Due to his father, Jerry Pechauer, being a member of the pool world for many years; Joe had it in his blood to do something involving this wonderful sport. Ever since he could see over the table, he took part in doing what he could to learn what he could about pool. Until around the age of 20, Joe was more into playing, than producing cues. Yes, he helped with the business up until this age; but until the business needed him most, he wanted to play. Looking back on it now he will never forget the winning eight ball of the tournament he won when he was only 15 years old, defeating 45 men. That’s quite an amazing feat.
As many sons do, Joe took after his father. Watching, admiring and learning about the fascinating art of making a pool cue. He still has his hands on every single cue that makes its way out of the shop to make sure it is of the best quality and precision. His favorite part of creating a new cue is placing the inlays in the cue. Joe loves seeing the natural beauty pop out of the exotic woods. It truly is an amazing sight, which is why he takes so much satisfaction when seeing all the beauty and wonder in all his work while staring at his finished projects and taking in how all his hard work has turned into something magical.
The Pechauer company is a family based business. That being said, he takes very good care of all his workers as they do to him. It is a loving environment at the shop between him and all his colleagues. He values everyone the same. His shop consists of three different sections. A retail showroom, a sawing section and the main shop. It is quite the large shop as well. It is a total of 15,000 square feet. That space is where all the magic of the makings of their cues happens. Must be quite the sight inside that building. That is indeed where Joe’s favorite cue he ever built was made which was the 2013 People’s Choice Cue of the Year.
Pechauer is a company whose products are made in the U.S.A. This is very hard to find as many cues are now made overseas. It is very important to Joe that his products remain made in the U.S.A. and in his shop. He actually makes every part of the cue (except the tip and rubber bumper) so that he can make sure that his products are to the highest standard possible. He also takes pride in being a part of the American Cuemakers Association and admires many of the cuemaker members and their work.
Joe would like to thank a couple people for much of his success in the pool industry. He was very inspired by two important people in his life, his father and Fred Mali. They had the same passion he did which was figuring out how to build the machines needed to build the best cues possible and that will hold up through everything a cue goes through and what materials were needed to make the best cue as well. Much teamwork was needed to get where he and his company is now.
He would also like to thank mom and dad for all they do for the company and his family, Polly (his wife) and Jake and Riley (his two sons) for being as understanding as they can be with having a husband and father who is part of a business that means so much to him. This being said, he has quite the future planned for his American company. He would love to just keep promoting and improving the cues. In other words, just keep making the company better and better.
Interview questions and answers:
AL: When did you know this is what you wanted to do with your life?JP: I have played pool since I was able to stand over a table. My Dad was a very good player and we played together a lot. While he was doing repairs on cues in our basement, I started playing around myself on it around age 13. When I was 16 my dad quit his full time job to start the company selling pool tables and cues. It was called Custom Cues and Quality Billiards. I did all of the pool table installs after school and worked in the store. From there I never really looked back. My Dad was the boss and my Mom did the books.AL: Where do you want to see your cues go in the future?JP: My hope is to be able to spend more time on the special custom cues. That is where the fun is! AL: What are your business ethics? JP: I feel that every person in my organization is as important as the next. Because of being a family business that is the atmosphere I see in the shop and in the front office. I work alongside some great people and we really all care a lot about each other. AL: How big is your facility? JP: My building is 15,000 sq.ft. It consists of a showroom for our retail store (pool tables, cues, accessories). Our custom wood cutting where we do all of our log sawing and kiln drying of the maple, and the main shop where all of the cues and cue parts are made. AL: What is the plan for the future? JP: The plan for the future is to keep promoting the all made in our USA shop cues while updating some old equipment and always trying to make an even better cue. AL: How are competitors cues different than your cues? JP: There are so many other cues on the market. The quality is all across the board. Many are made overseas, and others made is the US. There are some great cue makers whom I admire and some that I sometimes don’t seem to agree with. At the end of the day the biggest thing I always want people to realize is that every single part of my cue is made in my shop (except the tip and the rubber bumper). That is the only way that I can assure that every part that goes into my cues is to the highest standard. AL: Who is the man physically making the cues? JP: If I were only making 50-100 cues per year I could say that I am the only one making the cues. Because there are so many steps and areas in the shop so the cues can be made efficiently and with the best quality there are different hands working on the cues. There are excellent women and men and together we all have our hands on the cues at different times. I do have my hands on every cue made in the shop. And the true custom cues which are my favorite to work on are the ones that I spend the most personal time on. AL: Do you yourself ever play? JP: I do play maybe once a month in the winter subbing on a pool team. So really not a lot. But I am enjoying playing more when I can. I played my most and best pool up until around age 20 then with the business getting busier it got less and less. AL: If so, what is your biggest accomplishment? JP: My biggest accomplishment is probably when I was 15 and went through a field of around 45 men in a tournament and won. I can still remember the last eight ball shot to win. AL: If you were to close your eyes and pick up one of your cues, what is the feeling you get with your work? JP: The best feeling I get with my work is really only with my eyes open. That’s when I can look over the precise inlays and the pretty awesome finish. AL: What does it mean to you to be a business with its products made in the USA? JP: Years ago when many were going over to China to have their cues produced I did consider it for a bit. It is hard not to be enticed by the idea of lower costs to sell more cues and make more money. However I stayed true to my values and will always be able to proudly say that all of my cues are made in the USA in my shop with some amazing people. AL: What is your favorite Pechauer cue? JP: My favorite cue is still my 2013 Cue of the year. It was a tremendous challenge and great accomplishment. AL: What is your favorite part of the cue making experience and why? JP: I think the cnc inlay area is my favorite area. When you can take a plain piece of exotic wood and put some cool designs inlaid, then cutting the cue to finish size to see the inlays show their beauty. AL: Who inspired you to make the incredible cues that you do? JP: The inspiring people that made the most difference were my Dad and Fred Mali. When you have men who have a passion for making machinery and researching to find the very best materials that will hold up to the stresses that a cue will go through. There were no cue machines made when I started. It was a matter of figuring out what was needed and how to build a machine to do the job we wanted done. AL: Anybody you would like to thank or credit? JP: Obviously my Dad who started the company. We worked together for over 30 years and I learned so much from him. My Mom who was with the company from day 1 and still comes in every day to work on the books, do errands and bring in birthday treats for people on their birthdays. Having her there every day has been the most rewarding! And of course the biggest credit has to go to my wife of 25 years (Polly) and our two boys (Jake and Riley). Having the business being such a big part of my life is not always easy on the people who mean the most to me. But I’m working on it!
Product Review:
Being a player sponsored by this company, I said yes for a reason. The Pechauer company is amazing for many reasons. First, the Pechauer company is like a family. Everyone sponsored by Pechauer has each other’s backs and anything I need from Pechauer, they get to me without any headaches or problems. If a person were to order something from them, they would get it to you ASAP and with the best quality that person has ever seen. Second, Pechauer has some of the best quality cues I have ever used in my life.
Many people because of the design of my cue sparks their interest and they ask to try my cue out. I have not had one person who doesn’t like the feel of it. They might say something is just different but nothing ever negative. Pechauer’s low deflection shaft is exactly what it says it is, extremely low deflection. It has such a true hit to it, if you miss a ball it is most likely the fact that you purely aimed wrong not because the cue deflected the shot. Lastly, the designs of their cues are unlike any others.
Pechauer has won Cue of the Year in 2013 and 2015 for some incredible looking cues. If you were to go on their website they have pictures of these outstanding cues and I promise you, you would not regret going to see the images of these finely crafted cues. They are simply amazing to just lay your eyes upon. Pechauer is one of the best cue companies out there. They never disappoint.
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Sponsored by POV Pool and McDermott Cues’
Photo Credit: provided by the Author
Editor: Shaylyn Arthurs
