RyanLloyd Posted February 28, 2012 Posted February 28, 2012 Hey everyone, I'm currently in negotiations in buying a Gibson Explorer second hand from an individual. He's sent me photo's and I just wanted some expert advice on possibly what model it is, and/or if it's authentic. From the photo's he has sent me, it looks as though there is rusting on the frets and the 'Made in USA' on the back of the head stock seems to be wearing off. It comes with a hard case, and he's asking £450 for it, what do you think?
DestructorsKillMusic1982 Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 Looks completely legit to me, I don't see any red flags or possible issues offhand. Nice finish, I love that transparent dark red. I wouldn't worry about the fading in the serial number (it's a 2005), I'd guess with a finish like that red that is almost a transparent stain that shows the woodgrain, the stain may have not completely gotten into the debossed serial number, causing it to look like that. (My black Explorer has the opposite problem, it has a heavy black finish on it and the paint is so thick around a couple of the digits it's hard to read the number.) Your guitar does appear to have some minor oxidation (some slight chrome pitting on the tuners as well), I'd guess it was probably kept in a damp environment at some point, like a basement, but I think the frets could probably easily be cleaned up and dressed to play. Otherwise, I think it looks like it could be a great find, the buckle rash and light finish scratches look to be minimal. I can't speak to whether the price is good or not, as I'm in the USA (mine cost me $600 used about 3 years ago.) I know some people will disagree with me, but I like the stock ceramic 500T bridge pickup that comes in it, I find it to be excellent through a Marshall for heavy music, and the only change to mine I made was adding a TP-6 fine tuning bridge but that was more for aesthetics (and maybe slightly more sustain) but it's one of the most stock guitars I own, it barely needed a thing. Good luck if you do go for it, I love mine and can't imagine parting with it!
DestructorsKillMusic1982 Posted February 29, 2012 Posted February 29, 2012 Oh and it looks like you'll need a strap with Schaller straplocks, it looks like it has Schaller straplock buttons already installed there. Hopefully the seller will have the strap, if not it's not too expensive to get them (the locks cost me about $15-$20 over here.)
RyanLloyd Posted February 29, 2012 Author Posted February 29, 2012 Looks completely legit to me, I don't see any red flags or possible issues offhand. Nice finish, I love that transparent dark red. I wouldn't worry about the fading in the serial number (it's a 2005), I'd guess with a finish like that red that is almost a transparent stain that shows the woodgrain, the stain may have not completely gotten into the debossed serial number, causing it to look like that. (My black Explorer has the opposite problem, it has a heavy black finish on it and the paint is so thick around a couple of the digits it's hard to read the number.) Your guitar does appear to have some minor oxidation (some slight chrome pitting on the tuners as well), I'd guess it was probably kept in a damp environment at some point, like a basement, but I think the frets could probably easily be cleaned up and dressed to play. Otherwise, I think it looks like it could be a great find, the buckle rash and light finish scratches look to be minimal. I can't speak to whether the price is good or not, as I'm in the USA (mine cost me $600 used about 3 years ago.) I know some people will disagree with me, but I like the stock ceramic 500T bridge pickup that comes in it, I find it to be excellent through a Marshall for heavy music, and the only change to mine I made was adding a TP-6 fine tuning bridge but that was more for aesthetics (and maybe slightly more sustain) but it's one of the most stock guitars I own, it barely needed a thing. Good luck if you do go for it, I love mine and can't imagine parting with it! Yeah I love the finish too! I asked him about the slight rusting on the frets and he said that it is just the strings, but it's not just me is it.. there is rusting on the actual frets? But I'm guessing that can easily be cleaned without it affecting the play ability of the guitar? The other thing that confused me though, after looking at the article on identifying Gibson serial numbers on Gibson.com (http://www.gibson.com/en-us/support/serialnumbersearch/) is that the number should be YDDDYRRR where YY is the year of production, so 2005 on this guitar, DDD is the day it was manufactured so January 23rd, and RRR is the factory in which it was produced. On the back of this explorer it has '493' as the plant number, although on the article it states 'Prior to 1984 when the Kalamazoo, MI factory was closed, the numbers 001-499 indicated Kalamazoo production. Ranking numbers 500-999 continued to indicate Nashville production through 1989. ' How can it be a 2005 model but was made in Kalamazoo, a factory that closed in 1984?
DestructorsKillMusic1982 Posted March 2, 2012 Posted March 2, 2012 I looked at the guide here (http://www.gibson.com/Files/downloads/bluebook/GibsonSERIALNUMBERS.pdf) which I presume is the same one you came across in your searches, and while I saw what you were referring to about the Kalamazoo numbers (1-499) being discontinued in 1984, in the paragraph below that, it also says that "in 1990, Nashville instruments began using 300-999 designations", which I think would explain your number. Not sure if the strings could be causing the fret oxidation, but I'd definitely start by getting rid of them to be sure.
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