The Last Bass Outpost
Gear Discussion Forums => Gibson Basses => Topic started by: hieronymous on February 09, 2012, 04:50:22 PM
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Here's one for Uwe - custom made for Geddy Lee??? ??? ??? ???
http://www.bananasmusic.com/productdetail.asp/pid_17110/productname_Gibson-Custom-Shop-Original-Flame-Top-Bass (http://www.bananasmusic.com/productdetail.asp/pid_17110/productname_Gibson-Custom-Shop-Original-Flame-Top-Bass)
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Not a Gibson. Look at that "custom shop logo" photo -- that's not a logo ever used by Gibson.
Based on examples we've seen before, I'd guess this is another Roger Giffen creation.
The hand wound pickup looks suspiciously like a DiMarzio Model One. "high mass but low impact bridge" is the funniest description of the three-point yet.
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"high mass but low impact bridge"
I bet it's great for the ultimate cardio workout!
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"high mass but low impact bridge" is the funniest description of the three-point yet.
I gotta agree Dave!
I love 3 points......but WTH.
The whole thing is a bit strange, I really can't see Geddy Lee wanting a bass like that.
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Wait a minute! This isn't another Giffin, it's the exact same Giffin we discussed here a couple of years ago: http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=3961.0. Only it was $5000 back then.
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I was gonna say I was pretty sure I'd seen those drums before...
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A friend of mine had that built for him out in Hollywood in the mid-90s by Roger Giffin. There was also a matching Explorer short-scale bass.
I got offered the pair at the time but didn't take either. This EB went to Petersson at the time.
My friend is not Geddy Lee BTW but was a longtime Hamer endorser, hence the obvious Hamer influence in the builds :)
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A friend of mine had that built for him out in Hollywood in the mid-90s. There was also a matching Explorer short-scale bass.
I got offered the pair at the time.
My friend is not Geddy Lee BTW :)
Uwe now owns that Explorer! At least I think it must be the same one. See this thread from 2008: http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=1131.0
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Yeah, I just saw that Explorer pic....that IS the same bass.
BTW....I have a REAL Gibson WC Custom Shop TBird build by Roger when he was there '90/91 that I "may" be selling. On the fence but probably. It was made for another Hollywood bass pal of mine. About 8 years back I bought his TBird and his custom Hamer B12S with his band logo (Bogus Toms) in blood factory graphic on it :) There was a Hamer rumor that the factory actually added drops of real blood to the paint. Funniest part was my friend's stage name was "Liv Wurst."
He actually flew out to NYC and hand carried the basses to me to be sure they got here in one piece.
(http://home.earthlink.net/~mc2/images/B12SBogusToms.JPG)
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We were pretty sure the Explorer was built by Roger, after his Gibson days, even though he couldn't remember for sure when Uwe contacted him. And we thought so about this one that's still for sale. As far as I'm concerned, your comments settle it.
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I remember contacting Roger Giffin about this Junior sibling to my short scale Explorer and he went out of his way not to state that it was made while he was still associated with Gibson as their "West Coast Custom Shop". Basically all he said was that it looked like something he might have done. It is 100% his (then) trademark look and really a deadringer to my Explorer (which wasn't made during the Custom Shop era either, but I knew that when I bought it, it is my "fake Rembrandt" in the collection).
Geddy Lee playing that thing is a preposterous thought though, have fun trying to get his grindy trademark clank sound out of it, short scale and neck pup equipped as it is. ;D If the Rush connection is true then - also by the looks of it, he likes fancy, translucent or natural tops, Geddy not so much - it is more something Alex Lifeson might have used for demoing his material ("See, Geddy, not all basses have to go clank, just listen here!").
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I have pics of both of these in my friend's front yard from when he first brought them home and will post them later.
From what I recall from my conversations back then, they were finished up from some remaining parts and imput from my friend on how he thought they should be spec'd into basses he could use for a short time and then flip.
I've bought/sold a lot with him over the years. Recently got a similar Hamer B4S from him that was made for the late Howie Epstein of Tom Petty's band because I had Epstein's other one of the set. I had some buyer begging me for the pair and after I was good enough to get the other one out here the A-hole vanished and stuck me.
Funny thing about this pair of basses....I asked him a couple months back if he still had them. I'd come across the original pics he'd sent years back and thought about maybe trying them out but he said they were gone.
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IIRC Uwe bought the Explorer off eBay from an individual, not this seller. So they got separated.
Looking forward to the pics. Another piece of the puzzle, even though we're pretty sure of the origins.
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Here are a few of the pics my friend sent me when these were first made...maybe around 2006-07 or so from my recollection. I'd have to go through ancient emails to see exactly when it was. Might have been a joing effort with Roger in a "cleaning house" mode to get ready to move out of CA back then. But you can see they are defintely the same pair of basses.
(http://home.earthlink.net/~mc2/images/TB_RGpair.jpg)
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That's the same pair, all right. Are you sure about the approximate date of 2006-07? I got the impression these were made in the 90s.
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I was gonna say I was pretty sure I'd seen those drums before...
BWAAAAhahahahahaha
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That's the same pair, all right. Are you sure about the approximate date of 2006-07? I got the impression these were made in the 90s.
I just went thru ancient emails to look.......Got offered the EB 5/5/07 and the Explorer 5/13/08. Didn't realize I have about 20 pics I was sent at the time.
Info on the basses from back then in the email....NOS Kalamazoo necks, bodies by Roger, NOS Gibson pots, Schaller tuners, DiMarzio pups.
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Didn't mean to repost something that had been posted earlier, but I'm glad some new connections were drawn!
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So those must be the same necks I use.....
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I just went thru ancient emails to look.......Got offered the EB 5/5/07 and the Explorer 5/13/08. Didn't realize I have about 20 pics I was sent at the time.
Info on the basses from back then in the email....NOS Kalamazoo necks, bodies by Roger, NOS Gibson pots, Schaller tuners, DiMarzio pups.
I'm still not clear. Were these fairly new at the time they were offered to you?
If so, I may have assumed these were from the 90s because Roger Giffin had not been associated with Gibson for so long.
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Finally got an answer...I'm told the Explorer one was done around the time it was offered to me 2007-08....the other was partially done earlier (90s) and finally finished up around when it was offered to me.
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I guess then the date on Uwe's should be considered about 2007 too, since that's whn it was finished. Not that he's really concerned.
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Yes...that one I am told is an old Triumph neck on a new non-Gib body that Roger made, loaded/configged in a Hamer fashion.
Uwe probably knows this since he got it direct from my friend who had these completed.
BTW....I see the dealer with the EB one has dropped the price a bit, but still has the total BS line up that it had something to do with Rush/Geddy Lee.
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BTW....I see the dealer with the EB one has dropped the price a bit, but still has the total BS line up that it had something to do with Rush/Geddy Lee.
As long as he keeps saying that and keeps calling it a Gibson, he can still dream about getting lots of money for it.
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I guess then the date on Uwe's should be considered about 2007 too, since that's whn it was finished. Not that he's really concerned.
I knew what I was buying. It doesn't really feel like a Gibson either, more Hamerish. Anway, it's just as authentic as this here:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Mann_mit_dem_Goldhelm.jpg/320px-Mann_mit_dem_Goldhelm.jpg)
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/Rembrandt_autograph.png/220px-Rembrandt_autograph.png)
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It's still a cool piece. About as close to am official Gibson as you can get with the parts and Roger building it. If I recall, that Explorer also had an extra fret, no?
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I say "Hi Eeeeeeeeh" to that!