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  #1  
Old 08-07-2019, 06:10 AM
maplebaby maplebaby is offline
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Default Any Explorer Players?

Just got this 2019 Explorer...i've wanted one for a long time and very pleased with. If you have one and would share a pic or your thoughts about this unique Gibson guitar would be appreciated!



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Old 08-10-2019, 11:59 AM
Dadzmad Dadzmad is offline
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I generally don't go for pointy, but yours is a beautiful guitar, bet she sounds good too
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Old 08-11-2019, 01:44 PM
Dru Edwards Dru Edwards is offline
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When I got my first electric back in '87 I wanted an explorer but they were too expensive. I have one now though, an Epiphone Goth Explorer with an EMG 81 in the bridge. Bought it used for under $200. It needs a strap button but otherwise works great.

I would like to get an Gibson to match my Flying V.

That's a beautiful explorer you've got. Korina?
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Old 08-11-2019, 02:21 PM
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RIP


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Old 08-11-2019, 02:26 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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...That's a beautiful Explorer you've got. Korina?
Nope, that's the affordable all-hog version in a golden-brown finish made to resemble korina - the occasional genuine korina reissues Gibson has made since '83 are all into the high-four/low-five-figure bracket (when/if you can find one), and you could buy a nice house just about anywhere in the USA for the price of a clean original...
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Old 08-12-2019, 06:10 AM
maplebaby maplebaby is offline
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I generally don't go for pointy, but yours is a beautiful guitar, bet she sounds good too
i consider myself pretty conservative guitar taste wise too...something about the Explorer has always appealed to my eye. So i'm 57 and have one - totally too old i know but i love the guitar.

It's all mahogany and i think very affordable by Gibson standards. Plenty of things folks can find wrong with Gibson and i often agree, but some of the new guitar prices are very encouraging.

The pickups are a little hotter than my other guitars but i live them a lot. Thanks for visiting this thread!
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Old 08-12-2019, 06:11 AM
maplebaby maplebaby is offline
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indeed..what a monster player.
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Old 08-12-2019, 06:17 AM
maplebaby maplebaby is offline
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Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa View Post
Nope, that's the affordable all-hog version in a golden-brown finish made to resemble korina - the occasional genuine korina reissues Gibson has made since '83 are all into the high-four/low-five-figure bracket (when/if you can find one), and you could buy a nice house just about anywhere in the USA for the price of a clean original...
don't know that it's made to resemble Korina..i think mahogany is a great wood on it's own terms. The Korina Explorers where a lighter color than this 2019, i've never seen one this dark. Gibson could have stained the mahogany the lighter color, i'm glad they didn't - i love this color as well.

Indeed the vintage Explorer is an expensive item in part to the low number of them that were made and that they sounded so good. Had they been made of mahogany my guess is we'd still feel same about those early examples. Very similar woods in terms of appearance and tone.
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Old 08-12-2019, 08:37 AM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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I'm with you 100% on the mahogany part - got four all-hog acoustics and an SG Reissue bass, owned one of the very first '61 SG reissues back in the '80s (the ones that came in the hideous oversize blue-lined plastic case ), so I'm quite familiar with the tonal virtues...

That said, I've also had the experience of handling four original korina instruments from the '50s - three Flying V's and the Explorer bass assembled in the early-60's with a mahogany neck, purportedly used by Lonnie Mack's bassist - as well as a fair number of late-model Explorers; from what I've seen this is one that Gibson does right - the body wood tends to be higher quality than would be expected given their reasonable price and, as I stated, apparently selected for its on-stage visual resemblance to korina IME. As far as color is concerned, maybe it's my computer but two of the original Flying V's, as well as a couple of '83 reissues I played back in the day, were similar in shading to not only your guitar but several other modern Explorers I've encountered (the other original V and the Explorer bass were in fact lighter, as you state) as well as the back of my own '11 P-90 LP goldtop. Given the well-documented inconsistency of late-50's Gibson finishes as well as the vagaries of time/owner care (particularly prominent on LP 'bursts), IME the range of coloration indeed extends into the lighter end of the golden-brown spectrum seen on current production, particularly on straight-grained examples like your own - YMMV...
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Old 08-12-2019, 10:39 AM
maplebaby maplebaby is offline
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Originally Posted by Steve DeRosa View Post
I'm with you 100% on the mahogany part - got four all-hog acoustics and an SG Reissue bass, owned one of the very first '61 SG reissues back in the '80s (the ones that came in the hideous oversize blue-lined plastic case ), so I'm quite familiar with the tonal virtues...

That said, I've also had the experience of handling four original korina instruments from the '50s - three Flying V's and the Explorer bass assembled in the early-60's with a mahogany neck, purportedly used by Lonnie Mack's bassist - as well as a fair number of late-model Explorers; from what I've seen this is one that Gibson does right - the body wood tends to be higher quality than would be expected given their reasonable price and, as I stated, apparently selected for its on-stage visual resemblance to korina IME. As far as color is concerned, maybe it's my computer but two of the original Flying V's, as well as a couple of '83 reissues I played back in the day, were similar in shading to not only your guitar but several other modern Explorers I've encountered (the other original V and the Explorer bass were in fact lighter, as you state) as well as the back of my own '11 P-90 LP goldtop. Given the well-documented inconsistency of late-50's Gibson finishes as well as the vagaries of time/owner care (particularly prominent on LP 'bursts), IME the range of coloration indeed extends into the lighter end of the golden-brown spectrum seen on current production, particularly on straight-grained examples like your own - YMMV...
great post...thanks for sharing your experience!
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Old 08-15-2019, 10:13 PM
Dru Edwards Dru Edwards is offline
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Hey Bob - great pic to post. I was embarrassed that I didn't immediately know who it was so I had to google Explorer Players RIP ... first player that came up was Allen Collins from Lynyrd Skynyrd (for those who didn't know).

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RIP


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  #12  
Old 08-16-2019, 05:37 AM
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Allen was a great player. I watched him over the years and his eyes worried me. I could tell he was struggling with drugs.


Bob
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Old 08-16-2019, 10:08 AM
maplebaby maplebaby is offline
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love to see some of your explorer pics...here's my 2019 on my fave amp.

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Old 08-16-2019, 08:50 PM
s2y s2y is offline
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Not a fan of the ergonomics and I typically grab stuff that can fit in a regular gig bag.
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Old 08-18-2019, 09:35 PM
maplebaby maplebaby is offline
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Not a fan of the ergonomics and I typically grab stuff that can fit in a regular gig bag.
This might have been a good thread for you to pass on posting on seems like
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