NGD: Gordon-Smith Explorer

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

FUCK YEAS, IT'S HERE! Just opened the package a moment ago.

It looks, feels, plays and sounds absolutely brilliant. I'm sure some of it is just the excitement of getting a new axe, but I fell in love the moment I picked it up. The neck is pretty wide but slim, which is perfect for my hands, and to be honest, this guitar sounds a lot better than my Hellraiser C-1, both acoustically and through an amp. The craftsmanship is flawless. Apart from a minimal ding on the side of the fretboard, I can't find a single flaw about it. Even the rosewood looks absolutely amazing, I haven't seen a rosewood fretboard like that before.

Next up: Giving her a proper set of strings, a bit of lemon oil and down-tuning. Whoooooooo!

And in case any of my clients are reading this, sorry guys, you won't be getting any rough mixes today

EDIT: Better pictures in post #14.

 

[ahjteam]

 

[Harry Hughes]

Explorers aren't really my thing, but I like that minimalistic nature of it.
Just pick it up and shred balls to the wall, no fucking around.
Even just judging from the fairly small photos, the fretboard just looks absolutely incredible, just flawless.

 

[Nebulous]

Niiiiiice dude!

 

[AHChris]

Wow what a beauty! Congrats!

 

[exoslime]

very nice, congrats!!!!

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Thanks guys! And yeah, that's exactly what I asked for, a no-frills heavy metal tool, and fuck me, Mr. Smith did exactly that. This is pretty much the axe I always wanted.

I found it pretty much impossible to capture the fretboard figure with my crappy camera. It doesn't really even look like rosewood in nature, and the figure is really strongly visible. I'll try to take some better pics later today

 

[Nebulous]

That pic of you kind of reminds me of Mike Amott lol

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Oh, and here are the specs:

- Mahogany neck
- Rosewood fingerboard, no inlays
- Brazilian cedar body
- Brass nut
- Gotoh tuners
- Tune-O-Matic bridge
- EMG-81 in bridge position
- Single volume control
- 22 frets
- 24.75" scale

I strongly urge you guys to check out the Gordon-Smith Guitars website. Mr. Smith and his wife get my whole-hearted recommendations.

 

[Chris_P_Critter]

I played a Hamer explorer once - was the nicest sounding guitar I ever heard. Resonated for days, thick juicy tone, was really comfortable to play. Ever since then, I was an explorer fan but, could never find one that had what I wanted with a reasonable price tag. I may have to check this out!

Congrats dude! CLIPZ!

 

[Harry Hughes]

Fretwire size?
Fretboard radius?

 

[006]

Really cool man, nice score! I have a Gibbo Exp with just the bridge pickup and 1 volume hooked up, the rest (neck pup, vol+tone and toggle) is just for show but fuck I would love a single pup, single vol explorer like that. Love it dude

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Fretwire size?
Fretboard radius?

1.5x2.5mm and 12"-14"

I'll do some clips (actually, I'll do an EP with this axe) once I get the chance. I'm swamped with work for the coming weeks, but I'm sure I can find time for that

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

MOAR PECTURS.

After stringing her up with 13-56's and dropping the tuning to drop C, I'm absolutely convinced. I won't be parting ways with one <3

 

[MarcusGHedwig]

Looks great man, what made you go for the brass nut?

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Looks great man, what made you go for the brass nut?

Thanks! That's what GS favors, and I've already had Earvana, Black Tusq and the like, so I thought I might as well try this. It's easy to change a new one if I don't dig it I can't really give an opinion about it yet (besides the tone - this guitar actually sounds bright and loud as hell unplugged) as the new strings have barely set in.

 

[StefTD]

Where do you adjust the neck on this guitar?

Looks pretty cool, I just don't like the neck/body thing that looks like a crown,
but that's just my opinion. If I would look more metal I would get me a Explorer, too

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

Where do you adjust the neck on this guitar?

Looks pretty cool, I just don't like the neck/body thing that looks like a crown,
but that's just my opinion. If I would look more metal I would get me a Explorer, too

The truss rod adjustment is found under the neck/body thing that looks like a crown

 

[Jind]

Very sweet looking guitar there Jarkko, I've always thought that the V and the Explorer just scream rock/metal and that one you have there is so minimalist that it's really a thing of beauty.

 

[laszlozsolt82]

Congrats! That Bras Nut its cool, i like that