I've loved the look of the reverse Explorer ever since I first saw one when it was Guitar Of The Month. Was thinking this one seems surprisingly cheap for a rare model - then I saw the DIY hack job somebody did replacing the frets. Oh, well.
Yep, it uses the "Gumby" headstock shape from the Moderne, only redesigned so as not to need the little pulleys. Those pulleys have an odd side effect -when you tune the guitar, rather than responding instantly it takes a second or so to come up to the new pitch and settle there. Not actually inconvenient, just weird - you can watch the tuner needle keep moving after you've stopped turning the key.
~=
That Moderne from the Reverb ad isn't an '82. AFAIK all 143 of the original run had A or B prefixes. (Might be a couple of Cs, not 100% positive.)
This one had a Floyd Rose; you can see where the cavity was, and the two filled holes behind the headstock from the locking nut. (At first I thought that might've been a headstock repair - I've seen Modernes that snapped there - but the filled trem rout is clearly visible under the bridge.)
Actually it might've been both Floyded AND broken & repaired.
Normally I'd say an E prefix & Made In USA stamp would mark it as mid-or-late-80s production, or maybe a 90s non-Heritage batch (some of those came with Floyds). But this particular serial number has been poorly faked - somebody used an upside-down 3 instead of the letter "E" and the font used for the numerals is wrong too. Here's an example of an actual E-prefix Moderne inkstamp for comparison:
I suppose it's not impossible that somebody routed a late-80s Heritage Moderne to install a Floyd, then later removed the Floyd (and maybe repaired a broken headstock), refinishing the whole guitar, sanding off the serial # in the process. then clumsily attempted to remark it using its original number.
Then again, these are pretty valuable now and there are fakes out there, as well as some quality luthier-built replicas.
That case is legit, I think. Neck wood looks to be right too, FWIW.
I'd be curious whether it has the long tenon neck joint and correct pickups & pots.
Either way though, not an '82 - if it's a real Gibson, it's a later one. Made In USA stamp proves that.
reverb.com
