JOSSWEST
"TULIPS" CUE
IN EBONY, IVORY AND SILVER
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Here is a rare bird - a Josswest cue by the great Hall of Fame cuemaker, the late Bill Stroud. Made about 2009, this was an original Stroud design that is very typical of the wonderful work he was doing at that time.
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I'm doing something unusual with this cue. Typically I don't put a cue for sale on this site unless it is new or in near perfect condition. This one is an exception. It has a few finish blemishes, but if you look past those, you'll only see a cue in excellent condition, with one unplayed shaft, one in excellent condition, and everything straight. And aside from the few dings, the finish is still nice.
Typically I would have this stick refinished before reselling it, but I thought I would offer it in its current original condition and see if it interests someone as an everyday playing cue who doesn't mind a few dings (and therefore, a better price). If it doesn't sell in a couple of weeks I'll pull it and send it off for a reconditioning.
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This is a special cue for me. I owned this same cue around 2010-2013 and it was my everyday player. I always called it the "Tulip" cue because of the way the silver inlays form a shape reminiscent of that flower. I recently acquired this one from a collector, and thought it might be my old cue. However, Bill frequently built four cues of the same design at the same time, and because one of these shafts is unplayed I don't think it is my old stick - I played with both of mine.
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The materials in this cue are as good as you can get. Jet black ebony was easier to find during the time this cue was made, and this is about as good as you can find. All the white is ivory, as pure and creamy white as you'll see anywhere. And of course, silver is beautiful fine silver.
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The long ivory points are very thin - not easy work, as when they get that long and thin, they break easily when being cut and installed.
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A good glimpse of the silver tulips ...
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It's made with a nicely textured, black leather wrap that feels great in the hand.
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It's easy to get totally absorbed looking at all the fine details and attributes of this cue, and to forget the important thing - how the end result looks. This is an exquisite design and when viewed as a whole, a phenomonal cue.
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The basic design, of course, is that of a cue with six floating points - three long and three short - going in each direction from the handle.
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The joint is also ivory, but is an ivory sleeve over a wood core. I think cues with this joint were the best playing Josswest cues.
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As mentioned earlier, the shafts are very nice. One appears to be unplayed and the other shows some signs of play, but you have to look closely to see it. The one that looks to have been played looks like it's been professionally cleaned, but if you look really closely you can see some slightly ingrained chalk in the grain of the wood. But it's the kind of thing you'd normally see on your cue after a couple of days play anyway.
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Now, the one negative thing about this stick ... as mentioned earlier, there are some small chips in the finish. They're all in the butt sleeve, and obviously this cue was used in a room with a hard floor. It has numerous little chips around the butt cap. They're the kind of thing that most well-played cues generally get over time, no matter how careful you are.
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There are also a few small finish chips on the side of the butt sleeve, as shown in the picture. This is the extent of them; there are no others that I can see. And actually, this picture makes them look worse than they are. They really show up under intense light and the magnified lense of my camera. Again, they're the kind of thing that happens to a lot of older cues that are used as everyday players, but I'm going to price this cue accordingly.
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It has long ivory ferrules, and for those traditionalists who believe there is nothing else that hits like an ivory ferrule, here's a chance to get such a cue.
It also is built with single silver rings.
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It is built with a radial stainless steel pin in a flat-faced joint. It weighs either 19.6 or 19.7 depending on which shaft is used (16.0, 3.6, 3.7), and is 58 inches long. I have it priced for a quick sale, taking into consideration that the finish has some minor damage. (In "like new" condition, it would sell for $6500-6800.)
PRICE: $5500 PLUS SHIPPING
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