Custom shop 'Bird

[TBird1958]

Supposedly from the Gibson West Coast Custom Shop.

I have no idea what these sort of things are really worth, I do think it's an interesting bass tho.......

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gibson-Thunderbird-RARE-West-Coast-Custom-Shop-Roger-Giffin-/151696282302?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2351cd92be

[Dave W]

The seller deal-mill is our own mc2NY (Jon Maye).

[Highlander]

Followed that and found these...

Seller of the first 2 has a variety of other Hamer items, a 70's P and a '59/60 Melody Maker

HAMER V8 in green

Is this the one we've seen posted before...? presumed yes...

HAMER Explorer with Jazz pups

Pricey, so is this a fair valuation...? buyers choice, I guess...

HAMER black 12 string

Not the usual body shape I've seen these come in... almost Grabber shaped...?

[Nocturnal]

I think Baz owned this one for a while as well??

[chromium]

HAMER Explorer with Jazz pups

Pricey, so is this a fair valuation...?

I was offered that white one for ~2K from the previous owner (from whom this guy bought it), along with a very beat up '76 flametop from a different seller for the same price.  Probably could have negotiated either into the upper 1K range.  I'd speculate that figured/bound tops and/or the very early specimens might command higher prices (upper 2s to low 3s?).  Hard to gauge since there aren't many of them out there...

[Bionic-Joe]

I never owned any of those instruments.

[mc2NY]

Yeah, the TBird is mine. No, Baz never owned it.

It was custom built for a friend of mine. I bought it from him along with a custom Hamer Bass with a one-off factory graphic around 10 years ago. I also recently bought an '81 Hamer from him that he bought new. Both times he personally flew the axes to NYC area to hand deliver them. Last time he came with Todd Rundgren's longtime engineers/sound man from Bearsville Studios.

Anyway.....It is a GREAT TBird.

If anyone knows of another TBird handbuilt at the Gibson West Coast Custom Shop by the infamous Roger Giffin, I would love to see a photo.

This is NOT just another typical Gibson Custom Shop TBird sprayed in a different color or with a different pickguard and with a Custom Shop decal slapped on it. This one is special.

The Hamer V-8 was mine....a few times, actually. It is also a great bass but I just cannot get used to a Flying V body. It is such a cool bass that I've gotten it back a couple times to try and get used to the V shape without any success. The current owner who has it on EBAY wanted to trade me for my set of Hamer Millers that is also on EBAY. BTW....each time it was sold, it went in the $3000-4000 range, so he is not being out there on the price. Plus, it IS the only one Hamer ever made.

[Highlander]

I thought you had the V at some point... really beautiful fin...

[Blackbird]

It was custom built for a friend of mine. I bought it from him along with a custom Hamer Bass with a one-off factory graphic around 10 years ago. I also recently bought an '81 Hamer from him that he bought new. Both times he personally flew the axes to NYC area to hand deliver them. Last time he came with Todd Rundgren's longtime engineers/sound man from Bearsville Studios.

Anyway.....It is a GREAT TBird.

If anyone knows of another TBird handbuilt at the Gibson West Coast Custom Shop by the infamous Roger Giffin, I would love to see a photo.

This is NOT just another typical Gibson Custom Shop TBird sprayed in a different color or with a different pickguard and with a Custom Shop decal slapped on it. This one is special.

What is special about it?

[uwe]

I guess its origin and the fact that it plays real nice! Though with Roger Giffin there is always a shade of intransparency mystique for how long he was allowed to build for Gibson and whether an instrument actually stems from that time and had Gibson's official consent.

My Explorer bass from him is a fine bass but I don't consider it a Gibson. For me, it takes more than a headstock logo (which it has) to be that. I consider it a "Hamson" or "Gimer". 

[mc2NY]

Yeah, well mine was definitely made by him AT the Gibson West Coast Custom Shop.
That alone makes it unusual, as the shop wasn't there long and had a couple of name builders, headed by Roger.

I was built with 70s electronics and PUPs. I believe the finish is not a typical Gibson Thunderbird burst.
I could be wrong on this but it looks unusual to me. An odd burst for a Gibson TBird, plus it is only busted on the front, not the sides or rear.

It DOES have a Gibson SN# on the back of the headstock and a Gib Cust Shop logo. Otherwise black truss cover and pickguard w/o Gibson of TBird on them. Also, looking at it close, as you turn it slowly, you can tell it was hand finished. It is not like a typical Gib mass produced TBird.

The action is low and it plays better than other Gibson TBirds I have played, which are many.

I also have emails from the original owner and Giffin confirming he built it at the Gibson West Coast Shop for my friend. So, there is not question it is an official Gibson West Coast Custom Shop build and it was personally built by GiffIn. A third mutual friend who was a Hamer endorser and used to play with Daxx Neilsen (Cheap Trick drummer) also knows the bass and Giffin and verified all this.

I know Giffin had a sort of love/hate relationship with Gibson, like many of the famous builders who passed thru Gibson over the years (Ned Steinberger, Mike Tobias, etc.) so possibly that explains the lack of Gibson logos on the front.

[uwe]

Regular TBirds are generally no low action wonders. They are not Rics.

[marcnorth]

That V8 was one of my custom orders. I tried to get it done in a 4 string but they wouldn't do it for some reason. It has my last name on the headstock under the logo and my name on the certificate. I was very disappointed with it to say the least. I asked for a smaller neck and shorter headstock was told no problem. The headstock came out fine but the neck (width at the nut) was huge. When I got it I tried to like it but I just couldn't handle the big neck so it sat in the case until I traded it to Jon.