| The Giffin Valiant - single cutaway |
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I went with the slightly offset body shape to get away from the traditional look, and I used a thicker body for a little added depth to the sound and to give it a different tonal quality than the Standard. The neck joint has an extra long tenon that runs under the neck pickup position. This really helps to generate great string vibration transfer into the body.
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For maximum playability, I've given the guitar good access to the last
frets by making the cutaway extra deep, and I designed a straight pull 3
a side headstock to avoid any hang-ups at that end of the neck. A small but (maybe) useful detail is the front strap button which sits parallel to the neck instead of at 90 degrees to the body edge. This will prevent the strap from pulling off under "battle conditions" I stayed with the wraparound bridge as I still feel that this gives the best sustain characteristics. The controls on this particular guitar are the same as on my Standard, but I've built in some flexibility here to allow a few variations such as two volumes and one tone plus switch, or two volumes, two tones plus a switch mounted on the upper bout. There's also room for coil taps or phase switches if needed. It can have either humbuckers or P90s. The guitar balances really well, both visually and physically and I'm endeavoring to keep the weight limit for this guitar to no more than 8 pounds. (More versions of this guitar will be added as they get built) |
