Roach Posted February 16, 2017 Share Posted February 16, 2017 Just wondering what makes an explorer cost more than a LP studio with a maple top? It has less of everything that we been made to think costs money. A flat top, no maple, nothing seems extra better about it... what gives? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megafrog Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 Good question. I have wondered the same about Flying Vs also. I guess less is more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WadeR Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 More mahogany for sure but that can't be it alone. Mahogany is imported and likely has a higher cost than maple which is domestic. Maybe its the tooling at the factory. It could be that because LPs are WAY more popular than Explorers, they have invested in more tooling for LPs which allows them to be built at a higher scale than Explorers which would lower their manufacturing costs. I could be wrong. That's all I got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MP-5 k Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 The Explorer has more Awesome than the LP Studio that's for sure but its hard to put a dollar value on that. Seriously though, when I looked on line just now at Zzounds, the LP Studio T WITH CASE was $1,499.00 and the Explorer Studio T with case was $1,399.00. Both were ebony finish. Of course the Faded LP Studio with gig bag (no case) was a lot cheaper but there is a faded explorer with gig bag that was about the same so it looks like they are pretty close in price actually at least at Zzounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MP-5 k Posted May 29, 2017 Share Posted May 29, 2017 That was for the 2017 models BTW not sure where they were in previous years as Im not really crazy about the studios. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roach Posted June 10, 2017 Author Share Posted June 10, 2017 The Explorer has more Awesome than the LP Studio that's for sure but its hard to put a dollar value on that. Seriously though, when I looked on line just now at Zzounds, the LP Studio T WITH CASE was $1,499.00 and the Explorer Studio T with case was $1,399.00. Both were ebony finish. Of course the Faded LP Studio with gig bag (no case) was a lot cheaper but there is a faded explorer with gig bag that was about the same so it looks like they are pretty close in price actually at least at Zzounds. The 2015 explorers were like about 1500 at gc no case, and i paid 1000 for my 2015 studio with hardshell case. Now they have so many different types of LP's it is impossible to shop prices. GC caused this I am sure. Still I don't see the cost of the explorer being as high or higher than a guitar with maple. It totally raises the question of the finish being a photo on the top or actual wood grained... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capmaster Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 The 2015 explorers were like about 1500 at gc no case, and i paid 1000 for my 2015 studio with hardshell case. Now they have so many different types of LP's it is impossible to shop prices. GC caused this I am sure. Still I don't see the cost of the explorer being as high or higher than a guitar with maple. It totally raises the question of the finish being a photo on the top or actual wood grained... Honestly, I don't think Gibson ever used photo tops. The larger Explorer body blanks, glued together from two or more pieces of mahogany, clamping and tooling them is more special due to the large outer dimensions. The original hardshell case of my Explorer exceeds all of my long-scale bass cases in all three dimensions. Cutting an Explorer body will also produce lots of scrap, meaning bigger loss of mahogany timber. Finally, and also mentioned before, they have to set up the machines for making a handful Explorers only, compared to lots of Les Paul (and even more SG) bodies. This will increase the price per unit. Just my two cents... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dReit1 Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 Just wondering what makes an explorer cost more than a LP studio with a maple top? To paraphrase a quote once attributed to the current King of Gibson; "BECAUSE WE CAN!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roach Posted June 14, 2017 Author Share Posted June 14, 2017 Honestly, I don't think Gibson ever used photo tops. The larger Explorer body blanks, glued together from two or more pieces of mahogany, clamping and tooling them is more special due to the large outer dimensions. The original hardshell case of my Explorer exceeds all of my long-scale bass cases in all three dimensions. Cutting an Explorer body will also produce lots of scrap, meaning bigger loss of mahogany timber. Finally, and also mentioned before, they have to set up the machines for making a handful Explorers only, compared to lots of Les Paul (and even more SG) bodies. This will increase the price per unit. Just my two cents... Yea I can see that logic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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