Bottom line, what I'm basically looking for is bad stories of board orders gone terrible wrong. I have several of them, but want to hear yours first.
Here's a a pic(s) of my last custom board damage from (?) that went very bad!
I say order from a not well known shaper. They put more thought and effort into it. It really is a crap shoot and any decent shaper can make a killer board.
If you're ordering a Longboard, there's a little less room for error.
I ordered a Ward Coffee Custom shorty about 5 years ago with the same dimensions as a board by Coffee I had and liked but broke at OB. Same dimensions and everything. I spoke with him a few times on the phone. I didn't know exactly what I wanted but I had the broken board in my hands when describing it. It didn't work out. The board was way different. It bogged, didn't really handle OB, didn't even turn that well, color was way off.
He was nice enough to offer another board for discount but I never took him up on it. I decided that I'm better off having a shortboard in my hands before buying it.
Go and talk with them in person and look at board shapes together... it's really beneficial. The one on one can be really informative and useful. Be really honest and tell them what you want and don't understand (which for me was a lot, there really is a lot to know). The glasser is really important. It looks like your board didn't have thick enough glass on the tail. It's a plus when the shaper and glasser are friends... or the same person.
BTW my friend Tim Reda at the Arrow factory is my guy!...
good luck.
I have to agree that the Arrow shop in Santa Cruz is a great choice. I've got a Pearson Arrow I bought off the shelf and love it but one of my buddies has been getting Bob to make custom boards for him 4 years. About a year ago we went down there so he could get a copy of a board and met with Bob, who pulled out the diagrams and specs of his old boards and they spent about 30 mins going over rail dimensions, if he wanted a more squash in the tail, glass weight etc etc. And then they decided that Bob should really look at the old board to make sure the dimensions were right. End result: a custom board that my friend really loves. Great customer service and an awesome place to get a custom shaped board.
