The Whammy bar is one of the Big B’s price-point freestyle decks, designed to deliver maximum playfulness for all your jibtastic needs. Leo & I rode the 2012 Whammy Bar at Test Fest in February, paired with the Burton Cartel EST bindings.
Conditions: Boyne Mountain (Boyne Falls, MI). Hardpack & icy, super cold a little sun but mostly clouds.
Size: 155cm
Stance: 15/-15 regular
Shape: Twin v-rocker with mid-scoop
Bindings: 2012 Burton Cartel
Dave’s stats: 6′, 210 lbs
Leo’s stats: 5’9″ 180 lbs
Flex
Dave says: The Whammy Bar is a pretty soft reverse camber with a good amount of flex, maybe a 3 or soft-4 out of 10. Torsionally it was pretty loose but I expect this out of a jib-oriented board.
Leo says: Definitely a soft board. I would even say borderline noodle. Maybe macaroni? I do have to say that buttering and pressing on this board was, as many Internet kids love to say, “Uber” fun.
Ollie/Pop
Dave says: The pop on the Whammy Bar wasn’t out-of-this-world (keep in mind most of the demo decks I ride are a few cms to short for my size), but the deck was pretty light weight so you shouldn’t have any trouble attacking your local terrain park or ollying on to urban rails.
Leo says: The pop was actually good for me. I thought it had good pop for 2011 and the 2012 is no exception. I mean yea, it’s definitely not a DH2 pop, but it’s good. What has always been weird for me though is ollieing on a soft board. I feel like I have to lean back more to initiate the pop. I guess that makes sense for soft boards though.
Handling
Dave says: A soft, v-rocker park stick? It’s pretty squirrelly at any speed and edge-hold on ice or hardpack is bordering on non-existent. Some of the boards we rode actually held a pretty good edge even though they may have been lacking in the dampening department, but the Whammy Bar didn’t earn high marks in this category and it also washed out frequently.
Leo says: Very playful board as expected from a V-Rocker especially when coupled with the soft flex. Forget about doing anything other than buttering/jibbing though. Short carves are great fun, but as soon as you start to draw those carves out, the board will talk back to you.
Jibs/Playfulness
Dave says: This board butters & presses pretty easily, and no problems jibbing all around with it. One unique characteristic of the Whammy Bar is the “mid-spoon”. Between the inserts, the base and edge were raised up a little bit. This is supposed to reduce the chances of you taking a bite out of a handrail sandwich.
Leo says: Very jib orientated board. As David mentioned, the raised edges in the mid-section is obviously made for rails. As for playfulness… tail presses to the moon!
Pricing
Dave Says: Coming in at about $400 this is one of the less-expensive Burton snowboards out there. That said, I think that there are better $400 jib sticks out there than the Whammy Bar.
Leo says: Eh, it’s Burton. Subtract about a $100 and you get the actual worth in my opinion. I’ve always said Burton boards are only a good value when they are on sale. The price premium gets dwarfed once discounts start. So instead of a $100 difference, it starts to become a negligible $30 difference.
Dave’s Take: Personally I didn’t take a liking to the Whammy Bar but it might be the right board for you if you already own a pair of EST bindings and you love the Big B and you’re looking for board to thrash your local terrain park without ever venturing on to the rest of the mountain.
Leo’s Take: Not my cup of tea. I can’t jib yet and while I love me some butter and presses, I just don’t like boards this soft. I did like it last year, but in my defense, I was still learning how to press properly. Maybe I’ll like it again next year since I do plan on joining the jibber crowd. Until then, all-mountain freestyle riders need not apply here. We’ll keep this recommended for jibsters only. Beginner or advanced… who cares?
