Been moderating the site for a while and been checking it out. A lot of useful info to digest and I didn't really have any input that would add to most of what I was reading, but I was getting a lot of education. Well now I have a question. Here's the original post I put up on my home board and got quite a few people scratching their heads. They recommended me comin over here and see what the crew here thought. I'm snowed in in Delaware, so I'll be quick to respond with any questions.
Here's my orginal post:
I saw a craigslist ad for a board today for only $50. I figured, what the hell, never hurts to have a beater in the quiver and it was a shape and size I didn't have. So I went to pick this thing up and it's in respectable condition. Not perfect, but definately not a beater board by any stretch. I quickly and excitedly threw it in the jeep and away I went.
Well, doing some research on the board I started to scratch my head. It's an MTB and I believed it's shaped by Donald Tokayama whom partnered with another fella. Judging by the graphics I wanna say early 90's but the advertising of the "thruster" makes me think it came out around and near when thrusters came into the scene. Anyone know anything about MTB or the board?
When I picked it up from the miss's selling it to me, she told me after I had emailed she had a slew of emails from different guys which then also made me think i had something of which I didn't really know what I had. I'm hoping for an antiques road show story :)
Pics to follow
Through the conversation on the board we figured out that MTB stands for Mulhem, Takayama and Bennett we think. BUt there's also a board shop in Florida named MTB. DO you think the shapers opened up their own shop? Can't find much at all about mtb online, so I'm looking for a knowledgable hand.
MTB is and always was a Florida label. A good friend bought a board there back in 75 when we took a Winter trip down to Fla. The principles were Mulhern, Takayama, and Gary Brummet. Board looks totally 80s vintage, to me.
Some of the other guys here (BalsaBill,etc) will have more to contribute as they know some of the three mentioned.
I picked this up from Surfer Magazine, Volume 13, number 2, July 1972, in the “A Buyer’s Guide to Surfboards” article:
"M.T.B. Surfboards consists of three people who are highly recognized by surfers throughout the nation for their artistic ability and craftsmanship in surfboard designs, using quality materials in surfboard construction: Donnie Mulhern, Donald Takayama, and Gary Brummett.
Comments: Donnie Mulhern, our glasser, has had well over seventeen years experience in the business, and has proven himself to be one of the best in the field. Donald Takayama, with sixteen years experience plus, has obviously proven his capabilities and his standing in the public eye by doing shaping, surfing and producing as one of the best. Gary Brummett, doing the artwork and glossing, brings these three men together to form M.T.B. Surfboards as the highest selling and satisfying quality boards around."
The board was made in Melbourne, FL, circa 81-82, maybe a little later. Are there any initials by the serial #? Probably shaped by Robert Strickland, maybe Johnny Lucas or Joe Shriver.
Backstory: MTB was Donnie Mulhern, Donald Takayama, and Gary Brummet (sp?) when it started in SoCal late 60s. An all-star crew; Mully is one of the best laminators to ever pick up a squeegee, Takayama is a premier shaper, and Gary was pinliner and gloss color maestro. Donnie owned the label and took it with him when he moved to Florida about 1972. After glassing for Catri (and in Larry Pope's words, ''showing everyone how to do it right''), Mully opened his own place with the MTB label. His son Patrick (now a top-shelf shaper in Encinitas) blew up the whole east coast contest scene in the late 70s and became the east coast's top international star as well. MTB was arguably the #1 company on the east coast going into the 80s. The guys who built those boards were an incredible crew of craftsmen. In addition to the shapers mentioned, Phil Roberts and Gary Philhauer did spray color, laminations by Bob Keller and Fred Grosskreutz, sanding by LP, and polish by Joe Roberts. And those are just the guys I can remember off the top of my head, there's more. Donnie and his wife opened a retail store in the early 80s, it grew and became a more attractive business model than manufacturing. It's still going, and if you can catch Donnie there and get past his gruff exterior, he has some colorful stories to tell. Just a classic character....
Wow! You guys are to surfboard design and history as Alex Tribeck is to Jeopardy! You just have all the answers!
Yeah, Serial Number is 2609 and the initials are an unmistakable JS in cursive.
I just had a gut feeling something was special about this board when I picked it up because of the craftmanship, the curves, and really the artwork. I was really blown away by the graphics, just flowed real nice.
The bit I could find on the inet hinted that it was designed for the East Coast waves, or as it was put in the one article, the "summer mush" So I'm uber excited to get this thing in the water as I live in DE, I think this board will feel at home here.
I'm gonna clean it up a bit and my buddy, who used to do ding repair at WRV back in the day, is gonna fix the one crack in the rail. I've done quite a bit of repair, but handing this one over to the expert as I don't wanna take the chance and screw this one up.
So it's a Shriver, he's now shaping for WRV. I know all the people I mentioned, some of them are good friends of mine. When I was a garage shaper in the 70s, they were guys I really looked up to. I was talking to John Lucas one day in 79, I thought he was about the best shaper I knew at the time; he said ''if you think I'm good you should see the guy I work with". He arranged for me to go over to the factory one night and watch Strickland do a board. I picked up things that night that have stayed with me my whole career. Bobby tragically lost his life in 2002, he is missed very much.
Hey Johnny,Nice board and did anyone tell you thats its in excellent condition? you got a real gem! yeah allways stop by in Indialantic Florida and check out MTB,they used to have 2 locations in Indialantic and Satellite Beach
My scanner is down so I can’t post a photo of my buddy purchasing his MTB in '75. But, I did get a t-shirt that same day and here’s a photo of the pocket. (Yes, I still have the shirt)
The only reason I don't say its in excellent condition is that there's a funky crack along the rail. The board must've hit a rock or the nose of someone else's board and it got pushed in. But where the qaulity comes in, it simply cracked in a pretty good and straight line, unlike the other beaters I've fixed up where the dings and cracks resemble baseballs being thrown through a windshield. Should be relatively easy to fix. The points on the tail are rubbed down about an 1/8" and need to be be rebuilt also. Again, no biggie at all. My only issue with the tail is replicating the pink color. That's gonna be tricky. T to the R to the I to the C K Y. Tr tr tr tricky. Tr tr tr tricky. Sorry, couped up in the house with this Nor'easter blizzard reecking havoc outside.
Good score jd, i agree the graphics are nice.I've had several boards airbrushed by Gary Philhauer over the years and the guy is an artist. Just curious what basic measurements the board has , i remember those shapes well, they definitely had more volume back then. MTB is a surviver , alot of original local shops have closed or went strictly online. Again, congrats on a great buy and give us a ride report.
MD … couldn’t have written it better. Patrick did win the APS/US pro championship four times in a row in the early 80.s. Most think (I do) he should have been world champ. Donnie was also Weber’s lead laminator for many years and finally retired from Weber’s when a resin cannister fell on him and Dewey payed him for his pain. Oh boy, could we get into some stories!! .
Yeah, I'll let ya'll know what the ride is like. Gotta wait til spring so I can fix the board outside the garage. I got resin and dust and all kinds of fun stuff floating around in my garage from my previous beater board repair and don't think i want to add to the mess. Looks like a columbian drug lord rents my garage.
Dimensions are roughly 6' x 20" x 2 1/2" Just a serial number on the stringer. The tail narrows down to about 6 3/4"
Sorry took a while to get back to ya', work was salmmed this weekend. Everyone seemed to been equally affected by cabin feever.
Thanks, Greg. I should have mentioned Donnie's years at Weber, good you added that. And I don't think we should get into the ''stories'', LOL.
Patrick should have/could have won a world title. In retrospect, he realizes that if he had focused on it, it would have happened.
I was sitting with Donnie and Bob Keller at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony a few years ago when Larry Pope made his comment thanking Donnie for ''showing everyone how to do it right'' in LP's acceptance speech. It was as close to getting choked up as you'll ever see Big Mully, and he'll probably kick my ass for writing this.
reviving an old thread, I just picked up a MTB also its a 6.25 x 20 cool board nice lines and color, will be interesting to see how it rides this spring
neat board never really seen anything else like it
An MTB with a “bolt” symbol might be a bit rare. But, there was a time when people were putting bolts on lots of boards that had no connection at all to the actual Lightning Bolt brand.
In fact, in the mid 70s there was a shop in Central Florida called “Lightning Bolt East”. It was Gary Propper’s label and I strongly doubt it had any connection to the Bolt company.
People co-opted the logo in many ways.
So, that board is just an MTB which happens to have a graphic on it that’s quite similar to the Lightning Bolt logo. I would not call it an “East Coast Bolt”. It’s an MTB.
I purchased one back in 1973 when I lived on Long Island, New York. I beleive I paid around $60, and kept the board with me for many years. I finally had it restored (dings fixed) and it’s a hanger at my home in Santa Cruz. Had one of the founders of Rainbow fin over, he thinks the fin on it is one of there’s.
