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Verified Purchaser zZounds has verified that this reviewer purchased this specific product from us.

I had been looking at the 70's Explorers since they came out a few years ago. The regular one with the natural finish can be hard to buy online since Gibson doesn't always seam up the pieces of wood very well, and all of the Classic White ones I saw had developed cracks in the finish near the fingerboard binding and neck joint. I always wanted a black explorer, and this one is perfect! Not a flaw to be found, and I am extremely picky when it comes to factory blemishes.The white pickguard looks great, the matching neck binding adds something that very few explorers ever left the factory with previously, and the gold hardware is reminiscent of the late 70's models that came from the old factory with all-gold hardware. I like that they didn't spec gold speed knobs, and stayed with the black. The cream switch tip is a little odd, so I swapped it out with a bright white one I had to match the other white plastics.The pickups have gold slugs and pole pieces, which is a nice little tribute to the models from the 70's that had gold pickup covers originally. A lot of folks assume these are going to be harsh and unusable pickups, but that is not my impression at all. They are clear and articulate, not bassy or mushy, and don't seem to overpower the front end of an amp much at all - just great tones all around that can easily be dialed back with the volume controls. Great sustain, too.Couldn't be happier with zZounds - I ordered on a Saturday and the guitar was in my hands the next day - a Sunday!!

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Verified Purchaser zZounds has verified that this reviewer purchased this specific product from us.

what can I say about this guitar? The Gibson Explorer, the moment I saw one as a kid instantly knew two things: I wanted to rock, and I wanted to rock with a Gibson Explorer. This is my dream guitar and making this purchase completed a lifelong mission to be a proud owner of this instrument.It is everything that I hoped it would be, and zZounds having the ebony color available made this purchase even easier.I won't go into the nuances of the shape of the explorer. I personally love it, but if you have never played one just realize that it is quite different from more traditionally shaped guitars and some people don't like it. It's not really just a Les Paul with an extreme body shape, the Explorer has always kind of been its own thing. All that said, the quality and construction and finish of this guitar is gorgeous. It is best playing guitar I have and it was like that basically out of the box. The frets are level and glassy smooth and the fret ends are like silk.On the electronics side, it's top notch. I popped the rear cover off and had a look and true to the 70s tribute name Gibson has used vintage style wiring, period correct wire, witch and speed knobs. The tone caps are Sprague/CDE "orange drops" so everything under the hood is top notch stuff.The only small concern I had was about the tonal qualities of the 70s tribute burstbucker pups. These were not valid concerns. They sound amazing and exactly the kind of hot vintage humbucker vibe I was lusting after. Any thoughts of replacing them with something else is gone. It's literally perfect the way it comes.Besides the top notch electronics, the other hardware is the usual Gibson Tune-O-Matic stuff that has awesome sustain and is very solid. The bridge is the newer Gibson style that lacks the retaining wire on the adjustment screws (which I like).The sustain is crazy, the tones are on point, the quality is amazing and I mean....it's a Gibson IFYKYK

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