local shapers vs big names..

[diggerdickson]

hey...check out my new bike

http://www.bikeexchange.com.au/bikes/sh ... drock-disc

p.s if anyone said i'm off topic....well...vaginas to u

it doesnt have a motor or a surfboard rack

[Davros]

When I was in a Surfculture in Bondi Junction a few months ago I asked why they dont sell Gunthers and was told that he doesn't shap for the pros so they weren't interested.

Anyways, as you might have read in another thread, I just got a new custom from Gunther and am bloody stoked to put it mildly.

Back in Surfculture a few days ago and noticed they've now got a bunch of Gunthers (must've heard I was riding 'em ). But seriously, when I asked why they now had 'em on the racks, the owner told me that Gunther had rung him up and said he was desperate to sell some boards WTF??!!!! I'm calling bullshit on that I dropped in to Localmotion a few weeks before hand up in Balina and the shaping bay was chokkaz with boards in various stages of production. There was no way Gunther was despo to sell his boards.

i think they probably found out that some pros do/have ridden his boards.
why would you buy a board from surf culture anyway?
or is it just the name that makes it sounds like a boutiqe sds?

You were at surfculture and you didnt buy a $1300 Nealpurchase Jr (800 for board 500 for spray).?

Grabbed a Gunther from Manly little while ago and like it, but was wondering about best fins so dropped him a note, he wanted to know were I bought the board, I'm assuming so he could look replace it in that shop. But it makes sense in that he sells boards for a living (sidenote: I thought Tom Whitiker rode for Gunther)

Someone from a surf shop told me Base were having trouble selling Simons, its surfshop bullshit.

[pridmore]

lets backtrack to where someone said vaginas.....

[Natho]

Base having trouble selling Simons hmmmm not sure about that. More like Simon struggling to keep up with demand. I guess when youve even got Jordy surfing em (with JS sticker) it tells you something.

Some surf shops having trouble selling em (and boards in general) is probably more the point. One Eastern suburbs surf shop currently has Simons at $550 brand new along with JS's, Merrick's and the like.
As for Tom Whitiker, is he not on Dahlberg,s shapes?
Now back on topic there are 3 great shapers right there:

Simon
Gunter
Dahlberg

Well worth the money to buy boards from any of those shapers IMO.

[mical]

Base having trouble selling Simons hmmmm not sure about that. More like the phantom shapers struggling to keep up with demand. I guess when youve even got Jordy surfing em (with JS sticker) it tells you something.

Fixed.

[Nick Carroll]

Looking back to the title of this thread I am wondering why it didn't (and doesn't seem to) strike anyone that most "big name" surfboard designers were once -- and often still are -- local shapers.

[Davros]

Base having trouble selling Simons hmmmm not sure about that. More like the phantom shapers struggling to keep up with demand. I guess when youve even got Jordy surfing em (with JS sticker) it tells you something.

Fixed.

So surfboard designers you reckon as opposed to shapers? As long as they are designing I'm all good. Reckon Al Merrick still shapes, I looked at his site and seems close to the action still or am I lost little lamb in the forrest.Anyway if you could design and avoid the dust and back breaking work at 40 years+,you would(wouldnt you).

Chap at work is only ever ridden boards shaped by his his brother and is always pondering what it would be like to ride a board off the production line, he goes well so probably doesn't have to try.

[Little]

Base having trouble selling Simons hmmmm not sure about that. More like the phantom shapers struggling to keep up with demand. I guess when youve even got Jordy surfing em (with JS sticker) it tells you something.

Fixed.

I heard Greg Webber in an interview saying hand shaping does his back in and he avoids it unless absolutely necessary. They're all machined these days, aren't they? The big names I mean.

[eMpowered]

I cannot believe we still talk about this shit.....

Vagina

[pridmore]

me 2....now were talking....beaver

[diggerdickson]

ahhh, the good old map of tassie

[mical]

The blurter

[pridmore]

the vertical smile......mmmmmmmmmmmm talk about a thread hijackin....

[buzzy]

When I was in a Surfculture in Bondi Junction a few months ago I asked why they dont sell Gunthers and was told that he doesn't shap for the pros so they weren't interested.

Anyways, as you might have read in another thread, I just got a new custom from Gunther and am bloody stoked to put it mildly.

Back in Surfculture a few days ago and noticed they've now got a bunch of Gunthers (must've heard I was riding 'em ). But seriously, when I asked why they now had 'em on the racks, the owner told me that Gunther had rung him up and said he was desperate to sell some boards WTF??!!!! I'm calling bullshit on that I dropped in to Localmotion a few weeks before hand up in Balina and the shaping bay was chokkaz with boards in various stages of production. There was no way Gunther was despo to sell his boards.

Not to stick up too much for Surfculture, and I have no idea about the Gunther Rohn thing, but the legend Benny Lucas is up there selling all manner of fantastic craft, and there's no BS. And the other guys will sell you the more stock boards. I'd have thought though if you're buying a standard thruster from a top line shaper if you're already stocking some JS and some ZDahlberg and some Darren Handley and some Simon Anderson and maybe some Channel Islands shapes it wouldn't be that important to stock Gunther Rohn's shapes, great a shaper as he is. There's always custom too - either direct or through the shop.

Just on the 90's...didn't they suck? I'm a solid guy and I really struggled to get boards with adequate foam. Guys who ran or worked in surf shops who knew me and knew how I surfed kept on pushing me toward boards I just knew were underfoamed. I ended up surfing much less for a period, until I found McCoy's nuggets which kept me going - with much derision from the "core" crowd - until the rest of the world caught up to the virtues of adequate foam in the last 3-4 years. Now I have heaps of boards and shapers to choose from.

And yes, flatter rockers and width are good. Banana boards, wafers and skinny little things?...No way....Do I LOOK like MickFanning? I certainly don't surf like him.

[Natho]

Got a new stick today for smaller waves today.

Shaped by Nick Blair. Same design he does for Dean Morrison.
its 5'11 x 18 3/8 x 2 1/4 so a bit more width than my normal boards.

The board felt and looked that good I had to get it.

Took it out today in tiny 2 foot waves.

Frk me dead. Early signs are this could be one of the best small wave performance boards Ive ridden.

Big call. Just need to get some proper waves but early signs are good. Frk his boards look the goods.

[ajohnsen]

It all depends on the relationship between you and the shaper. You have to be honest about your surfing ability and he has to engage with what you're telling him.

I had a bunch of boards shaped by Brett Warner. Now I'm just your average old bloke who's been surfing since I was kid; Brett wouldn't know me from Adam. Most of the time, it seemed like Brett was not all that interested in engaging with what I was after and my level of experience. It's not like I was banging on for hours about the good old days when I could make a spaghetti marinara from pippies collected from the beach at Treachery. Tell the truth, I didn't know how to get the sand out of them so the marinara was crunchy. I've since learned. But I digress...

The last one he made me was a dog. (I've lent it to mates who return it with the same opinion.) So, for the first time, I bought an off-the-rack Al Merrick, a T-Knox model to be specific. It's a cracker, but Christ it's a delicate flower. I farted next to it and shattered the deck.

More recently, I explored Geoff McCoy's Nuggets. Geoff was fantastic to deal with. Plenty of emails back and forth, and a few lengthy phone calls. I couldn't get off the phone from him on a couple of occasions. I ended up with one of the better boards I've ever had. The guy really listens and offers advice. He's out to make you the best board he can commensurate with your ability and needs.

[pridmore]

ha ha, love a good marinara......so true...post more....

[sandfly]

Had been looking at getting a quad for a while to add to the quiver and dong a bit of research on the various models available from different shapers.

I read about a Division Quad in the ASL Boardbible that sounded just what I was after and Peter Daniel is a local as well.

Peter couldn't have been better he spent about an hour talking to me about what I wanted and different options.

4 weeks later and I had one of the most best boards ever.

You gotta lov someone who has the knowledge and wants to spend a bit of time to understand what you want in a board and what he can do for you.

GOLD!