Impulse purchase - Epi Explorer

[gearHed289]

The Explorer has landed! Man, this thing is practically untouched. No typical dings on the points or anything. Case is in great shape too, and seems a good bit smaller than the Gibson monstrosity. She's a featherweight, but wow, what a fat neck! Mark has mentioned these necks being chunky, and he is absolutely correct. First step is to fix the pickguard situation, then I'll decide if I'm doing anything else to it. Gotta hear it plugged in, but she's not going home for a while. Got a bunch of stuff to sell first. 

[uwe]

Body size is same as on the 80ies Gibsons, but the neck is longer (those were medium scale) and the headstock smaller. The Gibsons had gigantic headstocks.

Sticking TB Plus pups into these will work wonders.

[TBird1958]

The Explorer has landed! Man, this thing is practically untouched. No typical dings on the points or anything. Case is in great shape too, and seems a good bit smaller than the Gibson monstrosity. She's a featherweight, but wow, what a fat neck! Mark has mentioned these necks being chunky, and he is absolutely correct. First step is to fix the pickguard situation, then I'll decide if I'm doing anything else to it. Gotta hear it plugged in, but she's not going home for a while. Got a bunch of stuff to sell first. 

 I like the shape - just couldn't get on with the neck. Maybe one of those Ibanez thingies 

[uwe]

You and your girlie hands.

[TBird1958]

You and your girlie hands.

 Just two of my many gifts 

[gearHed289]

Uwe, when you got the fungus top applied, did you have the neck shaved, or leave it stock? There sure seems like a lot of excess material along the edges. Very hard D shape.

[uwe]

One man's excess wood is another man's hard-on! I believe that neck - along with the curious, non-descript soft-spongy wood which sounds great - is part of the bass' secret of success which is why it never even occured to me to slim it down. The Gibson Exis of the 80ies had same size and thickness bodies, but the maple necks - as was en vogue at the time - were thinner (being maple they could be and still be stable) and, of course, medium scale. They have, however, even when played unplugged none of the authority of the Epi. I believe the bass will lose in sound if you mess with the neck. Be a man for Chrissssakes and get a hold of yourself!



Girls shave! 

[TBird1958]

 It's never a bad thing to keep the Poodle trimmed!


Sometimes I get a hold of myself left handed - feels like someone else 

[uwe]

You, young lady, stay out of this! You gave him ideas in the first place.

I'm surrounded by people either sawing innocent TBirds or shaving necks ...

[gearHed289]

I'm assuming the neck is maple, but with that nice thick coat of shiny black paint, who knows?

And for those keeping score - Alpha 500K pots, Epiphone toggle switch, and no name output jack.

I got the pickguard cleaned up and ready for a top coat of black (leaving the w/b/w edges intact).

[Highlander]

... I'm surrounded by people either sawing innocent TBirds or shaving necks ...

Ah, the lawyer speaks with spalted tongue... gets others to do his Devilry...

[uwe]

I'm assuming the neck is maple, but with that nice thick coat of shiny black paint, who knows?

Not on mine (with Epi, there can always be product alterations over time), my luthier finished neck and back of body with a translucent grey-brownish fin (these days you would probably call it a nude tone), you see the grain well, it is exactly the same on both neck and body. Same type of wonderwood (my luthier said it was some kind of limba, dent-prone as hell, but with acoustic qualities even he found commendable). So maybe there is a reason why they made the neck so phat. The way the neck reacts too, it can't be maple, not stiff enough. Given its thickness, if this was a maple neck you could apply for the Yankees or Dodgers with it.

The 80ies Gibsons had maple necks. The combo with the maho bodies (early models had alder) was less than charming.

[gearHed289]

Same type of wonderwood (my luthier said it was some kind of limba, dent-prone as hell, but with acoustic qualities even he found commendable). So maybe there is a reason why they made the neck so phat. The way the neck reacts too, it can't be maple, not stiff enough. Given its thickness, if this was a maple neck you could apply for the Yankees or Dodgers with it.

Interesting. So with this thick poly finish, it's sort of boutique, like the original Parker Fly. Hard coating over soft wood. 

Yankees... Dodgers... I was thinking of putting a Blackhawks decal on the dorsal fin to go with the hockey stick headstock. 

[uwe]

I have a Parker Fly Bass (always loved the shape of these) with the "carbon stocking" over the wood content on the neck. It's not a bad idea, giving the bass the uncanny tone eveness of a graphite neck (every note, no matter where played, has the same character, like a keyboard almost) with some wood warmth. That bass is totally assertive but not quite as brutal as my Status Stealth II. In comparison, the Epi Explorer is a cuddly bear oozing warmth.

[gearHed289]

Better with black...