It's an 87 standard Explorer of the time (early ones had an alder body, but mine has maho), med scale, two Grabber pups, Victory style wedgie bridge, off the rack as it came. The other is indeed Mark's foster child, now safely in ze Reich. I had expected the difference to be more stark, but the older Ex sounds the best it has ever, no doubt due to using 110er strings (an idea I copped from Rob who does this on his Hobbits). But of course, the med scale has harmonic limits, especially on the E where it cannot really compete with its new long scale sibling.