bar going into an ivory dot.
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The ring pattern used is ivory with ebony dashes - a classic pattern that he repeats throughout the stick.
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After purchasing this cue, I had it entirely restored - rewrapped, refinished, and shafts cleaned. It turned out great, and looks like a new cue.
Each ivory window is framed in black veneer, and then the whole window pattern is enclosed in a yellowish veneer framework.
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For the time period in which this stick was built, the work is exceptionally good. It's easy to see the progression of Stroud's work at the time, and why it wouldn't be long before he went off on his own.
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A nice closeup of the veneers ...
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As always with Bill, nice sharp, even points, perfect inlays and meticulous work.
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A bonus with this stick is that it has three original shafts (3.4 oz, 3.5 oz, and 3.0 oz). All are in very good shape. Two are very straight and one has a typical age wobble that a lot of old shafts have. All have ivory ferrules.
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It's made with a flat-faced joint with a 3/8X10 steel pin. A lot of people believe this joint with this pin on Bill's old cues made for the best hit ever. This cue is a good example - it still plays great. Mark Griffin bragged and bragged about how good this cue hit, and I can see why.
It weighs 19.3 with two of the shafts, but because the third is a little lighter, weighs about 18.9 with that one.
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It even still has what looks to be the original bumper on the butt, still in good shape, even though the rubber has considerably hardened through the years.
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This is a remarkable old vintage cue, all in original condition. I wish I knew who "Bro" was, as it might add even more provenance to it. Regardless, it is a piece of cue history, and an excellent example of Bill's early work, showing the direction he was going just before his split with Joss cues.
PRICE: $3800 plus shipping.
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