NGD - Chibson Explorer Custom :-)

vultures

vultures

Well-known member
New (old) Guitar Day - Chibson Explorer.

I picked this up a few months ago for exactly $290.88. Waited about 3 weeks and stressed out when it was held in customs, and here it is. Overall the state it arrives in is complete trash. The frets felt like shit and were unleveled. The pickups read 11k/8k iirc, but had little to no output. The tuners felt like they'd fall apart when tuning. The tune-o-matic was trash and the springs resonated with the D string so it buzzed loudly. Pickguard is a little off. Block Inlays are a little small. There's a 4mm Hex truss rod instead of Acorn Nut. Logo is a bit in the wrong spot. There are some finish imperfections and one small bubbling spot. Overall I had to do a lot of work:
  • Swapped Tune-o-Matic and posts for Grover.
  • Swapped Tailpiece and posts for Gibson. (Had to drill)
  • Rerouted the control cavities on front and rear so they were clean, then painted them with shielding paint.
  • Swapped pickups/electronics for an EMG Het Set
  • Level, Crowned and Polished the frets.
  • Swapped tuners for D'Addario Auto-Trim Locking Tuners (yay D'Addario points)
I'm able to do all that work myself, and I have access to discounts so I'm out about $200 in parts/pickups. I bought a Gibson Explorer case for about $128 so I'm at about $600 for a Gibson Explorer Custom. $5,200 less than a real Gibson and now I have a guitar I can absolutely beat the shit out of on gigs without worrying about it. I also plan on doing some things to it in the future that you wouldn't want to do with a $5800 Gibson.. Evertune, Sand the neck, etc.

Would I buy again? Yes. I'm actively looking for a blue Explorer Custom. If anyone wants the link to this one, I can PM it to them.

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DanTravis62 said:
Man im so jelly of this guitar. I fucking love it. Why isn't it strung up yet brother? Rock that shit
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Mine? Ohhh fuck it’s been strung bro…. That’s the picture brother Alund sent me before I got it. Plus it has those dimarzio schb’s…. Killer guitar….
 
JackBootedThug said:
Mine? Ohhh fuck it’s been strung bro…. That’s the picture brother Alund sent me before I got it. Plus it has those dimarzio schb’s…. Killer guitar….
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That is the only body shape that i feel like a floyd would feel legit, what a badass guitar
 
At $600 I'd probably go for one of those Brendan Small ones. This looks super clean though! I want an explorer so damn bad!!!
 
vultures said:
I got this one on Ali-Express. Looks like the price went up a tiny bit.



There's a Hetfield type MX knock off up for grabs close to me and I've been thinking about grabbing it. Just waiting for them to drop the price
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/573577258883478
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I'm 2 out of 3 with aliexpress. Two guitars are great, one has finish damage under the clearcoat, but it plays and feels great. but at around $300 shipped, for something that doesn't exist or costs more than $7K, it was worth taking the chance.
 
Looks fkn nice man! How does it sound with the het set emg's in it? And what kind of tuners is that? I've never seen those before 👀
 
errrrrl said:
Looks fkn nice man! How does it sound with the het set emg's in it? And what kind of tuners is that? I've never seen those before 👀
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The nice thing about EMGs is that it sounds just as mean as any other guitar with EMGs in it :ROFLMAO:

Tuners are D'Addario Auto Trim Locking Tuners:
https://www.daddario.com/products/accessories/hardware1/auto-trim-tuning-machines/

Tuner Buttons are the Hipshot Industrial or SK1 Knurled Buttons. They take some persuasion getting on. I put them on all my guitars.
https://hipshotproducts.com/collect...ucts/guitar-tuner-buttons?variant=43356567944
 
Nice! Bought an 80s Explorer by Gibson in January and had to return it due to shitty quality. Got a replacement one and it also was badly built. The store ran out of replacements so I took my money back.
 
Really cool guitar. I grew up w/o hardly anything so we had to make our own shit.
I had a chance to get a Custom neck thru BC Rich Bich copy about the time the orange asshole took office.
I declined as didn't wanna deal with dRump CBP.
 
pyroshark-dumm.webp

Just become unburdened by what has been.

Why the hell does everything have to become political, there is a section that you have shit posted to death for that. Jeezuz.
 
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