Epiphone Explorer Gothic Series Un-Metalling (refinish)

refuogee · 2012-09-17T11:56:05+00:00

Sooo I have had an Epiphone Explorer Gothic series for awhile now, it was my second guitar, bought in my second year of playing way back around 2003. I bought it purely for aesthetic as young players often do which is good because the special edition guitars generally tend to have better specs than their entry level counterparts. A couple years later I purchased another guitar, this time an Epiphone Zakk Wylde of the camo variety, once again falling in love with the aesthetic of the guitar, the Zakk Wylde became my workhorse and the Explorer was banished to its case only coming out in times of reminisce and then recently I lent it to the singer of my band to start his guitar journey. As a result of it being with my singer I often played it when I was at his place and realised what a badass guitar it really is. The fretboard is made for shredding, I am not a shredder but the ease of getting around the board made me think that with a few upgrades this guitar could become a beast. Along with the stock pups being of lesser quality I also wasn't happy with the finish, I felt the black was too 'metal' for my current music and aesthetic sensibilities. I had seen a number of refinishing projects here on the forum and had wanted to undertake a refinishing project of my own and thought well now this could be awesome. And just to be clear by undertaking a refinishing project I mean send it to a pro ? Enter Neon Gecko who has a name in real life, it is Wayne. I had seen Neon Gecko pop up with reference to other people's refinishing projects and so he was the first person I turned to. Wayne is one hell of a nice guy. After contacting him on the forum I popped over to his place on a Saturday guitar in hand with not much of an idea of what I wanted. Initially I thought maybe that SG red or something but didn't really know what to expect as I knew and still do know very little about the dark arts of refinishing a guitar. Wayne's knowledge is amazing, I am sure many of you see guitars made out of mahogany, basswood, maple caps etc etc and wonder what the hell does it all mean. Wayne can tell you. He was also happy to share the info and answer all my questions about which woods make for warmer sounds and whats the best wood for rock n roll etc. Ok so Wayne explained how paints work and how undertones can shine through and showed me catalogs of paint as well as other guitars he had done to give me ideas of what was possible build an idea of what I wanted. After our discussion I vaguely settled on a burgundy burst however this depended on what the wood looked like so we first had to check what lurked beneath the Explorer's black metal veneer. Wayne scraped the paint off and now there was no going back... I hadn't researched the guitar before going to Wayne so initially he thought it was Basswood, upon checking up Epiphone claim the wood to be mahogany and upon further research by Wayne it turns out to be an african cousin of mahogany which is called Korina hence the name of the original Explorers and is also known as Limba for all you woodophiles ? I left the guitar in Wayne's capable hands and he sent me these pics of the guitar sanded down... As you can see the Korina is a beautiful wood, very attractive, Wayne assures me with a little stain and clear coats the woods finish will 'pop' even more. Body: Headstock: Looking damn fine to me!! What do you guys think? Burgundy burst? Wayne tells me to wait for the stains and coats of clear before we settle on a colour. I am sure Wayne can chip in with his experience as well as if any of you have questions fire away.

deefstes

singemonkey wrote Well, if it's being "un-metalled" lose the black hardware. Chrome, or nickel if you like it to wear (I do).
Defo agree!

singemonkey wrote White guard, black pickup rings, bone nut, a lightweight aluminium tailpiece. Covered hums. Gold bell knobs.
I'd be able to survive without most of those but I also feel the white pick guard looks way better than black.

Compare this:

with this:

No contest.

ZarK

Sho... Those pics confirm I still much prefer the black, personally... So tempted by an Explorer now. ?

refuogee

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I think for now just for costs sake I am going to stick with black as the hardware etc is all black, if it looks weird or I don't like it I wont hesitate to change it.

Glad to see the Explorer giving some GAS its an awesome guitar, I am looking forward to playing it in my band!!

deefstes

refuogee wrote Thanks for all the feedback guys. I think for now just for costs sake I am going to stick with black as the hardware etc is all black, if it looks weird or I don't like it I wont hesitate to change it.

Glad to see the Explorer giving some GAS its an awesome guitar, I am looking forward to playing it in my band!!

Dude, regardless of which scratch plate and hardware you put on it, that finish you have there is simply gorgeous! I think it's gonna be a beaut either way.

ZarK

deefstes wrote
refuogee wrote Thanks for all the feedback guys. I think for now just for costs sake I am going to stick with black as the hardware etc is all black, if it looks weird or I don't like it I wont hesitate to change it.

Glad to see the Explorer giving some GAS its an awesome guitar, I am looking forward to playing it in my band!!
Dude, regardless of which scratch plate and hardware you put on it, that finish you have there is simply gorgeous! I think it's gonna be a beaut either way.

+1 Any colour pick guard is good as long as its black! ? ...just kidding, of course. ?

Great looking axe!

refuogee

Thanks so much guys, the feedback has been awesome and made putting the pics up so worth it.

Anyone tried the Generators from ToneRider? Any thoughts?

I'll know soon enough, I should be getting this back this weekend although Wayne did tell me that my frets need attention so maybe I'll have some more pics up with regards to fret refinishing.

ftcl

Whoa! That's looking amazing. And I'm sure the pics are not doing it justice...

singemonkey

I have to admit that the pic Deefstes posted does have me thinking that the black pickguard with gold hardware looks pretty damn good. ?

Someone must know about generators? Out with it.

nicovlogg

refuogee wrote Thanks so much guys, the feedback has been awesome and made putting the pics up so worth it.

Anyone tried the Generators from ToneRider? Any thoughts?

Beautiful guitar man. Very rock and roll.

While I think ToneRiders are really great to start you out on replacement pickups, I don't think the Generators are their best set. I replaced mine with the Alnico IV's. The Rocksongs are also pretty good, depending on whether you want that Alnico II tone.

refuogee

So its been a little while since the last pics, in that time Wayne refretted the guitar and set me a new bone nut, its done and I'll probably get it tomorrow ? I cant wait to hear her sing!!

I love it, if I could change anything it would be to have no pickguard but the electrics cavity is underneath so no go on that but otherwise, aesthetically speaking I am amazed, it is beautiful!!! ? ? ? ? ?

singemonkey

It's looking fantastic. Un-metalling WIN.

If I were to change anything, it'd be nickel/chrome hardware including pickup covers. ?

flatfourfan

whoa...........I want to have a torrid affair with that guitar.......

well done......kudos to you......This build has made me decide that when I do my explorer build, I want to route all the cabling out back. That exp would look great without the scratchplate.

deefstes

Jeepers, I can't get over that awesome wood finish and the sunburst works brilliantly.

flatfourfan

deefstes wrote Jeepers, I can't get over that awesome wood finish and the sunburst works brilliantly.

X2, I was a bit unsure of the headstock at first, but I dunno, I don't think that I would do it any other way.

ZarK

Great idea executed well! She looks absolutely fantastic!! Congrats! ? ?

slyd

Such a beautiful interchange of colours in the bursts . . . ?

psyx

Congrats man! She's a beauty!

Norman86

Far king hell!!! That is BEAUTIFUL! Wow!

proze

Stunning! Agree on the chrome hardware and pup covers... that would *really* set it off!

Nicholas-L

Is looking nice yes. ?

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