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I know the collective knowledge is varied, so I am asking for a little help. I aquired this Gibson made in 1985 from a friend of a family member that has passed. I called Gibson and they are not much help. Aparently during the 80's, there were alot of experimental models rolling out. They did say this is one of the deluxe models made during one year and not many were made. I cannot find it in any book that accuratley decsribes it. Some are close but will only state 3 tone controls, this has 4. It has a Kahler trem and lock nut, 6 on a side tuners (Gibson), bound body and neck, double humbuckers (dirty fingers). I had a fella try to tell me it was a Spirit worth $200--I doubt it. Can any help?

Well, for sure its a LP double cut body with an Explorer neck on it - no reason they couldnt make these as they share the same neck joint I believe. They could have put a V neck on it as well .. very interesting, never seen this before. Is the Kahler factory installed or after market ??? Never seen a Gibson with a Kahler before either.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

It is factory installed--Kahler trem and locking nut, and they are also marked Gibson on them. Everything is exactly as it came from Gibson--I took it to a Gibson repair shop to be checked out, they replaced the pots, fresh strings and a complete set-up. It plays amazingly well. Everything works perfectly. I have no need for it so I put it on Ebay, should prove interesting to see what happens?

That is a Les Paul Exp model. I have one almost exactly like it! Mine is a bit different, it has the standard Les Paul bridge and tailpiece, and thankfully regular Gibson humbuckers. As far as I can tell, mine is a '85 too! I can tell you that under the black top they do indeed have the full maple cap over the mahogany back, you can see that when you look inside. Cheaper Gibsons are all mahogany.
I'm not sure how much they are worth, but I have opted to keep mine because they are rare guitars. Maybe that will help their value down the road...but I am not sure. being rare doesn't always mean much.
It reminds me of a time when I was showing a guitar to George Gruhn, hoping to sell it to him....it was a rare and wierd old parlor guitar. When I mentioned that to him, I'll never forget what he said- "Yes, there are many rare and strange diseases, too and I don't want them either!"
I would like to follow your eBay auction though! Can you post a link to it, or tell us what to search under? Mark Swanson38902.6712962963

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Mark Swanson
Swanson Guitars
http://www.MarkSwansonMusic.com

Its a Gibson Les Paul DC XPL model not an EXP model. There was a single cut version too. The DC stands for double cut in the model name. I'm pretty sure they were made in the mid 80's. I seen one a while back go for $900 on ebay. So don't sell it cheap. The dealer probably knew this, and was hoping you would sell it cheap to him. The kahler is original on these models. They also had them with one humbucker and two single coils in the neck position.

Heres the Ebay auction#130004079238. I started it very low, so it should get interesting--I've had lots of emails so far.

Good Luck.

Michael, that is interesting, thanks for correcting me on the model name. It was some years ago that I saw it and I didn't have it right.
You seem to be quite knowledgable about these guitars, too- are you familiar with the version I have, with the standard tailpiece and bridge, and regular humbuckers?

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Mark Swanson
Swanson Guitars
http://www.MarkSwansonMusic.com