Can anyone tell me what to look for on this board to tell if it was shaped by Jacobs? There are no signatures or pencil marks with dimensions or board number.
That is because the practice of writing dimensions and signatures on boards didn’t become common until the late 70s. No one wrote dimensions on boards in the 60s. Sometimes, there would be initials or symbols from a shaper, at most.
SammyA,
Thanks for the information. I was going to buy the board for a wall hanger and just wanted to know if there was any way to tell if it was authentic.
Oh, it’s authentic. Probably bang on 1960. First year of production. Even the color is most likely original to the board. Made with walker foam, and glassed double ten ounce, top and bottom. At the start up, after the Velzy&Jacobs breakup, Hap WAS the shaper then. The shape, fin bead, and sun damage, are all consistant with the 1960 date.
Bill,
Thanks for the information. I love the board wanted it to be an authentic collector piece. Again thanks.
Wow, That is one really cool board. Actually that looks real similar to the first Jacobs I ever saw. Back in 1961 probably. But the color green was darker.
I hear this question a lot about old famous brand boards. “Who shaped it?” The answer is, usually, no one knows for sure.
As Bill T. says the earlier examples, and this one is sure early, would likely be shaped by the guy. But as the companies grew the owner(s) would be more likely to spend their time running the company and used hired help or sub contractors to shape and glass.
Back then, believe it or not, most people didn’t care who shaped it. They were buying the brand.
At an auction a few years ago a girl asked me to look at the various Hobies she was considering buying and tell me which one was shaped by Hobie. The answere was easy. None of them.
Working at G&S if I saw Larry Gordon in the shaping room I usually knew one thing: He was getting a new board for himself.
Bill,
Thanks....Do you think this one is at least worth the 300 bones that I'm paying for it? There is no delamination or any real bad dings. I really like.
Thanks,
Wesley
give him the money and run.
Wesley,
I’m really not up to speed on values in the vintage board marketplace. The board has significant sunburning. The template is a classic late 58/59 pig outline. Without the decal the shape alone would make me think it was a Velzy&Jacobs. That is what convinces me it is a very early board, and extremely likely that Hap was the shaper. All that said, maybe $300 dollars for the board doesn’t sound too bad. I’ve seen basket case boards, which yours is not, restored to near prestine condition. Sam Cody comes to mind. There may be others with similar talent/skills. It just depends on what really floats your boat. If owning and riding a 50 plus year old classic early foam board, gives you pride and pleasure, then the price isn’t out of line. Hell, a good pair of shoes costs that much, or more.
I’d give $300 bucks for that.
And I don’t usually buy old boards. But that one is unique. Not something you see everyday.
I wouldn’t restore it though. Just clean it up and hang it.
My thoughts on restoring: If they are really beat up. Foam sunken in, totally tanned out. Then yes. Ok. Although I don’t see the point. It’s kind of like taking an antique piece of funiture and painting it. Personally it’s not something I’d want to own in the first place and certainly not after it’s restored.
I did aquire an old Dewey Weber once that was pretty shot and we did restore it. But…and this is important…If you’re going to restore it, make it look like something that would have come out of the factory back when. This was a pretty simple resto but I’d never do one again. Not really worth the effort in my opinion. But I do like boards from the early sixties just because of the memories they bring back.
This one had a lot of water damage on the bottom near the nose. All sunken in with black mold. A tip. Don’t sand off the glass and expose the black mold. You don’t wanna breathe that stuff.
In this case we were able to save the sticker, see the reverse t-band and do a tape off leaving the traditional Dewey Weber style comp band clear.
That settles i I’m buying it. Im supposed to meet the guy tomorrow and if everything works out it will be hanging on my wall by sundown.
Thanks for all the comments. I appreciate it.
I’m with BalsaBill on all counts. I would not hesitate to pay 300 for that board, and I also am averse to doing extensive restoration on it.
I’m in the camp who thinks surfboards were made to be ridden. Fix the dings, make it water tight, and see that it gets used at least once a year. Get a feel for where things were at that point in the evolution of board design. Who knows? You might like it.
Even with that severe “tan”, it’s worth 300 and then some.
The new trend in antique autos is to leave a “barn find” as is and just get it running. It’s only original once.
Exactly.
A couple of years ago, I had dinner with Alan Seymour, who was the first guy to do a ‘collectible’ surfboard auction. I brought along the two sixties boards I had at the time, so he could give me an ‘appraisal’ of sorts. He was adamant about not disguising a board’s history, so to speak. Unlike some other well known auctioneers. He felt the wear and tear/dings, etc told a story. Not that I had any intention of disguising any damage the boards may have had.
yea, barn find “Patina” is very big with auto collectors these days, bird shit and all.
Nothing better then an old surfboard with it’s own Patina of much use, tells the back story of being ridden hundreds, maybe thousands of days.
Boards are built to be ridden. Unrestored wall hangers that are beat but still sound are living art, their story just radiates to those who know to listen. Maybe that nose shatter came from the Huntington Pier, that rail crunch from the inside rocks at Trestles.
Buy it, hang it, take it out occasionally to honor it. that’s a bitchin board.
When the collector thing started to happen I would always say “Ride’em, don’t hide 'em.”
Just got the board home and it looks better in person than in the pics. I found the number 459 on the stringer near the fin. I’ll post some pics later.
Thanks for all of the responses.
Totally Stoked!
With that low number, and the pig outline, I’d say it’s a safe bet that Hap shaped it.
All of the "Surf Boards By Jacobs" logos that I have seen has a red outline. For some reason the logo on this board does not. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks
Red dyes tend to fade faster than any other color. Given the amount of tanning that board has, I’d say the color was bleached out of that lam by UV rays a long time ago. Just look at many of the really old Nolls around, the red lettering is often gone.
That is, assuming there was any red color to begin with. I know I’ve seen some newer Jacobs lams with no red, just black outline and lettering.