What do they mean by "Custom Boards"?

[jaffa1949]

After looking and answering a lot of posts, I realised a lot of beginning surfers are confused by the term "Custom Board".
So some thoughts on this!
Most of the posters on the forum seem to be beginners or people heading up to being a a basic average surfer, some are good average surfers or average good surfers.
Why I say this is, it means they can find a board that will do everything they are capable of and then some, in off the rack boards that suit their size and weight and experience.

So CUSTOM, you go into a surf shop sales rep says "this is a custom board" my first answer is no it ain't.
Custom boards are made specifically for an individual rider who knows his stuff he goes to the shaper with whom he has a relationship, the shaper and the rider know how and what they want in his surfing so there will be tweaks to suit all the elements for that surfer's need.

A for instance, I ride a really good board length rail and everything else fit me nicely, but I believe a hardening of the concave edges would give the board more bite in bigger waves I discuss with the shaper next board has that , goes better ,advances his designs and my surfing!
A good shaper will also tell how or why an idea you have about your needs may or may not work the shaper does not wish to produce a dog board if at all possible and may even go so far as to refuse to make an extreme shape.
A genuine custom shape may be going to your factory and asking something like can you make me a board that would suit me for going to Hawaii, Indonesia or a different wave.

Once a custom board is sold on ( becomes second hand) it is no longer a custom board as it was not made for the next purchaser.
then it is a sales term only!

It is a great feeling when you believe you have progressed enough to go to your shaper and talk about what you want and go through the process with them and wait with anticipation until your new board comes home
Term custom shapes custom boards on the rack , a sales point only.
Big surf factories ( not the ones in Asia) often have a master shaper and a number of ghost shapers and a custom shape is now machine shaped to a certain level then hand finished by a ghost, then maybe a minor tweak by the master who may or may not pencil sign the blank. Equals custom shape

So a custom shape for average Joe, who comes in orders an average board but wants custom order.
Form filled out, all dimensions.
The master or a knowledgeable person checking gives delivery date and the process begins.
Machine basic shape if the board is in the standard average range final tweaks are again hand given by ghost and then finished by master and then penciled dimensions and for Joe and dated are written on the shaped blank . often this signature is the only difference.
Basic custom board little different from the other boards.
Some genuine custom differences may be in the glassing Joe selects and the fin systems.

Now a surf hero custom shape, this is a basic design that the surf hero had tweaked to their specifications! The mass aspire to surfing like hero so they buy the design and this one can be mass produced in factories in Asia and is almost exactly like the hero's board.
good or bad stuff.
If it works for you no.

The term custom is now more often than not a mere sales extra to convince someone to buy and realistically is not of great importance in benefit to ability, unless the surfer is ready to improve!
For raw beginners custom is not a need in their progress.

[drowningbitbybit]

Hey, good post Jaffa
My take on this is that boards go...
1. Pop-out
2. Mass-produced
3. Off-The-Rack
4. Custom

Quite an overlap between 2 and 3, and one not necessarily better than the other. But it does amaze me that so many (usually young, male) newbies want to buy the latest Al Merrick mass-produced board (that's right kids, Al Merrick didn't shape your board).
You think your new mass-produced board is cool? No, my board is much cooler* because it's the only one in the world exactly like it.



* right until you see me surf it anyway.

[jaffa1949]

Wow that was a quick reply D triple B, the pixels hadn't even dried!

[kitesurfer]

My take on this is that a custom board is made to order and i think should have identifying marking that shows this. "shaped for so and so" etc
Custom is not just limited to shape, artwork comes into it too.
Anything else is either mass produced or off the shelf. Off the shelf in my opinion being surfboards made obviously by smaller set-ups like custom boards but to no specific order. Quite often local to the area.

Also putting on my shaping hat/excuses the phrase "well its a custom board" is regulary used to explain cock-ups!

KS

[IB_Surfer]

"custom board" means a board made just for you for your surfing. It's like getting a wetsuit that fits perfectly, rubs you nowhere and goes on easily

[Jimi]

just to confuse the matter... what if you go to your shaper, and have a chat about what you want in your next board, and he says

'here, try this. It's a new shape I'm working on. I think it's what you're after'

Is it then a custom or not? I think not by definition (i.e. he didn't design it specifically for you)
Is it as good as a custom? Probably. You've got the features in your board that the shaper thinks will be best suited to what you want.

[pandarturo]

It's still a custom board technically he might have just been waiting for the right rider to come along.

[drowningbitbybit]

he might have just been waiting for the right rider to come along.

That's almost Zen philosophy

[drowningbitbybit]

'here, try this. It's a new shape I'm working on. I think it's what you're after'
Is it then a custom or not?

How about if you have a go on your mate's board, a 6'1 pod for instance, and really like it, so you nick the dimensions and get one made for yourself - does that still count as a custom?


Of course it was a custom.... mine is 6'2.

[pandarturo]

Lol

[IB_Surfer]

just to confuse the matter... what if you go to your shaper, and have a chat about what you want in your next board, and he says

'here, try this. It's a new shape I'm working on. I think it's what you're after'

Is it then a custom or not? I think not by definition (i.e. he didn't design it specifically for you)
Is it as good as a custom? Probably. You've got the features in your board that the shaper thinks will be best suited to what you want.

It means that a customer put a deposit but welched on paying the rest, and he now he has an extra surfboard to sell that might end up being yours LOL

Still, the guy he made it for might have been your weight and ability, and "shop boards" usually go for less since shapers need to move them, so might also be a win-win.

[312T4]

Can i have my heretic opinion here?
In relation to what drowning wrote before, why a mass produced board shouldn't be or couldn't be cool?

So, if you buy a Porsche 991 Carrera S 50th Anniversary Edition, then you are a poor ignorant because that car is mass produced? Same for a Ducati Monster 600cc? And what about your wife's expensive LV dbag? And youunglasses? And your new pair of Nike?
Your big flat tv? Your IPhone?

I'm new to surfing and I consider this kind of thinking dumb. No offense here, I'm just using this funny example of Drowing to make my point.
It doesnt make sense. It's just a mind setting.
Sure if you can get a board made for you it ll be better, for your surfing, and that's it.

[jaffa1949]

Your opinions are valued, this is a forum and a lively exchange of ideas is encouraged.
Lets go back to the post with which I started the thread, which BTW has nothing to do with appearing cool!
Let's start with pop outs.... machine shaped usually in a third world country with cheap labour, little or no consideration of the toxic nature of most substances in surfboard making.
quality control is basic and often poor boards are made with sand throughs in the glass and other elementary problems. durability and performance are less than they could be.
These boards are usually bought by the job lot often with a "new" brand name and cool paint jobs and a shiny appearance. a greater profit margin after costs is the real reason pop outs exist.
They are sold to unsuspecting newbies on Ebay, Craigs list or just straight online at a much cheaper price than a mainstream board. Cheats both the public and the whole industry.
They are mass produced.

Next are the mass produced boards can quite often be a name brand and has a quality control at a higher level, the pop outs can be made in the same factory Anthe pop outs can be seconds from the mass produced rebadged or with a glassed in label.

The glass job and shapes are better but overall are basic generic designs, they work they are adequate and have higher price because of the brand name.
off the rack boards too can be mass produced or a series of boards handmade by a "shaper" often a ghost shaper learning the trade and often better glassed and balanced in design but made to fill the racks in a number of shops and based on the shapes that are currently fashionable and selling.
Next comes Customs bespoke if you like where the board is made to your specifications as to what you want in performance beyond this everything is pretty much as I described in my first post.

Surfers would be freaked if they had to actually pay a fair price for a handshaped custom board after all the imposts and labour required anywhere except a third world country. Cheap imports have closed down many shapers.

A number of the brands you mentioned are being prosecuted for sweatshop practices, the same could be said of some pop out factories

Mass production has problems as a business model and can be an ethics conundrum, it is behind things that I use car and iPhone and most other things. It is just a heads up on the principle of Caveat Emptor let the buyer beware and have some knowledge of what they may be buying! this hopefully includes the work practices of the company that produces it.

[drowningbitbybit]

I'm new to surfing and I consider this kind of thinking dumb.

But a surfboard isn't like a car. From the point of view of whether its cool (and I think you may have missed the point somewhat - I was saying that you shouldn't be using your board as a fashion statement), think of it more like art - would you prefer a mass-produced reprint or would you like the original? Would you want the same picture that everyone else has, or something unique?

Same for a Ducati Monster 600cc?

That's a good example actually - I think Ducati Monster's are dreadful bikes, bought by the latte-sipping set who bought it because its the "coolest" bike out there, not because it does what they need it to do. Buying an Al Merrick mass-produced board is sometimes a similar thing - it's bought because of the name, not because it's a suitable board.

[IB_Surfer]

So, if you buy a Porsche 991 Carrera S 50th Anniversary Edition, then you are a poor ignorant because that car is mass produced?

Ferrarri's are made by hand...

[drowningbitbybit]

a custom board should be made just for the rider by the shaper, should be shaped specifically for the riders height, weight, experience level, and what kind of waves the rider usually rides. and of course custom designed with a sic paint job for how ever the rider wants it

totally my opinion though!

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[CrazyRom]

Thanks for interesting posts guys, it's very useful to me:)

[Aquaman2]

Here is my custom board. It is 3.75" thick, 20" wide, and 6'8" long, which gives it the floatation of a longer board. Slightly concave deck. I could not fine a shaper willing to make this board, so I made it myself by ordering a 8' long 4" thick blank from foam ez. It took a long time to shape, then airbrush, and more thin layers of resin to resist dinging, 2 layers of cloth deck and bottom, because I like rocky points. For this reason it weighs 15 lbs.

Thick Shortboard

[dtc]

That's a really great board. Although can you dig the rail in ie turn? That floaty and I worry the board will just skid across the water. But I've never tried something that thick so don't know

[Aquaman2]

Thanks for the comment dtc, that is a good question. However, at age 60, my wave range is 4 to 6 foot, so I don't notice any problem. On an 8 foot wave it may be too floaty and skid across the water. The concave deck is great, I can even feel my way to the sweet spot with my eyes blinded with water. The thickness gives me the feeling I can paddle faster than on a thinner board.