Giffin Custom Guitars 1

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Giffin Custom Guitars 1 and some "one-offs"

(Jan 2012)

Standard 6-string, Ancient Kauri top  New !

    Rock 'n Roll's been around a long time, but Ancient Kauri takes the "old-age" prize.   This piece has a broad, flamey figure that is really stunning. I added a little Maori inspired fish inlay on the front as this wood comes from New Zealand.   The body and neck are Honduras Mahogany and the fingerboard and head face are old Brazilian Rosewood.

I've used Amalfitano Fullbuckers, Grover tuners and a TonePros bridge. The guitar is fully bound in Ivoroid, and the finish is a clear gloss Urethane.

(Available at Willcutt Guitars)

Carbon dated and verified to be
30,000 - 50,000 year-old wood

Hollow-body 12-string, Walnut top

This hollow-body 12 is a replica of a guitar I built for Joe Walsh a few years back ('91 I think..) Instead of my regular string-thru body ABM bridge, this one used a 12-string Tune-O-Matic bridge and a separate keyhole tail-piece so I used the same system on this guitar.

The guitar has a Honduras Mahogany body, curly black Walnut front, curly Maple neck, and an Ebony fingerboard with snowflake inlays. There is no binding anywhere. I've used one of my old metal logos on the headstock, as this is what was on Joe's original guitar. The pickups are Amalfitano SVL Strats which sound really sweet, and I made a set of Curly Maple pickup rings to mount them in.

Hollow-body 12-string, Walnut top
(Dec. 2011)

Oil & Wax finish New!

	(Dec 2011)	"Brigand", Flame Maple top New ! A few months ago, I put in a link on the home page about my new single cut design. Now I'm very happy to anounce that what you see here is the first of the production versions of this model. I've given this guitar a very deep-dish, carved top and a fairly elongated body style. This combination is somewhat reminiscent of a cross between a classic violin body and a Dreadnought acoustic body. I've stuck to traditional materials (at least for the time being) as I wanted it to look and sound like a traditional 2x humbucker guitar. The headstock shape is borrowed from my Standard design, it's just a little longer and curvier than the original headstock to match the body. The control layout places the volume control right by the pinkie finger and the pickup selector switch is just a flick of a finger away. I've used my standard Abalone line inlays in the Rosewood fingerboard. As with all my guitars, the deep cutaway gives great access to all 22 frets. This particular guitar has an upgrade+ flame Maple top, a head veneer of figured Mahogany (a custom feature), and a pair of Amalfitano Fullbuckers. Classy look! Tons of sustain and a deep, rich tone.
	New Model!

Hollow-body, Walnut top, Oil&Wax

   Once again, here is proof that an oil finish on Walnut and Mahogany looks really good! It simply brings out all the natural colors and details in the grain. Gotta do more like this!

   This guitar is a little unusual in that apart from having a Bigsby B5, I made an Ebony bridge which I intonated for a specific string guage - my customer wants to use this guitar to play jazz. This bridge will give the guitar a nice woody sound.

   Obviously, it has a different control layout to my regular Standards - less obvious is the fact that the fingerboard has been cut short, right behind the 22nd fret, so that the neck P90 sits directly where the 24th fret position would have been.   (The idea is to give a better harmonic response from this pickup.)

Hollow-body, Walnut top, Oil finish

(Nov 2011)

The guitar body is a one-piece Honduras Mahogany and the neck is Honduras Mahogany and Maple with a Madagascar Rosewood fingerboard. I've used Amalfitano P90s, and Gotoh 510 tuners. All hardware is Gold. Classy!

Nov 2011

(Available at Destroy All Guitars)

Standard 6-string, All Chevron
    My imagination got the better of me with this guitar. Instead of a two-piece book-matched top, I cut eight two-inch wide strips from the side of a Flamed Maple block and joined them together in alternate directions. Rather an interesting effect, I think. I figured I might as well continue the theme on the rest of the guitar, so I made the fingerboard and head-stock veneer from multiple pieces of straight, end-grain Rosewood, also in a Chevron pattern. As a final touch, I cut out a set of pastel-shaded Abalone Chevron inlays.
   I've used Grover tuners and a TonePros bridge as usual, and the pickups are Seymour Duncan Custom Shop DD90s - great sounding pickups!
   I gave the top a wash of dark Mahogany stain which made the grain pop out, and on the back of the body and neck, I used a golden brown stain. The whole guitar was then clear coated.
   It's pretty hard to find a piece of Maple that lends itself to being cut like this, so it might be some time before I build another one ;-)

Standard Solid-body, Chevron top - body view1

Solid-body Standard, Chevron top - body view2

Solid-body Standard, Chevron top - body view3

Solid-body Standard, Chevron top - body view4

Solid-body Standard, Chevron body - Fingerboard

Solid-body Standard, Chevron top - front

	*T2 Black,Tortoise Shell Pickguard* Here is a nice T2 with a gloss black finish and Tortoise Shell pickguard and binding. It has a very dark South American Rosewood fingerboard with MOP dots instead of lines. The body is very light-weight Honduras Mahogany, and the neck is Mahogany and Maple. I've used Chrome Grover tuners and TonePros bridge and a pair of Amalfitano Vintage P90s. Simple yet tasteful - can't go wrong there!	(Nov 2011)