another weird gibson thread

[Dmoney]

they took another look at the voodoo and came up with a vampire?
http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Explorer/Gibson-USA/Explorer-Vampire-Blood-Moon/Specs.aspx


only with again... a poor control layout... but this has a floyd and active pups. I guess they saw a gap in the market for on trend vampire related guff.

[WezV]

thats nice enough - inlays are not offensive so it will appeal to a decent sized market even without the vampire moniker

[Dmoney]

It's a limited guitar.
If the voodoos are so popular now (and I think they are) why not just make something along the line of that series again? Swamp ash bodies with the 'juju' finish? I just don't understand why when they made this guitar they couldn't just put round dots in the neck and give it some name that won't date as hard.

The voodoo also had 3 in line controls and the selector up front on the lower horn, which looks better than having 3 crowded dials at the back.

Why not just keep it basic? add the juju finish to the main product line and drop the skulls and blood drops?

I'm occasionally reminded of the LP Menace... with its fist inlay at the 5th and weird grooves in it. some tattoo art headstock logo. such a horrible guitar. The SG version had brass knuckles set at the 5th. These things always come off cheesy to me. I don't know who they would be aimed at. People who own brass knuckles and have tattoos? The only slightly good thing about it is they end up being really cheap second hand.

[AndyR]

:lol:

I wouldn't go for any of those things Dmoney. But I don't think "Vampire" will date any worse than "Voodoo". Probably as well or better, actually, vampire references have been very popular for a very long time.

On the controls, I had to get my Explorer out to check. It might look slightly odd, but I'd LOVE my Explorer to have the controls like that. For a start, I absolutely loathe where the switch is on a standard Explorer - it's miles away. And the standard 3-in-row is slightly in a no-man's land area for me. If they were placed like they are on that thing, they'd come to hand a lot more easily while playing. As it is, I've had to swap the two volumes because it seems easier to use like that (the middle knob is particularly inaccessible for me on the 3-in-a-row, and I work the bridge volume much more than the neck).

But I agree with you - add the finish to the standard line and leave off the trinkets sounds like a better idea to me :lol:

[Philly Q]

Why not just keep it basic? add the juju finish to the main product line and drop the skulls and blood drops?

I'm occasionally reminded of the LP Menace... with its fist inlay at the 5th and weird grooves in it. some tattoo art headstock logo. such a horrible guitar. The SG version had brass knuckles set at the 5th. These things always come off cheesy to me. I don't know who they would be aimed at. People who own brass knuckles and have tattoos? The only slightly good thing about it is they end up being really cheap second hand.

I agree, the blood drops are cheesy and spoil the whole thing.  Even red dots would be a bit naff.  It is hard to work out who would actually be attracted by the gimmicky inlays.

On a more "serious" design point, why oh why oh why did they not have an ebony board instead of rosewood?  It helps differentiate these swamp ash guitars from the normal mahogany ones, and it would look infinitely better.

I kind of wish I'd bought a Voodoo SG when they were available (despite the skull inlay).  They do show up on eBay fairly frequently, but the condition of those guitars shows that the finish does not hold up well at all (although sometimes the "real relicing" looks pretty cool).

[Alex]

I love my Voodoo and am very glad I got one.
(sorry, had to rub it in)  :D

[Dmoney]

I like the voodoo's don't get me wrong! for the longest time i wanted the voodoo SG.

I like the red grain effect with the black and I could handle the skull inlay.
I think they are still pretty popular, being the only gibson's with the juju finish until this vampire thing, I think?
I just don't understand why if the voodoo is now popular, gibson wouldn't make a standard or studio guitar with the juju finish on the body and more of a usual fingerboard design and leave it at that. Instead of making stuff like the zoot suits.

This would look better with an ebony board!
as for the layout... I'd prefer this with master vol and master tone, and get rid of that single dial, leaving the toggle and 2 dials in line... as a side note, I'm sure I've seen les pauls where people have moved the toggle to replace one of the dials and gone for 2 vol, 1 tone. and covered the old toggle switch hole with a plug.

[Transcend]

i would love that minus the vampire name

the trem
and the very bottom control

without those it would be my ideal explorer

[Telerocker]

Horror.

[JacksonRR]

This is definitely for teens. That's why they made the toggle switch look like a zit. I don't like any part of this guitar, but I hate that toggle switch the most. Headstock looks weird, like the line opposite of the tuners is off. I would like to know what the pups sound like, though.

I agree about the ebony fboard. That rosewood sticks out too much, only thing louder is that damn toggle switch.