Explorer love....

ChurchHill":2nfnkkiy said:
Anyway... back to our regularly scheduled topic... ;) Here are my two.

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Nice! What year is your White Explorer? Is that from the special run Gibson did in 2007?
 
fretout":34mh7xnb said:
The biggest difference is the size of the neck. ‘76 Explorers have a much thicker neck, that some Nancys say is almost too big for them to play. But; you’re not a Nancy, are you?
:LOL: :LOL:
 
fretout":20fxla0h said:
Nice! What year is your White Explorer? Is that from the special run Gibson did in 2007?
Yes, it is. Changed the hardware to gold. The black one is from 2000. Both are great guitars! I've loved Explorers from the first time I saw one. :rock:
 
ChurchHill":3g88cdi1 said:
fretout":3g88cdi1 said:
Nice! What year is your White Explorer? Is that from the special run Gibson did in 2007?
Yes, it is. Changed the hardware to gold. The black one is from 2000. Both are great guitars! I've loved Explorers from the first time I saw one. :rock:

Me too. I love Explorers! It took me way too long to finally get one, but now it just feels “right”!

You have a killer set of Explorers man. I looked for a full size explorer without a pickguard for such s long time, and I really should have jumped on those 2007 ‘84RIs. When I was trying to learn all I could about the pickguard-free Explorers, I learned that our Explorers are a little different than the actual 1983/1984 Explorers.

Our Explorers have a little bit crisper body lines, which I like better, but one weird inconsistency i noticed is the control cavity on our Explorers isn’t in the same spot. For whatever reason, Gibson moved the volume/tone controls a little over an inch towards the tailpiece. The one measurement I haven’t been able to notate is the location of the input jack. I think this changed position too, but I haven’t been able to measure it on a 2007 ‘84RI yet to confirm whether Gibson transposed the measurements differently, or if the neck is in the correct location.

If you get a chance, would you mind measuring the jack location? I’m going to add it to a report I’ve been writing that notates all the changes to the Explorer from 1958 to current.
 
fretout":1zezb0bn said:
white buffalo":1zezb0bn said:

Hey, wait a sec...I remember this build! That guitar is amazing, and the luthier that built it is about as legit as it comes. That’s cool that you have it now! Did he ever build a second one? Are you the original owner?

I'm not sure if you're thinking of the same builder- are his initials TB? It really is a great guitar and was my main axe for a long time after I got it, but I had to list it for sale on Reverb a while back. I regularly make the mistake of pulling it out to play while I wait for it to be sold and always have second thoughts, but it's just something I gotta' do. These are part of a small batch, so mine isn't the only one. Old growth korina and Brazilian. Super lively and snappy. The Ox4 PAF's are no slouch either.
 
fretout":35g7xtkt said:
If you get a chance, would you mind measuring the jack location? I’m going to add it to a report I’ve been writing that notates all the changes to the Explorer from 1958 to current.
Sure! I'll send the measurements along tomorrow.
 
fretout":2r37qmvx said:
If you get a chance, would you mind measuring the jack location? I’m going to add it to a report I’ve been writing that notates all the changes to the Explorer from 1958 to current.
I measured the jack plates and they're both the same size. However, the jack plate is installed higher along the back edge on the '84 reissue. Here's a picture to show the exact measurements. The book on the right side is flush with the lower bottom edge, just to give you an idea of where the corner would meet if it wasn't radiused. If you need anything else, just let me know. :)

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ChurchHill":dk9mph2q said:
fretout":dk9mph2q said:
If you get a chance, would you mind measuring the jack location? I’m going to add it to a report I’ve been writing that notates all the changes to the Explorer from 1958 to current.
I measured the jack plates and they're both the same size. However, the jack plate is installed higher along the back edge on the '84 reissue. Here's a picture to show the exact measurements. The book on the right side is flush with the lower bottom edge, just to give you an idea of where the corner would meet if it wasn't radiused. If you need anything else, just let me know. :)

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Thank you so much man! This is really appreciated! From what I can tell, I think Gibson lined up the input jack on the ‘84RI Explorers to be “in line” with the two lower knobs. I’m not sure why they changed the input jack’s location. It’s in a different space than the standard Explorer, and they didn’t even layout the knobs/selector in the same space as the original 1983/1984 Explorers.
 
You're welcome! It's hard to say why Gibson does what they do... Other than the knobs, switch, and jack, the '84 RI seems to be exactly like my '00 (just with an ebony board). I'll take another look tonight at the control routing on the back and see what's going on there. Maybe they moved the jack to avoid hitting one of the pots internally, but of course, that makes waaay too much sense for Gibson... ;)
 
Man you guys are killin' me with the guitars you have sold (Jabs and Hetfield ones). Of course with that said, I remember all of the dumbass moments that I had getting rid of gear over the years. LOL! Some guitars I don't miss but there are plenty that I do. :)
 
fretout":ylmf0x3y said:
Thank you so much man! This is really appreciated! From what I can tell, I think Gibson lined up the input jack on the ‘84RI Explorers to be “in line” with the two lower knobs. I’m not sure why they changed the input jack’s location. It’s in a different space than the standard Explorer, and they didn’t even layout the knobs/selector in the same space as the original 1983/1984 Explorers.
Well, I took the control plate off the '84 RI and it looks like they moved the pots to make room for the battery that came with the stock EMGs. It looks like they moved the jack farther up the back because if it was in the normal position, it would've come in exactly where there's a pot. Would have been possible to leave it where it was, but it would've been a tight fit. With the shielded single conductor cable they used, they probably thought it'd be easier to just move the jack up a little bit than it would to add shrink tubing to that piece of wire so it wouldn't short anything out.

Of course, that's all speculation on my part, but seeing it does make a little more sense. I would've attached a photo, but apparently, I've "reached my quota"... :LOL: :LOL:
 
Some nice Explorers in this thread. The first guitar I bought with my first job was this 91 Explorer thats now yellow. It crusted with beer and sweat and has been thru a hell of a lot but still feels and sounds awesome. It's cousin below it is an Epiphone Apparition. My wife got it for me as gift about 10 years ago, its fun to play. One of the few guitars I have with EMGs and a Floyd. The neck is really trippy too, its super flat. Meant for shredding which i'm not that good at... it also has a kill switch button just past the knobs thats fun to mess with.

getpubthumb
 
errrrrl":34v2xkmz said:
Some nice Explorers in this thread. The first guitar I bought with my first job was this 91 Explorer thats now yellow. It crusted with beer and sweat and has been thru a hell of a lot but still feels and sounds awesome. It's cousin below it is an Epiphone Apparition. My wife got it for me as gift about 10 years ago, its fun to play. One of the few guitars I have with EMGs and a Floyd. The neck is really trippy too, its super flat. Meant for shredding which i'm not that good at... it also has a kill switch button just past the knobs thats fun to mess with.

getpubthumb

Man, the Apparition is sick.

Here's my 2 KLs. This one was another forum members:

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Actually had a 3rd KL on a stop over en route to a friend in Ireland. Similar spec but chechen neck. Just immense sounding, put mine to shame really! haha Definitely keeping that in mine if I can ever afford another.

Apologies for the size...guess I got used to forums auto-resizing.
 
Les Zombie":3tvxq451 said:
I was the one who owned the red olive ash burl KL, beautiful guitar, nice to see you still have it.

Yup. Can't remember if I mentioned but when I ordered the grey one it was a few years earlier, and I had originally sent Ken a pic of the red one like, "Make me this!", but he had already used up all the olive ash. So I was/am super happy to be able to grab this, still glad we worked something out. And then immediately tried to change the specs on the custom build as much as I could! So the red is all mahogany / actives (now the het-set), the grey one has a maple neck and BKP aftermaths.
 
narad":1zb4tyqn said:
Les Zombie":1zb4tyqn said:
I was the one who owned the red olive ash burl KL, beautiful guitar, nice to see you still have it.

Yup. Can't remember if I mentioned but when I ordered the grey one it was a few years earlier, and I had originally sent Ken a pic of the red one like, "Make me this!", but he had already used up all the olive ash. So I was/am super happy to be able to grab this, still glad we worked something out. And then immediately tried to change the specs on the custom build as much as I could! So the red is all mahogany / actives (now the het-set), the grey one has a maple neck and BKP aftermaths.

The red one sounded great when i had it, the color was cool too, kinda looks like blood in the pics.
Heres a cool pic of that guitar, not sure if i sent ya this one.

 
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