*INTERNATIONAL CUEMAKERS HALL OF FAME*

George C. Britner: Inducted 2004
George was building exquisite cues in the late 1800’s and early 1900's. His designs were ahead of his time. He was considered the premier cuemaker of the 19th century. Britner also went to work for Brunswick and there is speculation that he may have trained our next inductee, Herman Rambow. Britner and Rambow worked at the same location for 15 years. Britner was not only a master cuemaker, but also a master ivory ball turner. Many of your fancier Brunswick models from that time were built by Britner.

Herman Rambow: Inducted 2004
Born in 1880, Rambow worked off and on for Brunswick from the time he was 14 until 1950. He started out as a mail boy and turned Ivory Balls, working his way up. Rambow built cues all the way up to his passing away in 1967. Rambow is given credit with inventing the piloted joint. It had the screw in the butt and a brass insert with wood pilot tenon similar to the stainless steel jointed cues we see today. Rambow mainly used brass joints. Rambow had a lot of equipment that he built himself. He even had a homemade three jaw chuck that was completely made out of wood. Almost everything on his lathe was made out of wood. His cues normally did not have a rubber bumper and often had a thin ivory ring around the bottom above the short plastic butt plate. This ring is now referred to as the Rambow ring. It was a Rambow that Willie Mosconi ran his record 526 balls in a row with in 1956. In 1968 Herman Rambow was the first cuemaker ever inducted into the Billiard Congress of America’s Hall of Fame.

Harvey Martin: Inducted 2004
Martin started making cues in the 1920’s. Like Rambow and Britner he also turned Ivory Billiard balls earlier in his career. For decades more world champions played with Rambows and Martins than any other cues. While Rambows were ruling the east coast Harvey Martins were the favorite among the west coast players. He popularized the 3/8" wood to wood flat faced joint. Martin did not do inlay work as he felt it weakened the cue. He would watch a customer play and try to build the cue to fit the customer's style. You will often find Martin cues with several shafts. He would make shafts for the different type of game and equipment the player would play on. He continued building cues until 1984. That is six decades of his labor of love.

Frank Paradise: Inducted 2004
Frank started making cues in Brooklyn in 1948 and continued making cues there until 1958. From 1958 to 1968 he built his cues in Little Falls, New Jersey. His cues looked much like a Rambow but tended to be fancier. His cues were played with by a majority of the East Coast players in the late fifties. He made some of his ferrules removable just by screwing them on and off. This allowed a player to carry an extra ferrule with well shaped tip, so they could change it instantly if the tip came off or needed to be replaced. This eliminated the need for a second shaft.

George Balabushka: Inducted 2004
George started in 1959 and made about 30 cues per year. He used the Brunswick Titlist as the foundation for his earlier cues. In the mid 1960’s he started using some blanks made by Burton Spain. Around 1971 he started using blanks made by Gus Szamboti. He was up to about 75 cues per year when he passed away in 1975. A cue that he built for under $100 new might bring several thousand dollars today.

Gus Szamboti: Inducted 2004
Gus started making cues in 1969. His cues were as clean and well done as anyone’s were at the time. His work surpassed Balabushka’s just as Balabushka’s surpassed Rambow’s. It is said that Gus would discard about 80% of his shaft wood in order to use only the best. He was considered the premiere cuemaker of his day. When he passed away in September 1988 he left a standard that would really have to be reached for to achieve. His son Barry is now following in his footsteps.

Bert Schrager: Inducted 2005

Bert started building cues in the 1960’s and is credited with helping many up and coming cuemakers. We won't list names, but it would be a who's who list of higher end smaller cuemakers who spent time in Bert's shop. Bert has always been very helpful to the beginning cuemakers and that is one thing the ICA stands for. Bert got his start in cuemaking from his close friend Harvey Martin who is also an ICA Hall of Fame member. Bert was one of the earlier cuemakers to break into the high end cue market and one of the first few to crack open the Japanese market. Many famous people have had Bert build cues for them. He never went the CNC route and has produced some very high end cue designs with just a pantograph. He is credited with popularizing the 6 point cue design. Bert is our first living member to be inducted. His wife Pat has done much of the beautiful pantograph work on their cues. Although recently retired. At 80 years of age he was still at his labor of love: Building Cues.

Burton Spain: Inducted 2005

Burton started building cues in 1965. Burton built great cues using full splice methods that often combined a standard full slice over the top of a butterfly full splice that was usually covered by the wrap. This allowed him to use any combination of woods without producing too heavy or too light of a cue. His method produced the most warp resistant butts around. The first thing that comes to most peoples minds when they hear the name Burton Spain is, "Point Blanks". When cuemakers saw that Burton was making his own full splice point blanks they lined up to buy them from him. He made them for Gordon Hart, Craig Peterson, Frank Paradise and George Balabushka just to name a few. He was part of a club called Mensa that only allows people who have IQ's in the top 2% of the population. Before he passed away in 1994 he trained and sold his business to Joel Hercek, who continues making cues with the same full splice method Burton made famous.

Bob Meucci: Inducted 2006

Bob started building cues in the early 1960's. In 1968 he took over the cue department at National Tournament Chalk. He founded B.M.C. in Glenview, Illinois in 1969. He also helped set up the WICO cue making operation. He made some point blanks for Gus Szamboti, George Balabushka and for many other top cuemakers and perfected the seamless plastic veneer points that were popular on some older cues. He popularized the flat faced wood to wood joint with collars and the 58 inch length cues. He moved his cue making operation to the Memphis area in 1975 and changed the name to Meucci Originals. He was one of the first cuemakers to make points out of Mother Of Pearl and inlay pictures in 14-karat gold. He was one of the first modern cuemaker to use the forearm as a canvas with intricate inlaid scenes instead of traditional points or inlays. He popularized the sealed Irish linen wraps and was among the first to break into the 5 figure cue market.

Jerry Franklin: Inducted 2006
  Jerry founded South West Cues in 1982, which soon became one of the most sought after cues out there among serious players. The waiting list is and has been, not months, but years to get one of the SW cues. They developed a rock solid hit that is much sought after. The short joint rings design that you see on so many cues now was first made popular by SW. SW also popularized the very tight fitting wood to wood joint and very close joint size tolerances with interchangeable shafts.
  It was at SW cues that Jerry and another cuemaker David Kersenbrock made the first table saw tapering machine. This type of machine can now be found in many cuemakers shops. Jerry was always open to showing other cuemakers his shop and once said, "If someone knows enough to ask the right question, they deserve an answer." SW cues probably have influenced more of the newer cuemakers than any other cue out there. Jerry passed away in 1996 and is missed by all who knew him. His company is still going under his wife Laurie's leadership. We think Jerry would be proud of that.

Tad Kohara: Inducted 2007
Tad was born in California and in the early 1940's Tad went to Hiroshima, Japan to study cabinet making. In 1945 the school he was attending was destroyed by the Atomic bomb. He returned to the United States in 1949. When Tad started making cues in 1963, his first cues were based on Titlist blanks. Then he started making simple birdseye cues. When Harvey Martin retired he bought Harvey's equipment. He developed the hit of his cues by relying on the advice of players like Willie Mosconi, Jimmy Caras and Joe Balsis. Tad moved far beyond just making great playing cues, but also made his unique cue designs that use a lot of fancy ring and slot work that include many dots inlaid inside of other dots. Tad currently uses 18 lathes and 3 pantographs to produce those unique designs that Tad has made so popular. He has stayed away from CNC equipment. Tad also developed his own tip that he uses on his cues. Besides building great cues for decades Tad is credited for opening up the Japan cue market for the American cuemakers. Schrager and others quickly followed his lead and got their cues into that market, but it was Tad who paved the way. Tad is still building cues today with the help of his wife Susie and son Fred.

Alessandro Longoni: Inducted 2007

Alessandro got a great deal of experience as a young man while working for the prestigious Italian Billiards manufacture “F.lli Dalla Chiesa”. In 1945 he decided with the help of his wife Maria and children to start his own cue making company. Because of the hard economic times in Italy following World War Two, he often had to borrow the use of machinery and instruments from other local craftsmen just building lower volume custom cues. In the fifties he got his production cue business started. In the sixties his cues started gaining acceptance in the USA and today they are one of the most recognized European cues in the US market. Alessandro passed away in 1978, but his son Renzo kept the operation moving forward. Now Renzo's son Pierluigi is also helping manage the business. They now have sister operations in Brno (Czech Republic) and Germany. They build some very unique cues. Some have hundreds of inlays that wrap around the cue making Knights and Jesters and other medieval figures.

In 1995 they stated using CNC machinery and have expanded to making many thousands of cues a year. They are most famous for their Pool and Carom cues but also make cues of other cue sports like: Russian Pyramid, Carolina, Five Skittles, Goriziana and Italians.

Dennis Dieckman: Inducted 2008

Dennis started building cues in 1973. He is one of many quality cue builders who trained for a time in Bert Schrager's shop, who is another Hall of Fame member. Although Dennis built a lot of pool cues in his lifetime. It was Carom Billiard Cues that he was most famous for. Playing Carom Billiards was Dennis' love with golf also competing for his heart. Dennis was one of the few American cuemaker that kept the butterfly pointed carom cues with wood thread joints going in the USA for a couple of decades. That was a great contribution, but his greatest contribution to our industry has been teaching cuemaking with his videos that go back to the 1980's and his Cueniversity where he teaches in shop cuemaking. One of Dennis' students invented the Predator shaft and Dennis was involved in that. Dennis shunned CNC machinery, and instead preferred old school points and butterflies and pantographed inlays. He was also a founding member of both the American and International Cuemakers Associations.

Verl Horn: Inducted 2008

Verl started making cues in 1961. He is considered the grandfather of cuemaking in the central Midwest. Many cuemakers owe their start to Verl, as he was always cheerfully sharing cuemaking techniques and other information and material sources. Verl would load a cue up with Ivory and still keep his prices very reasonable. He loved making the ivory V-points with veneers and his work was always sharp and clean. Verl's Irish linen wraps were some of the best pressed and flush with the finish in the business. He was a master auto body repairman and his finish represented that in his cues. Verl was instrumental in getting the very famous Prather Custom Cue Parts supply business started in the 1970's which continues to this day. Without Verl's influence in that cue parts supply business, we probably would not have seen the 1980's and early 90's boom in our cuemaking industry. He continued building cues in Mooreland, Oklahoma until he passed away in 1999.

David Paul Kersenbrock: Inducted 2009

David started building cues in 1972. David has worked with several cuemakers including Hall of Fame members Bert Schrager and Jerry Franklin. He also built cues with Omega/DPK from 1990 to 1996. David popularized the 3/8-11 thread wood to wood joint. It had the flat bottom minor diameter thread like Harvey Martin had used, but David put a starter pilot and center hole on the end of the pin. David pushed manual pantograph inlaying cues to new levels by free handing inlays instead of using template patterns. He used high magnification optics and a very steady hand to accomplish this. David and Jerry Franklin developed the table saw tapering machines that are popular today. David also wrote a cue building manual and hired himself out as a trainer to many smaller cuemaking shops over the years. His cuemaking designs, styles and methods have greatly influenced the custom cuemaking industry across in the USA and around the world.

Abe Rich: Inducted 2009

Abe was born as Abraham Rutschaisky. He started building cues in 1962 at his cousin Saul's “Rich Cue Company” in New York. In 1965 he and his brother Morris built cues as “Florida Cues” until Abe went out on his own as “Star Cues” in 1973. Abe had been a wood worker by trade and even carved wooden clogs and canteens while incarcerated in the Dachau death camp during World War II. Abe came from a family line of wood turners and prided himself on hand turning all of his cues. He did not use routers for tapering or pantographs for inlaying. He was truly one of the longest lasting old school cuemakers. He did not have any of the fancy equipment you might expect to find in a 21 st century cue shop. He had a simple wood turning lathe, a few pieces of wood working equipment and floor to ceiling shelves full of wood that he had been turning on for decades. Walking into his shop was like walking back in time a few decades. He kept turning cues by hand all the way up until he passed away at age 82 in 2008. Our industry not only lost a great cuemaker, but his passing closed out an era of cue making that had almost totally died out decades ago. Abe was the last of the popular cuemakers that turned all of his cues by hand on a wood lathe.

Paul Huebler: Inducted 2010

Paul has been involved in the billiard industry for decades. He has been a pool room owner and the national sales representative for the famous A. E. Schmidt billiard supply company. His experience in the billiard industry led him to found Huebler Industries in 1974 in Linn, Missouri. Huebler rapidly became one of the better known American-made cue brands. Although Paul's company might be considered a mid-size production cue manufacturer, he also had what was known as The Custom Shop. Many of the cues coming out of the Custom Shop rivaled other higher-end custom cues and are highly sought after by collectors. Paul always favored V-Points and even made his own Full Splice blanks for his hustler style cues. Another feature that made Huebler Cues unique was the nylon insert in the shafts. Paul loved chess and you will find chess pieces and crosses as themes in many of his cues. Huebler was also one of the first to manufacture Jump/Break cues.

Leonard Bludworth: Inducted 2010

Leonard commonly referred to as BLUD, started doing cue repair in 1976. Around the same time he developed the Bludworth Ball Cleaner. Since then he has sold thousands of these machines. He was a master pool table mechanic and served as the equipment coordinator for both the men's pro tour, as well as the senior tour, for about 15 years. He came up with the idea to take pool tables and travel the country setting them up for pool events. He gave the plans to Valley Tables and they ran with it. In the 1980's he converted Sears wood lathes into a workable cue repair machine so others could make good money repairing cues. He sold over 400 of these machines around the world. He also made the first video showing how to do cue repairs on those modified wood lathes. After a few years, nearly every major tournament had a qualified repairman there repairing cues for the pros and spectators alike using one of his lathes.

  Leonard started building cues in the 1980's and many top pros rapidly started playing with his cues. The most notable was Leonard's long time friend Buddy Hall. Leonard also built a line of cues for Buddy. Leonard became known for building very solid cues with a slightly thinner profile than most other cues. Leonard was probably the first cuemaker to sell a cue for $100,000. In 1992 Leonard founded the American Cuemakers Association and served as the president for a few years. His late wife Janice worked along side of him for decades and he also passed his vast cuemaking and machinery knowledge down to his son Donald.

  Leonard went on to develop many other mechanical and CNC (Computer Numerical Controlled) cue building machines. Some were shaft tapering saw machines. Many were CNC cue lathe/milling machines, and some of those were combo's, (saws and mills), from single cutting heads to multi-heads. The largest machine was a CNC mill with eight heads that went to Bangkok, Thailand. He traveled over 100,000 miles a years for about 22 years setting up tables and doing cue repairs at the pro events. So Leonard was indeed the pioneer of the travelling pro shop, and the one who made the first cue repair lathes available to the public in the modern era. It was Leonard being at all those tournaments and selling his cue machinery that inspired many others to get into cue repair and cue building.

EDITORS NOTE: If you have more information on these cuemakers like the date of birth and date of death or any other interesting information please email it to us at:

ica@internationalcuemakers.com

Please include the source you got the information from such as newspaper, magazine name, personal experience, website, etc.. If you know of pictures of any of these gentlemen on the web please send web address. We appreciate any assistance you might offer.