Tag: liddle surfboards

Social Media Roundup: Autumnal Awesomeness

Greetings, Shredderz! By now you may know the drill: here’s a collection of some of my favorite vintage surfboard related social media posts from the past month or so. Keep scrolling for more.

I believe this photo was actually taken and published by Jeff Booth’s dad. True story: as a seventeen year old “grom” one my first surf experience was attending a Quiksilver surf camp in Montauk. Jeff Booth was the resident pro that day, and not only was he nice enough to push me into a wave, he politely declined to point out the fact that I was five to ten years older than all the other campers. Thanks Jeff — I owe you for that one! Anyway, peep that killer Eighties Stussy stick, complete with the NSSA lams. (The photo at the top of the page features Booth in a later ad for Stussy Surfboards.) I’m also trying to zoom in on the Stussy logo beneath the NSSA sticker, but can’t quite make out what it might be.

I love vintage Yater single fins. This one is classic: all clean lines and understated cool. This is a grown ass man’s surfboard.

Here’s a killer Town and Country twin fin. Make sure you scroll through all of the pics, including the beautiful glassed on fins with the T&C yin yang logo. Lots of people go nuts over the Eighties T&C boards with the crazy airbrushes — and I love them, too — but I think the slightly earlier T&C vintage boards are every bit as cool.

View this post on Instagram

Presents Expression Session 5: California Dreamin’

A post shared by Surfboardsandcoffee (@surfboardsandcoffee) on

Surfboards and Coffee held their latest event this month, and by all accounts, it was a doozy! They collected a bunch of boards with some amazing airbrushes. Shout out to all my Airbrush Aficionados out there!

View this post on Instagram

Flashing on empty secos with a stringerless….. early 1980s… i usually keep my trap shut but….I always hear guys talking about hulls these days talking about how they enjoyed them back in the day … when I’m thinking to myself wait a minute wernt you the kid on that stupid pointy down railed rocketship that just didn’t work in most surf or that ampy echo beach thingy… or whatever.. fact is for now at least my memory is pin perf…. I can spin about 20 names off like Greg, steve, mardy,Andy,bozo, wocheck,Tim kabota,ed Phillips, kp, McKnight , buck,wemple…dadams to name a few…. (sorry if I left u out, it’s early) i mean show me a shot of you riding one better yet how bout a shot of you just holding one?…. in the 70s…. naw… 80s nope…, 90s, maybe…. 2000s yeh probally… better late than never…. this post isn’t ment for you younger guys….. #hulls #liddlesurfboards #surfboards #glomontoanything 👣bongo archives photo: Kirk Putnam

A post shared by Alan Neal Casagrande (@bongobay) on

Now this is a vintage Liddle flex! Happy that Mr. Casagrande spares “younger guys” like me — I’m in my mid thirties, do I still count? — but regardless, respect to the hull trailblazers. And how dope is that board?

Last but not least we have a rare and beautiful Surfboards Haleiwa single fin shaped by none other than Mike Diffenderfer. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a Diff board under the Surfboards Haleiwa label before, but this one is so cool. Love the resin pin lines, the bold red bird logo on the bottom, and the unmistakable outlines of a classic Seventies single fin.

Skip Frye K Model and More: Weekend Grab Bag

Greetings, Shredderz! As always, here’s a collection of vintage surfboards that have been listed for sale online recently, including a lovely Skip Frye K Model thruster. Usually I like to link directly to sale links, but in the case of this edition, not all of the boards are still for sale, and some just might be more fun as mysteries. Anyway, keep scrolling for some selections.

Skip Frye K Model Thruster 8’6″ (No Longer Listed)

This board was listed for sale on Craigslist in San Diego and the asking price was $2,850. Yes, you will have to pay an arm and a leg for one of Skip’s boards on the open market. The Skip Frye K Model was developed in the late Seventies. I have probably linked to The Surfer’s Journal feature on Skip’s boards more than any other article, but nonetheless, it’s worth checking out. According to TSJ, the K Model was created in conjunction with a local San Diego surfer named Timmy Kessler, although many incorrectly attribute the board to Barry Kanaiaupuni, who was in Frye’s graduating high school class! This board is just too pretty.

Canyon Seventies Single Fin

Canyon Rusty Priesendorfer Seventies Single Fin

Sorry, no hints yet as to whether this board has been listed, although all I will say is that it’s up somewhere on the internet. Like Skip Frye, Rusty Preisendorfer is another San Diego surfboard shaping luminary. Early in Rusty’s career he shaped for Canyon Surfboards, among some other labels. Sadly, the Canyon name is now being slapped on pop-outs, but that doesn’t diminish the coolness of the board above. I’m not 100% sure if it was shaped by Rusty himself. The board isn’t in perfect condition but I love the colors and that awesome gradient Canyon logo.

Greg Liddle Smoothie 7’11” (Craigslist LA)

Greg Liddle Smoothie .jpg

Here’s a neat Greg Liddle Smoothie, measuring in at 7’11”, with a 2+1 fin setup. The seller is asking $900. I can’t say this is a fantastic price, but it is a great opportunity to look at an earlier Liddle shaped by Greg himself. There’s a photo of the typically hyper detailed signature on the board (I don’t even understand half of the dimensions listed.)

Del Cannon V Bottom (Craigslist Orange County)

There is no question this board has seen some finer days, but I am a sucker for all things Transition Era, including the mighty v bottom design. If you can’t handle all the scratches and weird patches on the board above, then check out Gene Cooper’s Instagram, where he has been glassing some truly gorgeous modern v bottom boards lately.

Social Media Roundup: September Sticks

Greetings, Shredderz! It’s time for some more vintage surfboard selections from the interwebs. Keep scrolling for more…

The Surfer’s Journal recently ran a great feature on Skip Frye’s boards. It’s among the best surfboard-related articles I’ve ever read. Photographer and TSJ Photo Editor Shawn Parkin will occasionally post nuggets from this incredible shoot. I still can’t get enough of that lineup of pristine Skip boards! Just gimme one of those, Skip, and I swear I’ll die I happy man…

Good luck finding a photo with more surfboard shaping firepower than the one featured above. Skip Frye and Donald Takayama is a combo that’s hard to beat!

View this post on Instagram

Good morning With @davidnuuhiwa

A post shared by Joel_tudor (@joeljitsu) on

Is David Nuuhiwa the most stylish surfer of all time? He’s gotta be in the conversation. I don’t have the stones to show up to a surf spot rocking a vest without a shirt underneath, but then again, I don’t surf nearly as well as Nuuhiwa does! I wish there were more photos of the boards in front of Nuuhiwa. If you look closely at the one on the far right, it looks like it has the red and white yin yang David Nuuhiwa logo, similar to an earlier Nuuhiwa single fin surfboard I wrote up.

View this post on Instagram

Nice Liddle 8'0" Find .

A post shared by @ kirkputnam on

This is an older post — it’s over two years old — but vintage Liddles are timeless. I’ve featured vintage Greg Liddle boards many times on the blog before. The vintage Liddle that Kirk Putnam posted above is one of the cleaner examples I have seen. I love the smaller logo, set perpendicular to the stringer. This is a somewhat unusual setup compared to Liddle’s later boards. The red coloring provides just the right amount of pop, too.

View this post on Instagram

It’s been a while since I posted a board. ~1976 Gordon & Smith, Steve Griffiths Bonzer 7’3, 20’1/2, 2’7/8 it is beat up, got fungus in the top 1/3 had the leash plug removed and repaired in a seriously dodgy way but wouldn’t change a thing. Speed more speed and a little more speed on top of that, wide point is pushed back for the period and is at 3’3 from the nose. The double concaves start in the nose and are quite prominent down the the entire length of the board narrowing and deepening between the bronzers. It is an awesome board for the era. It is now a favourite to take out Long Reef Bommie @gordonandsmithaustralia @houseofbonzer #bonzer #bonzersurfboards #bonzersurfboard #whatsinyourquiver #stevegriffiths #elouraboardriders #cronullasurfers #gands #longreef #longreefboardriders #longreefbeach #toomanysurfboards #myshaperisnotacomputer #handshaped

A post shared by Lindsay Hamilton (@lh_singlefin) on

Finally, I love these Aussie Gordon & Smith Bonza boards (AKA Bonzer for my fellow Seppos.) “Curvaceous” is the word that comes to mind whenever I look at those swooping bottom channels.

 

Greg Liddle Longboard

Greetings, Shredderz! Today we have a bit of an oddity from one of the blog’s favorite shapers. No, your eyes do not deceive you: that is indeed a Greg Liddle longboard you see.

The board pictured here was posted for sale on Craigslist in Santa Cruz for an unbelievable $180. I sent over perhaps the single most desperate email that has ever been sent in Craigslist history, and I’m still waiting to hear back. I don’t know who ended up with this thing, but even if they paid double the asking price I think that’s a nice score.

You can click the photos above to enlarge. Usually I like to crop the photos I get off Craigslist and try and make them a little more presentable, but I really dig the jungle-like background in these shots. If you’ve read this far in the post, trust me, you’re going to want to geek out on the details of this Greg Liddle longboard.

The seller thinks this thing was shaped in the late Sixties, but I don’t think that’s the case. The seller’s analysis is based off the fin box, but I can’t see it up close in the photos. Even if I could see the fin box I’m not sure I would be able to draw any conclusions about the board’s age. Either way, it just looks newer to me than something made in the late Sixties, but that’s a hunch more than anything else.

The vast majority of Liddle Surfboards I see are mid-length hulls. The Greg Liddle longboard in this post is obviously an exception. I have seen numerous Liddle L Spoon models, which I believe were based off Renny Yater’s famous Spoon design. I’m not quite sure if the board featured above qualifies as an L Spoon, however. Based on the Instagram photo below, it looks like Liddle also shaped some non L Spoon longboards, too.

What’s really interesting about the Greg Liddle longboard in this ad is its appearance. Liddle’s boards tend to be pretty simple and straightforward. However, the one featured here has a ton going on, whether it’s the unusual logo placement, what I believe is a grey resin tint throughout, and then the navy blue patch on the deck, too.

Greg Liddle Longboard.jpg

Finally, this board has a rare “GL” logo that I have never seen on another Liddle before. This logo is part of the reason why I think the board was made well after the late Sixties — it looks vaguely Eighties to me — but it’s super unusual.

If you own this Greg Liddle longboard or you have more scuttlebutt about its origins, I’d love to know!

Craigslist Heartbreak: Vintage Greg Liddle Surfboard

Greetings, Shredderz! This post features a board that disappointed many potential buyers all across California last night. Yes, that’s right, this vintage Greg Liddle surfboard was listed on Craigslist in Orange County for a mere $375 — well below market price — before quietly disappearing into the night. This is the exact opposite of the person who is currently trying to sell a recent Liddle hull for $2,500, which I’m still not convinced isn’t a prank.

Anyway, the vintage Greg Liddle surfboard pictured above has a ton of cool little details to it. I love geeking out on these vintage Liddles. One quick giveaway is the smaller size logo and in an unusual orange color. I’m most familiar with Greg’s most recent boards, which I think he stopped shaping just a few years ago, and were sold frequently at Mollusk. The recent boards often had blue or logos, and the font was just a tad bigger.

Vintage Greg Liddle Surfboard 6

The vintage Greg Liddle surfboard featured here has a few interesting things going on. I would say the nose is far more pulled in than Liddle’s famous hull designs, for example. I would go as far as to say the outline looks a bit like a semi gun. See here for a similar vintage Liddle I wrote up earlier. The board is only 6’6″ in length, which is a little shorter than I might have expected. According to the seller, the board is 21″ wide and a substantial 3.25″ thick.

The seller claims the board comes with an original flex fin, which you can see in the photo below. Unfortunately, there aren’t any photos that give a good idea whether or not there’s a lot of belly in the entry rocker, which makes it hard to determine if the vintage Greg Liddle surfboard is a hull.

Vintage Greg Liddle Surfboard 2

Finally, Liddle is known for having some interesting signatures on his boards. I have personally seen a wide variety of signatures on Liddle’s boards, including some with very detailed dimensions listed on the stringers. I’m fascinated by the signature on the board featured here, which only contains the length and then “soft contact.” One thing common on Liddle’s boards, though, is the use of the bullet points throughout. What does “soft contact” refer to? I have no idea, and if you have clues, let me know!

Vintage Greg Liddle Surfboard 5

I think it goes without saying that I’m insanely jealous of whoever scored this thing. In the wake of Liddle’s retirement from shaping, and the continued interest around his hulls, I would anticipate the prices for vintage Liddles to continue to climb. Either way, this vintage Greg Liddle surfboard is a super rad example from a great California shaper, and I just hope that it has found a good home.

 

Vintage Liddle Surfboard

Greg Liddle is a California shaper who has built a rabid following on his famous hull designs. Liddle is compadres with the likes of Kirk Putnam and Marc Andreini, and you can find Liddle’s boards in fine surf shops like Mollusk. Even Hollywood luminaries love Liddle’s surfboards. I understand that Liddle is no longer hand shaping boards himself, and that boards produced under the Liddle Designs label are based off his old templates. That said, given that Shred Sledz is a blog focusing primarily on vintage surfboards, it’s only natural that there is a special soft spot for vintage Liddle surfboards.

Pictured above is one such vintage Greg Liddle design. The board was featured for sale on Craigslist in Orange County recently, although the listing is no longer available. The board is not mine and pics are via the old Craigslist post.

I would say the board above is not a hull shape, but without seeing the board in person, it’s hard for me to make any definitive judgments. Either way, you’ll note that the vintage Liddle surfboard pictured above has some marked differences from classic Liddle boards.

Liddle Hulls.jpeg
A trio of modern Liddle hulls. Pic via Greg Liddle Designs

The photo above was taken from Liddle’s website, and you can clearly see the classic hull designs in the shapes above: relatively low nose rocker, rounded noses, and the famed “belly” up front.

Vintage Liddle Gun 6

The vintage Liddle board also has a very different fin that is a departure from the Greenough-inspired flex fins that you’ll see on hulls. In the picture above you can see the red fin has a much wider base when compared to the modern hulls. The vintage Liddle measures in at 7’3″, and given the size of the board, I would hazard a guess that this is more of a gun shape than anything else. As always, though, I am open to suggestions, and I’d like to repeat that my interest in surfboards often outpaces my knowledge. I’d also estimate the vintage Liddle was shaped sometime in the 1970s, but I can’t be certain.

Vintage Liddle Signature.jpg
Close up shot of the signature on the vintage Liddle

Another thing I dig about Liddle’s boards are his often elaborate signatures. I’ve seen some examples that come with tons of different measurements — usually bracketed by dots, like in the example above — but the vintage Liddle featured here keeps it pretty simple. I can only assume the 7’3″ on the bottom refers to the board’s length, but I have no clue what the “X-142” might refer to.

The vintage Liddle pictured above was listed at $600. I don’t think this is an insane price, but it’s not exactly cheap, either. I think that it’s likely the price would have been much higher had the board been more of a traditional hull design. Examples of vintage Liddle hulls tend to command higher prices than his other shapes, from what I have seen on Craigslist and eBay. Liddle seemed to experiment a bit more on his earlier boards, as I have seen some examples of fish and even pretty standard looking thrusters pop up here and there.

Thanks for reading, and if you have any rad vintage Liddle hulls that are just begging to be shared with a larger audience, you know where to find me!

 

John Milius with a Greg Liddle Hull: Sagas of Shred

Greetings, Shredderz! Today’s entry in the venerable Sagas of Shred series comes one day later than its usual Thursday time slot. Hopefully the content is good enough for you to look past that. Pictured above is John Milius, the Hollywood director and screenwriter behind movies like “Big Wednesday” and “Apocalypse Now.” The photo was taken by Patrick James, and it originally appeared in an issue of Surfer Magazine from the 1980s. The pairing of a rocket launcher with a Liddle hull is a curious one for sure. I’m not qualified to speak about the weaponry in the picture, but Milius does have great taste in surfboards.

Shred Sledz Social Media Roundup (May 29)

Konichiwa, Shredderz! This post is being written from lovely Japan, where I am enjoying an extended trip with Ms. Sledz. Hope all of my American friends are enjoying Memorial Day weekend. Enough about me, though, and onto the goods…

This is a KILLER shot of a lineup of some Zephyr Surfboards, posted by Instagram user @jjrober22. A couple of these boards boast what look like CR Stecyk spray jobs. I’m surprised by the length of some of these shapes, as I didn’t realize Jeff Ho shaped longer boards. I’m not sure if all of these are recent — at least a couple of the boards seem to have modern-looking fin boxes — but nonetheless it’s a colorful look at one of Los Angeles’ most revered surf brands.

 

My initial reaction was to apologize for posting not one but two flamboyant 80s boards in a row. Then I thought to myself, wait a second: what is Shred Sledz if not a safe space to celebrate the loud colors of 80s surf culture?! The Schroff board posted above is pretty subdued by Echo Beach standards. This thing is so cool — I love the teal paint job and the diagonal lines on the deck, especially when paired with the Rainbow Fin! Make sure you click through for all the pics, as the post is an Instagram slideshow.

 

View this post on Instagram

The Donald Takayama Model @bingcopeland

A post shared by Chris Allen (@oldsurfermags) on

Here is an old Bing Surfboards ad for the Bing Donald Takayama Model. Wish this showed the entire ad, but it’s awesome nonetheless. Note that David Nuuhiwa is pictured in the ad as well.

 

Greg Liddle is probably the most famous shaper of hulls, and Kirk Putnam‘s enthusiasm for Liddle’s shapes has been well-documented. This post comes courtesy of Displacementia, a great blog specializing in hulls. For all the excitement around Liddle, it’s hard to find good pictures of his earlier boards. I’ve only seen the BMW-style logo on a few of his boards, making this post a cool peek at some vintage Liddle Surfboards.

Shred Sledz Social Media Roundup (4/8)

Greetings, Shredderz! Hope your weekend has started off in style. As always, see below for some selections from the wonderful world of social media.

Allan Byrne, the force behind Byrning Spears, tragically passed away a few years ago as the result of a motorcycle accident in Bali. His legacy as the world’s pre-eminent shaper of channel bottom boards remains, though, as shown in this Instagram post by Andrew Kidman. The board in the post is an absolute beast, measuring at 10’4″ and designed to tame Pipeline. The surfer is underground Aussie charger Sam Yoon, who was written up in a nice Surfer profile that can be found here.

Continue reading “Shred Sledz Social Media Roundup (4/8)”

Shred Sledz Presents: 3/11 Weekend Grab Bag (Harbour, Shrosbree, Liddle)

Happy Saturday, fellow Disciples of Shred! As always, here are a few boards that have caught my eye as of late.

Harbour Spherical Revolver on Craigslist (Monterey)

We sure do love our Harbour Surfboards here at Shred Sledz. This here is an original Spherical Revolver model, measuring in at 7’3″. It has a nice original red Waveset fin, as you can see in the third picture. The board is listed at $600. Not sure whether or not this is all original, but click through to the listing if you’re curious.

Bill Shrosbree Twin Fin on Craigslist (San Diego)

Bill Shrosbree is a well-known San Diego shaper. He is the head shaper for Joel Tudor Surfboards. Shrosbree also shapes boards under the Fresh Pineapples label, which is definitely on the shortlist for coolest surfboard brand name. Pictured here is an early board, shaped under the “Shros” brand, complete with a cool little old school Moonlight Glassing logo. The board pictured here is a 6’6″ fish with glassed on fins. It has been misidentified in the ad as a Moonlight board. There are some dings and this isn’t the greatest photography I’ve ever seen on Craigslist, and the board is listed at $250. See link above.

Vintage Liddle on Craigslist (San Dieg0)

00w0w_lYpwlBK1eux_1200x900

Apologies for the not so great picture, but it looks like a vintage Liddle, and it’s being listed at $90! Like the Shrosbree board above, the Craigslist poster has not correctly identified the board in the ad. It looks pretty weathered, and I suspect there are some bad repairs lurking under those mysterious bad patches on the right rail and the nose, but like I said, it’s a Liddle and it’s $90. 7′ single fin, too.