Stick 176: Better Looking Naked

Stick 176: Better Looking Naked

Stick 176: Better Looking Naked - Image 2

Stick 176: Better Looking Naked

Butt & Joint Protector: $1375

BurcHowdy Shaft: $550

9″ Extenstion, new inlay pattern, $450

Total $2,375

Free JP adjustment: (75)

Total: $2,300

Spalted/Stabilized Maple, Maple Burl

What’s cool about this one? The burl centerpiece looks like Bigfoot squeezed it hard enough to leave an imprint. Those are bark inclusions, bark that gets surrounded and trapped by the wild growth of the burl, and ends up inside.

BADASS.

And second…

Normally I dislike inlays. Cue building — to me — is about showing off the miracle of wood. God gave us this crazy artwork in burl and spalted wood, and to me, the perfect design is the one that best allows the wood to speak for itself. The less of me in there the better. That’s why I don’t much care for inlays, especially not the byzantine stuff that wins awards. Mighty achievements, hats off, respect, but I think they’re ugly.

So why the inlays on this one? Because the pattern in the butt sleeve and forearm is homogeneous. Two colors, mostly, both of which are moody. The pattern between them is hard to decipher, so well do they blend. Their glory comes from the ripple that extends throughout, but again, homogeneous. Normally when someone asks about an inlay I ask, which part of this gorgeous grain do you want me to get rid of? But when its all the same, it doesn’t matter — but you’d better get rid of some of it or you’re going to have a boring stick! In this case, the inlay makes the rippled grain more obvious, and that’s the goal. And greenbling is never wrong.

So in this case I guess the inlays add a little greenbling to the cue, and help frame the majesty of the maple burl in the center. Note, this is soft maple. But I felt okay using it because it’s on a 3/4″ shagbark hickory core and surrounded by very dense stabilized maple. The butt will end up in the normal range, weight wise, and will convey little to no vibration. Pair with a BurcHowdy low deflection shaft for the ultimate Character Cues experience.

Monthly payments. No interest. No automatic bank draft.

Woods Used: Spalted & Stabilized Maple, Maple Burl

Butt Length: 30

Core: Shagbark Hickory

Collars: Phenolic

Probable full cue natural weight: 17-19 oz.

Pin: 3/8-10 mod; radial

Glue Date: 2/15/26

Earliest Finish Date: 8/26

CAFETERIA STYLE: email me at Clayton@charactercues.com if you’d like to purchase this butt with any of the following. I’ll protect the page for you and change the listing and price to include the items you’d like to purchase. To discuss on the phone, email first. 🙂

Low Deflection Shafts:

Carbon Fiber: $450
Black BurcHowdy (torrefied low deflection black birch shaft): $550

Break Shafts:

Purple Heart Shaft: $400
Osage Orange: $400
Hickory: $350

Wood shaft: (any species, w/ matching ring) $350

Maple
Black Birch (recommended)
Ash
Sassafras
Walnut
Hickory
Honey Locust
Beech
Cherry

Matching wood joint protectors: $75 each

Extensions:

3-6″ Same Wood: $250
7-12″ Same Wood: $300
3-6″ Like-Design: $450
7-12″ Like-Design: $500

$2,300.00

Out of stock

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SKU: 0176 Category: Sold

Welcome to Character Cues!

I’m Clayton Lindemuth, gritlit author and cue builder. My Character Cues are crafted from spalted Pennsylvania hardwoods, live edge, and burl from the woods around me. I process and stabilize, slow dry, and build cues the old school way. Not in a hurry. Ain’t setting records. Work day and night and build less than 50 a year.

Cuemaking is my divine charge and my goal is always to showcase God’s creativity and way. I’m proud of these sticks not because of my part, but because their beauty is palpable — it baffles me. I could never have dreamed them, yet they came from my hands. Only God can put words in the mouth of a mule.

Signed, Numbered, Impossible to Replicate

Every Character Cue is a unique creation. Burl grows where trees are attacked and suffer. The fungus that eats rotting wood leaves lines and colors behind. Suffering, death and decay become cue art. Again, only God…

Each stick has a name and a story.

Hand Crafted for You

Uncompromising Quality: Butts hang 6+ months, reduced in size monthly

Personalized Options: Buy a butt while it’s hanging to make payments over time and choose your pin (3/8-10 mod standard; Radial, Uniloc QR available), collar, and weight.

Shaft Versatility: Pair a Character Butt with your favorite shaft. Or get the full Character Cue experience with a matching shaft and/or extension. Choose from carbon fiber, maple, ash, beech, walnut, cherry, white oak, honey locust, hickory, purple heart, or sassafras. 3″ -12″ Extensions optional — both simple and matching the cue design.

Owners love Character Cues signature poise and hit, driven by full-core construction and the natural density of stabilized wood (check product pages for core specs, and take into consideration tip, ferrule material, shaft material and pin size when analyzing hit).

Trusted by Players

Join the Character Cues Facebook Group to see owner reviews, photos, and videos. Ask about the hit, build process, or my lifetime warranty. Curious about the return policy? It’s straightforward and buyer-friendly—check it out.

Indie Author; 1/4 million sold

Clayton Lindemuth’s works have been smashingly reviewed by Publishers Weekly (starred review and best of the week), Indie Next List, Kirkus, BlueInk Review, Foreword Reviews, Seattle Book Review, San Francisco Book Review, Manhattan Book Review, Indie Reader, Reader Views, Spinetingler Magazine, Hardboiled Wonderland, various independent best of the year mentions, (Spinetingler and DoSomeDamage, among others). Clayton’s novels Cold Quiet Country and My Brother’s Destroyer have been published in France by Le Seuil, and have been charmingly reviewed by Le Monde, La Croix, Le Figaro.