Joe Riggio at work in the shop .
[ WM ] All the major historic Gibson body shapes – Wow ! Which ones are you licensed to use ?
[ Joe ] Yes ! My agreement is the only one that Gibson has issued so far that includes most of the popular shapes ; Les Paul , SG , ES-335 , Explorer , Firebird and Flying V , so I ’ m very honored and grateful for my relationship with Gibson .
[ WM ] And the headstock , is that an issue or not ?
[ Joe ] That ’ s not an issue . That ’ s my headstock . They don ’ t license their headstock to anyone ( they call that the “ open-book ” headstock ) and they don ’ t license the model names . So I can ’ t call it a Les Paul . However , I can use the word Les Paul as a descriptive . So , Les Paul-style body works .
[ WM ] That ’ s good . It feels great . Tell us more about the components that make up the Burst Standard .
[ Joe ] Yeah , so it ’ s a Standard in the original Cherry Sunburst finish , as one would have looked brand new in the late 50 ’ s . They ’ re available to order in just about every finish variant you can think of . I ’ ve even done one in a version of Silverburst that Gibson has never offered . It shows the figured Maple top through the Silver finish . There ’ s also the classic Gold- Top finish , which interestingly was the vehicle that led to Gibson offering me the Licensing Agreement . They reached out , asking for some guidance on how I created my version of the 50 ’ s original .
As is the case with all Riggio Guitars , they are not necessarily intended to be replicas , but more a modern and high-performance version of their original counterpart . That being said , I do use techniques in the finishing and general feel of the guitars that are extremely authentic to vintage pieces . Neck shapes on the Gibson- Licensed models are available in Fat , Medium and Slim , but I will custom carve them to most requested specs . The Riggio Pickups are made to my spec by John Carlsen , here in Tacoma and deliver everything you would come to expect from a premium hand-wound pickup . The Riggio PAFs in the Standard you ’ re holding are a perfect example of that . They have that muscular tone , but without sacrificing open-sounding top-end . They are my favorite modern-made PAF style pickups . The hardware is also a good example of where I like to use parts that are as authentic as possible to the originals as possible ; aged-nickel bridge and tailpiece , premium plastics and vintage style tuners are on the one you see here . But , as always , they can be ordered with most specific choices you might want . Hand-carved bone nut are also standard on all Riggio ’ s , as is 45x100 traditional nickel alloy fret wire .
[ WM ] Do you have an SG body shape planned ?
[ Joe ] Absolutely , in both Standard and Junior styles . That ’ s one that we call in the “ prototype stages ” ( laughing ).
[ WM ] Tell us about your take on the Les Paul Junior and Les Paul Special type instruments ?