Gibson [Explorer Series] Explorer '76 Reissue - Tobacco Sunburst user reviews ( 10/10) - 2 user reviews

• 09/28/11

  iamqman's review "Just pure rock n roll!!!"

  Characteristics

  The Gibson Explorer guitar is a funny looking guitar at first glance. If you've been looking at Fender Stratocaster's or Gibson Les Paul's or anything like that then looking at a Gibson explore guitar would be a little bit unique. You can associate these guitars with hard rock or metal or even hair metal from the 80s but it is a fantastic and pretty versatile guitar. It was the guitar that the Egde from the band U2 first owned when the band started out playing back in the late 70s. So even mild moderate rock bands could pull off this kind guitar look on stage. It almost looks like half a lightning bolt in a way.

  Utilization

  It features two humbucker pick ups the couple volume knobs and a tone control knob. This is pretty standard and most Gibson guitars and the features wise don't really deviate from guitar instrument to instrument. It has a nice balance overall and feel to this guitar. He probably wouldn't expect that because of the unique shape in unusual body and neck appearance. It features mahogany wood in the body and in the neck as well as rosewood fretboard. So the materials used is pretty much the same for every Gibson guitar whether that be a Gibson Les Paul and SG, and this guitar.

  Sounds

  The tone of this guitar is very reminiscent of a Gibson Les Paul guitar because of the warm thick tones that it produces. It also cleans up pretty well which is surprising because of how big this guitarist body is. It seems to be a little bit awkward when you look at it but when you have it on a guitar strap and you're playing it doesn't really feel unbalanced. So if you use this guitar with a high gain amplifier of some sort you'll going to get a good rock 'n roll tone that can be very thick and juicy. If you play with a clean tone then you will still going to need to use a compressor or something of some sorts to really get the chime that you want this guitar. It can be very difficult to play any type of clean guitar tones with this instrument just because of the thick warm mahogany wood that is used throughout the instrument.

  Overall Opinion

  I recommend this guitar to anyone is looking for an alternative to Gibson SG or a Gibson Les Paul guitar. They usually float around the used sections for right around thousand dollars or so and they're pretty easy to find. They're not as common as a Gibson SG or Les Paul but they're pretty easy to find. They're a fun instrument and a great rock 'n roll guitar. If you're into music such as Metallica and you've probably seen this guitar used by James Hetfield number of times.
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• 07/20/11

  tjon901's review "76 Reissue Explorer in a rare finish"

  Characteristics

  Everyone is familiar with the Explorer shape. It has been popular since it was first reissued in 1976. They were first sold in the late 50s as part of Gibsons Futuristic line. The design was too radical for the time and did not sell well. It was first reissued in 1976 where it instantly became popular. Then in the early 90s where was a reissue of the 76 reissue and that is the guitar still made today. The Tabacco Sunburst finish is one of the rarer finishes from the 1976 reissue. Most of the guitars came in the standard red, white and black. The sunburst finish looks especially cool on this guitar since the body is so big. They have 22 frets on a mahogany neck with a rosewood fretboard. The body is mahogany as well Two humbucking pickups which are a Gibsons own 496R and 500T models. Two volume and one master tone control with a 3 way toggle switch pickup selector. It has a pickguard that contains the switch and covers all the routing for the wires.

  Utilization

  The Explorer is a pretty easy playing guitar. They usually have nice 60s profile necks which are not super large. The shape allows you to get at all the frets very easily. The radical shape gives the guitar perfect balance when playing sitting or standing. Which this shape however you cant really lean the guitar on anything. You will need a stand or a case. And if you get a case it will have to be an Explorer case because this guitar wont just fit in any case.

  Sounds

  Any good Explorer will have a huge tone. Explorers have more of a Les Paul tone than Les Pauls do nowadays thanks to chambering. The big wide mahogany body gives you a super fat tone that you want with a Gibson. With the uncovered pickups you really get more bite on the tone than you would with the covers on. These are pretty generic Gibson pickups so they are decent but not really great at anything. If you put a set of Seymour Duncans in this guitar you could really take advantage of the huge natural tone this guitar has. EMG's would do the same if you are looking for a purely metal sound.

  Overall Opinion

  Many people get tired of guitars coming in the same colors. Black, white and red over and over again. It is nice that Gibson is putting out a reissue with some of the more unique colors that they put out in the 70s. The 70s is probably my favorite era for guitar making. The big companies were still trying to innovate unlike now where they are just bending over to traditionalists. If you are looking for an Explorer that comes in a color other than black, white or red this is probably the cheapest one that isnt. Any others will probably be signature models.
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