slyfox

I have noticed that marking on Gibsons and always wondered what it was, thanks for clarifying that. The mark I was mentioning on the Explorer I saw was definitely not as such although in the same general area.

I'm thinking about getting the 70's Explorer in Antique White. I had a chance to go look at one and hold it in my hands and was disappointed to see it looked like some paint had been missed on part of the headstock. Binding work on and around the neck was acceptable and that's usually the first thing I look at. Most concerning was it looked like there was a minor clear line in the finish close to the nut...kind of looked like an eyelash got sealed into the clear finish but it was probably the start of one of those nitro finish checks that run in lines. I understand it's a handmade instrument and it's important to see the actual guitar you are planning to buy because there are no two identical snowflakes. I had to drive an hour and 30 minutes to see this one. The next stores that have one in stock are 2+ hours from me and even then, there are only about 4 in total within "reasonable" drive. The retailer does say they have online order availability but my concern is, if I order an Explorer and it comes in...and I get a chance to inspect it...and I know the store has a no hassle return policy...still leaves me with the question...what are the chances I'm actually going to get one without a glaring imperfection?

Sorry, I meant to clarify...does it have either a retaining wire or wire clips? I could swear my last experience with an SG standard with Nashville bridge had those little triangular retaining clips.

Does the new Gibson Explorer that is fitted with the Nashville bridge have retaining wires for the saddle? I am considering a new Explorer but really don't want the chance of any rattle.

So it sounds like it's not that intrusive to remove them but I do take issue with having to likely replace a saddle and probably end pin...then somehow carefully remove glue to take out the electronics I'm never going to use...that's a lot of monkeying around on a brand new $5399 CDN (plus tax) guitar. I might option to leave them in... In my opinion, Gibson tends to cater a lot to its storied history so I'm surprised they jam electronics in all of their acoustics because to me it takes away from its heirloom quality, specifically on an otherwise acoustic instrument. They should take a lesson from Martin and make it standard without and an option with. I think all Taylor models are available without electronics but Gibson you have to take it. It also seems I'm not alone in wanting their guitars without electronics so you might think it would be worthwhile to run a focus group with their consumers. Even if you wanted electronics, pickups are such a personal thing why not just leave it out instead of trying to please everyone with a one size fits all.

I can appreciate Gibson has installed as discreetly as possible pickups in most of their models...or coincidently the models I am most interested in owning... I'll probably never plug the guitar in and would ideally prefer if I could just get the same model without but seems there are only a couple models or historic versions free of electronics but then they are rather significant premium in price vs the standard or original versions. Is it easy to remove the under saddle bridge and tone/volume controls from the sound hole? I'd prefer to get a hummingbird (I think that's what I want, at least this week anyways) remove the electronics and put them in the case and put back in if I ever wanted or needed to...not if it's an intrusive procedure though.

Are the current Caliberates T pups in new ES models the same as the T Top Gibson pickups on the Gibson website under guitar accessories? I also was curious to confirm if the stock ES pups are potted or unpotted.

I recently spent some time with an SG Modern Standard I was intending to purchase. First thing I did was adjust the action. The factory action was slammed and not buzzy, but "pingy" and I like to strike chords hard, I like legato and bending and mostly lead work...alternate picking... I like to pick articulately and deliberately and the low action you can't even get under the strings for a bend. So I raised the action, strings somewhere around 3.5mm on low E at the 12th fret, and 3mm on high E. Of course once you raise the action, one must raise the tailpiece so the strings clear the back of the bridge which was rather high because they all cleared well except for the high E. I opted to top wrap the strings. Long story short, I had the action feeling good, string tension was tight and felt good...i had some great tones dialed in and the notes and harmonics and pick-ups...she was dialed in and life was just about perfect. I love the neck, the body shape, cherry red, inlays...control layout and tone, feel and playability. I went back for another session later and as I'm playing a little before I turn the amp on I felt the treble string B and E sound really tinny, metallic and loose although they were in tune. There was a noticeable difference in feel with the tension and bending and tone. Saddles all appeared in place, everything else was the same as when I was enjoying it earlier. I did some aggressive bending, like regular 2 fret bends so nothing crazy but I do like to bend and vibrato...can't help but think I upset something and really have no idea what because it's a pretty straightforward bridge design and not really a lot to mess with. It almost felt like the saddles dropped a fraction and lost their tension and mojo. I thought I'd restring the guitar and so I did. I went back to regular restring, no top wrap and the looseness was even worse. Especially around the 5th fret high E where it felt could easily slip off the fretboard where as when I was playing before, I loved that the high E stayed on the board nicely and I was very fond of the neck and tension. Of course with high action, I had approximately 1cm of threads showing on the tailpiece which I'm sure didn't help with maintaining a tight feel so I think if I opt for this guitar I would have to stick with top wrapping. Could this have something to do with that spring under the bridge? Is it possible I upset the truss rod with a top wrap and after some playing it increase the forward bow and loosened everything up?