Dr No
[Moderator Omega - Wristscan]
37637
How many people can say they beat Willie Mosconi . . .
. . . at a game of 9-ball?
My pal Bobby can.
😮
Bobby and one of his friends went to an exhibition put on by Mosconi and Irving Crane in So Cal during the summer of '69. Mosconi asked for a volunteer to play a game of 9-ball. Bobby rose to the challenge.
Willie said, "You break. I'll take it from there."
Bobby sank the 9-ball on the break.
Willie: "Ok, let's do it again."
Bobby: "No way. How many people can say they beat you at 9-ball?"
😃
After the exhibition Bobby had a conversation with Willie and Irving about getting a cue. Bobby wanted a Balabushka. Irving said, "Why? There's a cue maker right here in LA." All three - Bobby, his pal, and Irving - went to Tad's shop. The cue Bobby ordered from Tad Kohara is pictured in my opening post. He played with it for five years before life got in the way. From the mid-'70s to ~ 2016 it sat in its case. About ten years ago he brought it to the dive bar where I play in weekly tournaments so that I could get a feel for how a vintage TAD plays. And it hasn't been played since.
We met up two days ago at Fred Kohara's shop in Stanton to get a COA for posterity's sake. The records from that period are gone, but Fred recognized it as his Dad's work.
In all of sports, I don't believe there's a more personal relationship to equipment as a pool player has to his cue(s). It's closer to that of a guitarist to his guitar.
🎱
A visit to TAD Custom Cues a few days ago . . .
. . . to obtain a C ertificate O f A uthenticity for my pal Bobby's '69 TAD. First, the photos. Shaft #1: Hard maple, phenolic joint with aluminum ring(?) and phenolic ferrule, original tip likely made by Tad Kohara. Shaft #2: Same as shaft #1; both shaft...
How many people can say they beat Willie Mosconi . . .
. . . at a game of 9-ball? My pal Bobby can. 😮 Bobby and one of his friends went to an exhibition put on by Mosconi and Irving Crane in So Cal during the summer of '69. Mosconi asked for a volunteer to play a game of 9-ball. Bobby rose to the challenge. W...
Actually, three legends! Cosell . . .
. . . was the most celebrated sportscaster of his era.
Well, in my humble opinion, the best sportscaster of all time, past, present, or future, is . . .
. . . Vin Scully. Nobody compares in my book. ...
I love TAD cues!
I think TAD cues are among the best I have ever played with. I currently have four and I am now looking for a fifth! It's funny that Willie Mosconi gave so much feedback to TAD about how to make the ideal cue play and yet Mosconi is not well known to have...
I might be able to arrange a meeting with Bobby . . .
. . . so that we can both get a feel of how his cue plays. My recollection is that it was smooth as silk, but memory can be tricky. Best, Art
From the looks of that cue
It certainly may have not quite gotten to the level of the later 1970s TADs which are famous and highly sought after. Any pre-serial number fancy TAD is really hard to separate from their owners. They are rare and a bit more musical yet more forgiving tha...
Yes, you definitely know your cues.
Would love to see photos of yours if you’d care to share.
Tad was an expert cabinet maker
in Hiroshima. He understood wood like no one else on the West Coast. You can see from below on this bare TAD Kohara 1969 cue, you can't see any gaps between the inlays and the ebony wood. We would spend hours with a knife hand fitting the inlays using ste...
Did Fred explain anything about this joint screw? I was wondering why this cue has a modern self aligning joint pin? This looks like a Pechauer joint.
I have never heard of nor seen a self aligning TAD cue joint. ...
Just got off the phone with Fred, he says . . .
. . . it's a 5/16 - 18 pin that Tad occasionally used and that he, Fred, still uses. Nothing on Bobby's cue has been touched since he picked it up from Tad in late '69, including the tips. Good eye spotting the uncommon pin and joint!
Looking forward to seeing the COA
This is by far the most un-TAD like Cue I have seen. There isn't anything I can identify as common to the TADs I have seen. Without a LOA, I don't think anyone can identify it as a TAD. Below are more common for 1970. ...
Will check in with Bobby in a week or two - Fred's mailing . . .
. . . the COA to him. Best, Art
Same joint and pin - thanks for corroborating . . .
. . . the apparently uncommon choice. Gratefully, Art
It's not the same.
If you look carefully, the pin head is completely different shape and so is the metal . 1970 cue below with LOA and 4 points. This is Bobby ...
Most people unless TAD experts
Won't understand my hesitation until they see what TAD is known for in terms of designs which is unmistakable from 1970 onwards. TAD has such a unique and clear design language that many people can spot a TAD immediately. They basically look like Persian ...
This is what made TAD famous
All hand made. This is the first 1970 catalog If the cue is visually perfect but it sounds bad, TAD is known to still scrap the cue. Only a 100 final cues make it out of the shop. Every flawed cue gets put into the trash. Not even the pitch of the sound t...
Both made in 1969
Interesting how different they look and only months apart. One is crooked and has fat cuts into the inlays with lots of cracks. This is unusual too to see a TAD inlay filling in gaps with black glue. Normally TAD cut the wood so precisely the inlay fits l...
Gestation of six weeks suggests the handle was already basically complete . . .
. . . when Bobby ordered it. So it might be a prototype cue Tad let go of for a customer about to go into the Navy. Crane's presence might've been the tipping point.
In comparison to well known TADs
Bobby's cue is very interesting and atypical. I hope we get to read the LOA. If there is a story behind its origin it may explain a lot about why it looks so different from the TADs of that era. I've actually seen some 1963-1968 era TADs which due to priv...
Here is the most amazing part
that normally would be a red flag that TAD Kohara would not have built this cue even as a experimental cue (why would a test cue be so elaborately constructed to test a concept?) This huge set of rings between the points and handle for decoration is nothi...
I apologize to Art and the others
for having my doubts. Bobby does have a very early 1960s (no late 60s) Titlist conversion TAD cue. I saw proof today in a collection that is the best early tad collection I know of. The pin was used only on a handful of cues. Hence really very rare, but a...
Oh, no worries Seiji - Bobby's TAD must be far off the beaten path . . .
. . . for it to be so idiosyncratic that you had a hard time identifying it as such. I appreciate your sharing of knowledge which is much wider than mine. The only custom cue of note I've ever played with besides Bobby's TAD (and that was at least ten yea...
Low Resolution image
I went through so many cues today...this is a photo from a long time ago, the Bobby Pin was on one of these two. You can also see from the wall all cues from the beginning 1963/4 that TADs have always been solid uncored cues. One thing that is on a Taiwan...
Found a TAD cue original owner
That has a cue made from same period. Looks very similar. Important, note the pin. Inlays cut the same with the crowded look of too many diamonds in a row. Unusual Paradise/ Palmer / Rambow style butt cap. ...
similar but different
This kind of TAD , I have seem a few of this style before. Worth mentioning because it maybe a transitional style before the famous and unmistakable often forgery made TAD Persian designs. Persian style ...
Brazilian rosewood full splice made from the ground up by Tad Kohara! . . .
. . . are you the new owner, Seiji?
No just happened to see it on a sub that I lurk
It's good to see there is at least one other very convincing cue built is a very comparable style as Bobby's cue. I have no interest in buying this cue since a TAD is a player's cue first and foremost so experimental cues are not really my area of interes...
Hard to tell but seems to be
the much more common for other cuemakers, Goncalo Alves wood. The colors make it look like the nearly impossible to get BRW. My understanding is that as GA oxidizes over the decades, it can look a lot like Indian Rosewood. I have spotted 3 cues that are e...