markizme Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 Hey Gang, thanks for your time. I just purchased a 2003 Natural finish Gibson Explorer from GC. It came with Gibson's Dirty Fingers p'ups in it. It was delivered yesterday, and I'm really liking the sound. My question, I thought all Gibson Explorers had a one piece body. The tail that fits under my arm while I play appears to be laminated to the rest of the body. It is a wonderful guitar, but am I confused on it not being a solid piece of mahogany? Thanks in advance gang! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjsinla Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 I've never seen a one-piece one. My 79 has a 3-piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 Hi and welcome to the Forum. I'm no expert but I've never seen a one-piece body on an Explorer either. Most I've seen are, like cjsinla's mentioned above, 3-piece. I would have thought the cost of making a one-piece would be prohibitive. First-off the blanks would have to be massively wide - much bigger than anything else normally used by Gibson. Availability might be an issue. Secondly the waste-material associated with a one-piece construction would be ridiculous. If anyone out there knows more on the subject I'd be interested to read about it. Pip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 Hello and welcome to this board. Up to now I never saw an Explorer with a definite one-piece body. Mine has a solid colour and no clearly distinguishable seams although the finish is a quite rough, uneven, satin Governmental Tan - see my avatar. Therefore I have been quite interested in that point, too. To my knowledge one-piece Explorer bodies would be practically impossible using a quarter-sawn timber with the grain along the neck axis. Even decades ago there may have been only very few slabs of the required width, and probably only a fraction of them would have had the stiffness, rigidity and breaking strength. I doubt that any current legal mahogany sources deliver wood blanks of that size at all. The trees would have had to be grown since the 1840's in countries where the respective tree species Swietenia macrophylla and Swietenia mahagoni are not native and thus can be traded legally. I believe plantations this old never existed. Therefore making one-piece Explorer bodies would call for a diagonal grain orientation from the upper, treble-sided horn to the lower, bass-sided, elbow-supporting extension. Slabs of this drastically reduced width would be available since the length of the trunk is not a problem. However, I doubt this slanted wood structure would provide good sonic qualities even in case of flatsawn blanks, let alone quarter-sawn ones as used by Gibson in spite of their higher prices. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 k. Read this. Remember it. There will be a test later. There may have been a one piece Explorer, but only once. By the third change of seasons the upper back horn would be trying to reach the front lower horn, and succeeding. Stop guessing that one piece of wood for a guitar is a good thing, makes it better, makes it worth more, sets it apart from the others, has better tone, greater re-sale. It doesn't do any of these things. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 k. Read this. Remember it. There will be a test later. There may have been a one piece Explorer, but only once. By the third change of seasons the upper back horn would be trying to reach the front lower horn, and succeeding. ... rct I'm curious about the test. Do you think the horns will meet over the top or across the back? Would affect playability in very different manner. :blink: Keeping her in her case during test, will she crack open lid, bottom. or latches? Questions over questions... ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 My take on it, and this is how I personally do woodwork, is I will take two or more pieces of wood, glue them together, and make a single piece. It's a smart *** answer, I know, but when you take a solid hog Gibson electric, play that for a minute, it tends to go to a guy's head. Too bad I don't have a Marshall anymore. I just have the sweet memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markizme Posted March 10, 2016 Author Share Posted March 10, 2016 Thank You everyone for your replies. I understand your points, 'cept for the one about the guitar growing? Man, the case for it is HUGE as it is. I can't imagine where I would store it if it had to bigger! . I'm up in my years, and have only been playing for 4 years now, and just had some questions about my purchase. I suppose the LP has me spoiled in construction. Thank you for your knowledge, and laffs as well \:D/ . Respectfully, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted March 10, 2016 Share Posted March 10, 2016 No, it won't grow. Lumber cut that big will "cup" over time, curl. A guitar body can't cup even an unseeable amount, because the paint will crack right off it. I would imagine unseeable is not a word. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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