Gibson Explorer EXP 425 Panther Pink 1986 Electric Guitar

This is a Gibson Explorer EXP 425 Electric Guitar in Panther Pink finish. Made in the USA in 1986, this guitar consists of a Mahogany body, a Maple neck, and a 22-fret Ebony fingerboard. Other appointments include Black Hardware, Grover tuners, a Kahler Flyer Tremolo system, and a locking nut. The pickups installed are a Dirty Fingers humbucker in the bridge position, and two Gibson Single Coil pickups in the neck and middle position. These pickups are wired to a master volume (push/push coil-split), a master tone, and three mini-toggle pickup on/off switches.

The Maple neck plays exceptionally well, with the ‘C’ profile offering a smooth and responsive playing experience across the register. Certainly on the slim side, the profile is well suited to fast lead playing and technical riffing. That said, there is enough substance to the neck to sustain a firm grip for chordal and rhythm playing. The luxurious Ebony of the fingerboard is pleasant under the fingers, and with the traditional Gibson 12” radius bending and vibrato techniques are very well accommodated. Still looking very striking even today, the guitar is well balanced in both standing and seated positions.

The pickups in this guitar offer a great versatile sound, they produce a mixture of sparkly tones with a hint of a darker undertones, whilst retaining clarity with each note. The Dirty Fingers humbucker in the bridge provides a full driving mid range with the best natural harmonic overtones, and a top end that produces a crunchy edge. The Gibson single-coil in the middle position produces a smooth single coil sound with more output and more mids, providing bright trebles and full warm bass, and lends itself well to rhythm tones. The Gibson single-coil in the neck position provides a warm, rounded sound, offering a smooth tone that handles distorted tones as well as it handles clean tones. The coil split push/push switch allows the user to get a single-coil sound out of the humbucker, adding extra versatility for the player to explore.