I swapped out that deck with a beat up Full SE this morning and my pop and flip was back right off the bat. Since youre the deck master, is it safe to say that I prefer steeper kicks and more concave? I dont understand the terminology…
Like a lot of people, (myself especially), you get very used to certain concaves and molds, so although two boards of much the same specs might seem ok on paper, there can be very different dimensions to the molds used, where the kicks start in relation to the deck bolt holes, angle of kicks and shape of the way the kicks come up from the middle of the board, especially if they are from different woodshops.
This is most likely what is going on here for you, as in the one board you are used to skating just works for you as you have become very used to the concave, the angle of the kicks, the amount of flat between bolts and kicks, etc.
Not to say you couldn't get used to something else as many people do without much trouble, but whenever I skate a different mold / woodshop board, I notice different things with how it works. I definitely prefer certain molds, concaves and angles of kicks, especially the spoon concave kicks as per BBS / DLX boards.
On the other hand, if a board has not enough fingers of flat, or the wheelbase is too long for the mold, then it might never feel right, so either redrilling it or passing it on to someone who would either not understand things like that, eg beginner or someone who would otherwise not have a board and they will skate it regardless.
Palace 8.38 with a 14.8 wb.
Its not the wheel base i hate, its the fact that its short with that big ass wb. I think its a 31.7 in lenght. So to have that wheelbase on a short deck, you get no fingers of flat. And everytruck i own, the hanger floats. Thunder, venture and indy all float.
Sucks cause i love the graphic.
In the same way as described above, I have drilled in a board like that and had it work really well, either just the tail or both ends, which "lightened" the pop feel significantly. I usually use the six hole baseplate as a template, so 3/8" in from each end, which can make a board end up with a very short wheelbase or a more normal wheelbase for what it is worth.
In my case, it was a 9 x 33, with 15+ so that brought it back in really well to 14.6, so I think that Palace board at 14.8 something would end up nicely at 14 to 14.1 but it is a bit of effort and making sure everything is square is key, otherwise it will be off center and not so good.
Failing that, if the graphic is rad, put it on the wall. At least you can enjoy it more there than under your feet, but that is assuming you have another one of something else ready to go.