BILL SCHICK
BURTON SPAIN TRIBUTE CUE
FROM BURTON SPAIN BLANK
• CUE MAKER - GOLFER - POET •
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Presented here is one of the most unusual cues you'll find anywhere - the rarest of the rare. It is not only a "one of one", but the kind of stick that pushes all the boundaries. It's made by one of the greatest cue makers ever - ACA Hall of Famer Bill Schick - from the legendary blank maker and another ACA Hall of Famer - Burton Spain.
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This cue has a history that's truly iconic. Bill Schick and Burton Spain were the best of friends. Bill knew him from his early cuemaking days when Burton was making the best full splice cue blanks in the world. Now those blanks are legendary, partially because back then both George Balabushka and Gus Szamboti were building their cues by starting with Spain blanks. Burton was one of the first cue makers to be inducted into the ACA Hall of Fame in 1994, shortly after his death.
Schick and Spain became great friends, and often traveled together with their wives. Spain passed away in 1994 and Schick continued building wonderful cues, eventually voted into the Cuemakers Hall of Fame by his peers. Then, in 2012, cue dealer Roy Malott of Indianapolis uncovered the existence of an old, unfinished Burton Spain blank, a beautiful four pointer with stunning veneers. When Roy asked Bill to build him a cue from that blank, Bill jumped at the opportunity, but only if he could build it as a tribute to Burton. This cue is the result of that opportunity.
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If you know Bill Schick's cues at all, you know he liked to use big chunks of ivory and to engrave on them. His engraving eventually led to some amazing scrimshawed cues, but it was often simple work like in this one.
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But that's where the simplicity ends with this cue. As the pictures show, this cue quickly gets very complicated. In fact, it takes awhile to get a grasp of how complex it is.
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The butt sleeve is truly unique. He inlayed four large ivory rectangles and engraved them as the four pictures show below. Burton was more than a cue maker. He was also a fine golfer, and loved to write poetry, and Bill wanted to memorialize those attributes.
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The real beauty of this cue is that you can see both Bill Schick and Burton Spain in it. It has all the features of a Schick and you can tell it from across a room. Yet when you look closely you can see all the details of the fine, full spliced, perfectly veneered Burton blanks that became famed and iconic. And to top it all off, this cue has been kept in a private collection and is still new, unchalked and never played.
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The veneer colors are typical of a Burton - black, orange, green and white, typical of the colors you might find in many old Balabushkas and Szambotis that were built using his blanks. Looking closely at the clean lines of these veneers it's easy to understand why his blanks were so sought-after and to realize how far he was ahead of his time.
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His blanks were known for their distinct and straight veneer lines, and their very sharp and very even points.
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The design of this cue, I think, demonstrates the genius of Bill Schick. I had to study it for some time to realize what I was seeing in the complexity of the design and how he was able to take a four point full splice blank and turn it into this very creative work of art.
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He builds in a set of rings that are used at the top and bottom of the butt, at the joint and on the ring collars of the shafts, consisting of two heavy silver rings framing alternating pieces of red and black veneer between rectangles of maple.
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And of course, he builds it with an ivory joint, ivory butt cap, and engraves the coveted "Schick" name along with the build date. The special feel of a solid ivory joint is one of the things that was so coveted in Bill's cues. There is nothing else like that hit and how it resonates throughout the cue - crisp, sharp and with a slight ping that purists crave.
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The ebony inlay work in this cue is so unique, and makes it very special.
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It's almost like he tried to do everything he could to make this cue unusual. Take a close look at the special polished aluminum joint protectors. I've never seen another set like them. And of course, like he did with all his best sticks, he attached a small piece of ivory to the pin, with his "S" engraved in it.
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This cue is about as collectible as any you can find - built by the late Hall of Fame cue maker Bill Schick, from a blank by another Hall of Famer Burton Spain, also long deceased, and with an unmatched history behind it.
It comes with the two original 13mm maple shafts with matching ringwork, long ivory ferrules and special Schick joint caps. It weighs 18.9/19.0 ounces (14.8, 4.1, 4.2). Shafts weighing over 4.0 (without inserts) are virtually unheard of today, as the old slow growth tight-grained maple is almost impossible to find. It is built with a 3/8 X 10 steel pin and is 57-1/2 inches long. It is all straight and in mint condition, having been kept in private collections since it was built and never played or even chalked.
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PRICE
$11,500
PLUS SHIPPING
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