Epiphone Explorer

I bought this guitar in 2007, it was brand new. 22 frets, two volume and one tone knob, 3-way selector located in the "horn". Two passive humbucker pickups, tune-o-matic bridge and grover tuners. Body is made of korina and set neck is mahogany.

Neck is guite thick, it is sturdy but maybe not a good choise for fast soloing. Do you know any explorer-using solo guitarist? For a rhythm and riff player like me this neck fits just fine.

My guitar is a '58 reissue, it's gloss black with white pickguard and golden (=brass) metal parts.

The guitar didn't include any accessories, but I bought a Matchbax Gig bag with it, which is quite handy, as you can't use ordinary bag (for strat, les paul etc.) with this body type.

I different types of music, mostly metal and sometimes just open chords. I replaced the stock pickups with X2N and Humbucker From Hell, and the sound changed pretty much. The stock pickups were OK, but since I already had an X2N lying around I couldn't resist the temptation to try it on my axe :) X2N is more nastier than the original Epiphone bridge pickup and the HFH is much, MUCH brighter than what was in the neck position.

The factory set-up was good, the strings are pretty low so it's easy to play. Yet I haven't needed to adjust anything on my guitar. I'm planning to change the bridge to a black one, and maybe that would be a good time to give it to some guitar techician to be adjusted if needed. The strings sometimes hit the frets and rattle a bit, but I think that's less worse than having the strings too high.

The guitar didn't contain any bigger flaws when I got it. The frets aren't finished too well, so they feel a bit sharp as they overlap the neck a bit. Not enough to break your skin or hurt, but if you really try they can leave a small scratch. But nothing that would make playing more difficult or would look bad.

This is an Epiphone, not a Gibson, so I didn't expect top quality, but I'm more than satisfied with the finish of this guitar.

This guitar is very solid. I haven't never dropped it or mistreated it badly, but I think it would handle them as it is quite sturdy.

The hardware seems to lose some of it's gloss after a year, but they still look great. Also the parts of bridge that are in contact with my hand when I'm palm muting, seem to turn silver.

I have never snapped a string with this guitar, although I play guite hard. The stock strings were on my guitar for like 10 months, and I played almost daily. I changed them for minimizing the risk for old strings to snap in the middle of a gig.

When gigging, I would and do have a backup guitar, but mainly because I have changed the pickups myself, and I'm not an electrician :) I always have a backup if possible when gigging, but if I had to play a gig without a backup with this guitar (stock), I wouldn't be too worried.

Never dealt with Epiphone's customer support.

I have dealt with Thomann Cyberstore's customer support when my effect board arrived broken, and the service worked just fine.

I have been playing for 4-5 years now, and this is my third electric guitar. My previous guitar was LTD M-50, and this is lighyears ahead of it in quality, playability, action, looks, all! This is the best guitar I have owned so far. With it I use Zoom G7.1ut usually with lots of distortion.

I loved this guitar mainly for it's body shape. It looks cool, and it is easy to play when sitting down also. There is one big problem with the body shape, tough. When it's hanging on a strap on your neck, and you let go of it, the headstock falls down. It doesn't hit the floor, but it needs some learning, as you must hold the guitar at least with one hand all the time it's on you neck. Maybe a wide leather strap would have enough friction to hold it still? I use a nylon one and it is quite slippery.. It is not heavy at all to hold the neck up, and when you are playing you automaticly hold it up and it doesn't disturb at all. When not playing you just need to hold the neck or press down the back of the body.

Another thing that sometimes worries me but has never failed, is the strap button in the neck side of the body. It is pointing up a little bit, so at first I was worried if the strap will last there, but it has always worked fine. The heads of my nylon strap are though leather, so they are stiff enough to hold. Straplocks would be great for this guitar, and maybe I purchase a pair some day.

As I mentioned before, my Explorer is a '58 reissue, so in stock condition it looked "old" (as it was supposed to). However, I like more "modern" looking guitar, so I made a new black pickguard and changed the pickups (for sound mostly, but also for looks too :). I plan to chance the rest of the hardware and brass screws to black ones, and maybe the white saddle too. There was no gothic explorer in Thomann Cyberstore when I bought this one, but if it would have been I maybe would have chosen the gothic one.

I really liked this guitar. It sounded great, and it looked really nice. But the things that I didnt like (which made me sell it) was the weight and the thickness of the neck.

Together with my hardcase the guitar weight about 12kg (which is really much for a guitar in a hardcase). Then the neck. It was really thick, so after a short time of playing, the fingers started to hurt.

Another thing that I didnt like was the controls. The selector was good. But the other controls was very bad. It was four of them, and all of them seemed to be connected to the volume in some kind of way. So if you was going to play live and to turn down your volume in a break, you had to turn all four down to get complete silence. And then when you where going to play, you had to turn all of them upp again. And that cant be done fast. Very boring.

It sounds great. This on fits to all kind of music.

No opinion.

I think that the durability of this guitar is well. It is very stable and it is working really well. But I am not sure about the reliability. The wood where the strap buttons is set, is very sensitive and the strap buttons can easily drop from the body. I dont think that the guitar will last very long, because of the weight and the thickness of the neck. If you are going to play a gig for at least an hour with this guitar on hour shoulders... then your good!

No opinion.

I can recommend this very much. But only as a guitar for a beginner. If you are a more professional guitarplayer, pleas buy a Gibson Explorer instead. Even though they cost more, it is defenitely worth it!

I bought this some time in october 2004, this was my second guitar...the first one i ever bought, Korina Model with the gold hardware and all, natural finish, The neck has a very good feel to it...This is really worth getting =)

This thing suits my style well, i play metal music so this includes "Metallica, Megadeth, Iron Maiden, helloween, and the stuff my band makes" so yeah this fits, well when not jamming with friends i use a crappy 15 watt silvertone amp, i use a metal zone aswell ...i know i know its shit, but im getting a 100 watt marshall soon, so that will become better, This has a sound thats hard to explain it has a very grundge sound...all good...love the sound

guitar was set up fine, action was good, but i lowered it a bit, nothing wrong i cant think of any time something was wrong with this...everything was in working order :)

i have used this alot...i have used this live onced and not one problem and everyone loved the radical body shape, well the gold has started to fade on mine...but if you keep it clean it's sure to last, I have used this the most out of my other guitars...i have played alot and everything is great except the hardware is starting to fade like i stated above, i depend on it alot and i would deffinatly gig without a backup

never delt with

i have been playing for 2 years non-stop because i dont have much to do so basically imagine me sitting on a bed practising for like a whole day straight and i am alot better than others who play that i know off...and im 15, if this were stolen i wouldnt buy another one because i recently just bought an ESP EXP-200 like james hetfield my hero, i just love the sound and i play this low because im a pretty tall kid...so yeah i love playing it low like james hefield and the sound KICKS ASS...Rock on everyone

Fairly stock Korina Explorer (X-Plorer?) '70s model, 22 frets, HH, 2 volume, 1 tone, all the usual really.

Came in a box, woo hoo, and as im in Australia and the Explorer is an odd shape, tracking down a case became... difficult to say the least, so in the end it became easier to buy a Jackson case and butcher it with a stanley knife untill it fitted my precious baby.

all in all, the ability to chage the volume of each pickup is handy, and yeh.. 10, couldnt really ask for more

This guitar is one of the most thick and rich sounding guitars i have ever played.

now, having said that, this was my first electric guitar, so im gunna have a bond to every feature of it no matter what. and as i grew and developped in taste an skill i did change the pickups from the stock ones, which are fine really, although the neck pickup didnt have enough output or general clean qualities so yeh.

anyway i changed them to the Gibson 496R and 500T. which make a difference, obviously.

so yeh, as my guitar tavels, id rate the quality up in the 8 or 9 range. but my guitar isnt what Joe funny will get down at billy hyde for 800 gold pieces, so i have to rate it 6, as the factory standard neck pickup wont meet even amature level.

fine, i guess, at the time i bought i must say i didnt know the right questions to ask, so looking back on it, the neck wasnt in the best nick, and the nut was at a serious angle.

all that cause a bit of rattle and hum, and i havent got it finished, simply cos it hasnt really affected, for me, the way it handles. mind you some people pick it up and refuse to continue to play because of that.

so all in all, for an epiphone fine, for a guitar mabye not so fine, 7.

this guitar does with stand live playing, thats a bench tested fact, it drags a marshall mg50 dfx (forgive me tone gods, it doesnt know better, actually not so bad) through a live show. Will around for as long as i treat it well.

having said that i have noticed the neck pick up has cut out, which is a problem, a big god damn problem, i really should get it check. hasnt died on me yet, but i worry bout the dependance i can have on it.
that may be the fault of the stoners that put the new pick ups in there.
so, 7.

the shop i brought it from Gallins Guitars on chapel street in melbourne, seem to be a terrible mob, they are meant to be THE gibson dealer in australia. but seem to suck male genitals. i wont buy there again, unless bizare circumstance arise. they pushed me into buying it, even though im glad to own it. then when i took it to them for advice on the condition that the neck and nut were in, they told me were to go, so i told them where to go, but it was there shop :(

as for epiphone, dunno, never dealt with them dont speak such good Korean.

so for epiphone N/A,
for Gallins Guitars, 1, and thats gotta be the face of it.

This guitar is great, so great i, for a time have focuse on playing the Explorer and my American Fender Stratocaster. While its a great guitar i do one day plan on replacing with a Gibson one, only for Live Play simply for the supperior build quality and by asociation, reliability.
However if you dont treat your guitars mean, and mabye have another 3 or 400 bucks around to upscale your pickups, guitarists of all levels should not be discouraged from purchasing this guitar.

O MAN!!! this guitar is one of my favories....its been with me through thick. Basically for you that dont know its a 22 rosewood fret boad on a mahogany neck, a korina body, and its got 2 volume and 1 tone controls. Mine has the natural finish, and it looks stunning with the gold hardware. The grover tuners never come out of tune, its got a gibson tune o matic and stop tailpiece, but i bet it would be kickin with a bigsby style trem.

its totally awesome for my music styles. I play lead for a few semi pro level bands and play any where from hard rock to acoustic simulations. I play it through Peavey amps, my favorite combo being a studio pro being pushed thru a randall cab, and i play with korg toneworks pedal board, and a MXR dimebag distortion pedal. I just picked up a Jimi Hendrix cry baby and it sounds amzing. The stock pickups were ok, i quickly replaced them with EMGs, then a gibson '57 in the neck and a burstbucker in the bridge, finally setteling with a burstbucker in the neck and a tommi iommi signature in the bridge

factory set up was ok, but i customize all my guitars, even my les pauls, i cant settle with a stock guitar for some reason.. its just me trying to find my tone

its deffently reliable, but i always use a backup. I use it live, and its one of my favorites, i play 2 more gibson les pauls, and an ESP kirk hammet, and this one is one of the best. Its built like a rock

its an awesome guitar for the price, and just in general

2003 Korean Model
22 Frets - pearl dots
Solid Korina body, I think
2-vol 1-tone, HH
*new* Gibson designed pups, passive
Gloss Black, Gold Hardware, Grovers, Tune-o-matic\
mother of pearl "Epiphone" inlay on headstock, set neck

I play vary varied styles of music, blues, rock, folk, even an occasional "new" hit (ya just gotta love early Weezer"). With my guitars, I also use a Line 6 Spider 2. For me, this guitar sang to me, it just sounds right. I can get my Claptonesque tones in the middle position, but as soon as the gain is turned up, you can get 80's hair metal, metallica,Weezer, and everything in between. It can get a little muddy sometimes at low low volumes, but I don't play quietly, and I really think this puppy suits me perfectly.

The action was decent, it was a little high, but some new stings and setup fixed that. The pickups seem to be adjusted perfectly, and the finish of the guitar is really good, especially for black. Though I know that the gold harware will soon fade and look bad, thats how Epiphones can be cheaper and still sound good, so i guess I'll just upgrade the hardware later (except the tuners, they are some of the best I have owned, better than my American Strat).

This guitar seems really hardy. I think it will last a good while. As for the stage, I will definitely use it, but not without a backup (not that its a bad guitar, ya just never know what could happen). The finish looks bulletproof, and the guitar does seem to be very dependable. BUT the strap buttons are not my choice at all, they would be fine if they were better placed, but the neck button is angles towards your head, and I am really afraid my strap will slip off. So strap locks are a must.

Never dealt, never will. This guitar aint gonna break.

I've played for 3 years, lovin every minute of it. I own a Martin
D-17, a Fender American Strat, a Takamine Jasmine S-35 (my first guitar), and now this Epiphone. Amps are Line 6 and Marshall. I love this guitar so much it's not even funny. I've named her, take her everywhere I go, and threaten to hurt anyone who hurts her. If it was stolen, I would hunt down the guy who took it, and have him executed. I have played many guitars, owned about a dozen, including 2 Gibsons, 5 fenders, a Taylor 12 string, and now this Epiphone. It's just me. Like a guitar should be, this is a perfect extension of my personality, and I will never sell it.

I think i got this guitar in 99, korean made, 21 frets, 2 tones one volume, stock pus, they sucked, took them out and put duncans in it, much better sounds, classic gibson sound. korona body, maple and rosewood neck. YOu guys know the rest

I loved this guitar in the beggining, it had a great sound for what i played, metallica, etc. but with the gain all the way up, the pu's squealed really bad, unbearalbe, once i got some money i put a duncan jb in the bridge and a duncan 59 in the neck, and let me tell you this thing rocked out after i did that, not only were the metal sounds alot better, the guitar took on a whole new bluesy pure tone with the 59, i really recommend doing this, those epi pu's really do suck, with the epi pu's i give it a 6 but with the duncans a 10

The guitar had a bit of buzzing on the first fret but that was easily taken care of, the finish was great, the gold wears off though after while, the guitar also doesn't go all the way quiet when you turn the volume controls all the way down, minor problems, that can be fixed, i still have to get some of then fixed up.

its definitely reliable and durable. Its alittle tempramental sometimes, like with the input jack, it loosens up really quickly, you need to get that replaced, the selector switch is alittle scewy at times too, noisey. the guitar is alittle nose heavy too. But i think the sound and look of the guitar makes up for everything else.

been playing for about 5 years, my first guitar was a hohner strat copy, then got this one, loved to play metal, perfect guitar for it. But my first love was the blues, and thats what i've gratuated to with this guitar, and it works, it rocks, if it were stolen, i'd probably not get another, but this guitar is my baby, and i'd be really pissed. I'd probably get a gibson les paul. I'm going to get a strat soon too, to continue more with the blues. i compared it to a cheap washburn dimebag at the time i was buyin it, the epi was alot better.

This guitar looks beautiful. I have the Korina Explorer, which has the natural wood with an ultra-high gloss finish. Two independent volume controls and one master tone. 3-way switch for the dual humbuckers. Aged gold hardware looks nice and gives the guitar a vintage look. It has a Tune-O-Matic bridge, which is my favorite. I got the guitar with its original case, which is also great.

This guitar sounds excellent. You can play anything from jazz to rock on this guitar. It has great warm tones and sounds the best when used with a tubescreamer. I am using this with a Fender Twin Reverb and a Kustom K25-2. Sounds great on both. One of the best guitars you can get if you want to play all types of music. There does seem to be a slight noise problem when cranked all the way up, but you can't notice it if you're using distortion. Therefore it gets an 8 for sound.

Nearly perfect. Everything was set up right. Pickups adjusted correctly, beautiful finish, gold hardware, inlays. This would be a 10, however the input jack was a little loose and I had to get it fixed. It was a very minor problem that was more of an annoyance than a hardware problem. This seems to be common on some Epiphones though.

This is a rock solid guitar. I plan on keeping this guitar forever. This will withstand gigs, outdoors, you name it. The finish seems like it will last the life of the guitar, which will be quite some time.

I have not dealt with them, and probably never will because of the quality of this guitar.

A very solid guitar that is near perfect. Comes very close to the Gibson version of the guitar. If it were stolen or lost, I would go buy another. The only drawback is that if you don't use the right type of distortion/overdrive, it can sound muddy. I suggest trying pedals out with the guitar before you buy them. Otherwise everything is great. A must-have for your guitar collections.

Just read the others for features. No need to repeat.

Ive had this guitar for a year, an Im constaly falling in love and re-falling in love with the sound of it. Its got a great warm jazzy clean tone to it on the neck pick up..Switch it to the bridge and ita a little brighter. I will never get rid of this guitar..EVER!!!
However, the tone is so deep, that when you play clean or distorted on the low stings the deep sounds kind of get muddled..dont get me wrong, the deep sound is GREAT, but gets in the way sometime. This is why I am currently in the process of getting a Fender Tele, because it can do things the Explorer cannot, just as the Explorer does things the Tele cannot...Just getting a little more versitlity in my guitar arsenal. THIS IS THE GUITAR FOR HEAVY ROCKIN'. Nice for jazz too, with the really deep warm tone. I plau it through a Randall rg100sc...Loud ass 1200 watter!!!

Fine!! Not perfect, but close enough!

Ive been hammering it for a year straight evey day, its a tank so far.

N/A

Just read my sound review..That will sum it up for you...Beautiful guitar.

It has as much as i could ask for. Duel humbuckers, independant volume controls for each pickup and a master tone (independant tones for each pickup would be nice). The pickup toggle switch is nice and high, good if you wanna toggle between the 2 pickups.

if you want to play some hard rocking music, then this is your guitar. I run it through a zoom gfx 8 with a marshall GFX100 watt amp and the sound that comes out is great, not muddy at all. The neck pickup is deep and warm, although i tend to use the bridge pickup more for a nice bright tone.

I bought the guitar second hand off ebay, and aside from a scratch on the back of the neck that was inflicted by the previouse owner, it was in good condition. Lovely black gloss finish, its like a mirror. The frets are nice and accessable, esp the lower ones. The neck has been cut perfectly, and i find it ideal. My only quibble is the poistion of the neck strap button. Because the guitar is top heavy is slips so im going to place it behind the neck.

As i bought it second hand i dont know what the factory set up was like, but with all guitars, as soon as i get it, I change the action and the pickups to suit myself.

Solid as a rock. The gold plating will wear off eventually but its still adequate. The only thing that concerns me is the position of the top strap button. Until i can get a locking strap it keeps falling off. This aside its fantastic