It's a 2023 70s spec Gibson Explorer. I have a friend that bought it brand new in the box. He needed some cash for some unexpected family legal expenses so I brokered a P2P pawn deal. It's mine and if/when he wants it back he can pay me back and get it back. I won't sell it out from under him. So that's how I ended up with this thing. If he decides he doesn't want it back I'll probably keep it. But for now I'm just gonna play this silly thing. It's actually a lot of fun to play and even for it's size it feels way more like an SG than a Les Paul.
It's got "70s Burstbucker" pickups and I don't know exactly what that means but I'm not a fan. I assume it's a modern Gibson take on their own T-Tops, but real T-Tops and T-Top clones sound way better. I'll be swapping the bridge pickup for sure. Probably for something stupid hot like a Super Distortion.
rayc wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2024 5:34 pm
Ah, pointy metal guitars. I suppose it wasn't metal when 1st designed. No one seems to buy Bo Diddley rectangles.
Well I don't consider these or Vs "metal". They pre-date metal by like 10-15 years or so. It's not the guitars' fault that shitty music got played with them.
Nice score. I've always liked Explorers although haven't actually played one.
I tried doing something similar for a mate once - he turned out to be a lot flakier than your pal probably is and it was a bit of nightmare when he wanted it back... yeah, the money, dude, you need to pay me the money... "Can I pay you some every month?" etc. etc. Lesson learned.
Armistice wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2024 8:22 pm
Nice score. I've always liked Explorers although haven't actually played one.
I tried doing something similar for a mate once - he turned out to be a lot flakier than your pal probably is and it was a bit of nightmare when he wanted it back... yeah, the money, dude, you need to pay me the money... "Can I pay you some every month?" etc. etc. Lesson learned.
I’m selective on who I do that for. I know one friend we pay each other in installments all the time. I trust him for things like that. Not many others I’d trust.
“Naaaaaaaaaah man. I ain’t touching that mic. That thing’s expensive!”
Armistice wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2024 8:22 pm
Nice score. I've always liked Explorers although haven't actually played one.
I tried doing something similar for a mate once - he turned out to be a lot flakier than your pal probably is and it was a bit of nightmare when he wanted it back... yeah, the money, dude, you need to pay me the money... "Can I pay you some every month?" etc. etc. Lesson learned.
I told my guy I'm not doing payments. All the money at once. That's how it goes.
rayc wrote: ↑Wed Dec 04, 2024 5:34 pm
Ah, pointy metal guitars. I suppose it wasn't metal when 1st designed. No one seems to buy Bo Diddley rectangles.
Well I don't consider these or Vs "metal". They pre-date metal by like 10-15 years or so. It's not the guitars' fault that shitty music got played with them.
Yeah, that's why I mentioned the diff between design and metal.
I'm a year older than the explorer's 1st issue. The list of renowned users...for any length of time...is as grim as it is slim.
They looked pretty weird when 1st produced and I'm still not a fan of the look but even less so of the V. Some of Bo's other guitar players had very space age looking guitars.
I saw him in 76 for the 20th Anniversary of RnR album tour & he was playing his red rectangle. I can't say much about the sound of the thing because he mainly scrubbed the "Shave and a hair cut" riff through everything. It was such a small gig, Armidale Town Hall, that it's not listed o the tour logs online, wouldn't have been 150 people there...University & college town with 90% of the students being fans of The Eagles, Steely Dan and some stretching to Supertramp. A dismal place for music listening variety.
I've only played explorer shapes a few times - mainly a mate's Ibanez Destroyer. For such a weird looking thing - they're also surprisingly practical and comfy.
This thing plays really easy and nice. No complaints with the frets, finish, or general set up. Fit and feel and finish is 10/10. I tweaked the setup a little for my own tastes but right out the box it was nice.
The electronics suck ass though. I have to re-wire this thing, probably replace the switch too. The volume roll off is basically non-existent. Probably has linear pots. They gotta go.
There's also bleed through the neck vol pot and/or switch. The neck pickup volume is never all the way down. That's gotta go too.
I actually like that guitar a lot. While the Explorer may not be on the top of my list, it does look really good in that color combination. After painting my Tele in that same color scheme, I've become quite fond of the yellowed Olympic White with a white pickguard. Kind of a blonde-on-blonde thing.
I've always heard good things about how Explorers play. Next time I see one I'll have to pick it up and give it a strum.
Tadpui wrote: ↑Thu Dec 05, 2024 11:55 am
I actually like that guitar a lot. While the Explorer may not be on the top of my list, it does look really good in that color combination. After painting my Tele in that same color scheme, I've become quite fond of the yellowed Olympic White with a white pickguard. Kind of a blonde-on-blonde thing.
I've always heard good things about how Explorers play. Next time I see one I'll have to pick it up and give it a strum.
My buddy I got this from has the matching white 70s V and it's cool as shit. He didn't wanna part with that one lol.
I have a thing for white guitars. I just love their simple clean look and there's nothing "tough guy" about them. This Explorer is particularly nice with it's off-white finish and bright white neck binding and pickguard. It's gonna look really sharp with cream pickups.
vomitHatSteve wrote: ↑Thu Dec 05, 2024 12:10 pm
I actually have one of those p2p pawn deals going with my glam vocalist right now. I'm holding his two pointy Jacksons until he can find some money.
Tho, ironically, I haven't picked them up yet. They're "mine" but still at his house
So you've just given him some money as a gift, essentially...
I have some guitars you could advance me a few dollars on if you're interested. I promise I won't sell them and will pay you back the capital via my will...
vomitHatSteve wrote: ↑Thu Dec 05, 2024 12:10 pm
I actually have one of those p2p pawn deals going with my glam vocalist right now. I'm holding his two pointy Jacksons until he can find some money.
Tho, ironically, I haven't picked them up yet. They're "mine" but still at his house
So you've just given him some money as a gift, essentially...
I have some guitars you could advance me a few dollars on if you're interested. I promise I won't sell them and will pay you back the capital via my will...
Honestly, the guy borrows money from me pretty regularly, but he always pays it back. I have a personal policy of only one outstanding loan to a friend at a time.
