REMINDER: THE ARENA PLATFORM, INC. has no obligation to monitor the Forums. However, THE ARENA PLATFORM, INC. reserves the right to review any materials submitted to or posted on the Forums, and remove, delete, redact or otherwise modify such materials, in its sole discretion and for any reason whatsoever, at any time and from time to time, without notice or further obligation to you. THE ARENA PLATFORM, INC. has no obligation to display or post any materials provided by you. THE ARENA PLATFORM, INC. reserves the right to disclose, at any time and from time to time, any information or materials that we deem necessary or appropriate to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, contract obligation, legal or dispute process or government request. Click on the following hyperlinks to further read the applicable Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
The perfect custom experience - restore faith thread
- Thread starter Mr J
- Start date
Yes
He was easy going , boards delivered ( to my front door ) on time , glassing quality is top notch. And.... boards work very well
i was just thinking i have not had a custom board made by another shaper (than myself) since 2001
and do you provide yourself with the perfect custom experience? Quality, on time, get what you ask for?
Never a bad experience ordering boards from:
Burch/Superwolf combo
JT at Dark Arts
FCD
Burch/Superwolf combo
JT at Dark Arts
FCD
perfect custom experience - Stu Kenson 9' 4 longboard, some guy ordered a longboard from Stu with very specific colors and dimensions, Stu made it and got it glassed, somewhere along the way the guy messaged Stu that he wanted it to be 9'2 not 9'4. Board was 9'4 so the guy balked, Stu let me buy it for a very fair price, its more colorful than any other board i have but it is such a fun board for around here when it is small, which it often is.... stocked.
Stamps
Mitsven
Stu Kenson
Gary Hanel
Wayne Oakamoto
Rusty
Barry Snyder
All top notch, no bvllshit, get what you order. No hesitation to order from any of these guys again.
Mitsven
Stu Kenson
Gary Hanel
Wayne Oakamoto
Rusty
Barry Snyder
All top notch, no bvllshit, get what you order. No hesitation to order from any of these guys again.
edit, I know this may come off as kool aid bullshit but no other shaper articulates design into laymen's terms like tim stamps. less dimensions/thickness/volume etc. he just wants feedback, listens and shapes according to what changes you want in how the board surfs. I know several others are good at this but there's something about him that just connects and makes sense more than any custom shaper I've dealt with.
working with wsl level surfers has his game at top level. stamps rips too.
A shaper's ability to interpret rider feedback into design adjustments is far more important than ability to surf. A shaper who relies mainly on their personal surfing experiences will not be able to produce boards that suit a variety of surfers. Being able to rip is an advantage though.
Getting feedback from WSL surfers is much better than retail customer feedback because the elite team rider gets comment on a series of the same model with the aim of producing the ultimate performance machine. It is also easier to de-tune a performance board for the retail customer than up-tune.
It seems that some elite surfers are unable to provide direct design suggestions. In this interview https://stabmag.com/news/john-john-florence-first-interview-world-champion/ John John Florence says he declined a request to be the Stab in the dark star rider because he didn't have the board knowledge of Dane Reynolds. He said his level of understanding was “this one feels a little bit stiff in the tail.". If the rider had a series of boards that level of feedback would be enough - the shaper would be able to look at an example board that did not have that problem and interpret why.
I am inclined to think JJF was partly being modest though and maybe more scared of not doing well in the what shaper made what board quiz. I watched the Dane SITD and the comments from him didn't go beyond "drag in the tail" type stuff. Although Dane's knowledge must go way beyond that just to be able to guess the shaper.