Shopping: Explorers and Explorer-type guitars

Mr Wolf

Mr Wolf

New member
First of all just to set the scene... I love the explorer shape!!!

Ever since my teens when I first picked up a guitar I was in love with the shape - largely owing to my James Hetfield hero-worshipping phase at the time. Before I started in my first band I bought a cheap early 2000's Kramer knock-off. It was a cheap budget guitar, awful frets - but it had all the shape so that was all important and I loved the feel of it.

Since then I now use (and abuse) all sorts of guitars from my Gibson ES-137 to my La Cabronita Tele project guitar, but I lack a decent explorer.

I have passed a particular milestone in life that means I am permitted to get myself a new guitar (long story). As much as I love the sound of Strats, have the occasional curiosity to have something with a Floyd, and many other GAS-related whims... I continue to love explorers. This was not helped by seeing Kiss last Saturday where Tommy Thayer spent much of the night rocking out with one!

Please could people list the different brands that I ought to check out in my search? Of course Gibson are the obvious choice, but Schecter, ESP, Dean, and many other brands have their own versions and I am not loyal to specific companies. In the end I just want to get my hands on a great explorer!

Please list away. Pics welcome of course!

Cheers,

Jeff
 
Re: Shopping: Explorers and Explorer-type guitars

I really like the Schecter and LEF versions. Here is a LEF EXP. Extremely comfortable! LEF EXP.jpg LEF EXP2.jpg
 
Re: Shopping: Explorers and Explorer-type guitars

Never heard of them. The headstock looks dangerous!
 
Re: Shopping: Explorers and Explorer-type guitars

First lesson free: stay away from anything Gibson has made in the last 30 years unless you feel like unpocketing for the custom shop stuff. QC for the production line guitars has been incredibly choppy ever since the mid-80s buyout. The Norlin-era guitars are much better than you've been led to believe but people are figuring that out and prices are starting to jump.

If you love Strat sounds but want an Explorer body why not do a build? I'm going to. I have a friend with an early 80s Explorer III... one of the last really cool Norlin-era guitars before the buyout. It's got three P90s and a really unique and useful switching arrangement that Gibson has not duplicated before or since. I want exactly that but I also want a vibrola and I'm not going to buy a cool vintage guitar like that and start drilling holes. So I'm doing a build using stuff from Warmoth and Precision. Yes, it'll be a bolt neck but really who cares?
 
Re: Shopping: Explorers and Explorer-type guitars

Thanks. FYI the point about loving strat sounds etc. doesn't so much pertain to what I want out of an explorer. That's me just elaborating on how I sometimes get GAS and want one of everything as I have not stratoid guitars, nor anything floyded. My electric guitars have either twin humbuckers, twin P-90's, and then an odd one with a single filtertron. All fixed bridges.

When it comes to explorers my needs aren't radical. Twin humbuckers, TOM bridge and I will be a happy man.
 
Re: Shopping: Explorers and Explorer-type guitars

2ndhandband said:
First lesson free: stay away from anything Gibson has made in the last 30 years unless you feel like unpocketing for the custom shop stuff. QC for the production line guitars has been incredibly choppy ever since the mid-80s buyout. The Norlin-era guitars are much better than you've been led to believe but people are figuring that out and prices are starting to jump.
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Cheers for the point regarding QC. I intend to take my time and play as many as I can in order to get the right one. I am not dedicated to getting a Gibson specifically, although if I find the one that blows me away and it happens to be a Gibson - chances are I'll snap it up. Like-wise if I am impressed by another brand then I have no qualms about that either.
 
Re: Shopping: Explorers and Explorer-type guitars

Mr Wolf said:
Cheers for the point regarding QC. I intend to take my time and play as many as I can in order to get the right one. I am not dedicated to getting a Gibson specifically, although if I find the one that blows me away and it happens to be a Gibson - chances are I'll snap it up. Like-wise if I am impressed by another brand then I have no qualms about that either.
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That makes sense... If you can play it personally and there are no issues then buy all means grab, but I wouldn't touch anything Gibson did after '85 or so sight unseen.

If you want something with a Floyd ESP makes some nice Explorer copies with Floyds, or you could check out (my favorite) the Jackson Kelly. I don't own one only because I don't really like full-sized humbuckers. I keep a couple Ibanez RGs around for session work but everything else I have is single-coils or minihums. But I don't have anything with P90s, I kinda want an Explorer, so it's really a no-brainer...
 
Re: Shopping: Explorers and Explorer-type guitars

2ndhandband said:
That makes sense... If you can play it personally and there are no issues then buy all means grab, but I wouldn't touch anything Gibson did after '85 or so sight unseen.
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Sight unseen is not an option for me. I will happily take my time over this to eventually land a good one. Sound, playability, and look all need to be there for me (yes that latter point is important to me too!!!)
 
Re: Shopping: Explorers and Explorer-type guitars

Chapman Ghost Fret?


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Re: Shopping: Explorers and Explorer-type guitars

It is!!! The other day at a show my bassist bumped into me and in made a hole knocking out his input jack!
 
Re: Shopping: Explorers and Explorer-type guitars

I always wanted an explorer. I have always been a Hamer fan. A couple of years ago I found a Hamer Standard on eBay. MIK and it had an issue with the fret board that had been repaired. I think people were scared of it, so I rolled the dice. $100 later, I got an explorer type that playes like a dream. It had recently been set up. I swapped out the pick ups for a set of Duncan Alnico 2 Pro's and I have real killing machine! It is all black with cream binding and no pick guard. Just like the one Lita Ford played with the Runaways. It was exactly what I was wanting.

Hamer started by making Gibson copies back in the 70's. Hamer is back in business and they are making the Standard again. I believe they are made in Indonesia now, but you can find used ones all over. US made or MIK. I don't know if they made Chinese Standards or not (Slammer Series). The new ones are around $800. Used may be all over the board, but a foreign made one will save you money.
 
Re: Shopping: Explorers and Explorer-type guitars

2ndhandband said:
That makes sense... If you can play it personally and there are no issues then buy all means grab, but I wouldn't touch anything Gibson did after '85 or so sight unseen.
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I wouldn't buy anything from most companies sight unseen without a good return policy.

2ndhandband said:
First lesson free: stay away from anything Gibson has made in the last 30 years unless you feel like unpocketing for the custom shop stuff. QC for the production line guitars has been incredibly choppy ever since the mid-80s buyout. The Norlin-era guitars are much better than you've been led to believe but people are figuring that out and prices are starting to jump.
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I disagree with the majority of this. Simply put Norlin guitars are going up in price because they're old and anything pre-Norlin is unobtainium for normal people.

QC is a more complicated matter. I don't know if you've played many Norlins, but they made an awful lot of junk back then. Anyone play an SG-I or SG-II from '72 or so? They also made quite a few decent guitars and I used to own a nice '77 LP Custom if you could get past it weighing 10.5lbs. Regarding Explorers specifically, I've only played four late 70s Explorers; one of which was amazing and I wish I could've bought it. The other three were uninspiring. I've also played a bunch of early 80s Explorers, but I don't like how the Alder bodies sound.

Following the buyout it took a few years, but Gibson USA had something of a 2nd golden age starting in '89 or so and lasting until sometime in the early to mid 2000s. There were a few QC issues, but nothing like we see today. Between longcat and myself, we have five Gibsons made during this period; a 1996 Explorer, two Les Pauls from 2001, a 2007 SG Standard, and a 2007 Memphis ES-335 Fatneck. All of these except for the 2001 LP Standard was purchased used, so it's possible that any issues were fixed before we bought them. However the Explorer and 335 still had plastic over their pickguards, so I doubt much was done to those two. I absolutely agree with you about their current production which is why I generally avoid any Gibson made after 2001. While both of the 2007s are excellent guitars, I wouldn't have purchased them if the price hadn't been right.

Generally speaking Gibson Custom Shop QC has been better, but I've seen far more issues from Gibson Custom than PRS or any other similarly priced competitor.

TL;DR
Avoid any new USA Gibson, and most USA Gibsons made after the mid-2000s or so. Many of the guitars made between 1989 and 2001 are excellent, but the used prices reflect this. Expect to pay $1000-1500 for a good condition Explorer from this time period.
 
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Re: Shopping: Explorers and Explorer-type guitars

Almost every 70s or early 80s Gibson I've played has been a very well made axe... only real issue I've run across is weight. Plus under norlin Gibson was actually trying a lot of awesome new stuff. Ever played a V2 or an S1?
 
Re: Shopping: Explorers and Explorer-type guitars

2ndhandband said:
Almost every 70s or early 80s Gibson I've played has been a very well made axe... only real issue I've run across is weight. Plus under norlin Gibson was actually trying a lot of awesome new stuff. Ever played a V2 or an S1?
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The S1 wasn't my style, and I've never seen a V2 in person.

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Re: Shopping: Explorers and Explorer-type guitars

dystrust said:
The S1 wasn't my style, and I've never seen a V2 in person.

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The S1 was a way cool guitar if you could get past the body shape. It had great sounding pickups and a really unique wiring scheme that offered some awesome and unusual flavors of quacky goodness.

The V2 sounded like a tele without looking like one which makes it automatically badass.
 
Re: Shopping: Explorers and Explorer-type guitars

Mr wolf.. every thread where anyone mentions Gibson, 2nd hand pipes in and bashes.. they are putting out some turds, but also some decent stuff.. you already state you intend to play first.. I love my 2002 explorer. The big question is, how strict are you on headstock shape and shape in general? Gibson, Epi ( I'd still like an 84 with no pickguard) and of course Hamer make the authentic pointy. Ibanez destroyer and schecter are close.. There is a small builder, Black Diamond customs, that makes the gamer shape and ken Lawrence shape for less and they are hand made
 
Re: Shopping: Explorers and Explorer-type guitars

BloodRose said:
Mr wolf.. every thread where anyone mentions Gibson, 2nd hand pipes in and bashes.. they are putting out some turds, but also some decent stuff.. you already state you intend to play first.. I love my 2002 explorer. The big question is, how strict are you on headstock shape and shape in general? Gibson, Epi ( I'd still like an 84 with no pickguard) and of course Hamer make the authentic pointy. Ibanez destroyer and schecter are close.. There is a small builder, Black Diamond customs, that makes the gamer shape and ken Lawrence shape for less and they are hand made
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And I'll continue to. Fender as well. If you're paying $1000+ for a new guitar it had damn well better be absolutely flawless. Every time. Neither company comes anywhere close to achieving that standard. The Korean knockoffs are coming out with better fit/finish and fretwork.
 
Re: Shopping: Explorers and Explorer-type guitars

2ndhandband said:
And I'll continue to. Fender as well. If you're paying $1000+ for a new guitar it had damn well better be absolutely flawless. Every time. Neither company comes anywhere close to achieving that standard. The Korean knockoffs are coming out with better fit/finish and fretwork.
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I'm sorry, but your statement is illogical. In my experience, there is no such thing as a perfect guitar...at ANY price. To expect a man-made item from organic material to be perfect is incredibly illogical. It just can't be. Beware, these lofty expections have a way of making one a very unhappy and perennially unsatisfied person. We all want them to be perfect. Some expect perfection at $500, some at $799, some like you at $1000, some at $2000, etc. But understand this...they are NEVER perfect. NEVER. I'm not trying to be mean, but this is the real world.

And trust me, this goes triple for "Trophy Wives"!

-----

I love Explorers, but they've never been a good match for my body or the genres of music I play. I still kick myself for not buying a NOS Gibson Korina 1976 Reissue that I found in a small town music store back in the '80s. Wonderful guitar, could have bought it for a song, but needed the money for rent. I have also fallen in love with some vintage USA Dean's with that great rolled fingerboard edge, and some exquisite USA Hamer Standards over the years. Love the Ibanez Destroyers too, but I like staying close to the original design.

Actually been thinking about getting one of the inexpensive Epiphone Korinas...love to have the matched set with the Vee. They'd be fun to mod with RS Kits, aluminum tailpieces, ABR-1 bridges, and either Seths or Antiquitys for pickups. Ants seem to sound fantastic in Explorers.

But this old bod is not one for pointy guitars and spandex!

Bill
 
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