Signature boards/gear: How much of a say do pro's really have?

[Will Easley]

Sometimes I wonder to what extent do pro's go to make sure their signature gear is really "signature" to them. With shoes you obviously have some pro's who go all out in making sure their signature shoe really has alot of their own input, while others are just "pick n choose which design you want & we'll throw your name on it". Same goes for boards. Im sure pro's dont care too much about their graphics if its a certain theme or whatever but when it comes to certain things like size & shape, do they really make sure that their boards are made to a set specification? I remember reading someone on here say something like "i only ride ____'s boards because thats my favorite shape" or whatever, so do certain graphics & pro models abide to their very own shapes & sizes? or do companies just print & press shit on whatever? Like, when i buy a Brandon Beible board, is this really the type of shape he tells Girl that he prefers? things like that.

[EPetrov]

what you get and what the pro gets isnt always the same. Even if you have his model, he might like his board one way (shape/size) and he'll have every board like that but what gets shipped out is dif.

[theloniousmonk]

Like you said, some people go the extra mile and make sure that their shoes are what they really want to skate. I think thats rad because they obviously want others to experience something that has impacted their own skating.

With boards, I'm really skeptical. Wasnt there just a run of Girl decks where Alex Olson has a 7.375? I know it's been discussed on here before that nobody on girl would actually ride the wood that they sell, but in this case the wood and size is obviously different.
The price difference in some cases is due to higher quality wood used for pro models. Workshop used to get their pro models from PS and  some of their other wood from woodchuck. At least in that case, the higher price could be justified by a better product. I bet there are some pros who get their shapes through in the same way as shoes. Again, this is pretty cool.

[neko]

a lot of times what's sold is not what the dude skates. i remember when Kerry Getz got on Habitat back in the day, they'd have to make him a special flat shape in contrast to the super concave-y decks they were selling at the time. same thing with PJ Ladd on Element, before he went to Flip. i think he was skating Chocolates (which were flat back then) and scraping off / painting over the graphics.

but then I know McCrank was really particular about longer wheelbase boards, and his Girl boards were that shape. so i think it just depends.

[Dick Butkus]

Like you said, some people go the extra mile and make sure that their shoes are what they really want to skate. I think thats rad because they obviously want others to experience something that has impacted their own skating.

With boards, I'm really skeptical. Wasnt there just a run of Girl decks where Alex Olson has a 7.375? I know it's been discussed on here before that nobody on girl would actually ride the wood that they sell, but in this case the wood and size is obviously different.
The price difference in some cases is due to higher quality wood used for pro models. Workshop used to get their pro models from PS and  some of their other wood from woodchuck. At least in that case, the higher price could be justified by a better product. I bet there are some pros who get their shapes through in the same way as shoes. Again, this is pretty cool.

What are you trying to say there?

[Hercules Rockefeller]

about three fiddy.