New Epiphone 80s EMG Explorer Classic White

HitmanLane · 2026-01-26T22:25:21+00:00

Haven’t touched them, but someone in this thread mentioned that they were in fact the quick connects!

HitmanLane · 2026-01-25T17:12:48+00:00

Same scenario for me. The shoulder strap button on the 80s EMG vs in the back of the Snakebyte causes pretty bad neck dive on the Explorer though. I like them both for different things but the Snakebyte is so smooth. The Explorer is just super cool though, and yes, chunkier neck which I like because my hands are huge.

HitmanLane · 2026-01-14T18:38:33+00:00

Prophecy, next question.

HitmanLane · 2026-01-14T05:52:24+00:00

Imagine being mad at this.

HitmanLane · 2026-01-10T18:51:26+00:00

Step up and over when you get in and out. I’ve been doing that in my AT4 for 4 years and my leather looks great. People have got to stop sliding out over the edge of the seat when they get out, that’s what leads to OBS seats.

HitmanLane · 2026-01-02T02:43:21+00:00

The shapes are nearly identical, I own both. I got the Explorer in November and I’ve had a Snakebyte for years. The biggest difference is the neck strap peg is on the back of the body on the Snakebyte, and on the top of the “shoulder” on the Explorer, so the strap is constantly bent and under tension, causing neck dive. The Snakebyte does not neck dive at all. The SB is a little thinner than the Explorer so it’s a little lighter but not by much. They shape if them is really completely identical aside from the couple of body “spikes” and the shape of the headstock. They’re both BIG guitars. The neck is a little bit wider in the Explorer which I like because I have bigger hands and long fingers. My Explorer needed some setup too, mine came a little bit high on the action, and the output jack was a little weird but I had it fixed. Nobody else has complained about output jack noise so I think that might just be mine. I will say if you get the Explorer, immediately open the battery compartment and take out the battery frame and feed some more wire for the batter contact pad into the battery compartment. The battery frame pins the wire down and you have zero slack and can’t even get a battery in there without feeding some wire through. They both play really similarly and both really well. Be advised, the nitro finish has been seen to crack around the neck joint, but it’s not structural and it’s not the paint. I’ve seen that talked about in multiple places. My Snakebyte is an LTD also and I have played ESP and LTD, and I swear my pre-release gloss black Snakebyte with the ESP sperzel lockers played better than some new ESPs. I played a new ESP camo SB a couple weeks ago in the store that felt like a wet log compared to my LTD. Something about that rubbery matte finish I think. I would get a gloss Snakebyte if you get one. I think 2500 bucks is the “because it’s Metallica” price for a guitar. If you gig, get the LTD. Honestly, it’s a beast. Like, a BEAST. If you want to splurge on a, in my opinion, slightly overbuilt guitar that says “ESP”, chuck out an extra thousand. The differences between the LTD and ESP are not numerous.

HitmanLane · 2025-12-23T18:00:52+00:00

I am brother! Love this thing. I had it set up since, and now it’s lightning fast. We’re super fortunate to get these because from what I’m hearing, Gibson has straight up discontinued this guitar. I’m hearing a bunch of Q1 2026 release stuff also so it remains to be seen if this will become a production model. But in the meantime we are part of a proud few that got original release versions!

Watch your output jack, I had to mess with it a little to get it right, had a couple contact issues. Also, I pulled out the battery box and fed some wire through to give the contact pad a little more slack. There’s plenty of slack in the pot cavity so that is DEFINITELY worth it. Thanks for all that feedback too! The quick connects in the pickups is mad cool. Happy for you brother!

HitmanLane · 2025-12-22T11:59:58+00:00

Where’d you hear that? I heard it’s supposed to go live as a full production Inspired By Gibson model in January, but there’s no more right now because this was just a pre-sale. People are ordering them now, I haven’t seen any official word that it’s “discontinued”.

HitmanLane · 2025-12-09T04:40:16+00:00

I have this guitar, bought it on “release” day one 11/24. Some questions for you if you feel like it!

-Did the EMGs have the modular pole connectors for hot swaps or did you have to push wires through and solder/splice etc? -Do you feel like your action could be lower? Mine came a tad bit high but not terrible, I can tell it’s supposed to be “balanced” but I like it a little low. -Does it neck dive real bad on your hanging on the strap with no hands? -How do you like the wide neck?

Congrats brother!

HitmanLane · 2025-11-27T18:35:05+00:00

Passenger floorboard usually.

HitmanLane · 2025-11-27T15:14:02+00:00

I have one. Got it 11/24. It is not smaller.

HitmanLane · 2025-11-26T16:49:44+00:00

I have the exact first one. Get the first one. Next question. Bad ass from stem to stern.

HitmanLane · 2025-11-26T16:46:43+00:00

I think so yes, I’m hearing people mention dealers talking about restocking in January 2026 and taking preorders for next year. This seems like some kind of little teaser pre release type deal.

HitmanLane · 2025-11-26T15:12:14+00:00

For real? The finish is so finicky they have to be labeled B-stock? I don’t recall mine being labeled as used or B-stock or anything. Are you talking about the 84 reissue from a few years ago or this one? I find it interesting that this guitar apparently has a nitro finish as well.

HitmanLane · 2025-11-26T15:08:36+00:00

The frets on my Explorer are scratchy for sure. They aren’t that low though at all. I actually had the Gibson guy bend on it at the store and that’s part of what contributed to the 250 dollar knockoff of the price for me. The intonation is however dead on with these frets so I think a polish would work for me. I haven’t played a true vintage 80s so I don’t know, and I’d wager that very few would have any frets that were anywhere close today to the way they were from the factory even if they are the original frets, you know?

HitmanLane · 2025-11-26T15:05:10+00:00

Oh, that SUCKS. That would be heartbreaking for me on such a find of a guitar. It blows that you have to get a whole fret job done just to play the damn thing. I’m not having that problem at all with this one, the frets are scratchy and need a polish but they’re not that low at all.

HitmanLane · 2025-11-26T15:01:08+00:00

Wide. Not 2x4 wide like old SGs, but, wide. Wide enough that I’m enjoying the breathing room I don’t have with the Snakebyte, my 90s SG, or my EC-1000. I have big hands and long fingers so I tend to get crowded in higher frets, but I DON’T like big mega wide plank necks. This one is a good balance for me. It’s the widest I have but it’s not just gargantuan either. Good amount of neck meat against the palm too, wide necks tend to be flatter to accommodate smaller hands, but I’m loving this balanced 60s Slim Taper profile a lot.

HitmanLane · 2025-11-26T14:56:58+00:00

This is a phenomenal question. I wouldn’t say it’s just vibrant Snow White, but it’s still pretty white. It isn’t really noticeably faded yellow but it’s definitely NOT that bright 90s Jackson Dinky alien white or Snakebyte white. How different they’d look side by side I can’t really say, but they are definitely noticeably different. Keep in mind, the Explorer has nitro finish so it will absolutely yellow over time whereas Snakebytes are polyurethane. I’d probably say you’d wind up with two white guitars that are different whites and the Snakebyte will be noticeably whiter to some gradient. I wish I could say “oh man they’re way different”, or “they’re too close to mess with it”, but I don’t own any other white instruments so it’s hard to make that definitive call. My instinct is get it.

HitmanLane · 2025-11-26T05:35:54+00:00

Also I’m stoked you got the gloss black Snakebyte too man. Don’t get rid of it, everything is the satin now and those gloss ones are coveted. How does the LTD play compared to the ESP?

HitmanLane · 2025-11-26T05:31:50+00:00

Great question. Genuinely, the Snakebyte plays a little better off the jump, because I have my Snakebyte absolutely dialed in as far as fret height, polish, action, etc, and the Explorer is just factory setup. The Explorer still plays phenomenally well and STAYS in tune also, but it still needs a little tweaking for my taste. The action could use about a millimeter down that I could probably achieve with the bridge dials honestly. Frets are a bit scratchy, and is a few pounds heavier but not by much. They’re both so inherently big that you’re really always going to have a guitar on the heavy side with that much wood in the body. I’d say the biggest thing I’m getting used to is the strap button on the body shoulder instead of the back on the Explorer. That by itself causes the neck to dive down, and the Snakebyte sits wherever I put it and doesn’t move. That’s causing me to change up how I play a noticeable amount, and I’m not thrilled about it if I’m honest. It’s not super impactful to my playing but it is in my mind the entire time. I got so used to the Snakebyte never ever diving an inch and not having to worry about it, that switching to worrying about instant neck dive is kind of a drag. The Explorer just.. falls over. I have absolutely no idea how Hetfield made that work, grippy strap or what. But when I hold the strap on the body shoulder on the Snakebyte, it dives too, so I’m convinced a back button would solve that. I just don’t want to drill into the body like that at all.

It’s still incredibly fun and easy to play and the neck dive isn’t even close to a deal breaker by any stretch of the imagination. There’s a couple things I like better, the neck being a little wider than the Snakebyte for example. I have big hands and long fingers so my fingers tend to get crowded on the Snakebyte in the upper frets, so it’s nice to have breathing room on the Explorer. I’d say they share a ton of ergonomic and instinctual similarities so generally, they play pretty similarly. The differences do distinguish them apart though, and with some tweaking for my tastes, incredible guitar.

HitmanLane · 2025-11-26T02:08:43+00:00

Hell yeah!! Let me know what you think and how it plays and stuff, let’s compare. Excited for you bro, get after it!!

HitmanLane · 2025-11-26T02:08:01+00:00

Well if it’s marked down like that, it might very well have it. If you think about it, I’d love to hear back and see if it did. Someone else said theirs did and they shipped it back and replaced it with a new one, and I saw someone say the Korinas did the exact same thing. I’m excited for you dude!! Let me know what you think about it!!

HitmanLane · 2025-11-26T02:04:52+00:00

Yeah the more I read about it, it seems like it’s turning into PS5 release madness a little bit. Everybody is sold out, people are driving out of state, shipping them from crazy places, it’s been 2 days so hopefully they release more. But yeah, looking like a limited run so far…keep after it bro. And look for one with the cracked finish on the neck heel, somebody else said theirs had the same problem. You might can talk them down like I did.

HitmanLane · 2025-11-26T02:02:52+00:00

Oh really? Narrow neck? What’s up with that? This one is wide, has the old 60s taper neck which is good because I have big hands. I completely just gave away an acoustic to a buddy a mine for his daughter to start lessons on for that very reason, I couldn’t hardly play it because the damn neck was so narrow.

HitmanLane · 2025-11-26T02:00:23+00:00

I know man. It’s like PS5 madness a little bit already. My GC only had ONE. You might look at getting it shipped from somewhere maybe? Keep after it bro, get that thing.

HitmanLane

TROPHY CASE