I can finally cross the "Challenger" off my list of models to review. Nice build quality, but electronics leave a bit to be desired If anyone has a really clean one, feel free to let me know 🟢Shop on My Website: www.troglysguitarshow.com 🔴Reverb: reverb.com/shop/troglys?_aid=growsumo&gs_partner=Trogly 🐕 Private Help Sessions: troglysguitarshow.com/help-appraisals/
I own a 1984 "Challenger II" in very mint condition. Aged beautifully. I am the first owner, bought in 1988 as a slow seller in Germany (It came with the Shainsaw-Case also 😊). I swapped the pickups for P90 in humbucker format. Sounds fantastically jazzy and plays very well! The tuners on your guitar are not original. Others are installed on my guitar, also Gibson brands but more vintage style. I can send you a photo if you want!?
That’s because we are short staffed and don’t have the time to set up all the guitars with only one tech. If you’ve never worked retail you wouldn’t understand
@@TayTayKemp I haven't been to one in a while, but the one I used to go to when I was a teenager didn't seem too busy. But I guess the one in Nashville for example might be busier on average.
It's funny that on Goodwill last week an 84 Challenger I sold for a little over $800 and it was relisted a few days later and it currently sits at around $600 with about 2 days left. I wonder why it was relisted the first time.
You'll get more clarity and note separation if the pickup is lowered. What's under the pickup cover? Does it have screw pole pieces? It it does, they can be used to increase note separation.
That bridge is a Schaller 455, now discontinued and rare. It amazes me how you can know so much on some subjects then so little on things you should know.
It amazes me that you would make a comment like that on a video that’s being provided to you for free by someone who is a guitar enthusiast and nice guy.
@@natharnold3620 .....A nice guy who not only profits from this and bullshit like fake foreign land plots but also dunks on other peoples reverb ads on his show (while not having a clue to their value) while at the same time being a flipper asking huge money themselves. The moral of the story is, if you're going to speak like a pro, act like one and maybe know what you are talking about when speaking as fact. How does he not now a popular schaller bridge?
That is actually kind of cool! I liked the tone of it! Sounded good when you were on the cleaner end and the distortion and muddiness actually would work well for punk. I dug it! 😊👍
Definitely an interesting sound out of that pick-up. But I actually like it. Not a bad guitar imo. Still weird to me seeing a Les Paul with a bolt on neck though. Never knew about these. Very interesting video. As always Trog 🤘🤘
I had a red one. Didn't really like the pickups, so I swapped them out with EMGs, since they looked so similar. The neck felt great on it, and it was a great player.
I remember these when they came out. My local shop couldn't give them away. They just looked like cheap junk compared to better Gibson models. The Fender bullets were the king USA made budget guitars of the era.
I have a confession: So I work in the concert business, and today I accidentally knocked over a vintage thunderbird wich I previously told my colleagues about, saying how cool I found it I felt so incredibly bad (Nothing seriously broke luckily)
I had one back in the day and I played it on a little weekly job I played once a week ,it was cheep in every way the bolt on neck was sketchy to the point of having t rouble keeping it in tune..you definitely couldn't man handle it. I used it for one winter before I sent it on down the line and I was glad to see it go lol.😮😅😢
I have one in the same color and pup configuration. The fingerboard looks like ebony on mine, too--so does the one on my Corvus. I bought a Challenger II pickguard and a couple of those pups. I am planning on making mine like a Challenger II.
I have no problem with bolt-on necks, but no support between the neck heel and the body, to support the backwards pull from the strings, that is putting a lot of trust in four wood screws.
This is the guitar I commented about yesterday! Thanks Trogly! Saw a photo of Paul Westerberg of The Replacements with one of these and that's the only time I ever saw it anywhere other than here. Was always curious about that guitar. Thanks Austin.
I have a copy of the Gibson EB3 bass, and my copy has a headstock like this Challenger, possibly to avoid a lawsuit/legal action. I have a Les Paul copy from the same factory as the bass and it has the open book look on its headstock. It was made before the bass
Thats one weird pickup. A fat, short single coil. Looks like it doesnt need to be routed cause the pickup looks a quarter inch tall. Dont understand why they made it, maybe a Grass is greener kind of thing?
These guitars seem similar to the Gibson Baldwin Epoch. that was produced though the Gibson Baldwin education program. they were only produced one year 2007. they have a pre intonated wraparound bridge. with a covered humbuckers in the bridge and neck positions. and they have the open book headstock. but they don't have a stamped serial number. and they are single bound. and they were all black with cream plastics.
This was a training model - not for the players, but for the workers slapping them together. Hey, ya gotta start somewhere. Not exactly Custom Shop stuff, but if the neck isn't twisted and it can stay in tune, it'll do the job 'til your tech replaces the broken string on #1.
Hey Trog! Your voice-over sounds very rushed this video! Had me checking twice wether I was running the vid on 2x speed. Calm down! The vid's worth it!
Maybe in your future show & tell demo section, you could give a brief statement of how well or poorly the guitar holds a tuning? Otherwise I really enjoy your channel. Thanks
It's a shame that they didn't name the Corvus and Invader as the "Columbia" and "Discovery" - that way they would have been named after the 3 Space Shuttles that were in service at the time
Am I old or what? My first guitar was Epiphone by Gibson. 89. Oh yeah, met & knew Wayne Charvel, his shop in yucipia. Didn't know his whole story at the time, just he started jackson & Charvel.
Nice axe, honestly. I like how the pup is inconspicuous. Great demo, Austin. I heard some Scorpion sounds like you were gonna go into Rock You Like A Hurricane.
Invaders are Great A maple neck that don't budge if you try A thick slab ebony board A , well , heavy mahogany body Yet , when I lay a slide on it Duane flips on his grave
It has an interesting tone 🤔 If it were in my hands I'd definitely want to hear it in open G tuning with a slight gain. And it might be a good fit for a 2 dimensional playing style. Certainly not a lead instrument 🎸
I absolutely cannot put my finger on why but without distortion it sounds . . . very off to me. Almost like I would swear it was out of tune, if it wasn't obviously in tune when you strummed on it unamped That distorted sound would be great for lo-fi though. Muddy in the right ways.
Hey troglys I have been here for a while now and I always wanted to know how a headstock repair affect to the guitar in some ways like playability, tuning stability etc.
A lot of people think a headstock repair makes it sound much better. When Gary Moore owned greeny he got in a car accident and the headstock broke on it. He thought the break and subsequent repair made it sustain longer and sound better. I forget which interview he stated this in.
well... sadly I do like it.. i just happen to know my Rocksmith Pack junior with minor mods easily is better player. love the ebony board and neck on this one. it's got a vibe
TBH - if these had come out in the early 80s as Japanese Epiphones to compete with Fender Japan I think we'd have had reissues of these (well.....the Challenger and Invader at least)
I kind of dig 'em in the same way as the Fender Parallel Universe/Paranormal way of being unique with some configurations that you don’t necessarily see on a Gibson. The M2 Firebird looks especially cool to me. Purists might scoff but there needs to be room for experimentation to give people who have not considered Gibson a reason to look. Nothing wrong with making a non-P90 single coil model or bolt-on once in awhile.
I have a 1984 Gibson Challenger I got this year for my bday for great price. Didn’t like the pickup at all. Noisy and weak. But not like a single coil. Just wasn’t good. Swapped it out for a Gibson 498t and it came alive. I dig it. Kinda like a Junior but with humbucker. It plays well too!
"Perhaps the most defining feature of this little series..." [picks up guitar with the oddest pickguard known to man] "is the really strange Gibson headstock." [shows mildly different Gibson headstock]
