Some History of the Explorer Guitar 0:32 - The Mystery Guitar Story 3:33 - Playing Demo 13:34 - Condition 17:13 This was an interesting guitar. Whatever its history, it's a mighty fine player. I had fun with it.
I've seen those listed at all kinds of price points - maybe once they settle down a bit, I will be able to pick up one. Not too many green LPs out there!
The Trogly's Guitar Show hey trogly I recently had to sell all my equipment to take care of bills. My wife has 3 major surgeries. I have a son and help take care of an elderly couple. My wife is my best friend and the woman I will b with the rest of my days. And my little man is a smart boy great student and he has a heart of gold. That's why I sold my gear to take care of medical bills and other random family issues. I'm looking for a Gibson or something close Ltd. I was wondering if you have anything for sale at a low affordable price. Playing was my meditation and stress releif. Plus I have played since I was a kid. I can't afford guitar center. But I guess I'm being fussy I don't want to waste money on a cheap guitar. Just wanted to know if you had something damaged even that I could fix or work on. The reason I'm asking you is your very professional and credible. And honest from what I can gather. If you do have something to sell that's decent for a kinda lower price I'm interested. I'm just borderline broke but I need music in my life for my sanity
It was made in Australia. That’s why the serial number is up side down and it fell of the back of a truck, back of Bourke, was pissed on by a dingo and then fixed up by a Japanese luthier in Wagga Wagga. Mystery is bloody well solved mate.
The “coil splitter switch” is actually a “producer switch” They were popular with studio musicians in the 80s. Guys would add a switch that did nothing. When a producer would say “give me more high end” the guitar player would flip the switch and say “How’s that?” The producer would say “That’s perfect!”
You are correct . . . the pickups and pots are absolutely MIJ goods . . the pickup leads and caps are dead giveaways, however the fine tuner tailpiece appears genuine! . . . . . . good luck with it! RR out
The pots and caps are definitely of Fujigen Japan origin, same as the Fender JV series and Ibanez , Tokai and also my Ibanez Les Paul from 1979 has the Gibson style Brass truss rod nut
If the body is a Lawsuit Ibanez it would be ash so if you sand in the cavity you can tell the difference between Ash & Mahogany ,pickups look Maxon/Greco
My take on it: 1) upside down serial is a common thing on 60's Epiphone Wilshires. It's a real neck. 2) pots are imports for sure. 3) pups would often be branded "Maxon" on good high end copies but they sound damn nice. 4) body could easily check out by examining the routes and routing bit marks. Checks out for me. Possibly a combo of neck repair and refin several colors.
People don't just replace bodies, those who could wouldn't spray paint it and use subpar electronics. Likelihood of the body being non-original is extremely low.
My guess is the electrics are original to the (cheap) body, and the whole unit was grafted onto the neck by a woodworker (not a luthier) who didn't want to mess with re-fitting the electrics, but transferred the original hardware over to the new body.
sounds legit to me. when I was younger I saw some real atrocities happen to very nice guitars by very dumb people who had no business trying to do what they were doing. i.e. refinish or rewire or just maintenance in general. While I have no issue doing maintenance or wiring myself ( I learned from their mistakes, at least somebody did) I'd never refinish a guitar. If you don't like the scratches that's what stickers and decals are for.
The Explorer body is by far the most comfortable guitar sitting or standing that I have ever played. Its natural resting position is perfect for proper form. I think Gibson rereleased in 1976 because Hamer Standards copied the Explorer to a T, and to great success. You can thank Rick Nielsen from Cheap Trick.
I used to work with a lot of spray paint, and we'd always use lacquer thinner to remove it. You'll remove what ever original finish as well. Otherwise you'll probably either have to use a heat gun and a scraper, or remove the hardware and use some Zip Strip.
I had a 1976 Gibson Explorer Limited Edition, my parents got for me as a B-day gift. They bought it at a music store in Burbank Ca, had been sitting in the back of the store for 12 years. Sold it about a year ago for 5 grand. Bought more Fender Strats with the bucks!
I am skeptical about the history if (i) the previous owner claimed no knowledge and owned it since 1982 and (ii) it reeks of spray paint. .... If it was painted 35 years ago the paint would have lost its smell by now.
I was watching the video and here are my two cents on this guitar: (most of this is based on the thought that whoever you bought it from is not the first owner) for the paint job: it's an Explorer form the early 80s, chances are whoever bought it got it cheap in a color they didn't like so they repainted it however many times they wanted and didn't care. The pickups could be from an axe that they (whoever owned the guitar) liked the sound of but wanted the look of the Explorer. It could be an Ibanez body because of the route for the extra switch, but it could also just be a pro/ semi-pro route job on the original body to experiment with coil tapping and they figured out they didn't like it, but kept the switch so they wouldn't have to change the pickguard. I personally like keeping my guitars as pristine as possible (regardless of the brand), but for some people they get ONE good guitar and that bears the grunt of their experiments and changes in style (both in technique and aesthetic). This is just what I think, I don't know the full story of this guitar.
Why the hell would somebody go through the trouble of putting expensive parts and un-gluing a set neck just to reshape/re-glue it into another body? Seems like a massive hassle, so it's either all fake or none of it is. For real, you're better off just making a new fake neck than you are trying to remove a set neck and put it into a body that wasn't made for that neck. When all is said and done, though, it sure does look really nice. A nice proper aged look to it.
Great review, thanks!! If that were mine I would strip it to wood (except headstock front) & get the answers. Personally I'd probably probably do a yellow/clear lacquer on the mahogany body to emulate korina & just oil the neck. If the body has flaws, maybe color it creme or cinnamon. I'm not currently reworking guitars but if I were that would be a candidate!
Could have been an employees guitar. Have you checked with Gibson? I worked at the Bozeman factory and had a guitar made while I was there. It’s one of a kind. You never find any info. on it. The only way to tell is I have all the employee purchase paperwork. I’m curious about that Explorer.
I know this is old but I figured I would try to explain it. The serial can easily be someone's first day so it really wouldn't concern me as much. The body is an area you have very valid concerns and I agree the body is likely not original and is probably either a Greco or Ibanez body. The only reason I pick them is they were made with some pickups unmarked and some marked. Greco usually just had a sticker with the word "screamin" on their pickups and it would be easy during the modification process for those to come off and the person not worry about them. Ibanez is a little different in that they had pickups first from Maxon and some were marked with only a 5 digit stamp (literally ink stamp not press stamped) the ink could come off over time but there are a lot of blank examples out there. Later in the 70's Ibanez then manufactured the 'super' series pickups and while later versions of the pickups were press stamped the earlier ones were not and sometimes only had a 'made in Japan' sticker on them. But a lot of their earlier super series pickups were not marked in any way. Both companies pickups were chrome covered. I would lean towards Ibanez as being responsible for the body because Ibanez explorer knockoffs are more abundant and made an almost perfect replica of the guitar. Plus the not marking pickup thing was more a Maxon thing. The only thing that would be strange is if the wood was indeed mahogany because Ibanez and Greco both were made from Korina not sure about painted examples but natural ones were always Korina. How you can sell it is tell people the body is likely replaced by an Ibanez lawsuit era body with Gibson neck and hardware. If someone is buying it to play then they should have no problem with that because they are so close in how they are built that a lawsuit era Ibanez Destroyer is equivalent to a Gibson Explorer of the same era. Virtually no difference other than whether or not the guy was Asian or American who turned on the machine to build it. Lawsuit era Ibanez guitars are made with such great quality you could easily compare it to an explorer of today (especially with Gibson's QC today) and it will beat theirs out. A side note all 3 sets of pickups whether from greco, Maxon or Ibanez are sought after and bring a price of around 200 to 300 bucks. Very nice pickups. How you can tell its not a Gibson body is the route for the pickups where the height adjustment screws sit in are more jacked up on this guitar and do not look the same as Gibson's. Just my 2 cents on it. Could be a modified Gibson body but I doubt it with that route under the pick guard. Could also be odd from replacing the neck at home and maybe thats why the body doesn't match so well. In the end just sell it for the price of the parts or what you paid, its not going to bring any real money.
Try Cirtustrip if you want to take the paint off. It’s an orange jug they sell at the hardware store. It’s not crazy harsh but it WILL strip paint. I’ve used it on plastic also and it doesn’t break it down. Good luck.
This is a legit Gibson explorer. In the 70’s and 80’s Gibson explorers had a slightly different body shape than what you see today. They weren’t as pointy, and the upper left side of the body, think of the switch location on a Les Paul, was not as tall and more rounded over. Pointer than a 58 explorer but less pointy than today’s standard production explorer. Anyway, the explorer in this video is the correct shape for the era, Gibson hasn’t used that shape since and I’ve never seen any other brand use it, aside from Japanese made epiphones and those are really rare. I can guarantee it’s 100% a real Gibson.
The neck is correct and unique. It slopes farther down than the current Gibsons which is correct for the ‘76 style. Next the body is vintage spec as far as dimension. The new non Custom shop Explorers are longer because they are more pointed. The tuners are odd. In the ‘70’s Gibson was using in line Klusons in gold but went to Schallers so probably correct. The logo has a dot on the i which was not done in the ‘70’s to ‘80’s. But being Norlin anything is possible. If it plays and sounds good that is all that matters.
If you're adamant on taking off finish and acetone didn't get it, try using a heat gun or even a hair dryer. The heat will cause the paint to bubble up and then you can scrape it off. Just be careful not to set it afire by heating it too hot.
That's should be an '82 re-issue. By the looks probably a Chinese knockoff - they of course make the Epiphones, so probably not too far fetched to think that the factory or someone from there built it and slapped a Gibson logo on it. A lot of the serial numbers from the knockoffs are all identical - they only have one stamp - so you might want to search for other Chinese knockoffs and see if they have same serial. My guess it's a knockoff and they got sloppy applying the serial number. Or, the serial number placement is correct if you play it left handed... LOL. As others stated you could also sand part of it and see what wood it is. Or, you can weigh it and check with a real one and weigh that. If they are more than one pound off you got a Chibson. You can also check wood hardness (JANKA chart) and density charts and even talk to a pro lumber mill and have them look at the guitar to determine wood type - they really can do that.
Geo Zero I highly doubt that a chibson. that's probably some thrasher dudes guitar from the 80s he sprayed black. it probably started life black was painted red the repainted black and the preamp added in. also your weigh it ideas is idiocy at it's finest. if u really think a 1 pound difference in weight can tell you wether it's a real Gibson or a fake then I have some snake oil for sale you would love. fact is, I have a alder body 99 mij esp eclipse that's 13 fucking retarded pounds. I've seen korina exps that weighed less than 8. the 80s were a strange time my friend and I'll bet you have paid way too much for a chibson u couldn't tell was one and bypassed a legit gibbo that had some uhh flaws that u called a fake. from all I know about the world of vintage guitar there are no experts. the best of the best have about a 70% idea
@@hawk6111 It depends where you get the wood from the tree. I had a carpenter friend, who built cabinets, furniture etc. He tried to explain it to me. I own several Squier Standard Strats. I have one that is Les Paul heavy and another that is light as basswood. But they are both made out of Agathis. You can make two guitars from the same tree and depending on which part of the tree you get it from they can differ by several pounds. The higher up the trunk of the tree the lighter or less dense the wood. The lower part of the tree is heavier, more dense.
I firmly believe that you have an ibanez destroyer body with a gibson neck. In the early 80's I had an ibanez "lawsuit" les paul body that somebody replaced the neck with a gibson...
I'm lucky ,being 73 years old now all my guitars were purchased long before the Chinese knock offs ,my 1955 Gibson Switch master is legit , my 76 Les Paul is legit ,my 74 SG is legit ,my 76 Strat is legit , all purchased brand new with craftsmanship Gibson & Fender couldn't accomplish today , I have newer guitars too like my BC Rich Bitch but of every guitar I own my absolute favorite is the Gibson E S , when gibson built the 55 model they made the most versatile guitar in the world .
i always think of james hetfield when people talk about a gibson explorer. it's great to me then that he shows hetfield playing one when he gets to the early 80s period for this guitar.
I don't have the exact numbers regarding 60's, but between 58 and 59 there were 22 Explorers shipped (19 in 58 and 3 in 59). James Hetfield has one from 58 and one from 59. An OG 58 Explorer was sold by Denmark Street Guitars in London for $1,100,000 not that long ago. And one was sold via Skinners auction in 2006 for 611,000,$. I think original Explorers and V's are the pinnacle of vintage guitars.
Looks like an original Explorer got damaged so badly they "fixed" it with a substitute body from a cheaper donor instrument. Then re-painted to match the original look and transferred all the hardware they could without touching the electrics. Has the feel of someone confident with a chisel and glue, but not a luthier, and not someone who knew/cared much about pickup tone. My gut says it was broken, and picked up cheap by someone who liked the idea of fixing it up to be playable again.
You want the paint off, go to the auto supply and get "Aircraft Remover". You'd better mean it, though. On a car, it'll take you straight to metal, the paint just falls off. I can't tell you if it'll delaminate veneer. Try a spot under the pickguard, and get every bit of plastic off before you proceed.
Ja Kooistra do you understand English?, then read my comment again !! It has nothing to do with 'conquering the world'. In the '80s there wasn't much else about.
I know where 3 beautiful Gibson guitars sit. I recently visited guitar center and they have 2 that I drool over, they have a genuine firebird and and Flying V and I am not talking today’s models, I am talking first generation models. The last one is an ES335 Gibson, a buddy of mine purchased it off an elderly woman. She was hard on money so he ended up giving her the money she needed us some because he wasn’t going to just lowball her.
"20 bucks plus another 10 for the case" AS if! 10 bucks plus another 20 for the case! And a cool thousand if you promise never to play again! Jack - Canada
I've bought and sold close to a hundred mij guitars in the last 15 years. Burny and Greco made spot on replicas. My first guess is it's a Burny from about 1979-82. Possibly a Heerby but the black paint, pots, pickups, cap make it a Burny almost certain. I've seen a few where the logo was changed. That logo looks funky. Close but funky. You have a mij guitar 100% including the neck. Let me know if it's available.
Like others have concluded, I think the entire guitar is an import. In my opinion the headstock overlay was replaced with a Gibson and the reason the truss rod opening does not line up. The body is not Gibson from the 70's because those bodies are pointier, this guitar has the rounder '58 shape.
5:06 - *Note the routing differences, your black one have circles and the natural is more squared. That being said, I did some research and found that Gibsons built at the Kalamazoo factory could have that shape. Even later Heritage guitars once Gibson left Kalamazoo got them. I went over some photos I had from Japanese pickup cavities and they didn't do it round like that either.*
*And the screw holes for the pickup matches Gibson, on say Tokai or early Ibanez they were places differently. I would say you got a real Gibson with a refinished body, if it survived the 80s it might just have had some sweet air brushed art on there.*
*And the electronics routing looks identical to an Gibson E2 I found except for that mini toggle switch. It could just have been routed before the refinish. The photos of the japanese models don't line up in any way however.*
I think Rick Nielsen deserves the credit for bringing the Explorer back. He wanted one back in the mid-70's, but only the original run existed. Enter Hamer guitars with the Hamer Standard! Then Gibson wised up and decided to re-release the Explorer.
I've watched some of your vid's off and on but never subbed. All it took was some Thunderhorse played on the explorer to maker me smile and sub. Not sure of many of the facts you state as I dont know much about vintage guitars, but I do know one should play Metallica, zztop, and Dethklok from an Explorer. SUBBED!
Well, if it's someone's "homage" (to be diplomatic,) it would seem to be a damn good one. I would - dare I say it - repaint the body. Matte black. The neck pickup sounds surprisingly "bright;" good, though. (The way to remove paint is with sandpaper. Lots and lots of sandpaper, various grits. This of course means lots of time, too.)
The only ways to get the paint off would be stripper, they make a green stripper that's not as toxic as the old stuff, or a rotary sander with heavier grit working your way to very fine grit. If you use stripper do not get it on any metal parts, take everything off and cover the neck really well, with rosin paper and masking tape, the best way if you want it natural is to sand it , Im a painter, I've sanded old paint off cherry oak and hickory and restained them, if u use a sander with fine grit it will take everything off and get rid of all sand marks from whoever destroyed it
I eally enjoy your videos. Very interesting. The ecu atonal and historical aspects are cool. I even like how you're not a camera hog in that you seem to never show your face. Although when I want to watch a video of yours. I find myself thinking, "Time to watch the headless guy."
Screw if it not an Original !! How does it feel and sound ?? Either the pickups are crap or your plugged into a cruddy amp . But I understand you want us to hear it real sound . I think a good amp with some reverb ,delay and some overdrive it would really capture that Metallica Creeping Death sound .. I would Mod the crap out of it lol Since there's no Province for it $300 would be all I would be willing to pay .
I would like to see Phillip McNight get his hands on it . Will from Will's Easy Guitars would strip all that paint off and probably just go bare with a natural wood grain lacquered finish ? It would really look beautiful like that . Get a better tone by stripping all that spray paint off thats muffling the true wood tone . I'm not big on the tone woods debate but in this case it would only help . Good luck thanks for sharing hope you get a good price for it !!
they made a Gibson invader that had a bolt on neck with a neck like that! here were 2 Different headstocks.. one was the lespaul type which I used to own and one was like that.
Sam Ash sold the LP Studio Premium Plus on Reverb today. You need to send them a bill for expediting their sale lol. Interestingly enough, a buddy of mine told me that there's another one with the same finish at a place called The B String Guitar Shop in Winston Salem N.C.
A little tip for the future if you want to strip the finish off a guitar. DON'T USE ACETONE or similar. As you've realised, it kinda sorta works, but not very well, and it creates a horrible, sticky mess (and will likely also damage plastic parts like pickguards, inlays, etc.). The easy way for removing layers of spray paint is to soften the finish with a heat gun (don't overdo it - if the paint starts bubbling or smoking, you've gone too hot and risk burning the wood), then carefully scrape it off with a metal or ceramic scraper. Any residue left after that should come off easily with some steel wool without damaging the wood.
The heat gun / steel wool method is what I used on this guitar ruclips.net/video/ZEvTREV6VM4/видео.html That was a labor of love haha. Thanks for watching!
Ah, right. I saw that vid a couple of weeks back. Forgot about it. Excellent job on that one and definitely a labor of love. Been there, done that (restoring guitars 20 years after I'd ruined them during my teenage-spraypaint-phase) and it certainly takes time and effort. Great job!
that rout for the toggle switch is for sure done after the fact. look at how neat the rest of the routing is and then at the toggle switch pocket the bottom is a bit all over the shop meaning they had to change the hight of the bit to do 2 cuts. none of the other routing has that
Ryan Burston- I believe you are correct. I just wonder why they routed in the first place. Wouldn't the mini toggle fit nicely in the channel without having to do any routing at all?
Pickups look like Maxon or maybe Matsumoku which were the good Japanese pickups of the 80s. The cheapies back then where actually single coils stuffed in a humbucker body and these are definitely not those.
Just a question - do you think maybe Gibson brought the Explorer back in the 70's because of the rise of the Iceman? If you want to remove the finish just use paint stripper. If your'e going to refinish it anyway, stripper is the easiest most thorough way to remove it. Ive done it to several guitars and it works great. I was thinking, maybe someone had a Gibson explorer and the body got damaged, so they took the neck and electronics and put them on the import body?
Quick question: I have a 1993 les Paul studio that appears to have a replaced headstock but the factory original paint lines up perfectly with the headstock. Is it possible that this is a fake?
It might've just been an employee that thought that putting the serial number upside down was a personal touch and a way to differentiate the ones they made.
Interesting guitar .... Maybe it's a MIJ? .... maybe it was a factory repair by gibson ? As for the acetone ... in theory YES acetone will cut back the NC finishes as its what I used on the flying v i refinished awhile back. BUT not as well as a chemical stripper like when I did my sg to natural i used a paint stripper that was almost like a citrus based one by i think 1890 is the name of the brand or something simular. Anyways it took it off easier & with little to no damage. That said I would look at stripping the body to natural if you REALLY wanted to bring it to more original look/feel. BUT thats alot of time.
?Question?: Were the serial numbers stamped on the necks before they were placed on the guitar? If so, could it be possible, this neck was scrapped because of the upside down serial number and someone took it from the trash hopper and built this mashup? Also, i have an authentic 1984 left to me by my best friend before he passed. It's in a display. I also live in Ohio. I should bring it for you to check out sometime. It's pretty road worn.
B Stock/factory 2nd guitar? I don't know if they sold those publicly in 1982 but my guess is that they mistakenly printed the serial # on upside down, and sold it as B stock or a factory second. I could be totally wrong tho man haha.
love your channel. I have about 75 sweet guitars ( high end customs as well) and about 30 Chinese copies so hit me up if you ever want to do a piece on Chinese guitars. Yes, I am Steve Croppers Cousin lol
I built that neck for Gibson in ‘80.... As for the “upside down” serial number? Well, I was smokin’ a bit too much, ummmmm, ‘mind altering substances’ back then, shit happened... :) LOL
Some History of the Explorer Guitar 0:32 - The Mystery Guitar Story 3:33 - Playing Demo 13:34 - Condition 17:13
This was an interesting guitar. Whatever its history, it's a mighty fine player. I had fun with it.
This video was made because someone was interested in the guitar. If they pass on it - I might consider it
The Trogly's Guitar Show you should do a review on the slash anaconda les Paul I got the standard version but I’d be cool to see what you think of it
I've seen those listed at all kinds of price points - maybe once they settle down a bit, I will be able to pick up one. Not too many green LPs out there!
The Trogly's Guitar Show ibanez destroyer?
The Trogly's Guitar Show hey trogly I recently had to sell all my equipment to take care of bills. My wife has 3 major surgeries. I have a son and help take care of an elderly couple. My wife is my best friend and the woman I will b with the rest of my days. And my little man is a smart boy great student and he has a heart of gold. That's why I sold my gear to take care of medical bills and other random family issues. I'm looking for a Gibson or something close Ltd. I was wondering if you have anything for sale at a low affordable price. Playing was my meditation and stress releif. Plus I have played since I was a kid. I can't afford guitar center. But I guess I'm being fussy I don't want to waste money on a cheap guitar. Just wanted to know if you had something damaged even that I could fix or work on. The reason I'm asking you is your very professional and credible. And honest from what I can gather. If you do have something to sell that's decent for a kinda lower price I'm interested. I'm just borderline broke but I need music in my life for my sanity
It was made in Australia. That’s why the serial number is up side down and it fell of the back of a truck, back of Bourke, was pissed on by a dingo and then fixed up by a Japanese luthier in Wagga Wagga. Mystery is bloody well solved mate.
Well, that explains that! ;) G'day mate! (From Seth in the US.)
Seems legit
True story. I knew the Japanese bloke.
That's the thing with old Metallica's songs.
When you start with the first riff, you have to go through the whole song :)
Un piacere trovarla qua sotto, capo! :)
It's almost dangerous how true that is
Com'è che sei dappertutto?
Say that to the people that play *enter sandman intro nonstop*
Davvero sei ovunque!
Worthless guitar, send it to me, can dispose of it for you. :P
Ja Kooistra lol 😂
Your name sounds so dutch to me
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It's late in the shift on a Friday in Kalamazoo. Hey Jimmy, bang out a serial number on that explorer and let's go. 😉
Friday? that could also explain why it sounds like that!
The “coil splitter switch” is actually a “producer switch”
They were popular with studio musicians in the 80s. Guys would add a switch that did nothing. When a producer would say “give me more high end” the guitar player would flip the switch and say “How’s that?”
The producer would say “That’s perfect!”
That’s hilarious to picture them gaslighting the producer like that
You are correct . . . the pickups and pots are absolutely MIJ goods . . the pickup leads and caps are dead giveaways, however the fine tuner tailpiece appears genuine! . . . . . . good luck with it! RR out
The pots and caps are definitely of Fujigen Japan origin, same as the Fender JV series and Ibanez , Tokai and also my Ibanez Les Paul from 1979 has the Gibson style Brass truss rod nut
Something tells me the entire guitar is from japan. Someone just tried to refinish the body. For what ever reason.
But, if its a good playing guitar yhen its a good playing guitar
Full copy would be my guess.
Tokai also immediately came to mind for me.
If it has a Ibanez body then id say it's an upgrade!
Pretty much Ibanez is the best
If the body is a Lawsuit Ibanez it would be ash so if you sand in the cavity you can tell the difference between Ash & Mahogany ,pickups look Maxon/Greco
My first thought was Maxon with the gray and brown wires.
+1 on the Maxon made pickups. I have a Ibanez 2680 with the same style pots as well and they have a rubber jacket covering parts of them
My take on it:
1) upside down serial is a common thing on 60's Epiphone Wilshires. It's a real neck.
2) pots are imports for sure.
3) pups would often be branded "Maxon" on good high end copies but they sound damn nice.
4) body could easily check out by examining the routes and routing bit marks. Checks out for me. Possibly a combo of neck repair and refin several colors.
People don't just replace bodies, those who could wouldn't spray paint it and use subpar electronics.
Likelihood of the body being non-original is extremely low.
MechaMercDraws damn right
My guess is the electrics are original to the (cheap) body, and the whole unit was grafted onto the neck by a woodworker (not a luthier) who didn't want to mess with re-fitting the electrics, but transferred the original hardware over to the new body.
MechaMercDraws I agree, why replace the body? It's probably just a bad refinish
sounds legit to me. when I was younger I saw some real atrocities happen to very nice guitars by very dumb people who had no business trying to do what they were doing. i.e. refinish or rewire or just maintenance in general. While I have no issue doing maintenance or wiring myself ( I learned from their mistakes, at least somebody did) I'd never refinish a guitar. If you don't like the scratches that's what stickers and decals are for.
‘A freaky fish thing’ best description of a Moderne I’ve ever heard lol
Keep it, strip all the paint off and solve the mystery. Most likely an import with an E-Bay Gibson decal! Still not a bad sounding guitar.
HK Guitar is not a decal... the neck is 100% Gibson, is the body.. he spend like most of the video saying that... you were not paying attention???
Holy crap, too bad I didn't see this video until a year later. This is the guitar I've been looking for my whole life.
...found one in Sacramento in 2006....
Same
The Explorer body is by far the most comfortable guitar sitting or standing that I have ever played. Its natural resting position is perfect for proper form. I think Gibson rereleased in 1976 because Hamer Standards copied the Explorer to a T, and to great success. You can thank Rick Nielsen from Cheap Trick.
I used to work with a lot of spray paint, and we'd always use lacquer thinner to remove it. You'll remove what ever original finish as well. Otherwise you'll probably either have to use a heat gun and a scraper, or remove the hardware and use some Zip Strip.
I had a 1976 Gibson Explorer Limited Edition, my parents got for me as a B-day gift. They bought it at a music store in Burbank Ca, had been sitting in the back of the store for 12 years. Sold it about a year ago for 5 grand. Bought more Fender Strats with the bucks!
hey you got the same name as me !
I have an Ibanez from 1999 that had those same green capacitors and grey wire harness.
I am skeptical about the history if (i) the previous owner claimed no knowledge and owned it since 1982 and (ii) it reeks of spray paint. .... If it was painted 35 years ago the paint would have lost its smell by now.
I was watching the video and here are my two cents on this guitar: (most of this is based on the thought that whoever you bought it from is not the first owner) for the paint job: it's an Explorer form the early 80s, chances are whoever bought it got it cheap in a color they didn't like so they repainted it however many times they wanted and didn't care. The pickups could be from an axe that they (whoever owned the guitar) liked the sound of but wanted the look of the Explorer. It could be an Ibanez body because of the route for the extra switch, but it could also just be a pro/ semi-pro route job on the original body to experiment with coil tapping and they figured out they didn't like it, but kept the switch so they wouldn't have to change the pickguard. I personally like keeping my guitars as pristine as possible (regardless of the brand), but for some people they get ONE good guitar and that bears the grunt of their experiments and changes in style (both in technique and aesthetic). This is just what I think, I don't know the full story of this guitar.
The serial number could be just a new guys first day mistake...
Maybe the neck was intended to be a Lefty reverse headstock, but ended up in the R hand pile
BENNYANDHISGUITAR it doesn’t work like that
@@pieterstevens2019 I think it was a joke
It would be neat to see a comparison of one of these old explorers vs one of the newer Gibson explorers. Great video!
Why the hell would somebody go through the trouble of putting expensive parts and un-gluing a set neck just to reshape/re-glue it into another body? Seems like a massive hassle, so it's either all fake or none of it is. For real, you're better off just making a new fake neck than you are trying to remove a set neck and put it into a body that wasn't made for that neck.
When all is said and done, though, it sure does look really nice. A nice proper aged look to it.
It looked so cool and when you started playing it and I heard the quality I got so sad
wow this is my dream guitar, black with gold part, if there is a tremolo then it is prefect 😍
Tovas Stalin well you can buy the esp ex50,it have a tremolo and a floating bridge if i remember correctly
Great review, thanks!!
If that were mine I would strip it to wood (except headstock front) & get the answers.
Personally I'd probably probably do a yellow/clear lacquer on the mahogany body to emulate korina & just oil the neck. If the body has flaws, maybe color it creme or cinnamon. I'm not currently reworking guitars but if I were that would be a candidate!
It sounds great and has that has a nice "Gibson growl". Beat the body up some more and sell it as a "relic finish" lol.
Especially out of a high-gain amp those pickups sound boss
Could have been an employees guitar. Have you checked with Gibson? I worked at the Bozeman factory and had a guitar made while I was there. It’s one of a kind. You never find any info. on it. The only way to tell is I have all the employee purchase paperwork.
I’m curious about that Explorer.
I know this is old but I figured I would try to explain it. The serial can easily be someone's first day so it really wouldn't concern me as much. The body is an area you have very valid concerns and I agree the body is likely not original and is probably either a Greco or Ibanez body. The only reason I pick them is they were made with some pickups unmarked and some marked. Greco usually just had a sticker with the word "screamin" on their pickups and it would be easy during the modification process for those to come off and the person not worry about them.
Ibanez is a little different in that they had pickups first from Maxon and some were marked with only a 5 digit stamp (literally ink stamp not press stamped) the ink could come off over time but there are a lot of blank examples out there. Later in the 70's Ibanez then manufactured the 'super' series pickups and while later versions of the pickups were press stamped the earlier ones were not and sometimes only had a 'made in Japan' sticker on them. But a lot of their earlier super series pickups were not marked in any way.
Both companies pickups were chrome covered.
I would lean towards Ibanez as being responsible for the body because Ibanez explorer knockoffs are more abundant and made an almost perfect replica of the guitar. Plus the not marking pickup thing was more a Maxon thing. The only thing that would be strange is if the wood was indeed mahogany because Ibanez and Greco both were made from Korina not sure about painted examples but natural ones were always Korina.
How you can sell it is tell people the body is likely replaced by an Ibanez lawsuit era body with Gibson neck and hardware. If someone is buying it to play then they should have no problem with that because they are so close in how they are built that a lawsuit era Ibanez Destroyer is equivalent to a Gibson Explorer of the same era. Virtually no difference other than whether or not the guy was Asian or American who turned on the machine to build it. Lawsuit era Ibanez guitars are made with such great quality you could easily compare it to an explorer of today (especially with Gibson's QC today) and it will beat theirs out.
A side note all 3 sets of pickups whether from greco, Maxon or Ibanez are sought after and bring a price of around 200 to 300 bucks. Very nice pickups.
How you can tell its not a Gibson body is the route for the pickups where the height adjustment screws sit in are more jacked up on this guitar and do not look the same as Gibson's.
Just my 2 cents on it. Could be a modified Gibson body but I doubt it with that route under the pick guard. Could also be odd from replacing the neck at home and maybe thats why the body doesn't match so well.
In the end just sell it for the price of the parts or what you paid, its not going to bring any real money.
Try Cirtustrip if you want to take the paint off. It’s an orange jug they sell at the hardware store. It’s not crazy harsh but it WILL strip paint. I’ve used it on plastic also and it doesn’t break it down. Good luck.
This is a legit Gibson explorer. In the 70’s and 80’s Gibson explorers had a slightly different body shape than what you see today. They weren’t as pointy, and the upper left side of the body, think of the switch location on a Les Paul, was not as tall and more rounded over. Pointer than a 58 explorer but less pointy than today’s standard production explorer. Anyway, the explorer in this video is the correct shape for the era, Gibson hasn’t used that shape since and I’ve never seen any other brand use it, aside from Japanese made epiphones and those are really rare. I can guarantee it’s 100% a real Gibson.
The neck is correct and unique. It slopes farther down than the current Gibsons which is correct for the ‘76 style. Next the body is vintage spec as far as dimension. The new non Custom shop Explorers are longer because they are more pointed. The tuners are odd. In the ‘70’s Gibson was using in line Klusons in gold but went to Schallers so probably correct. The logo has a dot on the i which was not done in the ‘70’s to ‘80’s. But being Norlin anything is possible. If it plays and sounds good that is all that matters.
Gibson did a lot of one offs and factory 2nd in the 80s. I've got an SG factory 2nd from early 80s
If you're adamant on taking off finish and acetone didn't get it, try using a heat gun or even a hair dryer. The heat will cause the paint to bubble up and then you can scrape it off. Just be careful not to set it afire by heating it too hot.
$1499
OOF
Kristofer Smith I never watch the full video
Bought got 1500 or selling it got that
Bought it got 1499 or selling for @
Michael CheGuevara HUH
Literally same price for my dream guitar
Les Paul Voodoo Juju
Im so lucky im from the Philippines guitars here are so cheap explorers are about $200 and its the closes Copy to gibsons... Viva Rj Jacinto
That's should be an '82 re-issue. By the looks probably a Chinese knockoff - they of course make the Epiphones, so probably not too far fetched to think that the factory or someone from there built it and slapped a Gibson logo on it. A lot of the serial numbers from the knockoffs are all identical - they only have one stamp - so you might want to search for other Chinese knockoffs and see if they have same serial. My guess it's a knockoff and they got sloppy applying the serial number. Or, the serial number placement is correct if you play it left handed... LOL.
As others stated you could also sand part of it and see what wood it is. Or, you can weigh it and check with a real one and weigh that. If they are more than one pound off you got a Chibson.
You can also check wood hardness (JANKA chart) and density charts and even talk to a pro lumber mill and have them look at the guitar to determine wood type - they really can do that.
Geo Zero I highly doubt that a chibson. that's probably some thrasher dudes guitar from the 80s he sprayed black. it probably started life black was painted red the repainted black and the preamp added in.
also your weigh it ideas is idiocy at it's finest. if u really think a 1 pound difference in weight can tell you wether it's a real Gibson or a fake then I have some snake oil for sale you would love. fact is, I have a alder body 99 mij esp eclipse that's 13 fucking retarded pounds. I've seen korina exps that weighed less than 8. the 80s were a strange time my friend and I'll bet you have paid way too much for a chibson u couldn't tell was one and bypassed a legit gibbo that had some uhh flaws that u called a fake. from all I know about the world of vintage guitar there are no experts. the best of the best have about a 70% idea
@@hawk6111 It depends where you get the wood from the tree. I had a carpenter friend, who built cabinets, furniture etc. He tried to explain it to me. I own several Squier Standard Strats. I have one that is Les Paul heavy and another that is light as basswood. But they are both made out of Agathis. You can make two guitars from the same tree and depending on which part of the tree you get it from they can differ by several pounds. The higher up the trunk of the tree the lighter or less dense the wood. The lower part of the tree is heavier, more dense.
Sounds super clean
I have a Gibson Les Paul Celerbity Series! there are very few in the world! It is an incredible guitar!
I firmly believe that you have an ibanez destroyer body with a gibson neck. In the early 80's I had an ibanez "lawsuit" les paul body that somebody replaced the neck with a gibson...
I'm lucky ,being 73 years old now all my guitars were purchased long before the Chinese knock offs ,my 1955 Gibson Switch master is legit , my 76 Les Paul is legit ,my 74 SG is legit ,my 76 Strat is legit , all purchased brand new with craftsmanship Gibson & Fender couldn't accomplish today , I have newer guitars too like my BC Rich Bitch but of every guitar I own my absolute favorite is the Gibson E S , when gibson built the 55 model they made the most versatile guitar in the world .
i always think of james hetfield when people talk about a gibson explorer. it's great to me then that he shows hetfield playing one when he gets to the early 80s period for this guitar.
Austin Dolan except he used a picture of the HET playing a ESP MX220 🤣😂
I don't have the exact numbers regarding 60's, but between 58 and 59 there were 22 Explorers shipped (19 in 58 and 3 in 59). James Hetfield has one from 58 and one from 59. An OG 58 Explorer was sold by Denmark Street Guitars in London for $1,100,000 not that long ago. And one was sold via Skinners auction in 2006 for 611,000,$.
I think original Explorers and V's are the pinnacle of vintage guitars.
Looks like an original Explorer got damaged so badly they "fixed" it with a substitute body from a cheaper donor instrument. Then re-painted to match the original look and transferred all the hardware they could without touching the electrics.
Has the feel of someone confident with a chisel and glue, but not a luthier, and not someone who knew/cared much about pickup tone.
My gut says it was broken, and picked up cheap by someone who liked the idea of fixing it up to be playable again.
You want the paint off, go to the auto supply and get "Aircraft Remover". You'd better mean it, though. On a car, it'll take you straight to metal, the paint just falls off. I can't tell you if it'll delaminate veneer. Try a spot under the pickguard, and get every bit of plastic off before you proceed.
Always seems a waste: good guitars in the hands of 'The Edge'.
Tell me all about how you basically conquered the world in the 80's with your music and minimal guitar playing.
Ja Kooistra do you understand English?, then read my comment again !! It has nothing to do with 'conquering the world'. In the '80s there wasn't much else about.
'Know Very Little' From today, you shall be known as 'Understand Very much'...
Know Very Little the edge is a garbage player. Not on the level of lil Wayne. Nobody has that god status.
Know Very Little you clearly didn't understand dudes sarcastic comment
That is a beautiful guitar troggly. I love the explorers especially the white ones!!
It looks like Skwisgaar's explorer from Dethklok.
Sweeps it properly pls
Those pots look like what's in my 1978 Ibanez PF-200.
I know where 3 beautiful Gibson guitars sit. I recently visited guitar center and they have 2 that I drool over, they have a genuine firebird and and Flying V and I am not talking today’s models, I am talking first generation models. The last one is an ES335 Gibson, a buddy of mine purchased it off an elderly woman. She was hard on money so he ended up giving her the money she needed us some because he wasn’t going to just lowball her.
20 bucks plus another 10 for the case
"20 bucks plus another 10 for the case"
AS if! 10 bucks plus another 20 for the case!
And a cool thousand if you promise never to play again!
Jack - Canada
Bronzesnake thanks Jack, from Canada.
I'll do 21 and 10 for the case, TAKE THAT
I like the black finish, I'd put some gold pickups in there and a tort pickguard and I'd be good to go...
Check the fret dot markers. The Gibson guitars always have bigger wider markers. And of course the truss rod
I've bought and sold close to a hundred mij guitars in the last 15 years. Burny and Greco made spot on replicas. My first guess is it's a Burny from about 1979-82. Possibly a Heerby but the black paint, pots, pickups, cap make it a Burny almost certain. I've seen a few where the logo was changed. That logo looks funky. Close but funky. You have a mij guitar 100% including the neck. Let me know if it's available.
Heat gun or palm sander would be the easiest way to get all the paint off. You could probably throw some emgs in it and sell it as a shredders guitar.
What is the fretboard radius? Does it match the ABR-1 saddle radius? My Explorer has a 14" radius.
Like others have concluded, I think the entire guitar is an import. In my opinion the headstock overlay was replaced with a Gibson and the reason the truss rod opening does not line up. The body is not Gibson from the 70's because those bodies are pointier, this guitar has the rounder '58 shape.
5:06 - *Note the routing differences, your black one have circles and the natural is more squared. That being said, I did some research and found that Gibsons built at the Kalamazoo factory could have that shape. Even later Heritage guitars once Gibson left Kalamazoo got them. I went over some photos I had from Japanese pickup cavities and they didn't do it round like that either.*
*And the screw holes for the pickup matches Gibson, on say Tokai or early Ibanez they were places differently. I would say you got a real Gibson with a refinished body, if it survived the 80s it might just have had some sweet air brushed art on there.*
*And the electronics routing looks identical to an Gibson E2 I found except for that mini toggle switch. It could just have been routed before the refinish. The photos of the japanese models don't line up in any way however.*
I think Rick Nielsen deserves the credit for bringing the Explorer back. He wanted one back in the mid-70's, but only the original run existed. Enter Hamer guitars with the Hamer Standard! Then Gibson wised up and decided to re-release the Explorer.
And Allen collins
That dethklok at 15:49 :D
You can't not play some thunderhorse on an explorer haha
haha yeah thats true. I have 2 explorers. Can't go wrong with them
I've watched some of your vid's off and on but never subbed. All it took was some Thunderhorse played on the explorer to maker me smile and sub. Not sure of many of the facts you state as I dont know much about vintage guitars, but I do know one should play Metallica, zztop, and Dethklok from an Explorer. SUBBED!
Hey Truggy that guitar sounds terrible!
a64tbird or his amp does. Its distortion tone is a tragedy
Johannes Butz trago bought a turd.
yes it does
*trogly
It does sound completely terrible. It sounds so bad I thought this guy was worse a player than he is.
The guitar sounds so bad it neutered the player.
Well, if it's someone's "homage" (to be diplomatic,) it would seem to be a damn good one. I would - dare I say it - repaint the body. Matte black. The neck pickup sounds surprisingly "bright;" good, though. (The way to remove paint is with sandpaper. Lots and lots of sandpaper, various grits. This of course means lots of time, too.)
The only ways to get the paint off would be stripper, they make a green stripper that's not as toxic as the old stuff, or a rotary sander with heavier grit working your way to very fine grit. If you use stripper do not get it on any metal parts, take everything off and cover the neck really well, with rosin paper and masking tape, the best way if you want it natural is to sand it , Im a painter, I've sanded old paint off cherry oak and hickory and restained them, if u use a sander with fine grit it will take everything off and get rid of all sand marks from whoever destroyed it
Pots are definitely Japanese, I have a couple of guitars from the 80s that have the same pots
I eally enjoy your videos. Very interesting. The ecu atonal and historical aspects are cool. I even like how you're not a camera hog in that you seem to never show your face. Although when I want to watch a video of yours. I find myself thinking, "Time to watch the headless guy."
The Neck angle should be 14 degrees. Copy's will have the 17 degrees. Any explorer head stock will be seamed in nearly the same manner.
Screw if it not an Original !! How does it feel and sound ?? Either the pickups are crap or your plugged into a cruddy amp . But I understand you want us to hear it real sound . I think a good amp with some reverb ,delay and some overdrive it would really capture that Metallica Creeping Death sound .. I would Mod the crap out of it lol Since there's no Province for it $300 would be all I would be willing to pay .
I think “The Edge” owns most of the ‘76’s! LOL
I would like to see Phillip McNight get his hands on it . Will from Will's Easy Guitars would strip all that paint off and probably just go bare with a natural wood grain lacquered finish ? It would really look beautiful like that . Get a better tone by stripping all that spray paint off thats muffling the true wood tone . I'm not big on the tone woods debate but in this case it would only help . Good luck thanks for sharing hope you get a good price for it !!
My dream guitar is a tobacco burst 1982 explorer, haven't found a great one yet though
the e2 cmt in tobacco burst ?
they made a Gibson invader that had a bolt on neck with a neck like that! here were 2 Different headstocks.. one was the lespaul type which I used to own and one was like that.
Sam Ash sold the LP Studio Premium Plus on Reverb today. You need to send them a bill for expediting their sale lol. Interestingly enough, a buddy of mine told me that there's another one with the same finish at a place called The B String Guitar Shop in Winston Salem N.C.
I'm pretty sure that an MIJ or Chibson would, except in rare cases, be coated in polyurethane. And poly doesn't check like that.
Well for me I want a Explorer guitar...
Because I like the shape of the body
A little tip for the future if you want to strip the finish off a guitar. DON'T USE ACETONE or similar. As you've realised, it kinda sorta works, but not very well, and it creates a horrible, sticky mess (and will likely also damage plastic parts like pickguards, inlays, etc.). The easy way for removing layers of spray paint is to soften the finish with a heat gun (don't overdo it - if the paint starts bubbling or smoking, you've gone too hot and risk burning the wood), then carefully scrape it off with a metal or ceramic scraper. Any residue left after that should come off easily with some steel wool without damaging the wood.
The heat gun / steel wool method is what I used on this guitar ruclips.net/video/ZEvTREV6VM4/видео.html
That was a labor of love haha. Thanks for watching!
Ah, right. I saw that vid a couple of weeks back. Forgot about it. Excellent job on that one and definitely a labor of love. Been there, done that (restoring guitars 20 years after I'd ruined them during my teenage-spraypaint-phase) and it certainly takes time and effort. Great job!
Jahbulon Smith LMFAO.
I own several Ibanez guitars from the 1970's... Ibanez/Greco (Fujigen) used Maxon branded pickups... I didn't see the Maxon label....
that rout for the toggle switch is for sure done after the fact. look at how neat the rest of the routing is and then at the toggle switch pocket the bottom is a bit all over the shop meaning they had to change the hight of the bit to do 2 cuts. none of the other routing has that
Ryan Burston- I believe you are correct. I just wonder why they routed in the first place. Wouldn't the mini toggle fit nicely in the channel without having to do any routing at all?
Pickups look like Maxon or maybe Matsumoku which were the good Japanese pickups of the 80s. The cheapies back then where actually single coils stuffed in a humbucker body and these are definitely not those.
I've got a couple stupid questions, How could you tell the body was spray painted? And why did the original paint glow yellow under the black light?
Well, if it helps: I believe that the Ibanez Destroyer (Explorer Copy) did actually have a copy of the abr-1 bridge...at some point anyway.
Use toluene and that finish will come off. Strip Ease will take if off, but be careful. Strip-Ease is gel toluene.
Pots look exactly like the ones I pulled out of a 1993 Fujigen Orville LPC a few years back...
Just a question - do you think maybe Gibson brought the Explorer back in the 70's because of the rise of the Iceman? If you want to remove the finish just use paint stripper. If your'e going to refinish it anyway, stripper is the easiest most thorough way to remove it. Ive done it to several guitars and it works great. I was thinking, maybe someone had a Gibson explorer and the body got damaged, so they took the neck and electronics and put them on the import body?
Things like this happen & adds value.
Quick question: I have a 1993 les Paul studio that appears to have a replaced headstock but the factory original paint lines up perfectly with the headstock. Is it possible that this is a fake?
I would have to see some photos to be able to help you further.
facebook.com/troglys
I like it. I ll give you 600 bucks for it. Pick ups sound great!
Even though it's a popular wood for building guitars it is spelled poplar.
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. (I'm an unrepentant "grammar Nazi" and loathe the downhill slide of knowledge of the English language.)
It might've just been an employee that thought that putting the serial number upside down was a personal touch and a way to differentiate the ones they made.
Allen Collins of lynyrd skynyrd played a korina explorer and Rickey Medlocke of blackfoot also played a korina
It is still a cool guitar with quality parts!
Pretty sure I heard the Thunderhorse riff, great video :)
Interesting guitar .... Maybe it's a MIJ? .... maybe it was a factory repair by gibson ?
As for the acetone ... in theory YES acetone will cut back the NC finishes as its what I used on the flying v i refinished awhile back. BUT not as well as a chemical stripper like when I did my sg to natural i used a paint stripper that was almost like a citrus based one by i think 1890 is the name of the brand or something simular. Anyways it took it off easier & with little to no damage. That said I would look at stripping the body to natural if you REALLY wanted to bring it to more original look/feel. BUT thats alot of time.
Did you black light the guitar with it taken apart?
What about the 84 Hondos formula 1 flying v? are they rare or not?
?Question?: Were the serial numbers stamped on the necks before they were placed on the guitar? If so, could it be possible, this neck was scrapped because of the upside down serial number and someone took it from the trash hopper and built this mashup?
Also, i have an authentic 1984 left to me by my best friend before he passed. It's in a display. I also live in Ohio. I should bring it for you to check out sometime. It's pretty road worn.
B Stock/factory 2nd guitar? I don't know if they sold those publicly in 1982 but my guess is that they mistakenly printed the serial # on upside down, and sold it as B stock or a factory second. I could be totally wrong tho man haha.
Factory 2nds in this time period were stamped 'second' or '2' and sold with the other guitars at a discount
love your channel. I have about 75 sweet guitars ( high end customs as well) and about 30 Chinese copies so hit me up if you ever want to do a piece on Chinese guitars. Yes, I am Steve Croppers Cousin lol
I built that neck for Gibson in ‘80.... As for the “upside down” serial number? Well, I was smokin’ a bit too much, ummmmm, ‘mind altering substances’ back then, shit happened... :) LOL
6:37
Saying the ‘A’ word before it was cool