Custom guitars 2

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Giffin Custom Guitars 2

(sold in March 2007)

Custom Macro, with Skyway tremelo

I don't make too many guitars with tremelos, so this custom order was an interesting project. The Skyway system is extremely good, and I look forward to using more of these. The guitar itself is very good looking, with a quarter-sawn, tight curly Maple top. We used a Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard with snowflake inlays and a Brazilian Rosewood head veneer. The back of the body and the thru-neck are made of Black Limba, which has been finished in a transparent "Caramel" color which does very well on this wood. It has Harmonic Design Z90 pickups with Tortoise shell covers which are wired through two volume controls and no tone control. The whole guitar is bound in cream and the front is finished in a "Rich Amber burst."
Very nice!!

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6-string Solid body, Blue finish

    Here is a Standard solid body that has a really striking piece of tight curly Maple which looks amazing under the blue color. The body and neck are made of White Limba as Mahogany would not have showed the blue quite as well. There is no binding on the body on this guitar, just a curly Maple edge to the Ebony fingerboard. My regular abalone inlay lines have been flipped around in a horizontal pattern.
    We used individually coil tapped WCR humbuckers, a Pigtail Aluminum bridge and locking Grover tuners.

   A very pretty and versatile sounding guitar.

(sold in Febr 2007)

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Model T Special, White Limba

A nice piece of White Limba (Korina) found it's way into the workshop and ended up as a Model T. It's a shame this wood is becoming scarce as it does make a nice alternative to Mahogany - but then Gibson knew this in the 50s... This T has Lindy Fralin P90s, a Tonepros bridge and Grover tuners. It's finished in an antique golden Amber which does give it that classic Korina look. Nice guitar!

(sold in Jan 2007)

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6-string Solid body, Pale Honey burst
The top on this guitar is a one-piece, not something
I do too often, and it's also an odd piece of Maple with a "blister" pattern all over it - subdued but nice!The body and neck is Black Limba as a change from Mahogany. This part of the guitar is just natural finish - an interesting contrast to the front. Fingerboard and head veneer are Macasser Ebony. I used Razor Tribute pickups, Grover tuners, and a Wilkinson bridge.

(Jan 2007)

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Standard 6-string, Redwood burl top Orange finish
Except for the materials used to build this guitar, it would be a regular Standard. I wanted to try a few different combinations of wood, so I used Swamp Ash for the body with a Redwood burl top. The neck is a 5-ply Bird's Eye Maple construction with a Madagascar Rosewood fingerboard. Back and front are finished in Gretsch Orange which shows up really well on the Swamp Ash and Maple, and gives the Redwood burl a little added "glow." Pickups: Kent Armstrong PAF, Bridge: Wilkinson, Tuners: Grover Rotomatic.

(Jan 2007)

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6-string Solid body, Rich Amber burst, 'alien' Maple top
Sometimes it's good to get away from the traditional looking Maple tops. This piece is nothing short of 'weird' with stripes and swirls (even the face of Yoda is staring out from the grain...) Different and definitely interesting. This guitar has no binding, just a clear Maple edge to the body. The fingerboard and head veneer are cut from the same piece of Brazilian Rosewood. The scale length is 25 1/2 inches as opposed to my normal 24 3/4 inch. It has Wolfetone pickups which are coil tapped via the mini switch on the front. The rest of the wiring is pretty much standard. I've used Gotoh's amazingly good Delta series tuners which are as smooth as silk. A great, all purpose rocker this one!

(sold in Dec 2006)

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6-string Hollow body,Trans black
This trans-black Sitka Spruce top hollow body looks pretty cool. It has multiple black and white binding all around which really jumps out at you. The 25 1/2 inch scale fingerboard on this guitar is Macassar Ebony, and I did a book-matched head veneer in the same wood. Take a look at the thumb nail picture of the head. The guitar has Voodoo PAF pickups, coil tapped on a mini switch like the guitar above, and it has the same Gotoh Delta tuners. As with all the Spruce tops, this guitar sounded really crisp and well defined.

(sold in Dec 2006)

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Custom 6-string solid body,
Pearl binding
   Here is a slightly different Standard. Abalone binding with a black outer layer creates a very stunning effect against the Amber finish.   Pearl binding might be a little on the "flashy" side, but I think it looks gorgeous - still very tasteful.
   The guitar has Wolfetone P90s which sound amazingly good - P90s have always been my favorite pickups.   Although you can't see from the photos, the fingerboard is made of two book matched pieces of Brazilian Rosewood - not for any sonic reasons, but purely visual. A very pretty and great sounding guitar.

(sold in Nov 2006)

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6-string Hollow body, Rich Amber burst
This pretty guitar is a "full-on custom" in almost every detail. As with the Amber solid-body below, the guitar is fully bound with Abalone Pearl and black outer binding. The body top and head veneer are triple A grade quilted Maple which glows underneath the Amber burst. I've used Wolfetone P90s, and I hand-carved three soapbar covers to fit them out of a piece of Ebony which matched the Ebony fingerboard nicely. My customer wanted various different cats for the inlays, and I think the result is rather tasteful! The wiring on this guitar was a little unusual with the neck and bridge pickup wired to the three-way selector and the middle pickup connected to a separate switch which activated the center pickup either in phase or out of phase with either of the other two pickups. Sounded really good...!!

(sold in Nov. 2006)

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6-string Hollow body, Spruce top
With this Spruce top, one could say I'm paying my respects to Gretsch...! It's finished in a 6120 Orange with gold hardware. The guitar has a 25 1/2 inch scale for extra sustain. We used Brazilian Rosewood for the fingerboard and a matching piece that was cut into a book-matched Chevron for the headstock. The pickups are Voodoo 59s with a coil tap switch added to the face of the guitar. A very light and resonant guitar - I liked this one a lot!

(sold in Nov 2006)

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6-string Solid body, Custom

   The black binding on this guitar makes the very pretty flame top stand out and creates a classy impression. It's more or less a Standard Giffin Solid body, except for the black pickguard and the rotary pickup selector. It also has two volumes and one tone control. I used a pair of Wolfetone Grey Wolf humbuckers on this guitar. The rotary selector is wired to give the neck or bridge pickup humbucking, both pickups parallel humbucking, neck pickup outside coil only, and both pickups inside coils in parallel. Body and Neck: Honduras Mahogany, Top & Head veneer: Curly Maple,   Fingerboard: Brazilian Rosewood

(sold in Oct 2006)

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6-string Hollow body, Custom

    Here is a single F-hole hollow body. The cream pickguard would have covered up the second F-hole so it was left off at customer's request.   This is a great looking guitar (I personally really like this style of tobacco burst..).
   The guitar is fully bound in cream with matching pickguard, knobs and pickup rings. The Zebra humbuckers are, again, Wolfetone Grey Wolf's which sound really great. Body and neck are Honduras Mahogany. Top wood is flamed Maple. Fingerboard and head veneer are Brazilian rosewood.

(sold in Oct 2006)

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			*5-string Bass, Figured Cherry top*


			*6-string fretless Bass, Figured Cherry top*

	Here are the last two of a series of custom basses I've been building lately. The two shown here went to the same customer which explains why they look almost identical. Both instruments are 34 inch scale, one obviously fretted and the other fretless. I used Honduras Mahogany for the bodies, Maple and Cherry for the thru-necks, and, as I had found an amazing board of figured Cherry (very unusual), we put it to good use for the tops on both of them. Very pretty, and also nice to see something different.		Both fingerboards are Indian Rosewood and so are the head veneers. The bridges and machine heads are Hipshot, and the pickups and active EQ system are Bartolini, - 9J pickups on the 5-string, and P2 pickups on the 6-string. Both basses are finished with oil and wax to bring out the figure and color of the Cherry. An extremely interesting pair of instruments! (sold in Sept 2006)

Custom Hollow body, Trans Black

Here is another recent custom variation. This guitar also has a three-piece curly Maple neck with butterflies set into an Ebony fingerboard. Trans black is one of those colors that can really work to bring out the figure in a piece of Maple and can create a very interesting effect. This is not a color that one would use if one wants a very "tidy, even" look. But for those willing to take a chance, this can be a visual treat. Another custom addition on this instrument is the Ebony pickguard with the client's personal logo in figured pearl. The guitar has special wiring with a 5-way rotary selector and Wolfetone GreyWolf humbuckers. hmm....Nice....!

(sold in August 2006)

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