I was reading through the latest issue of Longboard Magazines "The Surfboard, Exploring the Craft of Custom Board Building". It was very disturbing because out of more than 26 pages of text and photos, only a few sentences even mention custom hand shaping. No exploring there! The bulk of the article revolves around historical references, and details on other aspects surfboard construction. Why the obvious, intentional lack of substantive information on the creative heart and soul of custom surfboard manufacturing? Could it be that the one key element which most distinguishes traditional, custom surfboard building from current mass-produced clones, is minimized by author Devon Howard precisely because Longboard Mags largest advertiser is Surftech?
Stan, That’s one of the reason’s why I subscribe to none of them. Maybe this is old news, but someday count how many add’s are in a typical mag vs the amount of pages in the said add. My view, it’s like ordering a pay per view channel, yet receiving 2 hours of commercials. Screw them, I’ll be damned if I have to look at page after page of advertiseing showing, boards,sandal’s,clothing, etc.,etc. of what a “surfer” is supposed to look like. Somewhere along the line, they seem to have forgoten the soul of the sport is inside, not outside. PS: I hate the word “dude” !!!
local shapers know their regions well. support them! don’t be afraid of that sticker price- at least you are paying for true craftmanship(and getting what you want) when you stay on the local level.
Unfortunately that issue sucks, it’s not nearly on the same level as the surfboard maker issue from '94 with Kevin Connelly on the cover. There’s more solid info in the '94 issue that I actually ‘reread’ it all the time. I don’t know why LB mag sucks now but it needs a total makeover soon or it’s history like Breakout and other Longboard clones, Pacific Longboarder is way more interesting and exciting! Devon is one of the nicest pro longboarders I know, but his writing style is not stoke provoking for lack of a better word. My guess is the glamour of the Longboard Resurgense is well over and it’s 15 year run is mutating into 70’s retro singlefins now mainly because of the massive flow of kooks learning to surf and the older longboard buyer’s gaining confidence that they can actually still ride a midsize board!!!Also all the current Longboard heroes are boring and there isn’t TV coverage for their lame contests. Most washed up longboard pro’s and shapers are concentrating on their Japanese popularity(where our losers are Japanese western cultural surfing icons still!). There is a migration to Australia and Japan because the milk is gone from American Longboard sponsors…Care to differ???
I can’t speak to editorial impact of advertisors in much detail (I don’t have current information), but I know the magazines are really expensive to manufacture. All the overhead, the photo aquisition costs, the trips they create to create editorial content to fill that yawning void month after month…it’s very high stakes. Financially unstable magazines seem to try to get to and hold at the one to one ratio of ad pages to editorial pages. That gives a somewhat junkyproduction-line magazine, but hopefully pays the bills. This is why some magazines seem so different from others. Surfer’s Journal is hugely reader supported - I don’t know the actual percentages, but maybe 90%? Longboard is still a beautiful magazine in terms of artisitic sensibility and production. You can also see differences in non-U.S. publications. This may be due in part to targeted age groups - magazines which go for more mature audiences tend to have higher prices and readers who willingly can and will pay for them. I suspect this is due to deeper content - a lesson the “Shorty mags” should learn. Small businesses simply can’t afford to buy into the advertisor pool. If there are lower rates there will have to be more ads to finance the same editorial spaces. As others here say, community support is vital for local businesses like shapers/boardbuilders/shops. Local shops and builders need to welcome all interested parties to their businesses if they hope to grow or survive.
It seems the focus of the article was on aspects other than shaping, mainly the glassing end of the art. As much as I would have liked to have seen more on shaping and design, I do feel the glassers, sanders, polishers etc. have not recieved the credit they deserve. My hats off to all of them.
I thought it was just me getting older and bored with Longboard Mag. Recent (last year or two) issues pretty much suck. The photos all seem to be the same. The articles are uninteresting.
…DUDE!(I have a friend with a pitbull named,“DUDE”). …I’m with you on this one,but I would miss the Reef Girls.Herb
I heard SIMA was co-sponsoring a “Reef Girls” magazine…but a full color glossy magazine featuring nothing but headless, faceless girls with some form of clothing on sounds kinda odd to me.
Herb, I have sock’s older than the Reef girls or is it Reef ladies ???
…Most would say they are a 20 yr.old, trapped in a 45 yr.old’s body. …For me,it’s the other way around.Herb
No worries, I have it on good word that LB magazine is hurtin’, and may net be around for much longer. Could have been so much better, in my humble opinion. I agree, there hasn’t been a good issue in years, thin writing, and the same tired ads of old geezers in hawaian shirts. (I’ll be one someday soon, I must admit). The Mitch Abshire & Tyler Hatzikian profiles were good, but with ALL DUE RESPECT, the Rich Chew interview was dull, lots of lifeguard stories, it seemed. It’s sad, because Surfers Journal is nice, but oh-so soulfull and quite pretentious, and Water magazine is like a social yearbook. Sufer/ing, well, I’m not 15 anymore. But there’s hope friends… ESM (Eastern Surf Magazine) has loads of great photos, profiles, news, and resources, and best of all, it’s free! Cali needs this. NALU, ahh if I could only read Japanese, from the photos alone, this has got to be the coolest effing magazine in the world. Hell, I’d subscribe for the artwork alone if I could (they don’t take int’l subscriptions). My 2 cents Just had a depression session at Malibu, big, fun waves, but 100’s of guys acting like juvenile dickheads. Get a life, I say. 2 hours, 0 waves, buckets o’ attitude. Oh well, east coast here I come. John
East coast here i come !, what ,are you kidding me ! At least you have a world class right point that works reel well most of the time (in the summer) & stays cleen most of the time.Check the cams & the water temps for a couple of day’s before you sell the house !I’ll switch coast’s with you !
Hi Brian, I should have clarified, I’m being relocated to Massachusetts, I thought it would be fun to hit the 'Bu one last time, that’s all. Even the regulas were remarking, since this was the 1st south swell since last summer. There’s loads of good surf back east, and any Cali surfer who has surfed there will tell you that the vibe IN GENERAL is alot mellower there (a few exceptions, of course). My fondest memory surfing was chest high 2nd Beach in Rhode Island, after Hurricane Bonnie '98. Good Harbor in my native Cape Ann can offer some frozen gems as well. Cheers, John H
I don’t know, I’ve surfed up & down the east coast & southern Cal.(4 separate 1 month trips) from Sunset Cliffs to Rincon.I find that most of your surf breaks have free parking & are user friendly & with the excepition of Rhoad Island,Cali. has a lot more varity to choose from all with in a short drive.If you think the crowds aren’t bad in the east try surfing Ditch Planes Montauk after 9:00 am on the weekend in the summer with a clean swell running (which does’t happen all that many times in a season, on avarge).Well good luck on your move,if you plan on surfing after Dec. better pick up a 6,4,3, with 7mm boots & gloves,this year the H2O temp. droped to 33 to 38 for the low & it has warmed up to around 40 to 43 degres now.Best of luck, Brian.
Yea i remember real nice Bonnie swell back in 98 here in Virginia Beach. Most people don’t think so but we get some nice swell here. Problem is we only hold swell for two days or so. Have surfing in Mass. John! - Bryan
The hamptons are a little rich for my blood, dahling. I’m afraid I’ll miss it. My 1st time surfing was in December, 1st Beach, Newport RI. As for Glostah…6mm of rubbah! Wicked awesome! Bettah than gettin’ hammid in Bahston and seeing the Celts! Where’s the frickin’ cah! For those who don’t know, that’s supposed to be a Boston accent. Yeah, Bonnie was a good one, Mitch '97 too, but the stoke was tempered by the fact that it was such a deadly storm in Central Am. New England surf = here today, gone tomorrow, thanks to a big continental shelf. Cheers, John
I see you used my “shorty magazine” term, Nels. Maybe i might be responsible for creating a new surfing buzz word. coool… I think the mistake Longboard mag has made is that they seem to run a 12 month cycle of the same types of articles that update year after year. The two Australian mags (pacific longboarder, longboarding) are making the same mistake. those two also put in a lot of photo’s of pro/am surfers in unstylish, wierd positions that if put in front of the photo editor at Nalu or US longboard mag would never make the cut. I have about 500 magazines at home, i gave away about 100 issues of Waves(oz) and Underground Surf (oz) to my cousin cause they both lost the plot as far as the spirit of surfing is concerned. I was also tempted to go down to the gold coast and dump about 150 issues of ASL australias surfing life at the front door to their office cuase they seemed to have put the same 10 surfers in the last 10 issues. however they may have redeemed themselves with the latest issue which has heaps of travel. but if it happens again boys you can fucking have them all back. I say subscribe to the surfers journal, its the bible as far as surfing magazines go. i think oneday all ill have is a pile of the journal on my bookshelf and heaps of empty space.
Something is not right in this industry right now. Although I am shaping more than ever. I love riding longboards but I can see lame phony longboard magazine heroes with lesser skills than the creme-of-the-crop late eighties players such as Dobson, young Tudor, Paskowitz bro’s, Kramer, and expecially ‘Joey Hawkins’ who smoked everybody consistantly. The new crew sucks in comparison. Devon Howard is reaching for whatever his photographers can get, including pro women who can barely pull a hang five…last issue I’ll buy, I’ll just read it at the Albertsons mag rack for a laugh.
Four words. Block Isl. worth it.