Epiphone Explorer Bass

I loved the fact that there is a pickup switch. I play gigs where there are times needing SILENCE, and since I only ever use the bridge pickup on a bass, I have used the switch position of neck pickup as a quick mute. The position of the strap buttons is not smart, but strap locks all but eliminate this problem.

The sound is excellent, but sometimes low on volume if you don't use both pickups at the same time. I play through a hartke Kickback, and a Zoom effects pedal. I like it better for the stage, I play in a jam band (I love how it stands out in the african drums, 12 string guitar, maroon strat, and sax. It gives me some easy visual cred) and the bright highs, and crunchy lows blew away my guitarist. in fact, the full sound allows for an easy tranistion between slap hard and soft playing smooth yet noticable.

The bass is a little neck heavy, so a silky strap slips down if you let yours hands go off it for too long. The other thing I noticed was that when your playing sitting down, it rests so that the neck feels shorter, but once you stand up, the F Bb Eb and Ab are a mile away. Its also VERY heavy and the caseis HUGE.

I bought it used, so the origanally glued on bridge was screwed on, and it cut down the cost. On of the things though, the input to the bass is loose, and the patch cord comes out with a lot less effort than any other bass. The bass stays in tune pretty well, but it is very easy for the finish and paint to chip off the wing. There haven't been any real big durabilty tests, the case is excellent, but if you are a buying NEW, try screwing in the bridge, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Buying it used i think voided the warranty, and its hard to find Explorer extras, like a new pickgaurd.

I've been playing bass for 3 years, but I played cello for 8, so I am about the worth of twice my actual experience. I have a fender fretless, and a brownsville acoustic, and this bass is by far the prettiest and most professional. If I lost this, I would either buy another, or get the goth thunderbird (cause its a fun bass to have in a jam band, that plays at churches sometimes.) I love the 3 way switch, and I love the crunchy, dark, and yet grooving sound. I hate worrying anbout the glue on neck, and the patch input. I compared this to several others, and this one by far felt like a real "man's" bass, even to ones twice as expensive. I wish it had a bolt on neck, and a truss rod. Out.

4 string 22 fretted set neck with 2 passive humbucker pickups, lovely glossy black finish. The neck has a gorgeous feel to it that personally makes me want to play for hours and not put the thing down! It has a usefull toggle switch to switch between bass and treble pickups. Only problems I had were a dodgy shoulder strap peg...which kept comming out, but to be honest it's probably better to move the peg around to behind the neck, this greatly improves the balance of the instrument!

I have used a variaty of amps with this bass, from laney to fender, and it always has a very full meaty sound, the treble pick up is almost as punchy as my rickenbacker!, the bass pick up has more a rounded and warm sound, not really suitable to my style but it must come in handy for some people! The humbuckers ensure that it is noise free...and there is plenty of mid, and plenty of bass to boost the sound!

The action was fine from the box, but I profere high action to elimintate some of the fret buzz as I really dig in with my pick! But even with high action bends and pull-offs are a breeze! The nut gave me a few problems, for example actually unlodging and slipping in the middle of a gig, so my G and D stings were actually below the neck and my E and A were in the middle/where the D and G should have been! but a bit of super glue sharply fixed that up and now no problems!...would have been a 9 or a 10 if not for this!

Have had the bass a good while now and still have not needed to adjust the neck or truss rod!...I would gladly take it to a gig as a back up for my rickenbacker! It has been bashed off walls, dropped, you name it! and still plays as sweet as ever! Deffinatly a good investment if you like the appearance (which I love!)...only problems were as mentioned above, the strap peg and nut...but that was easily fixed!

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I love this bass! I often pick it up rather than my rickenbacker and active yamaha basses, if it was stolen, I would be gutted!, not sure about replacing though as I have far too many basses to begin with, but if I only had the yamaha, rickenbacker and this then it would deffinatly be replaced with another!

Basic circuitry (passive electronics), prepare to pay 100 bucks for the case. A mexican made fender has the same options without the $100 case and is drastically cheaper. but man! it looks cool!

Horrible! I run through a SWR SM-400 and goliath 4x10 and a sunn 2x15 cab and it still can't make it sound worth anything. Very midranged tinty sound with a lack of clarity in the low end. Playing past the 5th fret on the E string causes a mud bath. There is really no distinguishing notes. The tone has no body. I play rock but the clarity is not enough to even suit this genre.

Got it new from Epiphone and the setup was poor and intonation was completely out. The nut fell off and the fingerboard was all scratched. The pickups were uneven in height and was so tightly screwed in that removing them was almost imposible. Fret buzz is unavoidable unless you want to raise the actions so high it's like pushing down bridge cables.

tuners always slip and intonation must be set very often. i wouldn't use it on a gig without a backup.

terrible! would not let me return it because epiphone refered to it as a tone preference that was the basis of my wanting to return it.

it looks incredible but not worth the money. if you are buying it used it would be a much better value. i would say it is not worth over $200.

It is a Korean made set neck, 22 fret bass. I'm guessing that the body is korina because that's all they advertise. It is as simple and noiseless as a bass should be. I play it lefty so the knobs, pickguard, and switch are all on top. In a rare occasion I do accidently turn myself down while playing near the bridge. That's about the only inconvenience.

I play rock and blues. It definately does not have the appearance of a blues instrument (but nither does my Dean ML). The pickups sound as good as any Gibson/Epiphone humbuckers should. There is a definate lack of presence compared to Fender Jazz style pickups but there is plenty of mid-range to compensate. The tone knob offers an amazingly wide tonal range. I never use the blend knob on my other bass (Hohner B Bass V) so I am very happy that the Epi comes with a switch.

I got a killer deal on this bass because the store owner dropped it. The paint job is full of dents & scratches. I spent some time inspecting it before I bought it and found that the neck-joint was not comprimised. The action is still super low and buzz free. The pickups are still loud and clear. The body is freaky looking anyway, why not run some gouges in it? It worked for Van Halen!!

It was dropped and it survived!!! What else do I need to say. This bass is built like a ROCK.

I fix my own gear.

This is my second bass and I have three other guitars. While working in a repair shop I have become quite dissapointed in Gibson's/Epi's workmanship. Even though they almost always look solid and pristine on the outside, the internals often expose the work of lazy or ignorant assemblers. This bass could possibly change my mind. It may have been made in Korea, but I see some care taken in the assembly. I have finally found a glue-in neck joint (that's not super vintage) that I could honestly trust.

It's got two covered humbuckers, gold hardware, and a nice glossy black finish.

Great for slap. The sound stays the same between live and in the studio. I have never have problems with noise, but when I want feedback, it gives it to me. I love using the pickup selector as an an/off switch by turning one pickup off (albeit, the electronics can give a little buzz if you don't do it right). It gives a full sound with great lows and highs and average mids.

The pickups were just fine when I bought it. I got mine for cheap cause it has a small chip in the corner, so that's the only flaw on mine. The only thing I adjusted was the string height, but just barely.

Everything seems really solid on this bass. I've played it for about a year and a half and haven't had anything break.

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I've played guitar for 5 years and bass for 3. I have this bass going through a Peavy deltabass head, Crate Bx215 cab, and into a Crybaby wah, Boss Bass Overdrive, and a shitty Danelectro flanger pedal. My favorite feature is the shape! I finally got sick of seeing P-basses and Strats everywhere, so I decided to go with the Hetfield-esque option. I'd like to get black hardware and a black pickgaurd and a flat black finish, but epiphone doesnt make a gothic version that I know of.

Mine was new, I got it off Ebay for $280. List Price is $730 and sale price is around $440. Its made out of Korina wood, which makes it lighter and gives it a punchier tone. It comes with gold hardware (nice), double humbuckers, which are covered, good for Slap Bass. The neck is the same length all the way up the fretboard, which makes the string spacing wider, also good for Slap Bass. It has a standard bridge and speed knobs (1 tone, 2 Volume) and a 3-way selecter. 22 frets. Passive electronics

It has a very punchy sound, and is good for me because I play rock music. It sounds good on my Crate Bx100 and really growls on my Ampeg SVT3. It has a large variety, but always has a hint of twangish treble. It has noiseless pickups.

The finish is a glossy black, and is on the back up the neck, like most gibsons, and is a very fast neck.The action was very low, and the bass came with tools for the bridge and Truss rod. The bass is a treat on stage because the Korina wood makes it about 1/2 the weight of a standard size bass.

Everything has been fine, except for the nut came off when i was playing one day. It was halfway off, being held on by the strings. I just took off the strings and glued it back in.

I have never had to deal with Gibson

Its a great bass for a low price, a better deal than any Carvin, Peavey or Fender basses. It is a nice mid-quality bass, perfect for all players.