New Gibson Explorer

[EnGl]

So what will be the best pickups for Gibby Explorer ?
I'm searching for saturated , thick , liquid , fat tone. Pass or actives - I don't care.
I know that my idols ( Zakk , James) and early Dethklok played 81/85 or 81/60 but ... Damn I don't want this same pickups as 75% metal guitarist ...
I thought about something from BKP.

 

[jlb32]

I played a couple of new Gibson explorers at GC recently. I was looking for a backup for my ESP but the Gibson's are nowhere near as nice as the pre lawsuit ESP's. The clarity and thickness was missing.

I like both ESP (pre-lawsuit) and Gibson Explorers and have owned several of both. The ESP Explorers are NOW just stupidly priced though, even used. To me the sound quality of both were great. I didn't feel the ESP's sounded or played any better even though they were way more expensive. The fit and finish of the ESP's were somewhat better but not drastically better.

The clarity and thickness you were missing was probably more due to the ESP's having EMG pickups over the Gibson stock pickups (which you may or may not like) than the guitars themselves.

For all the talk of how expensive Gibson guitars are the Gibson Explorer is one great bang for the buck IMO. Even more so if you buy used.

Yeah pick ups probably made a big difference. Maybe I have a great example of the ESP or I found two bad examples of the Gibson's but the fit and finish way ridiculously better on my ESP.

I'm sure your ESP is set up properly and to your liking. I've found most guitars at GC have HORRIBLE setups and are probably not set up or intonated even close to properly making them sound and play badly. I do agree the fit and finish is better on the ESP's but not pricetag difference. The Gibson Explorers I owned had no flaws and were amazing sounding and playing guitars. They kept up with my ESP with not problem in those categories. The Gibsons are just more mass produced over the ESP MX's being Custom Shop and somewhat limited production. The $5K-$6K they charge for new ESP MX Explorers these days though it just stupid for such plain non-binding, non-arch topped, solid colored guitars.

 

[EnGl]

I played a couple of new Gibson explorers at GC recently. I was looking for a backup for my ESP but the Gibson's are nowhere near as nice as the pre lawsuit ESP's. The clarity and thickness was missing.

I like both ESP (pre-lawsuit) and Gibson Explorers and have owned several of both. The ESP Explorers are NOW just stupidly priced though, even used. To me the sound quality of both were great. I didn't feel the ESP's sounded or played any better even though they were way more expensive. The fit and finish of the ESP's were somewhat better but not drastically better.

The clarity and thickness you were missing was probably more due to the ESP's having EMG pickups over the Gibson stock pickups (which you may or may not like) than the guitars themselves.

For all the talk of how expensive Gibson guitars are the Gibson Explorer is one great bang for the buck IMO. Even more so if you buy used.

Yeah pick ups probably made a big difference. Maybe I have a great example of the ESP or I found two bad examples of the Gibson's but the fit and finish way ridiculously better on my ESP.

I'm sure your ESP is set up properly and to your liking. I've found most guitars at GC have HORRIBLE setups and are probably not set up or intonated even close to properly making them sound and play badly. I do agree the fit and finish is better on the ESP's but not pricetag difference. The Gibson Explorers I owned had no flaws and were amazing sounding and playing guitars. They kept up with my ESP with not problem in those categories. The Gibsons are just more mass produced over the ESP MX's being Custom Shop and somewhat limited production. The $5K-$6K they charge for new ESP MX Explorers these days though it just stupid for such plain non-binding, non-arch topped, solid colored guitars.

Agree.
Almost every guitar I played in shops have poor setups - intonation , rusted or very dirty strings , too high or too low action etc ...

 

[jlb32]

So what will be the best pickups for Gibby Explorer ?
I'm searching for saturated , thick , liquid , fat tone. Pass or actives - I don't care.
I know that my idols ( Zakk , James) and early Dethklok played 81/85 or 81/60 but ... Damn I don't want this same pickups as 75% metal guitarist ...
I thought about something from BKP.

Pickups are all personal preference. There are many actives and passives that will give you the fat, thick tone you want. Some love actives and some hate them. As far as EMG's go I like the James Hetfield EMG set more than the EMG 81/85 or EMG 81/60 setups. They are more of a mix between passives and actives (still have the battery) but seem to sound more warm and punchy. They still have the EMG high gain character tone though.

 

[EnGl]

Ok So I finally decided that I will buy this damn axe.
Another question :
All of explorers ( ebony , white and cherry) are made of one piece mahogany body ? I thought about that and for me it seems to be very difficult to make one piece body for such blocky shaped guitar. And what about neck ? How many pieces - 3,5 or maybe one ?

 

[Skrapmetal]

Seems hard to imagine that they are one piece, but that's what the site says.

Pretty sure the neck is one piece.

 

[EnGl]

There are enough room to make 18v mod (for EMG) on this explorer ? There is enough space ?

 

[Mudder]

In Poland? Have you checked out Ran guitars and their Thor model?

 

[chobley]

If I ever find an Explorer Pro in trans black I'm buying it..Love those

 

[EnGl]

In Poland? Have you checked out Ran guitars and their Thor model?

Yeah
But I don;t want to wait a few months
GIbson explorer requires short or long shaft pots ?
Anyway do you know if EMG 81 and 85 came with short shaft pots ? ( I mean separate pickups , not KFK or ZW set)

 

[colimofsmoke]

Get a used Explorer, 90's or so. The older ones I've played are way better than the new ones.