General Cue Description-
The pictured Gus Szamboti cue features four ebony points each with four veneers of black/mahogany/blue/natural into a Birdseye maple nose. The butt is Ebony with Birdseye Maple boxes and two stitch rings. The cue is all original and was made for Danny Deliberto. There is documentation that makes claim to it being used in Danny’s highest run in 14.1 straight pool. This cue also features four Ivory spearhead inlays in the base of the points. It’s a classic design by one of the true legends of cuemaking and Hall of Fame member Gus Szamboti.
Here’s what the experts think- they are limited to 500 characters!
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Dick AbbottAndrea Amati created violins that were responsible for the definitive profile of today’s instruments. Antonio Stradivari took this design to the next level creating instruments still in use today by some of the world’s finest musicians. I parallel the creations of Amati and Stradivari to George Balabushka and Gus Szamboti. George took cues out of the ‘stone age’ and Gus refined the design to a standard found in today’s finest billiard instruments. I consider Szamboti to be a monster cuemaker but not all of his cues are monsters. This Szamboti is not a monster, as it is a common Szamboti design. |
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Fred AgnirSince I can’t give every Gus Szamboti cue a monster cue rating, each cue is examined on a case-by-case basis. The lack of fanciness would normally answer this for me, but cue ownership of a previous world champion certainly raises its status. Unfortunately, as famous and amazing a cue hero like Danny D. has been, he is not yet in the Hall of Fame as a player. When he does get vote in, this cue might make it into monster status. Until then, it’s simply another fantastic example of Gus Szamboti’s work. |
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Deno AndrewsGus Szamboti IMO is one of the most influential cue makers of all time. The nicely figured maple is a great frame for expertly veneered points. “Spearhead” inlays are a simple yet elegant detail complimenting the inner points. Ring work, windows, and spacing in the butt keep the eye moving comfortably around the cue. Regarding quality, the cue showcases construction standards well ahead of its time. However, it would diminish the distinction of Gus’s countless other “Monsters” to categorize this one as such. |
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JimBoIMO Gus is the greatest cuemaker of all time, and this cue is a great example of his work. One thing I never understood was why Gus would put this 6 window box on a 4 point cue. Anyone would be lucky top own this cue and I am sure it’s more the speed of many of the membership here but it’s Not a Monster and the history just isn’t enough to put it over the top if the cue was owned by a bigger name or was used in a major tourney it would help, but not push it over the top. Great Cue!!!! No Monster. |
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Jim StadumAs I have stated on previous cues, (IMO) we are judging an individual cue not a cuemaker. Gus was certainly a legendary cuemaker and I am sure he made more than one monster in his career. This however, is not one of them, although it is very collectable and valuable especially since it was owned and used by a famous player. One of the things I consider when reviewing older cues is what other cuemakers were building in that era. If a cue was over the top at the time it was built than it would get the monster status from me. |
Gus is my all time favorite cue maker, so I am biased. Far as I’m concerned every cue he ever made is a Monster compaired to the rest of the cues in the world. This is a classc Gus the colors, maple windows, dash rings , delron butt cap etc etc etc. Its not a monster compaired to some of Gus’s bigger cues. But compaired to 99.23563% of the cues in the world at last count, this cue is still a monster. Anywhere you go and bust out this cue to play with-the oohhss and awwhh’s will happen and the cue will be passed around the rail for everyone to look at. Gus=Monster.
best
eric
I’ve heard the name ‘Gus’ and lots of times players and collectors alike refer to the cues as “Boti’s” but I’ve never seen any of this masters cues in person nor hit with them. I am envious of those that have owned/own or have played with what a lot of knowledgeable players/collectors consider a ‘premier cue maker’s cue’. Someone else proclaimed that Gus made so many Monsters that this one would only lesson the value of the this classic adjective, for this Monday, I have to agree.
Well, I agree with Jim Stadum that we are judging individual cues. Although I also agree with others that a cue maker’s reputation factors in as well. The thing with Szamboti that sticks out to me is near perfection in the execution. He did things in the 70s that cue makers today with all the modern equipment have a hard time doing consistently. So for that reason I go with Eric’s assessment that all Szambotis are monsters of some degree. I personally have played with two of them (not owned) and both were about as sweet a hitting cue as one could imagine.
That said we are not judging the cue by how well it was built internally, how well balanced it is, or by anything other than what we can see.
The fact is that Gus has built much fancier cues, including the famous Szamboti box cue with matching Fellini case that Denny Glenn owns. In recent times we have made a similar GTF Case for a fancier Gus Szamboti that Will Prout owns. So in light of the fact that there are Szams out there with a much higher degree of decoration I agree with the panel that this cue is not a Monster.
http://www.jbcases.com
John I think it’s great that you are here and adding comments, but I think it’s sad and obvious that your main intent is to shill for your site. I can appreciate that you think this site is great and want to use that as an aid for your personal gain but please stop the act, we can see right threw you.
Jim Brennan
Timeless Gus…perfect example of less is more. I owned one similar w/o the stitch rings and the teardrops in the points 25 yrs ago. IMO, a Monster in every sense of the purist word.
This is what a cue should look like. I appreciate the time, effort and skill it takes to make cues “art” but they just aren’t my style. IMHO you just can’t beat the timeless look of veneered points and tasteful well balanced inlays. Of all the cues so far this is the one that I would want in my case.
monster collectible . . . but not a monster gus.
havent seen too many szam’s i didnt like
I know you guys could have found a cue that had a much more elaborate design, but, personally, I’m glad you didn’t. I LOVE THIS CUE. I guess I’m just a bit of a purist. In my mind, the simplicity of it and the classic design and colors makes it a great cue. I guess, by your definition of a “Monster” cue, this probably wouldn’t make that classification, but I wouldn’t trade that cue for ANY monster cue out there.
I look at it this way…this cue is analogous to a women that is “naturally” beautiful without makeup. She looks as good when she rolls out of bed in the morning as she did the night before. Many cuemakers today, I think, try to be too over the top with crazy designs.
Anyhow…those are my thoughts. Thanks for sharing this great cue.
Cheers,
Skippy
Skippy’s Cue Guide
Monster to me. Probably not a Monster to others who own fancier Gus Szamboti cues.
Scott
I love this cue. Gus is also my favorite cue maker of all time. I had one, sold it, and have forever regreted selling it. If I had my choice to buy another one, it wouldn’t be too different from this cue.
Szamboti cues are the greatest cues ever made. Known for their playability. Artistically innovative for the period they were created in. I’d be hard pressed to classify any Gus Szamboti cue as a non-monster minus the first WICO point Szamboti cues.
Danny is a good friend of mine and stays with me sometimes when he’s in the area. Last time he was here I showed him this site and the cue. He told me he had two Gus’ just like this one. I owned one of them at one time, but it was after Kelley Simpson, a female Pro back in the 80′s who was Danny’s girlfriend, broke it over a table when she missed a shot, IN PRACTICE! Danny sent the cue back to Gus, who cut it just above the points, doweled it and re-did the joint end. That cue, after the repairs was one of the best hitting cues I’ve ever played with and I’ve owned 14 of Gus’ cues. Two of which had been broken and repaired by Gus! The other one was broken accidentally while breaking a 9-ball rack, by Gary Spaeth. When Gus fixed them you couldn’t tell from the way it played, that it was ever broken. I love the classic design of this cue and have emulated some of the details in my own cues. I prefer the spear heads over diamonds any day!