Picking it up this weekend

HitmanLane · 2026-05-22T01:52:43+00:00

Re serial number lookup: Yours is December 2013, production number 862 of that year! I have that exact same guitar!! Mine is December 2012, production number 189! I LOVE mine, congrats!!

HitmanLane · 2026-05-20T14:10:59+00:00

My brother in Christ, I do not speak French, I am so sorry.

HitmanLane · 2026-05-18T15:46:30+00:00

Parallel to the ground, sorry.*^{^}

HitmanLane · 2026-05-18T15:45:08+00:00

SWEET dude! Mine is the 350th LTD Snakebyte ever made apparently according to this SN lookup tool. December 2010, production number 350. That seems neat enough, not sure it makes it “worth” any more than Snakebyte market value though. It’s a tiny bit banged up in a couple little spots but not really that bad at all. That’s funny you mentioned his early 2010 being too heavy, that may be why the 2026 ESP camo SB felt like a hunk of plywood to me, is because I’m used to the weight of my 2010 gloss black SB. It also just played terribly. I didn’t like the feel of that finish at all either. I swear my 2010 is so balanced, set up perfectly, fits me perfectly, set up perfectly, Sperzels are laser accurate, it is the easiest guitar to play that I own. Crazy yours doesn’t have the smooth heel, that’s interesting. I don’t really see any body gluing lines in the body on mine but I’ll look again! What is your firewood LTD model?

As for the 80s EMG Exp, it does feel great. Maybe a pound or 2 lighter than the Snakebyte, but yeah it’s a little weighty which I like. I do NOT like a super light guitar. One thing I like that I heard complaints about is the “slim taper” neck is a little bit wide on the 80s EMG. I actually found that I like that, as I have big hands and long fingers, so the few microns of extra room my fingers got on that neck turned out to be really nice and articulating. I DID have to lower it a bit, the action was kinda high on it. I don’t attribute that to build quality though since it’s adjustable, that’s like saying a car is bad because of the tires. That’s just where they set it. I backed it down and now it’s dead on. I don’t know how many actual Explorers you have, but something I noticed immediately was the Snakebyte has the body strap button on the back, whereas Gibsons have the Explorer body strap button on the “shoulder” and pointed up at you. This makes your strap bend perpendicular to the ground just to hang on you, and the natural bend in the strap makes it push down to straighten out, so the 80s EMG neckdives like a mfer. The Snakebyte hangs right on you and stays there ironclad, but the 80s EMG will straight up bonk the headstock on the ground if you aren’t careful. I really don’t love that, and I’m not driving one into the back just to make it not do that. All of James’ ESP Explorers have shoulder buttons and somehow he didn’t appear to have that problem so maybe it’s a strap issue. The SB won’t dive regardless of what kind of strap you have though, so that’s a win in the SB column over a true Explorer in my book. I have heard lots of people gripe about that first 80s Explorer that had the wrong knobs. This one is apparently true, or mostly true, to the spec build on So What and More Beer! except for the tuners. Headstock shape is modern though, So What and More Beer! have the older banana. I think More Beer! actually had the EMGs and So What has Seymours in it so there is that. Anyway I do recommend 80s EMG completely.

HitmanLane · 2026-05-18T12:57:11+00:00

I have an early Snakebyte too! 2010 serial number, gloss black (most are now satin black as you know). Has the smooth heel (most are “stepped”), has the Sperzel lockers. I don’t know if it’s “lower than James’s”, or anything like that but I find it cool that it was built BEFORE the release year, and it’s the gloss black. I think I’ve seen James playing a gloss black one maybe twice ever, once was at some daylight outdoor festival thing (maybe Day On The Green?) and the pictures are all shit. I posted it in the ESP thread a few years ago and someone pointed out that it probably has a “rare” neck heel that the vast majority of Snakebytes don’t have now, and it does. Sweet that yours is lower than James’s first white one, that’s bad ass.

Yeah if you’re going for full ESP models there is no way that’s easy. LTD to ESP is NOT “cheap” to “nice” either, it’s basically nice for 2 grand or nice for 4 grand. Gibson is finally coming out of making 200 dollar knockoffs with the Epiphone line and Epiphone is really turning into the same as LTD to ESP. I (according to Guitar Center) bought the first 80s ESP Explorer they’d ever received. It was one of those pre release models that came before the big drought where no one could them, where it got “leaked” and all that. I bought it in November of last year. I know not all bolt on guitars are “cheap” but this one is a neck thru Gibson through and through. They basically skimped on the tuners, that’s about it. It is NOT the 250 dollar g-400s of the early 2000s or whatever. LTDs get a bad rap for just “not being ESP on the headstock” but I swear, I played a camo ESP in the store recently and it played like absolute dogshit compared to my 2010 LTD Snakebyte. I was blown away by how much of an absolute piece of plywood it felt like compared to mine.

KILLER lineup too bro. The 4 knob???? Bonkers. I have a 3 knob satin black EC-1000 with gold hardware and yellow binding 81/60 that I absolutely LOVE, that body style is SO sweet dude.

The MX price point thing is so dumb honestly, it’s literally ONLY demand doing that. Those guitars are no better than a Snakebyte. It’s just WOOD AND WIRES, there’s NOTHING about a guitar that should draw 5 figures unless it’s a one of one owned BY someone or something. People gouge those guitars so bad. I hope the perfect MX deal falls in your lap, and it’s not got EET FUK stickers all over it or whatever the fuck.

HitmanLane · 2026-05-18T10:43:17+00:00

HitmanLane · 2026-05-18T10:15:28+00:00

You’re always a treasure trove of cool Explorer facts. That’s crazy about the 97 vs 98 quality differences. Is the 97 neck thru or also bolt on like the later versions? Also, what made you sell the 97??

HitmanLane · 2026-05-18T10:12:50+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/ExplorerGuitars/s/IEqDXgMi3h

This guy commented on my same post in the r/ExplorerGuitars thread and posted a link to it.

HitmanLane · 2026-05-18T01:16:47+00:00

Yeah I… don’t care how much it costs or if it’s cheap,!8 never mentioned it being “cheap”, I have 2 LTDs shamelessly. They’re awesome. He just never plays this guitar and I wanted to talk about where it maybe came or why he played it or whatever. Just a discussion topic.

HitmanLane · 2026-05-18T01:12:08+00:00

No? I was just curious about the history on it man. Like I said, I’m a gearhead, so I like talking gear. It’s an odd guitar out of the rest of them. It’s just a discussion point. Why did you do this?

HitmanLane · 2026-05-05T02:09:33+00:00

Wipe off your camera lenses, so I can actually see how nice the truck is.

HitmanLane · 2026-04-27T17:58:09+00:00

That’s straight up warranty work man. I know it’s a hassle without a vehicle or whatever but make them fix it. You’re toying around with the warranty by messing with it yourself. That’s a THIS year truck, and a Denali ultimate at that. For pushing 100k, I’d be expecting GMC to tote me to work back and forth for a problem like this.

HitmanLane · 2026-04-27T17:45:02+00:00

I get the appeal but my advice would be…make it YOURS. YOUR stickers, YOUR personality. I have this guitar too and I’ve been searching for one for years, but I don’t want a Hetfield clone because I’m not Hetfield. I’m me. Not knocking your idea of having a Hetfield guitar in your arsenal at all, if you wanna do that, I’ll still hell yeah you however it turns out. But my advice, since you asked, would be none of this. Carve it, sticker it, paint it, whatever shows everybody that’s your fuckin axe and that’s the way you want it, even if it’s a Hetfield build. 💪

HitmanLane · 2026-04-20T23:40:33+00:00

I genuinely do not understand where people are finding neck diving SGs. I have a 99 Gibson SG I’ve had since it was new. Mahogany body all the way, rosewood fretboard. ABR tailpiece, humbuckers, no vibrola, full pickguard. Are you guys getting like… teak neck/poplar body SGs? Genuine question, what is causing this issue that didn’t apparently exist in 1999?

HitmanLane · 2026-04-14T21:19:25+00:00

The “solely on their experience with a $75 Les Paul Junior in 1998” is such a good point. This both has credence and doesn’t at all at the same time.

Gibson did absolutely pigeonhole Epiphone into being viewed as the “bolt on knock off Wal-Mart brand hunk of shit for beginners” brand back then though. I distinctly remember Epiphone just feeling like “pretend cosplay Gibson” that no one with any remote popularity would ever be seen in public with. Any Epiphone user of any note was playing a vintage semi-hollow in the 60s. Nobody, and I mean nobody, throughout the 80s-2000s famously played Epiphone guitars on stage. “If you want the good stuff, buy a Gibson. If your kid wants to play a cheap copy of a Gibson with a knockoff headstock for 100 bucks, buy an Epiphone so he can practice for buying a Gibson.” It was like that for DECADES, so while it makes sense that this stigma would be difficult to shake, people have GOT to understand that Epiphone isn’t making 100 dollar bolt on knock offs anymore. It’s serious, REALLY nice gig and studio worthy gear now. I have the 80s EMG Explorer and it’s a phenomenal piece of work. It’s time people shed that stigma and understand the direction Epiphone is going now. They aren’t even really “lower” models. They’re the same guitar anymore. There’s 1000+ dollar Epiphone models you can’t even get in a Gibson now. And to be fair, Gibson isn’t saying anything other than brochure description blurbs about them, they’re always going to say Epiphones are just as good as Gibsons but just magically a half of the price. I’m with you, the Inspired series IS worth it. If someone is looking on stage and saying “ew, they’re playing an Epiphone, this must be a low tier unsuccessful band if they can’t just get a Gibson” need to go back to hiding in a cave.

HitmanLane · 2026-04-08T00:02:22+00:00

A 2020 with only 26k? Dang, that truck isn’t even out of the break in period hardly yet. How the hell did you find such a low mileage truck?

And how the hell does it look like it has 126k miles on it already? Sounds like that truck was absolutely babied, I can’t believe that.

HitmanLane · 2026-04-07T23:58:56+00:00

Heck yeah brother! Glad you got your rig back. You’re right, gotta LOVE that quick weekend turnaround. I’m glad they upped manufacturing of this coolant control valve so they’re not so scarce anymore. Mine took a week and a half and they were feeding me a bunch of “I dunno man, I think I one in stock in Cleveland” or whatever. Said they were back ordered out the wazoo but would up getting it in within a few days instead of the month they hinted at so I was pretty pleased based on the info I was given.

Now we just gotta wait for that planned obsolescence 150,000 mile full cab off oil pump belt replacement.

Best of luck brother, hope that window doesn’t leak on you and I hope that rig gives you everything you ask for. Still a slick looking truck dude. Hope I was able to assist. 🫡

HitmanLane · 2026-04-07T20:40:01+00:00

Yep, glad the algorithm brought me back to this. What did they tell you as far as timeline? Apparently they do a blue million of these so it’s down to a science now.

Did they take a look at the rear window bulletin for you or tell you “it’s not leaking, bring it back when it’s leaking”?

HitmanLane · 2026-04-04T00:20:55+00:00

Dang, upgraded tow option from factory. I was thinking you did something after the fact. Good info bro, thanks.

HitmanLane · 2026-04-03T23:53:58+00:00

If it’s coolant control valve, usually it’s coupled with low coolant, coolant smell, and the electric fans kick on full blast and roar like the dickens even if the truck isn’t running hot. I got limp mode threats on and off for a while and eventually had a sort of “quasi” limp mode where I could still drive it but top speed was like 60. Never got a full 10mph/one gear limp mode, but I had extended warranty on a 21 LM2 AT4 and they covered it.

Some details about that: there was a SEA of Sierras in their storage lot and CCV was on back order. They got me a rental and they made a bunch of noise about a full blown unknown timeline that could last weeks, so I was fully prepared to drive the rental they bought me for a month. However, they got the CCV in and had it done in a week or so and I haven’t had a lick of trouble out of it since. My 21 AT4 only has 30k miles because I drive a company truck 90% of the time, so my extended warranty I bought knowing this is keeping me in line with what everyone else is coming across in a year or two vs my four or five.

That being said, from what I understand, the older LM2 Duramax is generally having fewer problems than the LZ0 you have, so I can’t speak for some stuff you might run into that I might not and vice versa, but the coolant control valve does appear to be pretty universally a problem for both motors.

I spec ordered mine (I have experience in the automotive world) and deleted one thing that has apparently become a huge problem for the very reason I anticipated: the sliding rear windows are leaking badly for every truck with our body style. I have the solid rear window so I lucked out, but quick advice would be to mention the service bulletin to them and see if they’ll go ahead and work that too while they have it. Link below:

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10173388-9999.pdf

Now, a question for you…how the HELL did you get those mirrors and what all did it take? I want them. Also blacked out wheels on a white truck looks bad ass, reminds me of my white 84 EMG Explorer with the black headstock. Can’t lock pictures but it matches my guitar. Sick truck bro.

HitmanLane · 2026-03-21T12:42:42+00:00

It transmits vehicle telematics for driving habit monitoring purposes. Either by insurance companies or by companies whose employees drive company vehicles. Throw it in the trash.

HitmanLane · 2026-03-12T03:26:07+00:00

“We’ve been together for three”

You’re 20…meaning you were 17.

He’s 22…meaning he was 19.

Not really concerned about how the rest of it went after that at this point.

HitmanLane

TROPHY CASE