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Went into a local pawnshop today to find a 1985 Gibson Explorer bass hanging on the wall. The store insisted that the bass was legit and they had researched the serial etc. So I bought it for $750- they wouldn't come down a penny on it. I have 30 days to research the guitar- I can get a full refund if it doesn't check out.

So I'm researching these and I'm not seeing any with the lights and switches below the knobs.

I'm seeing that there was a batch of 50 made based on the serial.

The headstock has no Gibson logo but the serial is on the back. I've read that these had gold hardware (not so actually- they have silver standard) so I'm wondering if it's cobbled together and not a real Moderne Explorer.

Additional edit- the neck joint bead looks factory and the finish appears to be original.

Any thoughts?

You may want to contact Gibson for more info on something this rare....their historians might not have a comprehensive history kept on it but there may be a red flag in those pics one way or the other.

I contacted Ovation once about my Tornado which has several irregularities that don't match others I've seen, being as early a model as it is and they were very helpful (or at least friendly about agreeing with my speculations)

With Gibson's customer service and lifetime warranty, I imagine they'd be good about giving you an answer.

Those lights and switches definitely look like a mod. I would definitely get more info on it. It is hot though.

Wicked cool bass! Congrats!

Looks like something the dude from U2 would play...

I did a little digging and found this:
Guitar Info
Your guitar was made at the
Nashville Plant, TN, USA
October 10th, 1985
Production Number: 50

from here: lank

Thanks dezb 1, speedfish, Punkacc9 and Nick. 'mo that should have been the first thing I did- thanks.

From Gibson:

"The color is not the original, judging from the red in the serial number it may have originally been red.
It would have had a Gibson logo on the headstock.
The electronics look to have been altered from original.
I hope this helps let us know if you need anything else.


Gibson Repair"

definitely modded, the switches aren't even hooked up and gibson is so fucking traditional they would never put fucking lights in there. how do the lights get power anyway?

most likely still worth $750 though.

Sloan wrote:definitely modded, the switches aren't even hooked up and gibson is so fucking traditional they would never put fucking lights in there. how do the lights get power anyway?

most likely still worth $750 though.

Yeah that's the thing- no battery site in the compartment. The solder is poorly applied to the pots- lot of work done. On the plus side, the body and neck are in very good condition. I inspected the bass further last night and I don't think the guitar was originally red. I think maybe someone at some point had tried to paint the serial or used a magic marker to highlight the serial. The pot compartment has no signs of red- it has no signs of any paint and a factory "5" stamp is clearly visible at the bottom of the compartment. That still doesn't explain the lack of Gibson logo on the headstock.

Looking up pictures of these, it looks like the Gibson logo was just painted on, so when they stripped the headstock it came off with the black paint. They all seem to have had black on the front of the headstocks, the backs could have been a number of colours.

It's not impossible to sand the circuit cavity, in fact it's easier to do than sanding the inside of the serial number without sanding it off completely.

Mo Rawka wrote:I did a little digging and found this:
Guitar Info
Your guitar was made at the
Nashville Plant, TN, USA
October 10th, 1985
Production Number: 50

from here: lank

my little bro's actual birthday!

cool bass, and rare as hen's teeth, i think!

Any signs of paint in the pickup cavities?

tenderstems wrote:Any signs of paint in the pickup cavities?

I haven't removed the pickups- the screws are pretty stripped and crusty. I've also researched the available colors for this Explorer bass batch and this natural color wasn't an option. This was definitely a red guitar originally. I'm having some buyers remorse at this point. I like the bass well enough, but if I were to keep it I would want to return it to it's original (in)glory. And another project isn't attractive for me as of now. I'm still thinking about keeping it, but I have my eye on another guitar that I could use these funds for. Wish I was rich.

The black color left in the truss rod cavity makes sense now:

Fakir Mustache wrote:
It's not impossible to sand the circuit cavity, in fact it's easier to do than sanding the inside of the serial number without sanding it off completely.

There is a factory "5" stamp at the bottom of the circuit cavity and it's on bare wood- I suppose stripping the red paint could leave the stamp intact...

I could totally see having buyers remorse over that if it was a bit of an impulse buy.

That said I think it looks worlds classier in natural finish than bright red. The wonky electronics kinda kill the mood though.

I'm a big fan of 70s style black-on-brown, I'd restore the front of the headstock and call it a day. People will no doubt pay a little more for "Gibson" on there.

You could fill the extra holes and refinish it in an interesting non-stock colour, but that's a lot of effort for no real increase in value if you have no attachment to it.

Maybe paint it black and try to flog it to a metal dude?

Or travel back in time and make it red again.


http://www.harmonycentral.com/t5/Bass-F ... -p/9877605

Took it back and used the funds to buy a certain Antique White Jaguar in the Shortscale classifieds