‘Longboard’ made by Skip Blake
It’s hard to separate fact from fiction in the life of legendary surfboard builder, Skip Blake. Blake maintains his mother gave birth to him in the sand dunes of Huntington Beach, California in 1948, and from that moment on he has never been more than 500 yards from the shoreline… we’ll take that with a pinch of sea salt. But we do know that since his teens, Blake has lived and worked out of a shack on the northern edge of Huntington Beach, surfing the waves in the morning and shaping and waxing boards in the evening. His ability to carve divine contours into balsa and cedar wood have made him the country’s number one surf board shaper. Interestingly, Blake’s talents have not only been sought out by surfers, but also hot rod car enthusiasts wanting custom body work and even musicians, like Danny Chow, singer and guitarist in surf band Danny & The Breaking Waves. In 1967 Blake carved a complete guitar for Chow out of a section of smashed longboard then added to his legendary status by actually surfing the waves on it. There are no photographs to prove the feat ever took place but anyone who knows Blake wouldn’t doubt it happened for a second.
Body: Double cut Alder body finished in Laguna Blue. Hold the guitar flat and look along the body to witness Blake’s divine carving skills - it’s got the profile of a longboard! Choka!
Bridge: The Wilkinson WVC Vibrato bridge keeps things in tune if you want to pitch up and down like a surfer pumping a wave.
Pickups: Trio of Joe Doe custom designed Lipstick pickups to give you a set of vintage tones to work from. For best results, mix with a dash of spring reverb and shout Ha, Ha, Haaaaaaaa..… before picking really hard and fast. (Headband optional).
Controls: Single master Volume and two Tone controls with five-way pickup selector switch mounted on a custom designed ‘fin’ pick guard. Oh yeah, you see it now?
Machine heads: Wilkinson WJ55 E-Z-Lok machine heads provide simple, effective action and are chrome plated. As reliable as a Huntington Beach tide table.
Neck: Hard Rock Maple/hardwood, with classic Vintage ‘soft C’profile, ‘Surf City’ inlays and Blake’s logo on the back. You know if you press your ear against it and close your eyes, you can hear the ocean…
Fingerboard: Hard Rock Maple with abalone dots. It has a traditional 10” radius so when people ask - “Hey bud, how does it play?” you can reply … “Awesome”.
Scale Length: 25.5" / 648mm.
Frets: 22 Medium profile frets.
Nut: 43mm Graphtech nut, smooth and friction free like the life of a surfer.
Headstock: Unique Vintage Joe Doe “Longboard” headstock design.
Case: Joe Doe luxury hardshell case with case candy.
Certificate: Certificate of authenticity included.
ProShop Set-Up: Each guitar is individually set-up by the Vintage ProShop team.
Limited Edition 1 of 100 'Longboard™' is an original Vintage® guitar, designed and created by Joe Doe Guitars and the UK Vintage design team.
Read the Gear News article with Ben Court HERE.