This cue was built by the late Bill Stroud and has great playability. As pictured, the forearm is maple with ebony points framed by 4 complimenting veneers. It is a classic design with an ivory joint and ferrule built by a Hall of Fame legend in the billiard industry.

Biography:

Bill Stroud learned to play pool while growing up on a farm in Missouri. At the age of fourteen, he moved to Dallas, Texas to live with his sister. It was there that he began to play pool more seriously. Bill spent his evenings in the pool room frequented by “Titanic Thompson,” who was soon teaching Bill about pool, and about life. By the age of seventeen, Bill went on to the road and began playing pool for a living. Starting in the late fifties, Bill covered the United States playing in virtually every part of the country. During this time, Bill traveled with and learned from Eddie Taylor and UJ Pucket.

Believing there was a market for quality custom cues, friend Dan Janes, and Stroud founded Joss Cues in 1968. The name Joss was chosen from an oriental word that loosely translates to “good luck”. Although the two knew very little about making cues, they knew a lot about how great cues played. Soon, they became very successful in the custom cue making business. In 1972, Janes bought out Bill’s share of Joss Cues and Bill began operating under the name of Josswest.

Bill feels playability is the most important factor in a custom cue, and he believes that his road experience gives him an advantage over many other cue makers in this area. He is willing to make virtually anything a customer desires and will change any of the standard specifications as requested.

See cue maker’s bio