• Guys, we've spent considerable money converting the Les Paul Forum to this new XenForo platform, and we have ongoing monthly operating expenses. THE "DONATIONS" TAB IS NOW WORKING, AND WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY DONATIONS YOU CAN MAKE TO KEEP THE LES PAUL FORUM GOING! Thank you!

1976 Limited Edition Explorer

latestarter

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 9, 2009
Messages
4,173
Time to resurrect this thread...

A few questions on my recent acquisition player LE '76, and hopefully you can answer them.

- What was the pickguard spec? Currently a 3 ply w/b/w is on there, but I always thought they were 1 ply white?
- What spec is the jack plate? Currently cream, but I thought gold steel was the norm?
- The tarbacks are not original (I knew that when I got it). They are 7k and 15k resp...did Gibson ever do a high powered tarback? I don't recall they did, but I'm not an expert in this era (and these pickups are going in any case for pre T Tops).

I have to say, this guitar rings like a bell and the neck is famtastic.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.
 

Cody

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 23, 2002
Messages
4,494
The pickguard is indeed supposed to be single-ply white.

I don't remember the jack plate color from when they were new in the '70s, but the latest '76 I owned had a black metal jack plate. The guitar had some minor mods to it when I bought it in '92, so I can't swear that the jack plate was the original one... hopefully someone else can clear that up for you.
 

rob livesey

Member
Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
655
Time to resurrect this thread...

A few questions on my recent acquisition player LE '76, and hopefully you can answer them.

- What was the pickguard spec? Currently a 3 ply w/b/w is on there, but I always thought they were 1 ply white?
- What spec is the jack plate? Currently cream, but I thought gold steel was the norm?
- The tarbacks are not original (I knew that when I got it). They are 7k and 15k resp...did Gibson ever do a high powered tarback? I don't recall they did, but I'm not an expert in this era (and these pickups are going in any case for pre T Tops).

I have to say, this guitar rings like a bell and the neck is famtastic.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

I recently bought an all original '73 SG which has the original tar backs in it. I actually thought there must be something wrong with the pickups as the impedances were so mismatched, but it has been explained to me that that's exactly as they were.

My bridge pickup reads over 9k whilst the neck is just 5.5k. This was a rough measurement taken straight off a short patch cable from the jack socket. I expect they would both read a little higher when disconnected.

It's not inconceivable that you've got a pair which were on the higher side when pulled from the parts bin.

I've got no intention of changing mine as I think they sound just fine. The neck is full and round and has bell like cleans, but then switch the the bridge and it totally kills.

Rob.
 

Kris Ford

New member
Joined
Jan 6, 2007
Messages
4,003
Time to resurrect this thread...

A few questions on my recent acquisition player LE '76, and hopefully you can answer them.

- What was the pickguard spec? Currently a 3 ply w/b/w is on there, but I always thought they were 1 ply white?
- What spec is the jack plate? Currently cream, but I thought gold steel was the norm?
- The tarbacks are not original (I knew that when I got it). They are 7k and 15k resp...did Gibson ever do a high powered tarback? I don't recall they did, but I'm not an expert in this era (and these pickups are going in any case for pre T Tops).

I have to say, this guitar rings like a bell and the neck is famtastic.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.
Definitely a white 1 ply, that usually stayed whiteish, I have a repro one from WD music, in the correct thinner material. No clue on jack plate, I'd think it should be metal..
The 7 K seems to be a BRIDGE TarBack, while I think the 15 k one is a SERIES VII (??) or something like that, and probably came out of a LP Artisan..http://www.lespaulforum.com/finalframes/frameset.htm
The 70's guitars that got the regular Tarbacks (post late 1972)..were the SG, V and Explorer..which should have a 5.5kish neck and 7.5-8k ish bridge..that's how they were designed..the low neck reading is right! Makes for a mellow, flutey super serious woman tone!
 

latestarter

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 9, 2009
Messages
4,173
thanks all. The pickups are not Gibsons...shame, I wanted to try some Tarbacks. Never mind, I'll do the '58 treatment on this one.
 

Arch D. Bunker

Active member
Joined
Jul 9, 2015
Messages
255
Definitely a white 1 ply, that usually stayed whiteish, I have a repro one from WD music, in the correct thinner material. No clue on jack plate, I'd think it should be metal..
The 7 K seems to be a BRIDGE TarBack, while I think the 15 k one is a SERIES VII (??) or something like that, and probably came out of a LP Artisan..http://www.lespaulforum.com/finalframes/frameset.htm
The 70's guitars that got the regular Tarbacks (post late 1972)..were the SG, V and Explorer..which should have a 5.5kish neck and 7.5-8k ish bridge..that's how they were designed..the low neck reading is right! Makes for a mellow, flutey super serious woman tone!

To latestarter: as to the jack plate: should be black plastic on a 1976 Explorer.

The tarbacks resistance range is correct: after checking 20+ sets, I found those to be 5.06-5.5K neck, 7.2-7.73K bridge.

9K, or even 15K: that is VERY untypical...I hope you are measuring correctly.

More information on those 76s here:

http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?164778-76-explorer&highlight=explorer
 

latestarter

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 9, 2009
Messages
4,173
Thanks Arch...we're going to follow the '58 theme so I think the jack plate might be w/b/w.....I'll ask Dan to make a b/w/b one as a back up.

yes, the pickups are not Tarbacks...they do look a little like them but clearly Asian garbage.

re the link to that thread...my guitar is listed, but the neck dimensions listed aren't quite right. It's a big neck.
 

Robin B

Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2003
Messages
111
Just found a guy with #00230388 on Facebook firebird page Big neck factory stamped 2
 
Top