In my Redman post I mentioned I was looking for another restore/repair job and I think I’ve found a good one. Also, please any info on the board is greatly appreciated.
I scored what the owner says is a 70s Lis Fish, possible kneeboard. It is about 5’2", with plywood keels. Stringerless. Barely any rocker. There are no signatures or markings other than the symbol on the bottom of the board. The symbol looks like rice paper, the rest looks to be airbrushed on foam. Upon Googling the logo does appear to be the correct one, but I hope the members here can supply a concrete assessment. The owner got it in Florida and he mentioned it is made with some ‘new at the time’ foam. The board is very light. Also, not that it matters, but I did get it for <$80.
Pic time:
The plan: fix all dings as best as possible and surf this thing, including removing that hideous leash loop. I am interested in attempting to color match as best as I can. Any/all help on that subject is appreciated. I might possibly try the coffee stain method, testing it out on scrap foam first. Thanks for reading!
That reminds me of a board that was discovered under a pile of kayaks way up north. We thought it might be a Lis… turns out it wasn’t. As far as I know, the Lis ‘logo’ at the time was a Yin&Yang symbol but I have no idea if he used it on every board… maybe a Rich Pavel Choice/Greenroom logo(?) Steve Lis did some of those as well…
Hi Sammy - Agreed that it is Pavel’s logo but that fish shown directly above your post is allegedly designed by Steve Lis and it has those triangles too. Not sure who actually shaped it? I don’t trust pencil signatures anymore.
I have a board that Pavel shaped for me and it also has hand drawn art near the stringer that is pretty similar. I’d say that doodle was done by Pavel and both of these baords were by him. I think it’s a safe bet that neither board has any direct connection to Lis.
there was a time when Pavel shaped under the Steve Lis brand - this is likely one of those as I have one with the same logo. Lis signs with the yin/yang drawing, pavel signs with a variation of a heart with wings.
OK, so maybe the second board is a Lis after all. My Pavel has the heart and wings. Though the pen work on that fish has a similar style, the yin/yang could be the clue.
Sheesh… I don’t even know if that yin/yang pencil work was on that same board. I snagged both pics off the net somewhere. The top one I posted with the ‘pipeline’ ding was photographed by me and I can vouch for it being a board from the great unknown… likely a homemade deal by a fish riding adventurer who passed that way. I don’t trust logo laminates… have seen too many of those just floating around. And like I said, I don’t trust pencil signatures either. Unless I have the chance to watch the board being shaped, it’s all a guess. Too many ‘ghost stories’ I suppose.
John - your blue fish looks a lot like a homemade fish I had about 40 years ago. I can remember guys at the beach laughing and saying where’s the rest of your board, and what the heck is that??? Fishes were a new thing, at least in the Ventura area I surfed at the time. It was made from a booklet that was available by mail order, and my buddy made himself and me a fish from the booklet which contained a diagram and explanation. Yours might have been made from the same instructional pamphlet.
Hi Monk. My lis fish has the same lis doodle. Yin and Yang between the two ball sacks. I think they all do. I don’t think a Lis fish has any kind of intrinsic value other than that is a really cool fish. Even if somebody else put Lis’ doodle on there it’s still a really cool little fish. My Lis fish and my buddy’s Pavel fish are virtually identical. He gave it to me 15 years ago for inspiration when I began my quest to make my own fish surfboards. When I asked him if he thought Pavel may have scanned and copied his fish he told me, “No, Pavel shaped it in front of me.” I really mean, they are virtually identical. Talent. The SD fish thing is a bitchen part of surfing lore and history. Fun, fun, fun. Mike
