Silky Segue

This is Joe Gold.  He the owner of Cognescenti, which makes custom pool cues.  He’s world famous in the cue making industry, and an innovator of many designs/inlays in custom cues today (some of his cues selling for over 100,000K).

To be honest, the only time I’ve heard of Joe Gold, it was for his short temper (as seen in the video).  I’ve also assumed with the prestige of his business and name, he’d be a legend.  Needless to say, I was a little intimidated to ask him for a small favor.

Backing up a bit, I found a great way to battle crippling winter despression weekend boredom was picking up pool.  Specifically 9-Ball.  After laying for a few months, I purchased a cue stick.  Affectionately naming my cue Purple Rain (due to the color and comedic factor), I was attached.  We had a rough relationship, but it was fun none-the-less.  I played about 5-6 hours each week, mainly on the weekends.

Last Friday, when whipping out Purple Rain for day of getting my ass handed to me, it was warped.  This broke my heart.  I’ve had the cue for barely 2 months, treating with with better care than I treat anything, and boom…warp.  I can go on about the Cue Maker’s history and quality, but that’s irrelevant.

So what’s the sensible thing to do?  Drop more money on a new cue promptly, not knowing to check the internet.  I end up purchasing another cue.  This time, I had a better understanding of what I wanted, it was a good price, and very well made.

I purchased this cue and the shaft (the top part, not the penis…zing) wasn’t to my liking.  All of a sudden I regretted my purchase.  However, all I needed to do was some minor (and more costly) custom work, and I assumed the cue would be fine.

This is how I found Cognescenti and Joe Gold (thanks google).  I called him, still intimidated by his reputation, but he was a very nice guy on the phone.  I thought he would only work on people who purchase his own cue shafts, and refused to work on a lower class mass produced cue like mine.  He was more than happy to take care of it (money doesn’t hurt either).  When I cabbed it to his shop, he was able to fix my cue and customize it to specs.  He was very modest, and took careful attention to detail. 

The Shaft was done perfectly, and now the cue is better than ever….as I regulated on a buddy tonight.  

It was definitely a memorable experience.  Here I thought of Joe Gold as a mild celebrity in my niche world, as well as a legend and landmark, and to him, he was just regular Joe Gold…a kid who grew up on the north side, played pool for 20 years, and made cues.  It was a cold night, so he even gave me a ride back to my neighborhood.

[And an updated, the company who sold me the warped cue will honor my request to replace it with a better shaft….so soon I might have the battle of Purple Rain vs. The McDermott GS06 (the actual name)]