| Randy Mobley Snakewood Special |
This cue is not for sale because it has become my playing cue. However, because of its rarity, a number of people have asked me to post pictures of it, so I am.
Randy's cues are incredibly hard to get, and even finding one on the secondary market is a rare occasion. He only makes 8 or 9 cues a year, and is extremely meticulous in his process and craftsmanship. Everything on his cues is done to an unbelievable level of perfection, and you really have to hold his cues in your hand and study them for awhile to appreciate his attention to detail. I hope the following pictures and description will do a reasonably good job of showing you this remarkable cue.
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At first glance there is nothing spectacular about this cue. It's not a complex design, featuring a snakewood butt sleeve with ivory Hoppe-style ring, and four points of the same snakewood into a birdseye maple nose. But then a closer examination begins to reveal there's more to this cue than first meets the eye. For example, the quality of the wood is unsurpassed, with lots of character in the snakewood and more than an ample number of "birds eyes" in the maple. And, of course, there is Randy's incomparable logo, inlaid in the maple nose in ebony only .005 inches thick.
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Randy does a nice job of selecting subtle colors that have a strong impact on the cue. He uses six layers of veneer, and then builds his ringwork throughout the cue on that same color scheme.
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At this point you can begin to see the incredible detail work in the cue. Close examination reveals meticulous inlay work. Also, the colors in each ring are precisely aligned not only with each other, but also with the veneers in the points. Also, when the shafts or the joint protectors are screwed on tight, the rings again line up exactly.
Randy was almost obsessive in selecting the perfect wrap for this cue. Not only did he want a piece of leather that was flawless and uniform throughout, it had to be exactly the right thickness so that you cannot detect any difference in the thickness of the cue where the wood and leather meet. And, as you would expect, the seam is almost impossible to find.
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As you look at this cue even more closely, other tiny features emerge. For example, Randy doesn't like the way brass inserts tarnish on the shafts. Of course, you can't see them when the cue is together, but that's not good enough. So, Randy makes his own inserts out of bronze, which doesn't tarnish and polishes up to look just like rose colored gold.
Then, to add one more touch that is just the kind of thing that defines his work, Randy affixes an ivory disc to the interior of each insert, monogramed with his "RM" logo. You almost need a light to see it, but it's there, and clearly identifies original Mobley shafts.
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He finishes up this cue with a nice set of custom joint protectors, all hand engraved, of course, and by selecting two great shafts. His selection process is, as you would expect, painstaking and time consuming. After numerous cuts and culls, he has a pool of shaft wood that is then used to find two identical pieces of wood. He matches them by weight, grain count, wood color and eventually, tone. (He drops them slightly on a slate and listens to the sound of each one, and isn't happy until he can't distinguish between the two pieces he's using on a particular cue.)
Finally, the finishing touch -- he has a small supply of Chandivert Champions ordered directly from the maker in Paris to be no less than 6mm tall - the largest Champions you will find anywhere. The thicker size allows for better shaping. Obtaining these required a translator and about three years of collecting extra thick tips, so they are a bit pricey. He only uses these on his cues, saving what is a limited supply for his own work.
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| But, as always, the proof is in the pudding. I promised Randy when I got this cue that I was going to make it my full time player. After playing with flat-faced wood to wood jointed cues for many years, it was difficult for me to go back to a steel jointed cue. However, from the beginning I was very impressed with how rock solid this cue hit, and how much I liked the balance. I stuck with it, and after about two months of use, I'm really starting to appreciate what this cue can do. It's been a long time since I felt like I was really letting the cue do the work, and this one can do plenty. I think it's a great cue.
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