More than just a great-looking wood, with a broad and pronounced grain, swamp ash is beloved for its low weight, superior resonance, and balanced tone, with firm lows, a punchy midrange, and sweet highs. In the body of the Explorer Vampire Blood Moon, swamp ash offers all the power you could ever seek in an Explorer, along with a sweetness you’ve never heard before. To this, Gibson adds a glued-in neck cut from a single piece of solid quarter-sawn mahogany for superior strength and resonance, and carves it to a slim, super-fast profile that yields unimpeded shred potential right up to the 22nd fret.

And where does all your vengeance and fury go? Shred, metal and thrash artists have long appreciated the virtues of active pickups, and every fiery lick you throw at the Explorer Vampire Blood Moon gets sucked up and spewed out by a pair of Gibson’s new active humbuckers, powered by a 9V battery accessed through its own door in the back control plate. Some of the most powerful pickups ever produced by a company known for pioneering the humbucker, the pickups on the Explorer Vampire Blood Moon offer a new fidelity and clarity that high-output passive pickups have difficulty matching, with a power and presence that goes way beyond anything demanded by the most extreme music. Controls are a straightforward three-way toggle switch, an independent volume for each pickup, and a master tone.

But to really tap your own vein of evil, you demand even more—and the Explorer Vampire Blood Moon delivers. A high-performance Schaller™ vibrato tailpiece provides everything from hypnotic wobbles to soaring divebombs, all with outstanding return-to-pitch tuning stability thanks to a Schaller™ Locking Nut at the headstock end. Black Mini-Grover™ tuners cap off the hardware—while all-black styling with ominous blood-red inlays and highlights accentuate the full menace that this guitar delivers.

Body and Finish

The Explorer Vampire Blood Moon follows the iconic lines of the legendary Gibson Explorer, but updates the format with a body of solid swamp ash for a balanced tone and outstanding resonance, as well as an instrument that’s light enough to stay strapped on for hours. A black grain-textured Juju satin finish shows off this wood’s broad grain, which is further accentuated by subtle red filler highlights.

Neck, Fingerboard and Headstock

The Explorer Vampire Blood Moon is crafted in classic Gibson style with a glued-in neck made from solid quarter-sawn mahogany with a fast, slim profile, and topped with a rosewood fingerboard with 22 medium-jumbo frets and red "blood drop" inlays. It has a back-angled headstock in the six-a-side style of the original Explorer.

Pickups and Electronics

The Explorer Vampire Blood Moon carries two GEM active open coil humbucking pickups, an entirely new design from Gibson USA. These units offer unprecedented power and fidelity, with firm lows, sweet highs, and outstanding sustain. They are routed through a traditional three-way switch, independent volume pots for each pickup, and a master tone control.

Hardware
The hardware set on the Explorer Vampire Blood Moon echoes the dark soul of this evil instrument. All entirely black plated, it features a Schaller™ high-performance vibrato tailpiece with fine tuners, a Schaller™ Locking Nut, and efficient Mini-Grover™ tuners. Strap buttons are Gibson’s traditional aluminum type, but also in black chrome.

Features

Body

• Top Swamp Ash
• Back Swamp Ash
• Body Type Chambered
• Adhesive Franklin Titebond

Neck

• Species Mahogany
• Profile Fast Explorer Neck
• Truss Rod Traditional
• Adhesive Franklin Titebond

Neck Fit

• Joint Mortise & Tenon
• Adhesive Franklin Titebond
• Joint Angle Tolerance +/- .005"

Fingerboard

• Species Rosewood
• Frets 22 Medium Jumbo
• Radius 12"
• Nut/E.O.B 1.695/2.260
• Inlays Red Acrylic Blood Drops

Nut

• Material Schaller™ Black Locking Nut
• Width 1.7
• Slots Gibson PLEK System

Headstock

• Type Explorer for Bass Side Tuners
• Logo Red "Gibson" Silkscreen Logo
• Truss Rod Cover Gibson Bell Shaped™ Molded
• Angle 14 Degrees

Tuners

• Model Mini-Grover Tuners
• Tuning Ratio 14:01
• Plating Black

Bridge

• Type Shaller Floyd-Rose Style Tremelo w/locking nut
• Material Zinc Surrounded by a Die Casting Alloy
• Plating Brass and Steel

Hardware

• Knobs Black Top Hat with Red Numbers
• Control Plate Covers Explorer with Battery Box .090 blk
• Strap Buttons Aluminum
• Strings .010 - .046, Genuine Gibson strings

Pickups

• Neck Position Gibson GEM Active Pickup
• Bridge Position Gibson GEM Active Pickup
• Magnet Material Alnico II

Electronics

• Potentiometers 2 Volume Controls, 1 Master Tone Control
• Type 300k Audio Taper Lead Volume; 500k Audio Taper Non-Linear Master Tone;
• Coil Wiring Parallel-Machine Wound
• Toggle Switch Three-way Switchcraft with Red Toggle Cap
• Output Jack 1/4" Switchcraft

Finish

• Surface Texture Grain Textured Satin Finish
• Sealer Ntrocellulose Lacquer

Case

• Type Gibson Hardshell
• Case Exterior Black
• Case Interior Black

Accessories

• Additional Materials Owner’s Manual, Adjustment Literature, and Documentation for the Guitar’s Limited Lifetime Warranty

Reviews on Web

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