NED!!! (New Explorer Day) Now with a sound clip!!!

R

raiken

Active member
Woo-hoo!!!

I bought a new Gibson Explorer back in 1978. It was my main guitar throughout all my younger band days, but unfortunately, I had to sell it during a bad time in my life, and have been kicking myself ever since.

I have a birthday coming up this month, and I really wanted to find one of the Gibson Sammy Hagar special edition Explorers. I think that red Explorer with white binding is the best looking Explorer ever (other than my original mahogany one with gold hardware, of course), but they are unfortunately discontinued, and I wasn't able to find one used anywhere in the last several months, so I decided to get the next best thing, the 120th anniversary in cherry. It doesn't have a bound body, but it does have a bound neck that fits my hands perfectly.

I'm not too fond of the Burstbucker Pro pickups (I prefer ceramic pickups), and a proper Explorer should have no covers on the pickups, so I'm going to have to replace them with something, at least the bridge pickup. I'm leaning towards trying the Dean Michael Schenker pickup, since he is my all-time favorite guitarist.

It's funny, the body is cherry, but when I took this picture with my camera, it came out looking more like my old mahogany Explorer.

Anyway, here's Dora, the Explorer :), proof that you're never too old to rock and roll!

Dora.jpg



And here is my original Explorer (note the 70's green shag carpet, and my old purple 100W Marshall head:)

expamp1.jpg


Randall Aiken
 
John4021":5hxlx19l said:
...is that a power soak?

Great looking axe.
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Yep, the original Tom Scholz model, I bought that one when they first came out. Before that I used the granddaddy of all attenuators, the Altair PW-5. There weren't that many choices back then. I still have both of them, along with a THD Hot Plate and a Marshall Power Brake. I'm an attenuator-aholic.

I can't tell from the pic, but I think that is the Bill Lawrence L-500 pickup in the bridge position. That was a great pickup. I also had an EMG-81 in there at one time, and a few others, but as I recall, the L-500 sounded best.
 
And here is how the new Explorer sounds:

http://www.aikenamps.com/ftp_raiken/Roc ... Tomcat.mp3

Since I couldn't get the Sammy Hagar Explorer I wanted, the least I could do was cover an old Montrose song, "Rock Candy", which featured Sammy Hagar in his first vocal debut.

This track was recorded silently into my new prototype reactive load and my Gold Brick speaker emulator, using the new Explorer and my Aiken Tomcat amp, a Motu 8Pre USB, and Reaper. It features Wesley "Preston" Owens (mechanical designer here at the shop) on bass, our good friend E.Z. Drummer on the skins, me on guitar, and a special guest vocal appearance by Stewie Griffin. Be sure to listen to it on some speakers that have good bass response.

Please ignore the timing/phrasing mistakes, yes, I know it is sloppy. I didn't have time to punch in any overdubs yesterday, so one take is all you get. There's a reason I build amps instead of playing guitar for a living. :)
 
Tone was 'right on Ronnie"
Well done. :thumbsup:










....now get back to the work bench. Play times over...lol
 
Okay, it's pickup buying time. Question: should I put a Duncan Custom in the bridge position, or try the Dean Michael Schenker Lights Out pickup? Anyone tried both?

Any other preferences for a good classic hard rock tone in an Explorer? I want more output than a PAF, don't want a Tone Zone or a JB.
 
I've been loving an older Super Distortion in my V. It's definitely warmer than SD's I've played in the last several years and doesn't have a mid "honk" I hear with some Dimarzios. I think it's 1980's. Measures about 13+. They aren't collectable, per se, so they're still quite reasonable used. Got mine for $40. Anything from 70's classic rock and metal to modern stuff.
 
You might like the Seymour custom custom.. which is the custom with an alnico II magnet instead of the V. Its like a overwound PAF style, very clear and warm but not too loose.
 
skoora":31t2pior said:
I've been loving an older Super Distortion in my V. It's definitely warmer than SD's I've played in the last several years and doesn't have a mid "honk" I hear with some Dimarzios. I think it's 1980's. Measures about 13+. They aren't collectable, per se, so they're still quite reasonable used. Got mine for $40.
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Funny you mention that, I was just talking to a friend today about that pickup. When I was a teenager in the late 70's, I drooled over all the ads in Guitar Player magazine for the DiMarzio Super Distortion humbucker. It was the original "hot" aftermarket pickup, and I just *knew* it was the only thing keeping me from being a rock star (well, that, and talent). I wanted one so badly, but there weren't any music stores in my little town that carried them (no internet in those days). I finally got enough money to buy one, and the guy at a music store about 45 miles away from my town said the had them, so I drove all the way up there to get one. It turns out he lied to get me up there, because they had the Gibson "Dirty Fingers" pickup, which he said was the same thing. I was so disappointed, but like a fool, I bought it anyway and hated it. Every time after that when I went pickup buying, there was always some other new model to try, like the Bill Lawrence L-500 or the EMG-81. I never did get my Super Distortion Humbucker...
 
raiken":2o79gozg said:
skoora":2o79gozg said:
I've been loving an older Super Distortion in my V. It's definitely warmer than SD's I've played in the last several years and doesn't have a mid "honk" I hear with some Dimarzios. I think it's 1980's. Measures about 13+. They aren't collectable, per se, so they're still quite reasonable used. Got mine for $40.
Click to expand...

Funny you mention that, I was just talking to a friend today about that pickup. When I was a teenager in the late 70's, I drooled over all the ads in Guitar Player magazine for the DiMarzio Super Distortion humbucker. It was the original "hot" aftermarket pickup, and I just *knew* it was the only thing keeping me from being a rock star (well, that, and talent). I wanted one so badly, but there weren't any music stores in my little town that carried them (no internet in those days). I finally got enough money to buy one, and the guy at a music store about 45 miles away from my town said the had them, so I drove all the way up there to get one. It turns out he lied to get me up there, because they had the Gibson "Dirty Fingers" pickup, which he said was the same thing. I was so disappointed, but like a fool, I bought it anyway and hated it. Every time after that when I went pickup buying, there was always some other new model to try, like the Bill Lawrence L-500 or the EMG-81. I never did get my Super Distortion Humbucker...
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I would like to try the 35th anni or antiquity JB though. Like the vid I saw of those.
 
Anderson H2+ would be my pick.


2nd and/OR 3rd, would be SD Distortion or Gibby 500T.


People take to 500 out, including me. But it is the sound for many an Explorer, and it's darn hard to beat.


That said, the Andy H2+ is just one badass pickup period! :rock:
 
Capulin Overdrive":26jukaej said:
People take to 500 out, including me. But it is the sound for many an Explorer, and it's darn hard to beat.
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My explorer didn't come with the 496/500T, it has Burstbucker Pros, which are a bit thin, to my ears. I think I would have liked the 500T better.
Never heard one of the Tom Anderson pickups, I'll have to look into them.
 
Mesa Boogie Hollywood for buying Anderson pickups.


Anderson H2+ is ceramic, but he somehow gets some A5 qualities to the sound.


Could maybe trade the Burstbucker for a 500?
 
JiMB":2ri5r5xu said:
Nice!
That first Montrose album is killer!
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Yes, it is! That album was a landmark in hard rock.

By the way, I checked out your YouTube videos....great playing!!! I loved your tone with that Germino Club 40 w/master and the R8. Real nice and woody sounding with those Creambacks.
 
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