PU swap for Gibson Explorer?

  • Thread starter Thread starter HellraiserJohnny
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HellraiserJohnny

HellraiserJohnny

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My 2014 Explorer really does have a tone unlike any other guitar I own and it does stand out in the crowd BUT. . . . the stock Burstbuckers really are not great with the de-tunings I use and high gain style. I love EMG's and SD Blackouts but with the Explorer set up, there is the issue with where to put the battery.

Have any of you changed out PU's on an Explorer? What did you use?
Any ideas for actives (where to plant the battery?)
 

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I put a Dirty Fingers in, love it (similar to Duncan Distortion)
 
My Explorer 120 also came with those horrible Burstbucker Pro pickups. I can't imagine a worse-sounding bridge pickup for an Explorer.

I put in a Duncan Custom and it sounds great. I'm planning to put a JB in there one of these days for comparison.

Way back in the early 80's when I had my first Explorer, I ran an EMG 81 for awhile, but never could bond with it.
 
I like gibson 500t's a lot. You can find them dirt cheap too.
 
i Have had 3 Different Explorers in my life time, the ones that have had EMG's installed, The Battery was in the Cavity where the pots are. One of the explorers i had was wired for 18v instead of the traditional 9. I wish i still had my main explorer.
 
I have a 2016 T model explorer with stock 496/500 set. It crushes my ec1000 with a jb/59 set. So much hotter and fatter. Before I got it, I didn't know that the input light on my kemper could go red. It can get pretty tight with some tweaking as well. Only thing I might consider swapping the. With is a emg 57/66 set. Love those.
 
Detroit1973":ih55ffvb said:
i Have had 3 Different Explorers in my life time, the ones that have had EMG's installed, The Battery was in the Cavity where the pots are. One of the explorers i had was wired for 18v instead of the traditional 9. I wish i still had my main explorer.
Click to expand...

I guess with the smaller 25k pots there would be enough room in the pot cavity for a battery but if I may ask, running the 18v set up did you encounter any additional noise?
 
No additional Noise. It actually made the guitar sound better.
 
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