MIKE DURBIN
FANCY SIX POINT
WITH OVERLAPPING WINDOWS
AND GOLD-LIPPED MOTHER OF PEARL
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This is an exciting cue by one of my favorite cue makers. When I saw it I immediately was intriqued with the work. He uses a combination of different colors and materials resulting in a highly eclectic look.
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One of the things that immediately appealed to me was the generous use of gold-lipped mother of pearl in the inlays. It is one of my favorite inlay materials. The color is always vibrant and ever-changing as the cue moves in the light, and it's always a classy look.
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Of course, the first thing I always think about when I see and handle a Durbin cue is that they are always nice sticks - they look great, and always play the way a cue should. They have excellent balance, the shafts are tapered just the way I like (pro taper), and they always have a solid hit that feels and sounds just right.
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This is a stunning eight pointer, built with ebony butt sleeve and points and an Asian rosewood forearm. He uses a combination of colored veneers to create the popular "flame" appearance.
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He then goes on to inlay a series of overlapping boxes in the butt sleeve, again utilizing the Asian rosewood.
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He then begins to build in the extensive mother-of-pearl inlay work. He inlays large rectangles (with scalloped corners), smaller rectangles and slender spearheads, all in the overlapping boxes.
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He then increases the size of the spearheads by about 200% and puts them in the bases of each of the long ebony points.
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The four shadow points (shorter) emerge from the space between the long points, and are also fully veneered.
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There's a lot going on in this design, and it's fancy, for sure. But it's also traditional, in an "in your face" sort of way. It's a spectacular cue.
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This Asian rosewood is very pretty, highly figured with nice grain and vibrant color.
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All of the points are beautifully framed with a combination of red, orange and yellow veneers, as are the boxes in the butt sleeve. There's a lot of work in this cue!
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Mother of pearl is always special, but has gotten more expensive in recent years and isn't used as much as it once was. You generally see two types, gold-lipped and black-lipped. The black is very subtle, and typically changes color from white with rainbow highlights to almost black when you turn it in the light. The gold-lipped doesn't get black when you turn it, but instead changes from a deep, elegant white to a never-ending rainbow of vibrant colors. It is a little brighter, overall.
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As always, his points are long, sharp and even.
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The detail in this cue never seems to end. He adds an elegant ringset constructed of double brass rings with a black ring in between. He then uses those rings at all locations - above the butt cap, below and above the handle, at the joint and on the ring collars of each shaft, a total of six times.
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He builds it with an white LBM butt cap and matching white joint, which was the perfect choice in pulling all the elements of this cue together.
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He wraps the handle with a nicely textured black leather with a slightly "pebbled" look and feel.
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Something to keep in mind when considering a Durbin cue is that he is one of the few top cue-makers who still performs all his inlay work with the aid of a pantagraph machine, as opposed to computerized CNC work. His work is so good, however, that it's difficult to recognize the difference. Some purists prefer the "traditionalist" approach, and he is one of the great masters of this type work.
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It is built with a 3/8X11 steel bolt in a flat-faced configuration. It weighs 18.95 ounces (15.4, 3.5, 3.5).
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It comes with two of Mike's premium (hand-selected) maple shafts with LBM ferrules and LePro medium tips. Each measures mms. The cue is 58 inches long.
This is an outstanding cue by one of the best cue builders around, and in my opinion, one of the prettiest ones he's made. Mike likes to build his cues so they are affordable, even when they're big and special like this one, and I always think Mike's cues are a bargain with the great amount of time and work he puts in them.
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PRICE: $5500 PLUS SHIPPING
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