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Roger Giffin
Roger Giffin Guitars
Roger Giffin started building guitars in the mid 60s for his own enjoyment, but soon realized that this could develop into more than a hobby . He kept experimenting for a number of years, building guitars on the side while also working at one of London's most popular music stores at the time, "Top Gear."During this period, he was introduced to a large number of influential people, including many of the top guitarists of those days who used Top Gear as a favorite hang-out. Roger established Giffin Guitars in 1976 after leaving Top Gear; and, with the contacts made at that time, he found himself regularly working for bands like: The Who, The Rolling Stones, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Eric Clapton, The Pretenders, The Police, and many others.
Giffin Guitars operated for 10 years in the UK, building and repairing guitars for most of the then current bands and artists. During this time, Roger was able to develop his building style and create his own unique range of guitars. These designs have evolved over the years to fit the exacting requirements of his highly knowledgeable clients, and also reflect Roger's tastes for beauty and simplicity. After designing an instrument for Mike Rutherford of Genesis 1986, which was taken up by Steinberger in the US, Roger was offered a position to run Gibson's West Coast Custom Shop in Los Angeles.
During the following six years, while running the Gibson Custom Shop, Roger again met and worked with a number of major artists including: Eddie Van Halen, Joe Walsh, Jimmy Page, Guns & Roses, Peter Frampton, AC DC, and many more.
He left Gibson in 1994, restarted Giffin Guitars in the USA, and has been building continuously ever since. In 2004 Roger moved to Portland, Oregon, where he currently builds limited numbers of instruments from his home workshop. Roger has by now created many hundreds of guitars, and he still loves the feeling of making an instrument from beginning to end. They are made completely by hand with the care and attention to detail that comes from more than 30 years of experience. Every Giffin guitar starts out as a hand selected plank of wood from the work shop, and as a self-confessed "woodnut" a large part of the enjoyment comes from being able to seek out and use some of the most beautiful and toneful woods that nature can provide. His guitars are uncluttered, elegant, and above all, very playable, and although sometimes they can end up as art pieces, they are definitely not intended just to hang as decorations on a wall.
Play one, and you will understand.