Jun 12, 2017

The Degree 33 Custom Surfboard Experience

It used to be, you'd drop in on your local shaper with half the cash for a new board and In-n-Out for a tip. You'd pull a salty, wet board off your roof rack and rattle off how magic it is, how good a job they did, and where you plan to take your surfing with the next one. You'd both scarf your burgers and your he'd draw up and shape out your next dream ride.

An hour later you'd head out, packing in a victory lap for old faithful... That day would come, and you'd swear, before wax even hit the deck, that it's even better than the last one. You'd shake a foam-crusted hand with the other half of the loot and b-line for your secret spot and what you knew would be the best sesh of the season!

Those were the days.

That experience has almost gone extinct. Surfing is so popular now that novices outnumber the locals, and it's rare that surfers have met the guy that signed their stringer.

However, all is not lost...

The soul of surfboard building is making a steady resurgence. The days of scoring a killer steal on craigslist are thinning out as more and more surfboard builders open up shop to meet the growing demand for a good board and a good deal.

At Degree 33 Surfboards, we bring our shaper, and that experience directly to you. You wouldn't buy a new suit without getting it tailored to make you look like a million bucks right? The same should go for getting a new, locally made board. Once you've found your wheelhouse within our ready-to-ride standard epoxy and Nexgen boards, you're ready to build a relationship with your shaper, our shaper, Bill Minard. It's kind of like finding that barber (or hairdresser) that always nails it and makes you one of the regulars. You're not there for just a hair-cut.

At our shop, it's not just about catching a wave. It's about getting to be a part of helping you grow. We're actually interested in how you surf, where you surf, why you surf, and since we build boards, what you surf. We clock in every day to get plugged in to the wisdom, lore and vibe that got us into surfing in the first place. This is a place where you get to be a part of that too. This isn't a hobby, this is a way of life.

So what does all this mean for you?

Like our fingerprints, no two surfers will ever have the same experience in the water. While we've worked hard to provide stock dimensions that fit the widest array of surfers possible, most surfers looking for their next board would get the best surfing experience if they went with a surfboard that's tailor-made, completely custom built to their specs.

What do we mean "specs"?

The list is endless. Height, weight, skill, style, wave preference, age, strength, goals, bad habits, personality, favorite color, favorite surfer, zodiac sign etc. We'll pull together all of those factors and cook up a recipe that's going to hit our number one goal... getting you surfing better than you've ever surfed, having more fun than you've ever had. For some, thats simply more waves. For others, that's going bigger, higher and faster. Whatever your equation is, we'll create the answer.

Once we dial you in, our shaper will pick out a blank, and if you've got the time, pull up a bar stool and soak it up from start to finish. Bill is an absolute wizard. As he shapes, he picks your brain on the wave you surf, the boards you've liked or hated, and where you're hoping this one takes you. He's a walking surf encyclopedia. Once you step out of the shaping bay, you'll have a much richer appreciation and deeper understanding of surfboard design.

Custom Surf Glass' Eric (son of Larry Gordon of G&S) personally picks up your board from Bill's bay and takes it down to their shop where it gets showroom glassing and hardware before coming back to us. Bill scans the board head to toe. Here comes that phone call you've patiently waited three weeks for!

By the time you hit the water, more than half a dozen of us have worked together with you to create something with decades of love, stoke, and soul. By the time you hit the water, the logo on the deck and the signature on the stringer are more than foam and resin... they're your badge insignia and password into the surfer life. You're in. This membership isn't bought, it's built.