Bass of the Week: Roger Giffin’s “Outlaw” Chet Atkins SST Bass
One of the most outlandish stories this year is the Outlaw Custom Shop Collection, a set of “illegal” instruments built in Los Angeles by Master Luthier and former Gibson West Coast Custom Shop Chief, Roger Giffin, for Brett Allen Studio Rentals. Giffin began secretly taking parts and wood from Gibson to build one-of-a-kind offshoots that the company would never build. After years in hiding, the instruments are now up for auction.
“These instruments were a direct rebellion against the company line, incorporating forbidden elements like Gretsch sparkle finishes and experimental hollow-body constructions,” the auction website explains. “Their unauthorized work could have cost them their careers, a danger so real that Allen kept the entire collection hidden under his bed for a decade before finally unveiling these exceptional guitars to the world.”
The 16-piece collection has a single bass, and it’s our bass of the week.
Giffin built this Chet Atkins SST Bass in 1989 after building a gold-top guitar version. The bass takes the body of Gibson’s Chet Atkins SST, which featured a chambered mahogany body with a simulated soundhole. A balsa center block make the tone “ring like a bell,” Giffin says. The luthier also modified the bass version to put the strings through the body for added resonance.
Hear more about it from Giffin and Allen:
“Gibson will never build anything like this,” Allen explains. “It’ll never be done again.”
The bass will be on a timed 30-day auction beginning October 20th with a reserve price of $5,000. For more info, visit the auction website.
Giffin Outlaw Series 1989 Chet Atkins SST Bass Gold Top Photos:
Giffin Outlaw Series 1989 Chet Atkins SST Bass Gold Top Photos:
| Body: | Mahogany, Balsa |
| Neck: | Mahogany |
| Fingerboard: | Rosewood |
| Frets: | 20 |
| Inlays: | Dot |
| Pickups: | Undersaddle Piezo Pickup |
| Electronics: | Piezo |
| Bridge: | Rosewood |
| Tuners: | Schaller |
| Finish: | Gold-Top |
In his time with No Treble, Kevin has met hundreds of amazing bassists and interviewed icons like Jack Casady, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, and more. He's a gigging bassist performing jazz in Northern Virginia and bluegrass with The Plate Scrapers up and down the East Coast. Kevin appreciates all genres of music, from R&B to metal and everything in between. Connect with Kevin on Facebook and check his performance schedule on his website.
