Gibson/Hamer Custom Shop Explorer?

[uwe]

Our very own Marcus aka Marcnorth here was - unbeknownst to me - the second bidder on this and he sent me a very nice and gracious email last night (my time) which I hope he doesn't mind me showing here (in part) as it contains some further info on this bass:

"Hi Uwe,
I was your competition on this one. I think we were the only two who bid on it. I was off on a job today and just made it back with about 10 minutes left in the auction. When I got in and saw the bid I knew the bass was yours. I really think it's a cool bass and love a short scale Gibson but just wasn't sure I wanted to pay any more than that for it so I didn't put in another bid.
 
I had a conversation on the telephone a week or so ago with the guy that had this one built, I sold him a Hamer Jack Blades model bass 3 or 4 years ago and he always has something that was celebrity owned for sale. I think he's buddy's with Tom Peterson. He's tried to sell me a couple of different Thunderbird basses that Tom owned. I would have bought them but I don't like long scale basses.
 
The Explorer was built with parts from the Gibson West Coast Custom Shop which closed in 1993 and it was built by the guy who ran the shop. As for it being  made in 1991, that might be questioned. The neck was stamped 1978 and the body was stamped from the 80's . The neck came from Kalamazoo without the wings on the headstock and that's why it's the shape it is.
I don't know for sure but I think it's from more like 2003 or 2004.
 
It's still a very cool one and I wish it was coming to my house instead of yours but that's how it goes sometimes.
 
Here's a link to the guy who I was told built it. He has some info about when he ran the custom shop on his site  He has some pics of some pretty cool stuff, I really like the Les Paul Jr Bass.
 
http://www.giffinguitars.com/About%20Giffin%20Guitars.htm
 
Anyway, congratulations on the cool score, It's definitely a one of a kind for sure. And the coolest looking bass I've seen in a while. If you decide you want to sell it let me know.
 
Cheers,
Marcus"

Thanks for the congrats Marcus and for the benefit of your peace of mind: My final bid was 2,666 bucks, even with the current price, by the time it will be in Germany and I have paid duty and VAT on it, we'll be talking about something like 2,800. Also thanks for not driving it up that high! That said, had you been the first bidder and had I known that it was you, I wouldn't have bidded on this bass unless it had already been out of reach of your personal bidding ceiling/threshold. So, and this applies to all of you, if you are bidding on something that looks like it could be prey for ze kollekshün, send me an email and I'll hold off or we'll agree on some arrangement that has you bidding higher than your own limit with the option to turn over the bass (against reimbursement of your bid, of course, due to Dutch long memory just confiscating things has gone out of style here!) to me.

That Giffin Guitars site looks interesting and I remember seeing the pics of those custom Gibson LP Junior and doublecut basses on some prior incarnation of the Dudepit before. I think I'll write them to ask when this bass was produced.

Uwe

[Basvarken]

Cool story.
Congratulations Uwe!

[drbassman]

Yikes Uwe, now you're an outlaw collector too!  Will Gibson ever be able to trust you again?   

[godofthunder]

 Nice score Uwe. I like that bass a lot.

[drbassman]

Nice score Uwe. I like that bass a lot.

Me too!

[Chris P.]

Congratulations Uwe! Nice bass!

But it means I haven't seen the whole Köllektiön now, so I have to visit you again;)

(BTW: I'm organising a festival at the moment, so I don't post that much. But to quote a neighbour (*) of Uwe: I'll be back.)

(*) Even a fellow countryman like 65 years ago.

[Dave W]

Roger Giffin! I should have put two and two together (with the Gibson West Coast CS reference). Among other things, he made clones of "Blackie" for Clapton, made guitars for Pete Townshend and IIRC collaborated with Ned Steinberger on the headless designs. He's originally from the UK.

If that was made by Giffin, you'll have yourself a fine bass.

[gearHed289]

He made some stuff for David Gilmour too. I'm gonna have to check that site.

[marcnorth]

Coolest looking bass I've seen in a long time. I forgot to add if you don't like the different colored pickups I have a set in the parts drawer that look just like them. One was stored in a display case and is slightly yellowed and the other was stored in a cabinet and looks new. But both are new unused pickups.
I've never used them because of the color difference.

[ramone57]

a great story & nice bass!

[uwe]

This here has meanwhile arrived as well



and like Dave said, Mr Giffin built a mighty fine bass. Whether is was ever a legitimate Gibson product, I have my doubts (one of the tuners has "Hamer" on it, though it is otherwise identical with the other three which read "Gibson",  don't think they do that at Gibson Custom Shops, do they?) though things like the volute etc are typical of Gibson.

While I have yet to restring it with rounds (it features flats and while these sound good on it, I just don't think that an Explorer with flats is right!), I'm impressed by how the two close proximity Model Gs sound. The neck one full, but not unfocused, the bridge one barky, but with ample bass. Both of them together though cancels out too much of the mids for my taste and leaves you with an aquired taste scooped sound.

The neck. THAT neck. Think of earliest P Bass halved baseball bats. Supposedly this short scale neck is to have come from a 1978 Triumph, but my (earlier) Triumph has a much thinner neck and no volute. It is also made of maho, while this here seems to be maple from the look of it. A fat maple neck for a Triumph? 

Body is allegedly from  a mid-80ies regular Explorer which could be the case judging from the shape, but then it must be one of the early alder body ones, not the later maho bodies. And of course it features a stripey maple top.

Sound of the stubby necked one is surprisingly vintage and fat, great E string for a short scale. I'm expecting the Model Gs to come alive a bit more with fresh rounds.

Uwe

[eb2]

Total fake.  A nice fake, but the story is complete bullsh!t.  When some people get something odd, they just spin the yarn.

I like Model Gs, but if I were to do two so close together, I would try to get them to look the same color/age.

 

[godofthunder]

 Are they truly model G's or are they Schallers ? The Schaller ones are tamer.


Uwe: I haven't dismantled them if that is what you mean! Auction said: "The bass features two DiMarzio Model G (out of production) humbucking bass pickups ...". I didn't even know that the Schallers came in cream too, I've only seen them in black/grey. I still have a Schaller lying around somewhere, might hold it against the other two to spot if there is a dif.

[uwe]

My, what a bunch of trainspotters you are, the different color/aging of the two pups doesn't bother me one tiny bit.  (That cream color is ugly per se in my book, aged or not, however, to pay tribute to "Scott the Saw": they do sound great.) I have sixties TBirds with a mix of nickel and chrome too, one of them even has a nickel and a chrome pup.

[Dave W]

We already established that the seller's story was enhanced. Still, as Marcus said, it has some (but obviously not all) genuine Gibson components, including a Gibson neck.  And it was built by a master builder who once ran Gibson's west coast CS.

I'm waiting for Uwe to get some rounds on there, so so he can "explore" its full potential.