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Identify Gibson Explorer


Alexandru

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Posted

Hello guys!

I got this Explorer in a trade but it seems fake to me.

I can't find any pictures on the internet with a similar pots alignament.

Do you have any opinions?

Thank you!

post-64633-018570000 1467484540_thumb.jpg

post-64633-080318500 1467484544_thumb.jpg

Posted

Hello guys!

I got this Explorer in a trade but it seems fake to me.

I can't find any pictures on the internet with a similar pots alignament.

Do you have any opinions?

Thank you!

Posted

Did you do a serial number search? Check the site Reverb.com. . There seems to be an influx of MIJ Gibsons most are not cheap for the MIJ market ..the serial number if MIJ will have Japanese characters if Nashville plant serial number will confirm run & specs

Posted

Hello and welcome to this nice place in the web. [thumbup]

 

Some more detailed pics of higher resolution would be helpful, but from what I see this Explorer looks basically real to me. Perhaps she has been refinished. There have been Gibson Explorers of smaller size like yours that have come with this pots placement. I'm not sure though if they made some in red.

 

To show hi-res pics here it is best to upload them to an account created at a provider like photobucket and link them into your related post.

 

Hope this helps.

 

EDIT: They made X-Plorer Studio guitars in the early 2000's with basswood body and ceramic mini humbuckers. They were available in red, too. Perhaps this one was routed for and retrofitted with full-size humbuckers.

Posted

This looks just like that red one in terms of spec and they do list a Studio Red as a colour..

http://www.guitar.com.au/guitars/electric/gibson/dsxs.html

 

 

http://archive.gibson.com/Press/Namm03/xplorerstudio.html

 

Gibson USA's X-plorer Studio brings new colors to scaled-down body

 

Gibson USA's new X-plorer Studio brings a wider variety of finishes and a new level of affordability to guitarists who have embraced the slightly scaled-down body size that Gibson introduced with the X-plorer Pro at Summer NAMM 2002. The X-plorer Studio's body is 90 percent of the classic Gibson Explorer, which makes for a more balanced, ergonomic fit with the player.

 

Mattias Jabs, lead guitarist for German rock band the Scorpions, is known for playing Gibson Explorers, and he was one of the first to try out the new size. "You grab a guitar, and you either like it or you don't," Jabs explained during a visit to the Gibson USA factory last summer. "This one is sympathetic to my playing; it rings well and it sounds good."

 

The X-plorer Pro, which differs from the Studio by way of a maple top cap and more elaborate ornamentation, won Guitar Player magazine's Editors' Pick Award. "When you're wearing the Pro, this reduction in size is most felt - and most welcome - in the smaller 'wing' that resides under your strumming arm," wrote reviewer Jude Gold in GP's February 2003 issue.

 

The X-plorer Studio comes in an array of new metallic finishes including Studio Blue, Studio Copper, Studio Green, Studio Red and Studio Yellow. The model is also available with an FSC-certified (Forest Stewardship Council) swamp ash body and satin finish to augment the natural wood beauty.

Posted

Did you do a serial number search? Check the site Reverb.com. . There seems to be an influx of MIJ Gibsons most are not cheap for the MIJ market ..the serial number if MIJ will have Japanese characters if Nashville plant serial number will confirm run & specs

 

Really? I've never heard of a Gibson made in Japan with Japanese characters in the serial number.

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