Adam Custom Cues

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A Brief History of Adam Custom Cues

Adam Custom Cues was established in October 1969 when Richard Helmstetter moved to Japan to help Dave Forman establish the company.

Richard Helmstetter started making Adam custom cues in 1970, after having previously started his own company called Helmstetter Cues in Washington, D.C. in 1966 and working with various other cue-making ventures.

Richard Helmstetter

In 1960 Richard Charles Helmstetter made his first cue in a woodworking class. He then went on to apprentice with cuemaker Rollie Welch. In the early 1960’s he helped Gordon Hart set up a cue shop in the basement of his new pool room in Stoughton, Wisconsin which became Viking Cues. Richard worked part time with Gordon there while earning a degree at the University of Wisconsin. Richard and Gordon used Burton Spain blanks in many of their early cues.

In 1966 after graduating from college, Richard moved to Washington, D.C. to start his own company called Helmstetter Cues. A year later Richard helped set up a cue making factory for the National Tournament Chalk Company in Chicago.

In October of 1969, Richard moved to Japan to help Dave Forman establish Adam Custom Cues which was named after Dave’s grandson. In 1970 they produced 12 models. In 1973 that had grown to 60 models. Adam went on to build several private label lines like Helmstetter, Stomboulini, Bob Weir, the Balabushka tribute series and others. They also became a top maker of Snooker and Carom Billiard cues.

Richard accomplished a great deal in the cuemaking industry, but is even more famous in the golfing world for inventing the Big Bertha driver. Richard passed away in 2024.

The first catalog of Adam Custom cues was published in 1970, featuring 12 models including the Americana and the Eldorado for the U.S. market. Adam cues became known for their quality Japanese manufacturing and innovative designs under Helmstetter’s guidance.

Professional snooker player, three time World Champion John Spencer was associated with Adam Cues throughout his professional career being the first to use a two piece Adam cue.

Adam produced a full line of John Spencer cues, some licensed by BCE the sole importer of Adam cues in to the U.K. at that time.

The Adam JS12 cue is almost identical to the cue Spencer used until the end of his playing career and features the famous Adam wooden joint.

During the 1980s, Richard Helmstetter continued consulting for Adam Cues, and the company produced limited edition cues that were hand-signed and dated by Helmstetter.

In 1986 Matsumi Takadaira became President of the company, re-named Adam Limited.

Adam moved most of their production to China in 1999, except for their high-end Musashi line of cues. The company continues to operate as Adam Japan Limited, launching their web-site in 2000. The company is now seeking distributors in North America, remaining active in international markets.

John A Smith
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