VINTAGE JOSS BOX CUE
BUILT BY BILL STROUD
MADE WITH JIM REMPE DESIGN
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This early Bill Stroud cue, made by him while he was still part of Joss Cues, is a rare bird. It's fun to look at it and put forth an opinion on its history and origin, but it's even better to have some original provenance from Bill himself about the story behind this stick. In my opinion, this may be the most beautiful JOSS cue ever made, and shows why Stroud would soon leave JOSS and start his own Josswest brand.
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There are a lot of clues about the genesis of this cue, the who, how and why. But it's even better to have some important provenance on it in the form of written documentation. According to Bill Stroud, this inlay pattern was designed by both him and Jim Rempe, and I have a copy of the original hand sketch that they did at a tournament while making this design.
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In 1997, the owner I bought it from, who has had it in a collection for 27 years, sent it back to Stroud to have it refinished and rewrapped, along with a few other details. (I have a copy of the work request to Bill, the cost, etc,. I also have a letter from the original owner with more info about the cue.)
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Bill attempted to make the black inlay pattern appear to be floating against a solid white background. Of course at the time this cue was made his work was not as technically astute as it would later become. With this cue, he assembled various blocks of white to build the background in pieces. I'm not sure what this material is ... I've studied it closely and I don't think it's ivory. And most of the LBM material used today wasn't invented yet. I'm assuming it's some kind of white phenolic material. (Although, to be honest, I can't say for sure it ISN'T ivory.)
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Very typical of a number of his early cues, he used his favorite inlay pattern - a long rectange with pointed ends with a small bar coming out of each end. He began using this pattern while still with Joss cues and continued to use it for many years in a lot of his early work under the Josswest brand.
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I'm not exagerating when saying, in my opinion, this may be the most beautiful Joss cue ever made. It really shows how Bill's designs and work were at that time exceeding what he was able to do under the JOSS umbrella, and why it was necessary for him to strike out on his own, starting Josswest Cues.
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This was a very unique design for this time period, and it was ahead of its time. Stroud would continue to be a pace maker and innovator in the industry for many years.
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Of course, the forearm is classic Stroud - a box cue built when hardly anyone else was doing so (maybe Ginacue). He didn't build a lot of them later under the Josswest brand, but they are easily recognizable and rare.
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He frames each ebony box with black and natural wood colored veneers, and extends a red veneer bar from each end, outlined with black veneers and ending with a small white ivory (?) dot, again veneered in black.
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Below is a good close-up of the work in the butt sleeve.
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He uses a couple of different ring patterns in this stick. The one above and below the wrap is almost the same, just aqainst a different background. Then he uses a different ring set at the joint and on the ring collars of the shafts.
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Bill loved to lightly stain the maple he used in cues, primarily to give the wood a darker tone and to bring out the natural grain patterns.
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The joint of the cue is ivory. And the joint caps are gorgeous - milled from ivory, and again, a forerunner of a number of similar sets he would do in subsequent years on only his finest sticks. Finding Stroud cues with these fancy ivory joint cap sets is a rare find.
Below, a good look at the boxes in the forearm.
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He wraps the handle with a white Irish linen with black specks. It became a very popular wrap for his cues at time marched ahead.
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And, of course, the JOSS logo is engraved in the butt cap. (The provenance I have on this cue indicates that at some time during the life of this cue someone may have replaced the original white butt cap with a black one, but when the final owner had it restored by Bill, it was replaced with a white one to bring it back to its original state.)
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This is a very special, classy cue. It is, without a doubt, one of the finest - if not THE finest, Joss cue every made. And historically, it is very significant because it shows the transition of Stroud from JOSS Cues to Josswest Cues. Bill was very proud of this cue, and especially the fact that he and the champion player Jim Rempe, designed it while having a cup of coffee during a tournament.
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It is built with a flat-faced ivory joint, with an old 3/8X10 steel pin. It comes with the two original maple shafts with matching ringwork and ivory ferrules. It weighs 19.2 with one shaft, or 19.4 with the other (15.4,3,8,4.0). The shafts were likely played, but not much. They were refurbished by Stroud in 1997 and only under a high powered glass is it possible to see any signs of play. The butt was also refinished, and not used since 1997, and has no dings, dents or scratched, but the finish shows the usual signs of old age.
For anyone interested in the work of Stroud, this cue is a genuine keystone, and a genuine part of his historic progression to becoming one of the greatest cue makers ever. No complete Josswest collection should be without it.
PRICE: $6250 PLUS SHIPPING
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