George Balabushka The God Of Billiards Cues
Sporting Goods November 22nd, 2007
In the film “The color of Money” a movie that just about every Billiard enthuseist has heard of. Tom Cruise and Paul Newman Expose the precious George Balbushka cues to the world. But many dont know anything more than that his cues are worth some good money.
George Balabushka was born in Russia in 1912. He came to America at the age of 12 and lived in New York. George loved playing billiards. He used to take part in tournaments and because of his exposure he came to know renowned contestants and billiard celebrities.
He started out making wooden toys in school for teachers. This offered him the basic skills that he would use later in life crafting pool cues. Later on in his life George started a company that manufactured wooden products. However his middle finger was cut off by an electrical saw accident. Not satisfied at the sight of loosing his finger, George fit himself with a wooden finger. His finger was crafted so well, that even some of his closest friends didnt realize that he had lost his finger.
Besides taking care of his own business, George also helped his friends repair cues. At the same time another cue maker Frank Paradise used his own name to brand his cues. George saw an opportunity to do the same. By the end of 1959 at the age of 47 George made a cues and gave them to his friends as Christmas gifts, he also collected data and feedback on the performance of the cues. Not long afterwards George Balabushka started taking orders for his cued.
From 1959 to 1963, George was churning out 20 to 30 cues a year. George as a simple individual reflected his persoa in his work. George always focused his work on the performance of the cues. During competitions in America, contestans were always discussing and using Balabushka’s cues. It happened a fiew times that two contestants would both use Balabushka’s cues in the same game. Because of this exposure, Balabushka’s cues were getting famous, this led to more sales. The orders were coming in so fast that some were willing to send George an authorized check with the price undefined just to own one of his cues.
If you are lucky enough to have a look at a true Balabuska cue, here are a few distinguishing features.
1. 98% of hus cues use steel joints with 5/16 x 14 screws to attatch the shaft to the butt.
2. The cues use four colored veneers as four-point inlaid forearm, plus some circle or star shaped Mother of Pearl.
3. The Butt Cap is mostly white and plain without any print. The prong part came from Brunswick in the early stage, and then later on they were made by George. In 1966, George got the prong parts from and American company Burton Spain which specialized in making prongs and cues for pool cues. This was until George met another legendary cue maker, Gus Szamboti, from the East coast, the prong parts were acquired from Gus Szamboti utill the day that George died.
4. George Balabushka seldomly used ivory for inlaying, instead he used silver or colored veneers for decoration
5. Balabushka Cues were all 57.5 inches long comparing to a modern 58 inch cue.
Though it is no difficult task to make a Balabushka cue by today’s manufacturing technology, George Balabushka’s knowledge of the cue and his profound knowledge in woodworking has led to his fame and a must-have appeal for all ages.
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