the dog Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 I recently bought my new Government Series II Explorer. I love it. And I got it for under $900.00 dollars. Besides my Explorer having Dirty Fingers+ pups. What is the difference of the 2014 Explorer and in general other earlier Explorers from mine to justify their higher price tags? Is my Government Series II somewhat of an inferior guitar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eades Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Is it high gloss,vintage gloss or satin finished Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the dog Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 Is it high gloss,vintage gloss or satin finished The stylishly angular Explorer body is made from solid mahogany, then dressed in a distinctive vintage-gloss Government Tan finish, complemented by black-chrome hardware, black plastics, and a pickguard hot-stamped in gold Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eades Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Then the only difference is the finish standards are high gloss,they are great guitars I love em Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Is it high gloss,vintage gloss or satin finished This is a very good question. The finish surface of my Government Series II Explorer looks similar to that of four vintage gloss Gibsons of mine and a little smoother than my only Gibson featuring a "worn" finish. Anyway, it plays great and sounds awesome. It is definitely the opposite of an inferior guitar if I may say so, and I'm happy to own it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the dog Posted July 7, 2014 Author Share Posted July 7, 2014 Back to my first question. What is the difference of the 2014 Explorer and in general other earlier Explorers from mine to justify their higher price tags? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted July 7, 2014 Share Posted July 7, 2014 Back to my first question. What is the difference of the 2014 Explorer and in general other earlier Explorers from mine to justify their higher price tags? High-gloss finishes are much more of an effort in production and lead to significantly higher prices. The 2014 Explorer model comes with chrome-covered, AlNiCo 5-loaded BurstBucker Pro humbuckers instead of the open-coil 496R/500T featuring one (496R) respectively three (500T) ceramic magnets. The Dirty Fingers and Dirty Fingers+ also come with three ceramics. All the pickups with three magnets come uncovered since the soldering heat would affect the outer magnets. From time to time, Gibson Custom makes Special Run Explorers featuring gold hardware including covered Custom Buckers in the image of the 1958 originals. These cost dearly. I found some offered here in Germany at a price of 3,100 EUR. They made 16 of these for the whole planet... There also are figured top Explorers currently offered here at 4,000 EUR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Back to my first question. What is the difference of the 2014 Explorer and in general other earlier Explorers from mine to justify their higher price tags? My Explorer is not the color of a 70's doctors office, it was well worth the extra money. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReGuitar Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 Besides my Explorer having Dirty Fingers+ pups. What is the difference of the 2014 Explorer and in general other earlier Explorers from mine to justify their higher price tags? Is my Government Series II somewhat of an inferior guitar? Besides pups, the 2014 model has different knobs, over biding frets, 12th fret inlay. But I don't think these little changes justify the price. And no, you don't own an inferior guitar. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the dog Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 High-gloss finishes are much more of an effort in production and lead to significantly higher prices. The 2014 Explorer model comes with chrome-covered, AlNiCo 5-loaded BurstBucker Pro humbuckers instead of the open-coil 496R/500T featuring one (496R) respectively three (500T) ceramic magnets. The Dirty Fingers and Dirty Fingers+ also come with three ceramics. All the pickups with three magnets come uncovered since the soldering heat would affect the outer magnets. From time to time, Gibson Custom makes Special Run Explorers featuring gold hardware including covered Custom Buckers in the image of the 1958 originals. These cost dearly. I found some offered here in Germany at a price of 3,100 EUR. They made 16 of these for the whole planet... There also are figured top Explorers currently offered here at 4,000 EUR. Binding on the neck. MOP inlay on the headstock. Pups. Different finish and thicker finish. 120th 12th fret marker. Color of hardware. Color of case. Nut material. Besides pups, the 2014 model has different knobs, over biding frets, 12th fret inlay. But I don't think these little changes justify the price. And no, you don't own an inferior guitar. Cheers To all of you a word of thanks. I didn't think that those other items could add up to the prices that Gibson wants for those guitars.. I see that it does. About my guitar being inferior. I know it's not and I now see that my guitar not having the binding would make it less expensive. Actually this Explorer is my favorite guitar. My go to guitar. I take it to rehearse at my friends studio. I never new I wanted one until I bought and played it. I had planned on buying it then selling it for a profit. Fat chance of that happening now. I like the guitar too much now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the dog Posted July 8, 2014 Author Share Posted July 8, 2014 My Explorer is not the color of a 70's doctors office, it was well worth the extra money. rct [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 [lol] I have a dumb question though. Is yer 'Splorer as thick as my 'Splorer? rc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 I have a dumb question though. Is yer 'Splorer as thick as my 'Splorer? rc Can talk about mine only, but this one is full depth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted July 8, 2014 Share Posted July 8, 2014 It's all about girth. Government Series II Explorers are full-size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveFord Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 I don't think they were comparing guitars by that point... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 I delivered that underhanded in slow motion. Not even a thanks. harrrumpphhh. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Was the $900 regular price including case? I bought my Explorer new with case in 2008 for $935. The current price tag for the 2014 V's and Explorer were surprising to me. I agree with rct, I mean the color of my office cubicle is more exciting than those Government series guitars but they seem to be a good value. Here is mine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Was the $900 regular price including case? I bought my Explorer new with case in 2008 for $935. The current price tag for the 2014 V's and Explorer were surprising to me. I agree with rct, I mean the color of my office cubicle is more exciting than those Government series guitars but they seem to be a good value. Here is mine Nice looking Explorer. What pickups came stock with this one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Thanks it came with the 500t/490r combo, I added the pickup covers and witch hat knobs. I also changed the wiring to two tones and one volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Here is mine........I added the pickup covers and witch hat knobs... No offence to the OP intended - his is a fine axe, too - but that version pictured there is easily my favourite of the various Explorer configurations. To me whether they are made from Korina or Mahogany is largely irrelevant. If I was forced to nit-pick I'd admit that I'm not a huge fan of the witch-hats but I'd still give it house-room. Lovely, Lovely Guitar. P. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 You know, I am not a fan of speed knobs so those had to go and at first I was planning on using reflectors like they did on some original Explorers but when I saw Hendrix's V with witch hats I thought they looked great but was not sure how they would translate on an Explorer, well it has been 5 or 6 years and I have not have the inclination to change them. Going back to the OP, to me that color guitar would go better with nickel hardware, including pickup covers and and a white pickguard. Explorers are great guitars, you'd never guess the great ergonomics by looking at them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the dog Posted July 11, 2014 Author Share Posted July 11, 2014 Was the $900 regular price including case? I bought my Explorer new with case in 2008 for $935. The current price tag for the 2014 V's and Explorer were surprising to me. I agree with rct, I mean the color of my office cubicle is more exciting than those Government series guitars but they seem to be a good value. Here is mine Yes it did include case and COA signed by what's his name. That's a nice Explorer. What neck is on it. And the color of mine is OK with me. I don't find it appalling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Thanks it came with the 500t/490r combo, I added the pickup covers and witch hat knobs. I also changed the wiring to two tones and one volume. Thank you for this information. I was wondering about the gold covered pickups of yours. To my knowledge, only Custom Shop Limited Explorers seemed to come stock with covered AlNiCo humbuckers for many years. I think a remember that some weeks ago there was a topic about soldering covers to three-magnet humbuckers without affecting the magnetization, and you posted you had covered a 500T in the past. So I guess this is the one you mentioned? Perhaps I should consider a two tones/one volume wiring for my Explorer, too. To me it seems the very way to overcome the 50's wiring style shortcomings inherent to two volumes/one tone circuits. I wasn't able to find tandem pots 2 x 500 kOhms for guitars up to now which I would prefer to use. However, there are two more guitars in my arsenal which would call but don't allow for these mods due to push/pull pots or three pickups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Yea that's the 500T I had mentioned in another thread. After covering it I wax-potted it and vacuum sealed it so the wax would penetrate more evenly. I used an RS Guitarworks 500k super pot for the volume, it has a very nice taper. I used Russian PIO caps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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