| LIEBER INSTRUMENTS is a guitar company founded
by Thomas Lieber, a Designer/Builder, who has been crafting guitars since 1971. While
still considered new in the industry, Tom became involved with some recording and
performance giants. In 1974, while with Doug Irwin, Tom shared design credit for guitars
going to Jerry Garcia and Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead. The following year, also with
Irwin, he designed and built a custom bass
for Pete Sears, of the Jefferson Starship. |
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| The Sears project required several
design sessions with Pete. Many good things came as a result of these sessions: Pete had a
beautiful bass, Tom and Pete became good friends, and Tom realized he could hold design
sessions with recording artists - really listen to the artists’ needs, and, with his
innovative ingenuity, he could build them an instrument they loved! At the same time he
could push the envelope of guitar building a little further. From this point on, the
company began a long run of patented innovations. |
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During the mid 70's, Tom set out to develop an
acoustic bass guitar that was well voiced and could "play-out" with acoustic six
strings in live performance. The current Spider Grinder Concept Bass
has its roots in this same namesake, which first appeared in 1976. |
| The original Spider Grinder acoustic bass
comprised a patented, dual bowl, synthetic back, hand-carved
wood top, and a Honduras mahogany neck. This instrument produced rich, deep, bass tones
and offered the artist comfort in playability through its ergonomic design. |
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The 70's was a busy decade for Lieber
Instruments. In 1979, Stanley Clarke became the proud owner of a custom Spider Grinder
acoustic bass. At that time, Stanley was also playing Rick Turner’s first graphite
neck, through body, Alembic electric bass. Stanley loved the graphite neck, and felt that
an all composite bass was the way to go. He commissioned Tom to design such a bass. |
| Stanley approved the design and Tom
built a prototype guitar which required four patents to handle
the innovations. Stanley loved the bass, and in a joint venture, Tom and Stanley formed
the Spellbinder Corporation in 1980. Spellbinder produced a limited edition run of fifty
Spellbinder basses. One
additional custom left-handed version was built at Stanley’s request, as a personal
gift from Stanley to Paul McCartney. The run was a success and, as planned, the Spellbinder molds were destroyed to
insure the instrument’s value. |
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| During the 80's, after already establishing
himself as a master Designer/Builder, Tom envisioned a new neck design so radical, so
different from anything yet produced, he himself was cautious about proceeding. After a
few prototypes of wood were completed, Tom knew he had something special. The Lieber Speedneck,
as it is now known, has a functional design, consisting of a protruding ridge, or
backbone, running the length of the neck underside. This "ridge" defines the
cross-sectional envelope of a conventional neck.All similarities with conventional necks
end here. |
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| The material on either side of the Speedneck’s
ridge has been relieved in size, so as to reduce drag and allow effortless playing of
the instrument. The patented Speedneck design required considerable manufacturing R
and D to take it from a prototype to the production model of today. Lieber Instruments
developed a patented graphite composite molding process which produces the "state of
the art" Speedneck. |
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Near the end of the 80's, Tom wanted to
electrify the Spider Grinder. Unsatisfied
with market-available magnetic pickups, the company began development of its patented Lieber EQ-4
Pickup found on the current Spider Grinder edition. The EQ-4 is a
remarkable pickup innovation. Individual magnetic pickup poles slide in a slotted coil
underneath each string. As with conventional pickups, their location under the strings
determines the sound. Being able to individually locate each string pole is a Lieber EQ-4
exclusive. This afforded never-before adjustability at the sound source. |
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| In 1991,Chris Stein of Blondie added
himself to the growing number of Speedneck Guitar fans. In 1994, after collecting a
few Speedneck guitars, Chris was interested in commissioning a custom
instrument with Lieber Instruments. Chris had a concept of a radical ornamental design,
basing its theme on the art of Chris’ friend, H.R. Giger. Later that year, during a
meeting between Lieber, Chris and Giger, the details for this project were finalized. In
the summer of 1998, Lieber’s Gigerstein was
completed and delivered to Chris. |
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