Ping Uwe! The Explorer is here!

TBird1958 · December 30, 2011, 03:18:05 PM

The pointy F%&#*@r has arrived on the Northwest coast of the U.S.A.!
Here's a quick shot in front of the snow grime covered Subaru as proof - I'm playing it a bit today and will post some close ups and more thought on Sunday - So far though, I really like it, probably a good indicator of what the proposed Non Reverse will sound like.

godofthunder · December 30, 2011, 03:23:14 PM

Awesome! I'm still on the fence with this one, not a fan of the silver burst. Finish aside that is one cool bass.

TBird1958 · December 30, 2011, 03:33:20 PM

Pics don't do it justice Scott, I was a bit put off by what I'd seen as well - in person however, I like it!

Time to play ze Scorpions!

Grog · December 30, 2011, 04:50:25 PM

Nice!!! I jumped a couple decades when I bought the Les Paul Oversize Goldtop bass, but it's starting to look like Gibson uses the same pickups in everything they make. Even the SG bass has a TB+ pickup disguised as a mudbucker. Am I correct on this??

Prior to buying the 20/20's I was stuck in the sixties & seventies.............

EvilLordJuju · December 30, 2011, 07:45:50 PM

It looks pretty substantial. Is it heavy?

uwe · December 30, 2011, 08:13:17 PM

No chains, cuffs, whips, high heels and gun belts and I see no bass to speak of!

It's the heavy metal kid in me, but I like this shape together with the TBird Rev shape (lore has it that Ray Dietrich patterned his Firebird design after the Explorer because he liked that best of all the Modernist guitars McCarty showed him) and the Ric 4001/4003 shape best in all of bassdom. In a way they are all three a bit Art Deco'ish. And so wonderfully un-Fender.

Barklessdog · December 31, 2011, 05:57:56 AM

Scott's destroyer looks the best in my opinion. It's the chrome.

QuoteEven the SG bass has a TB+ pickup disguised as a mudbucker. Am I correct on this??

in another thread an SG pickup is dismantled to show how it is a bit different than the standard TB pickups.

Dave W · December 31, 2011, 09:09:11 AM

Quote from: Barklessdog on December 31, 2011, 05:57:56 AM

in another thread an SG pickup is dismantled to show how it is a bit different than the standard TB pickups.

It still has the same TB plus coils but widely separated by a spacer. So it doesn't sound the same. But it still shows that Gibson won't put any effort into bass pickups. What a shock.

TBird1958 · December 31, 2011, 09:14:50 AM

Quote from: Barklessdog on December 31, 2011, 05:57:56 AM
Scott's destroyer looks the best in my opinion. It's the chrome.

This is Gibson's special Hemaphrodite hardware. Some chrome, some black