Giffin Valiant

In Roger Giffin's words:
"After many years of being asked 'Can you build me a Les Paul?' and having to politely say 'No,' I made time at last to design something that would fill this obvious gap in my model range. It had to follow certain well established criteria without stepping on any toes, so it took a while to finalize, but I believe the outcome was worth the wait."

"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.  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."

"For the guitar shown here, I used a one-piece Honduras Mahogany body which sadly, I can't often find these days. It's a slightly thicker body than I use on my regular Standard 6-string double cut-away. The neck is laminated Mahogany and hard Maple with an Indian Rosewood fingerboard. I used a Maple top that is somewhere between quilt and flame which looks very pretty with the Amber burst finish. Cream celluloid binding finishes off the whole thing very nicely."

"Pickups are Amalfitano PAFs with Alnico2 magnets for a real vintage sound. The bridge is a TonePros AVT2 and the tuners are Sperzel Solid Pros. The sound of this guitar has all the depth and richness that one has come to expect from an instrument of this type." - Roger Giffin

Special Artist Direct Pricing, basic model: $3,640

Any custom guitar ordered using parts and materials in the general specifications list below should fall within the basic model price (will not add to the price). Any custom option from the additional options list below will add to the price by the amount shown.

GENERAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE VALIANT 6-STRING SOLID BODY (THESE ITEMS ARE INCLUDED):

Wood: (please check "The Wood Pile" for examples of available wood)
- Body: Honduras Mahogany, African Mahogany
- Neck: Laminated Honduras (or African) Mahogany or Maple    
- Body top: S (standard) Figured Maple
- Fingerboards: Indian Rosewood, South American Rosewood or Ebony

Hardware:
- Tuners: Sperzel Solid Pro or Sperzel locking (Other suitable tuners will be added as they are found)
- Bridge: Wilkinson, TonePros, ABM or Pigtail
- Pickups: Amalfitano, Wolfetone, Lindy Fralin, Kent Armstrong, Razor, Gibson, Voodoo.
- Guitar controls: 1-volume, 1-tone (CTS or DiMarzio pots), 3-position pickup selector (Switchcraft) (other control layouts are available within the basic model specs...please enquire for details)

Neck dimensions:
- Scale Length: 24 3/4 inches
- Width at nut: 1 11/16 inches, width at 22nd fret:  2 1/4 inches.
- Neck thickness at first fret: .855 inches to .900 inches.  Thickness at 12th fret:  .950 inches to 1.000 inches.
- General neck shape is based on a 50's Gibson  which is a 'C' shape at the body end tapering down to a slight
'V' shape at the nut end. Other neck shapes can be ordered at no extra cost.
- Neck/body joint: Neck joins body at 16th fret.  Heel is cut away to an unobtrusive but safe minimum
- Inlay options: Standard vertical lines, pearl dots

ADDITIONAL OPTIONS FOR CUSTOM ORDERS (THE FOLLOWING ITEMS COST EXTRA):

- Body and neck wood: White Limba (Korina) - Add $250                                           
- Neck material: 5-ply Curly or Bird's Eye Maple - Add $100
- Body top materials available: UG (upgrade) - UG+ (upgrade plus) Maple - curly, quilt or Bird's eye, Redwood burl, Redwood curl, Figured Walnut, Curly Bubinga, Curly Koa, - Add $125-$450
- Optional Fingerboards:  Madagascar Rosewood, Macassar Ebony - Add $50, Brazilian Rosewood: Add $300
- Optional fingerboard inlays: Butterflies - Add $400, Teardrops - Add $100, Snowflakes - Add $75
- Abalone Pearl binding: Guitar fully bound with multiple laminates and Abalone Pearl - Add $600
- For Custom inlays: please call for quote.
- Other scale lengths available: 25 inch, 25 1/2 inch, 26 1/4 inch, 27 inch baritone - call for quote
- Hardware: For hardware options other than standard, please call for quote.
- For any other custom details: please call or write for quote

Giffin Valiant Chambered version -- Price: $4295.00

Audio Samples:
- Bridge Gain
- Bridge Gain 2
- Bridge Gain 3
- Clean Bridge
- Middle Position Clean
- Middle Position Gain
- Neck Clean
- Neck Gain