Off the shelf or Custom

You're killing me. I'm trying to sell a "custom" off-the-shelf to get an actual custom right now.

 

Everything I buy is Hand made Custom . I dont even ask for custom it just comes that way when I order it

 

No worries. If I don't sell it - I'm cool. If I do sell it - I'm cooler. So its not like I'm screwed either way.

 

i have a pretty good mix of both...i generally go custom, but every now & then, you find something on the rack that is exactly what you were looking for (even if you didn't know it!)

9'6" wynn si si slider = off the rack (tho it might as well be custom...it's perfect for me)
6'6" wynn bonzer 5 step-up = custom
6'4" bing bonzer 3 = off the rack
6'4" wynn single fin egg = custom
6'2" wynn hp bonzer 5 = custom
6'0" wynn bonzer 5 egg = custom
5'10" hsd quad fish = off the rack (got it used...seems to have been a custom for someone...)
5'10" wynn bonzer 5 diamond tail = custom
5'10" rusty dwart = off the rack

 

No offense, but your quiver is idyllic and I don't want to hear about it.

 

Do you like Wynn boards I wanna get a Wynn single Fin Egg or a Coperfish Comet. I rode a Comet that a buddy of mine has and it out of this world to ride.

Maybe come summer time I will get one or the other

 

Have you Craigslisted that board yet??? They are having a Swap meet at Beach House classic board house in the end of April you could sell it there and possily buy something while your at it.

I have 4 boards in my Quiver

9'6 Wynn retor glider

6'8 heritage vintage single fin

9'6 bing NR2

9'10 bing elevator

I wanna get a single fin Egg and and Twin Keel Fish then I think I will be good for a while

 

thanks!


& yes, i love every board brian's made me...matt, if you ever want to give my 6'4" egg a go, you're welcome to...

 

my 9'2" walden is my main "go to" board, it was "custom" for somebody else, but it turned out that he didn't like it, and he sold it- i liked the shape, but it was really like "off- the - shelf" for me - i will use it until it breaks (which will break my heart if it happens!) - if it does, i'd try to have it duplicated by a local shaper (hague or ashton, probably) - so i'll go from off-the-shelf" to "custom" if it goes down that way!

 

If you don't know a shaper well enough that he will let you take out a few tester boards so you can feel his style of shaping/glassing etc. then you should go off the rack. If you have a good shaper, who you know well, always go custom, but for the average person, I would say go off the rack....

The first couple of custom boards I ever bought a long time ago came out with the right dimensions etc, but I would have changed a few little things. After a couple of trial and errors, me and my shaper got it dialed in and he knows exactly what kinds of rail volume etc I like. We surf together, so he knows what I am looking for, so if you don't have a relationship with a shaper that can spend some time with you, I would always go off the rack....

Every once in a while, I will go off the rack. I will drive down to the plus one warehouse and pick up and feel like 50 different boards, and when my hands have investigated the entire board, and i find the one that is the magic carpet, I love that feeling. The exact feeling of knowing what you are getting... 5 years ago, I got free boards... not all the time, but enough. Now that I have to pay, I am much more hesitant to go custom all the time. Especially where I live where there is a surf shop in every other building in the whole city and there are like 250,000 new boards on racks that you can check out... Makes waiting for 6 weeks for a board pretty crazy...

Not to mention all the last minute situations ive been in where I need a new board immediately cause I broke one of an exact dimension... Then I will have to go to a shop and buy off the rack...

So, overall, unless you are super dialed in with a shaper, its a crapshoot ordering custom... a 1/2 inch here and a millimeter there can make a world of difference.

 

And that entire statement was based off of high-performance short board shaping... I know longboards and other models can be a bit more forgiving, so I can see going custom with those... But in a style board that can cost $500 bucks, and a 6'0 board and a 6'1 board are lightyears apart with regards to how they ride and perform, there is a lot of room for error on custom shortboards....

 

I have done both and in hindsite the best boards I have ever had were off the shelf. Like Zach said, if you don't have a close relationship with a shaper who knows you, knows his stuff, and can tweak designs over several boards to get you dialed in, off the rack is just as good, maybe better. I have gone back and forth on this, wanting to support local shapers etc, but I really think the best boards I have owned have been stock boards by well know shapers. I also don't think the average surfer with average skills can really tell the differance between subtle adjustments in design that can make or break a board made for a highly skilled surfer. I don't think I could tell. Besides it is really fun to walk in with a pocket full of cash and be able to oggle a rack of boards, spend an hour or so picking the right one and walking out with it .

 

I haven't had a stock board since 1986. Custom all the way.

oh and Zip. If you think board shopping off the rack is fun, try going to your shaper, working with him on dimensions then having him grab a blank and shape the board right there for you. almost like watching your kid being born.

 

I've had both off the rack and custom boards, and generally i like customs better. I have a hard time finding off the rack boards in dimensions that suit me. I find them to be to thin and overall to low in volume. I'm 175lbs but still like to surf 5'11" and 6'0" but most off the rack boards are too thin to float me.

If you can find boards off the rack that fit you, i'd say go for it. but its not for everyone.

 

That does sound fun, although I have shaped my own boards and that is even more fun. If I could buy a couple of boards a year and had a close relationship with a great shaper that I trusted then I would go custom all the way. My board buying is kind of erratic and doesn't lend itself to systematic tweaking until the perfect board is found, that and the fact that I like to ride odd shapes, retro, neo retro whatever you would call it, and those are the boards I shape for myself.

 

I agree...going to Ashtons shop, talking waves and shapes and rocker, having him pull out a bunch of templates, fitting length, nose and tail, watching him cut out the rough shape, tweak it and by the end of the hour you pretty much agree it looks "right" That has just got to be the best way to buy a surfboard.

My quiver now is an equal mix of boards ive shaped and glassed myself:
5'5" EPS twinnie
5'10" poly twinnie
5'11" EPS round nose fish copied from a ...Lost

Customs
6'3" hague swallow tail
6'6" Ashton egg
7'0" Ashton pintail
9'0" Ashton performance longboard ... rockered out, 2 3/4" thick

Stock boards
5'10" ...Lost RNF bought used for $80 couldnt pass it up just on principle
6'2" Ashton bat-tail quad...knew the minute i saw it i would love it and i do.

 

Yeah. Jon has templates for most of my magic shapes at his shop so once a year i get one of those shapes and then another 'experimental' board where we play with variations with some existing shape of his like the RNF. This you I'm thinking about an round nose quad.