Help with new Olhausen table purchase

[RLHornbeck]

I am looking to purchase my first table. Thanks to way too much reading here I have decided on an 8' Olhausen Santa Ana with the Stratford legs or Augusta, this will come down to which one my wife decides she likes the looks of best. The price on the standard table with standard finishes, delivery, installation, and set up package I am guessing should be around 3K, which will take some negotiation as my local dealer is asking 4K. What I am not sure of is how much to pay for all the extras and what extras to get.

Felt: must people around here talk about the Simonis 860, the dealer I went to talked a lot about the Accu-Guard. What is the difference in the felts and which should I go with?

Table cover: I need a cover that will allow a solid surface to be used a table; the one the dealer talked to us about was a basic fitted vinyl with foam inserts to bring the level up. They wanted $300 for this.

Cue sticks: I know that the basic wood sticks come in my package but is it worth upgrading these or getting a different stick? I know nothing about them at the time, except straight is better.

Pocket: The shield looks to almost be plastic even though I know it is leather, does this wear in so as not to look so bad? The fringe seems to look better but I think the dog might like this too much.

Cue Rack: How much should the matching cue rack be for this table and is it worth it?

Wood: My wife loved the natural cherry wood but again this upgrade was almost $700, seems really step to me. Is this about right?

Are there any other upgrades or accessories that I should be looking at?

Thanks for all the help,
Ryan

[219Dave]

Hi Ryan,

I have some input on all of this, but am pressed for time now. I'll try to email tomorrow.

Short answer is people seem to think Simonis 860 is worth the upgrade. I paid only $75 extra for it, and love the cloth. The cloth snobs on this (and other) sites like it much better than accuguard.

People steered my away from cherry, saying it scuffed more. Do you have kids? Mine ride their trikes around mine in the basement, and occasionally bump into it. Scuffing would be bad.

Happy to talk at length about house cues, personal playing cues etc.

This site is very friendly, but somewhat dead. I recommend registering (if you haven't already) on AZbilliards.com, and posting the same question. You'll get tons of responses.

[219Dave]

Oops. I had actually tried to send that as a pm to the OP as opposed to as a post. I hope I haven't committed some sort of cardinal sin by referring someone to another site. I really meant no offense. This is a great site, but sometimes it doesn't get the traffic it should.

[badandy]

i would consider the wider rails. they add no extra space requred for the table and provides a wider base for rail shots. i have the augusta and really like the table but i would consider the wider rails. i dont know the cost and i did not know it was an option at the time of purchase.

[219Dave]

Another couple of things: I didn't like the house cues that came with my table. I ended up getting some nice one piece schmelke house cues from Billiard Warehouse.

What kind of balls come with the table? Olhausen has a deal with Aramith. I got a set of super aramith pro balls with my table, the ones that come in the box that says Olhausen on it.

I have the regular leather pockets, in black. They never struck me as particularly plasticky looking. Ask for the ones with the Olhausen Logo on them if you like the way that looks.

If your wife like the cherry wood look, couldn't you do the cherry stain on the maple?

[TWScrap]

Following a mini-disaster that ruined the first table that I purchased,

http://www.easypooltutor.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=10040

I ended up having a conversation with Gil Atkisson of Vitalie Manufacturing concerning wood species. I'm paraphrasing here, but his comments were essentially 'You can pay the extra money and get cherry, but its unlikely that anyone but you will know its cherry, and the maple will hold up a lot better.'

When the guy who's making the money from your purchase is telling you to go with the less expensive option, there's usually something to it. Needless to say I heeded his advice.

[LTCJack]

FWIW, My dealer upgraded me from traditional mahoghany to spring cherry for $300 or $400, can't remember. Said this was the olhausen dealer cost. maybe offer $400 extra and see if the dealer does it if your wife likes the looks of it.

[rcase13]

I litterly just left the dealer. I bought a solid maple 8' Santa Ana with the Heritage Maple finish. It has the Santa Ana legs. Very impressive looking table. We are very happy and look forward to having it installed.

They tried to sell me the standard cloth but it was very fuzzy and looked like it would slow the ball down too much. I upgraded to the Accu-gard for $250. Also I got the Olhausen "play kit". It includes the Aramith Balls balls but I am not sure what type of cues come with it. That cost me another $250.

All of the above with tax and delivery/setup cost me just shy of $4k. A lot less than their "MSRP" price but probably not as low as others have gotten it for. I only have one Olhausen dealer and I'm not much of a hagler... Hopefully I didn't get too badly ripped off.

[BECue]

sherlock0610 and poolschool is our resident pool table experts. they should be able to comment on your purchase.