Mike CT

I hear you on the selling and regret - that has been my fear. I’ve created multiple sale listings only to yank them down and put them back up and yank them down again. I really do love that 90s V I’m so glad I found it and definitely do want another to throw in the mix. A stock would have immediately have different pickups and a different sound than my current one with the Suhrs. That guitar is just perfect in my hands sitting/standing. Cutting the explorer loose has always been off the table, so it’s been the SG or LP. Since reading these replies I’ve tried to look at those from a different perspective of what makes me like them less. What I keep running into is that I can’t imagine finding an SG or LP that I like more than those. The fret work I’ve done on both is perfect, I’ve experimented with pickups and just love the pickups that are in each and I love the sound that each produces. i have come to the conclusion though that between the SG and LP if I was forced to sell one it would be the LP over the SG. It is so counterintuitive to me considering the LP is a lot more expensive and everyone who sees that one thinks that’s I’d be nuts to get rid of it. For me, I just like playing the SG more even with the dive because it is just more comfortable. The LP is just the least comfortable for me by a lot……I’m not sure why. But if I didn’t have this LP and decided I wanted another, I can’t possibly imagine that I’d find one that I like better than what I have now. i guess I really can’t swap out pieces of the pie, I just need a bigger pie with a 5th slice at some point. The funny thing is I have 2 acoustics (stock J45 and Hummingbird) that I never even thought about selling for a second even though I play the electrics 10x more. Love those as is. Thanks everyone! mike

2009 Gibson Flying V. White version that has the ebony fretboard. I have a 97 of this already. These 67 reissues are all unbinded.

Thanks everyone. It seems like my time would be better spent just finding a hiding place for another guitar so my wife doesn’t see it rather than the brain damage of what to swap out for the next one - ha!

I really zoomed in and think you’re right. Ok…..taking a pass. Thanks so much. I learn something new every time I come here and this time it probably saved me a lot of money in the long run. Thanks! Mike

Apparently it was not re-fretted and largely sat in a case. Gibson seemed to thing it was a humidity issue with some board shrinkage that is causing the fret ends to push out on the nitro. I’m trying to figure out if flaking is inevitable and if it easy to fix or not if it happens. The rest of the guitar looks great but this just stands out. thx! Mike

When you refer to Janick Gers as the new guy in Iron Maiden even though he joined the band in 1990.

On the edges of the ebony fretboard it looks like there was some shrinkage. Now the fret ends look to be pushing out some of the nitro finish. Gibson said it was likely due to a lack of humidity. i don’t have this dynamic going on with my guitars and have no idea 1) if the circles are likely to flake off, 2) if they flake off will it feel strange/rough moving along the board and 3) is it something that any local guitar tech/luthier can fix? I don’t to buy into an obvious problem. The rest of the finish looks great. Thanks, Mike

First off, I hope this doesn’t come off as snobby because I am fortunate enough to have 4 Gibson electrics when many people would be lucky to have one….especially with my skill level (ha!). I am a basement player only and I just love trying to play lots of songs and I really appreciate the craftsmanship of these guitars. Second, what I’ll ask is like asking about choosing a guitar pick in terms of completely being subjective, but hearing peoples views and rationales are always helpful for me. So thx in advance!! Currently I have 4 for electrics: 1) 2017 Les Paul Standard (heritage cherry) that I put in 59/JB pickups and had the stock squared-off frets professionally replaced with something with a tad more bulk and a significantly better crown (they’re perfect IMO). 2) 2019 SG Standard (white binding one with super thin .86 thick neck at 12th fret not the new era of Gibsons that started in 2019) with Thrash Factor pickups (think a tighter JB) and the same new fret job to get rid of 2019’s terrible (IMO) low-profile stock frets. 3) 2000 Ebony Explorer (zero dings/rash) that has recently crowded frets and I replaced those pickups with a 59/Custom set. It sounds massive. 4) 1997 white Flying V that has Suhar Aldrich pickups in it and an upgraded bone nut. This is now my favorite guitar. Incredible vintage vibe with the various checking and dings but super clean where you want it to be. This aged-yellow/white guitar is stunning. My dilemma is that I absolutely just want to grab that V all the time first and have been toying with get another white V (with same ebony board) from the 2005-2009 era that is super clean and has been case-kept for ages. This one has the stock pickups that I didn’t like in my explorer, but I’d give another shot here (I like rock, classic metal, and metal). Five electrics for me is just going to be overkill I think (even putting aside my wife thinking that 2 guitars are overkill), and what I’m struggling with is it better to have 4 great guitars that are different models, or sell one of the other 3 to get a second V because it is just incredible. I play sitting down 90% of the time and it’s crazy comfy sitting around my right leg with not strap. And I just seem to play that one better. I’m not sure if I’d regret not having one of each down the road, and If I should sell one I struggle with which one. The Explorer sounds like a beast and I think is pretty unique compared to the SG and LP, but is not the easiest to navigate for a quick play. The SG sounds killer and plays great, but the the dive kind of drives me nuts now and then and it’s always a strap on. The LP is maybe the least comfy of the bunch to play given the body dynamics, but it just sounds killer and my guitar tech thinks its would be incredibly dumb to sell that one. Any thoughts on keeping one of each and/or swapping one out for a V? Thanks again for time and thoughts on kind of a stupid question!!! Mike

I’m not buying a second set, these are either pickups in the guitars or those 490/498 ones are on the shelf from when I replaced them last year with the Thrash Factors. Those TFs are really good to my ears. I had the 490/498 in the SG for years and like it but I wanted to try something different and the Thrash Factors sounded interesting so I put them in the SG. I think they’re great and was enjoying them more than the 490/498 (but that could change down the road). i had read great things about the Suhr Aldrich pickups and had always wanted to try them. The V that I bought two weeks ago had that pickup in the bridge and I just got the matching neck pickup. So it is going to the shop for that install, which naturally I complicate by wondering if I should play musical chairs with the pickups. i have a 59/JB combo in the Les Paul that I think I don’t want to change even though I hear great things about those Suhrs in LPs. So in my mind I guess I was still keeping the 498/4984 on the shelf for a bit longer and was debating which guitars those other pick ups will fit in. i mostly play things like Maiden, Priest, Def Leppard, Metallica, Megadeth, Ghost, Aerosmith, and some modern country like Jason Aldean and Eric Church. For the country stuff for some reason I’ve just automatically reached for the SG or the LP only. So I’m going for hard rock and metal (classic stuff mainly) diversity and playing through a Marshall DSL 40CR. i also have a 2000 Explorer that I replaced the 496/500 pickups (did not like those at all with a Duncan 59/Custom setup which I love. So versatile! I don’t want to mess with that. Thanks and hope the further description helps. Mike

Currently: In my SG (2019) I have the Dave Mustaine Thrash Factors which is essentially a tighter JB with a bit more output and a tight bottom end. I have also have a set of 490r/498t that I took out to put the TF in. I also just recently bought a 1997 Flying V (white) which is incredible, but this one came with the Suhr Aldrich pickups. I always wanted to try those and so far I’m like thing a lot. I like the idea of different pickups in different guitars and I really like both guitars. The question is would you keep the Suhr Aldrich in the V or swap them with the TFs that are in the SG? I think both sound good as is, but I don’t know if there is a consensus in terms of which would be better in a thicker vs. thinner all mahogany guitar. I could also throw in the 490/498s as well. I’m just asking because my gut tells me I’d rather have the TFs in the V and Surh Aldrich in the SG since even though they are hotter, they seem to me to be clearer pickups. In my LP, I have a 59/JB combo that I like a lot because in addition to (trying to play) classic metal, I also play modern country which is basic rock these days. I’m not sure I’d swap those out for the other pickups. Thanks! Mike

I’ve never done a pick-up swap personally and until thinking about a pick-up swap for my 2000 Explorer I never really noticed that my bridge pickup in that guitar was slightly larger. I’ve seen things written where people say you don’t really need to go with F-spaced (my strings don’t perfectly line of with the metal pins on my 500Ts), but how does it mechanically work with using a slightly smaller pick-up. Does this mean if say I’d buy a new 70s tribute pickup - and they all look to be standard size for both neck and bridge as on the Gibson site it doesn’t offer size choices like SD and Demarzio do - to install it the tech would have to drill new holes in the guitar to secure the marginally smaller pickup? Or does it not work that way. Please excuse the super basis question. I guess if mechanically doesn’t matter at all, it opens up options to pick-ups that don’t come in an F-Spaced option.

That would be the one I get. The other hold up so far for me has been on my Gibsons they all have a 12th fret neck depth of 0.85-0.87 inches which I love. Those explorers are about 0.93. I tried a new SG with the current 0.98 depth at the 12th and just hated it. i haven’t found one to try so I don’t know if it will just feel only slight bigger or just too big compared to what I like.

I love my older explorer but I definitely prefer my alinco based pickups over the ceramic 496/500. how does the 70s tribute pickup sound compared to the 498T (have it in my SG) or a JB? I think the 498 is a tad hotter. I’m tempted to swap out the 496/500 for the 70s pickups on the new explorers, but I haven’t seen any comparisons. I’d obviously lose the variety of having a ceramic which sounds great for playing things like Metallica (at least to me). I’ve also thought about possibly selling my SG to get a second newer explorer with those pickups. Love the explorers! thanks! Mike

Right now I have a 2017 LP STD, a 2019 SG STD, and I just got a 2000 Explorer (from that post here from the other day). I’m blown away by everything with the Explorer. My question is if you have a favorite guitar, would you rather sell one of your others and get another of the one that you really like. I pretty much drafted Reverb sales listing for my Les Paul and the SG thinking that I’d recycle that money into a white Explorer (mine is black) and maybe just swap out the 496/500s for some alincos (like the new 70’s tribute pickups) for some tonal variety. I just love everything about that guitar: balance, sounds massive, frets, and it looks awesome. My hesitation is that I’m arguably still in the honeymoon phase with it and down the road I might appreciate the variety of 3 different ones. Right now, I’m leaning more towards cutting the SG loose instead of the Les Paul if I want to get another Explorer. That year’s SG has a lower fret profile and its just a lot of money to have it regret. Love the larger frets on the Explorer. The frets on the Les Paul are in between those two which is fine. I just want to keep it at 3 electrics at this point and I like to play (just for fun at home) classic metal, hard rock, and even modern country (which today is basically rock). Thanks for entertaining a strange question. Mike

If a Lzzy Hale (who is awesome) model has a list price of $2,799 I can only imagine the sticker shock of a Hetfield 84 Explorer.

I really wanted a white one more than anything, but this one just looked great and the price made a lot of sense for me for an extra guitar that I don’t need. I have an Ebony SG so wanted some variation. I still really want a white one so I’d love to find some sort of a trade for my Les Paul or SG for the right one.

How about…. “hopefully just my first”?

I’ve had this guitar for a few days now and I absolutely love it. I only play sitting in my basement for fun and this guitar is almost 9.5 pounds (more than 1 pound over my Les Paul) and it balances perfectly and feels like nothing. It is so incredibly playable and it is just nasty in a great way. I don’t know if it’s the massive hunk of wood or the hot ceramic picks ups because I’ve only had JB and 498 Alincos with my other two electrics, but the sound coming out of the amp is massive and outstanding. I’m really tempted to cut my 2019 SG (with a swapped out 498 for the stock 490t) loose now and get another one of these but put the hot Gibson’s 70s tribute alinco’s in it for some variation. Loved the neck on this one like my SG and LP. Wow - can’t put it down!

Oh - interesting on the blanket/shroud. Learn something new everyday! Mike

The case is bigger than my coffee table. And speaking of the case I’m not sure what the purpose is of that cloth that covers the guitar. It just gets in the way and I can’t figure out what the purpose of it is. Other cases don’t have that.

The guitar is supposed to be stock and that year has 496r/500t. My LP has a 59/JB and my SG has 490/498 setup so I really like that one with these hotter ceramics. Different sound but pretty awesome.

I have been itching to get one for a while and pulled the trigger on this 2000. Little scuffs here and there but no dings and plays amazing. Absolutely love it. I only play for fun at night sitting down and it’s insanely comfortable. On the electric side, I have a 2017 LP that I put a 59/JB in and a 2019 SG with a 490r/498T (swapped out the 490T), so this is a killer addition. I’m sure there is a lot of newness going on here, but I absolutely can’t it it down!

It’s maybe half a dime actually on the bottom edge of the headstock between the bottom two tuners (but on the bottom edge on the back side). Not on the neck at all. So it’s an eye sore. Wouldn’t touch anything with a chip on the neck.

I keep my guitars immaculate so I’m not sure if buying one with a chip (maybe dime size) would drive me crazy or if it would spread over time. The price is good though because of this. If I get this does can a local guitar tech get the same gibson ebony paint and touch it with nitro, or is that really only something factories do. Not sure if it should/could be repaired or not. I’ve seen some pictures of home repairs on reverb that just look terrible. Mike

Also, would it be better to leave in the 490R in the neck, or go for a Dirty Fingers set that I guess puts the same DF pick-up in the neck as well. Looks like most Gibsons that are sold with DF new come with the same pickup in both positions. At least that’s what it looks like from the Gibson pickups pages.