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 Donny Lutz Pool & Billiards
Favorite Cues
MY FAVORITE CUES The first cue that I actually "owned" was a 17 oz house cue that one of my teenage buddies stole from a local pool hall in 1956 and sold to me for $1. Interestingly, that cue was stolen from me soon after! I then used cues "off the wall" for the next twelve years, with some success. In '68 I bought a used 21 oz, 60" Schmelke from a teammate for $25 and used it for a couple years. It was actually a pretty nice cue, but obviously too long and heavy for a 5'9" player on 7 foot tables. In '72 I paid big bucks ($75!) for a used Viking, a favorite among top players in those days. It had a dark maple butt with two light purple mother of pearl rings and a gray linen wrap. I used it in my first National Pocket Billiards Association US Open Team Tournament in Milwaukee in'73.
Around that time, I bought a used "top of the line" Viking Z140 (Blue Book III, p.835) w/two shafts from my team sponsor, "Grumpy" Schultze for $160. It was a striking ebony with 4 white points and other white inlays, - very pretty, but not as good a hit as the other Viking, and I sold it to a friend for cost. While in Milwaukee for another of those events a few years later, I bought two more used cues with the idea of re-selling them at a profit. One was a pretty 4-point Schon that cost me $140 and I immediately sold it for $175. That model currently goes for around $800! The other was the classic Meucci Original Hubbart #7. It had a lovely blue and green combination of trims surrounding the white points. This beauty stood in my closet for a year or so. Then one day when I was in a little slump, I decided to try the Meucci.
I ran my first six racks of 9-ball from the break, and then used this cue for the next ten years with some notable success. I sold it only because I needed the money for a move from Wisconsin to Maryland for a new job. I then retired from pool in late '87 for a couple of years. Coming out of retirement in '89, I purchased a low end Huebler at an old pool hall on Rhode Island Avenue in DC for $95. It was a nice stick, but a year later I bought a Meucci sneaky pete (pre-Red Dot) for $100 and managed to sneak out a 5th place in the BCA Open Singles in Vegas in '92. I also made myself a nice first time jump cue by picking up a Meucci rental stick for free (it had a badly damaged butt) and simply cutting the butt in two at the top of the wrap. I had my case and cues stolen just before the BCA Nationals in '95, but fortunately my team sponsor Tim Scruggs loaned me a sweet-hitting Scruggs cue for the event. I also tried out a new Schon and a new Joss, both of which I liked a lot. I would probably have bought the Scruggs for $240 (great discount), but was offered a used Robert Frey sneaky pete with two shafts for $75. This 18 ½ oz cue had a bunch of nasty dents and dings but was perfectly straight, and hit just as good as the Scruggs. It was clearly the best buy I ever made. The same cue, custom made by Frey today goes for $500 and there is a six-month waiting list. I had the cue re-finished and sold it to a close friend in 2004. In 2002, I couldn't resist the beauty of the Meucci HP-3 and ordered one with a Red Dot shaft from a discount dealer. I loved the look and played fairly well with the cue but wasn't quite satisfied. A year or so later I ordered a Black dot shaft from Budget Cues, and gave it a try. It was an interesting experiment, but I didn't like that the laminated shaft was almost half an oz heavier than the Red Dot, bringing the over-all weight to almost 20 oz, - too much cue for me. I also didn't like it when Meucci went into big-time production cues with the lacquered wrap around 1990. Even after buying a new pair of glasses just for pool, my game was just not what I wanted it to be. I tried a few games with Predators and really liked them a lot, but could not afford the high price. I was also very impressed with Pechauer cues. In 2004, I saw a really gorgeous old Huebler on Ebay that I snapped up for $162. It was the discontinued model HS-3 (1999), which Blue Booked at$215. Sold the Meucci and played with this cue for a while until seeing another nice Huebler on Ebay.
It was the AS-H4 model that retails\ed for $459, but I got it for $210. I liked this cue a lot. It helped me hold three league MVP titles concurrently in 2005.
After playing with a Predator 314 shaft on the AS-H4, I purchased my first Predator cue, a Predator sneaky pete 314. I loved the wood to wood joint and the Moori tip. (Same as Pred SP in Cues for Sale.) I've tried a number of jump and jump break cues, including J & J, Gulyassy, Hammerhead, Grog and Predator. I'm currently using a Predator jumper and the J & J jump/break cue pictured on Cues for Sale page. I reluctantly sold the Hueblers and the Predator, as I became addicted to buying cues on Ebay and tried out a number of manufacturers. I played with a Custom Pechauer/Predator and a Pechauer/Smartshaft for a year, that are shown in my current cue collection can also be seen on the Cues For Sale page. I also scored a First Edition Predator with the original 314 (pre-cat logo) shaft, the rare 12-piece laminate. I used this shaft on several different cues and am currently using it on a gorgeous Joss butt from the '90s.
Donny Lutz Pool |
