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Scorpion Explorer

This is an '83 Gibson Explorer that I obtained a few years back that had been previously molested by one of its prior owners.  See the picture to the right.  The original finish had been removed and the guitar was stained dark.  Someone had carved an image of a dragon on the body and outlined it in red.  The original bridge pickup had been replaced by a Seymour Duncan Invader which gave it a nice heavy tone.  The neck pickup was stock and actually had a short in the lead wire.  Pretty cool, I thought, and I kept it 'as is' for a few years.  .

I decided to refinish it in the style of another one of my favorite guitarist Matthias Jabs of the Scorpions.  Check out Matthias and his Explorer in the picture to the right.

I sanded off the existing finish and used automotive bondo to fill in the dragon carving.  I painted the guitar myself in my garage using the techniques described in the 'Paint You Own Guitar' book series by John Gleneicki.  I used canned urethane paint and a catalyzed urethane clear coat. 

I did replace the neck pickup with a Seymour Duncan SH-2N which balanced the Invader nicely.  Now it looks cool and sounds great too.