Epiphone Explorer GT Fantastic Beginner Guitar
Recently I received an Epiphone Explorer GT in great condition from a local auction house.
You can see my Reverb listing for the guitar for more photos.
I had noticed this guitar when searching for Explorers online. But, I dismissed it because it looked like a budget guitar and I was looking for a traditional Explorer body style.
So, I wasn’t wrong about it being a “budget” guitar. They are an affordable guitar on the used market. They range anywhere from $250-$450 used depending on condition. This one was a solid 8.5-9/10. Really scratches or deep dings that break the finish. There is one small indentation on the back that I recently noticed.
The finish, while looking solid satin black in photos, is actually a bit transparent. You can see some of the woodgrain showing through if you get it in the light at the right angle.
Epiphone Explorer GT Specs That Make It A Great Beginner Guitar
I was once a guitar teacher. What I noticed was that many younger children had a very hard time holding the instrument. The guitar would frequently slide down and lay flat on their lap because it was difficult to reach over the body. This would put their fretting hand in the worst possible curled under position.
The Explorer GT has a smaller body so it will be much easier for a smaller person to hold the guitar upright. This will then let them have a better position with the fretting hand.
The other spec is the 24.75″ scale neck. This slightly shorter, but standard Gibson/Epiphone, scale is more manageable for smaller hands. But more importantly it allows for greater tuning stability than many short scale guitars.
Conclusion
In my opinion this guitar is of higher quality than the average 3/4″ size or “junior” guitars on the market.
So, taking into account the smaller body, shorter scale length, and higher build quality I think this would be a great first guitar for younger players or people wanting a smaller lightweight guitar with standard guitar quality.
