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I had been looking for an Ibanez Destroyer for a while when a Maya Explorer popped up on E-bay last week. A nice BIN was added that same evening and I pounced before really doing any research. I know, through reading posts on Ibanez collector's sites, that Hoshino also built Mayas as well as Grecos and Ibanez...all three of which put out Explorer copies.
Now this guitar is not 100% original. The pickups were GOTOHS and appeared to be aftermarket with double hex pole pieces and non-vintage style wiring. The pikcguard and switch appear to be non-original and the tuners are replacment Grover minis. I swapped in my favorite EVH style '59/Custom Hybrid into the bridge first thing, because the bridge PU sucked.
Now, here is what I know about Destroyers from surfing and speaking with a fellow Ed nut who collects them. Explorers were made from SEN, most of it heavy weight stuff (sometimes the lighter version was used, like one of my friend's guitars) with bodies made from as many as 8 pieces put together (Sen is apparently a small tree). Destroyers had 3 piece maple necks, often with a hump in the neck/body joint.
Now, this guitar is a featherweight. Somewhere around 7 pounds, which was a real shock. It weighs less than my dinky bodied Basswood Predator! Also, the body is an obvious one piece affair..I could find no joints anywhere:
The body, like I said, is very light. It does not exhibit SEN like grain, but nor does it exhibit mahogany like grain, or color. In several places the finish, which is not a light Korina finish, but a darker honey/amber, has chipped to the bare wood...and it shows a very light colored wood...almost white..like Sen:
The neck appears to be a one piece mahogany job, with a scarf joint at the headstock. You can clearly see the difference in color between the body and the neck, also it has no hump in the heel junction:
It has a very nice Brazilian rosewood board, with black streaks and MOP dot inlays:
Everything on this guitar seems like excellent quality...except the plastic nut, which I am not sure is original or not. Tonally the guitar is very open and airy...it is bright. Not what I would expect from a Mahogany body..more of what I would expect of Swamp Ash or even Basswood.
The neck is a chunky 50's style variety with vintage style frets. It is a great player though.
Overall, a cool mojo'd out beast from the days of old. I got it for VH tunes, and it handles that quite well....nails that "On Fire" tone to the bone.....
Mike
Now this guitar is not 100% original. The pickups were GOTOHS and appeared to be aftermarket with double hex pole pieces and non-vintage style wiring. The pikcguard and switch appear to be non-original and the tuners are replacment Grover minis. I swapped in my favorite EVH style '59/Custom Hybrid into the bridge first thing, because the bridge PU sucked.
Now, here is what I know about Destroyers from surfing and speaking with a fellow Ed nut who collects them. Explorers were made from SEN, most of it heavy weight stuff (sometimes the lighter version was used, like one of my friend's guitars) with bodies made from as many as 8 pieces put together (Sen is apparently a small tree). Destroyers had 3 piece maple necks, often with a hump in the neck/body joint.
Now, this guitar is a featherweight. Somewhere around 7 pounds, which was a real shock. It weighs less than my dinky bodied Basswood Predator! Also, the body is an obvious one piece affair..I could find no joints anywhere:
The body, like I said, is very light. It does not exhibit SEN like grain, but nor does it exhibit mahogany like grain, or color. In several places the finish, which is not a light Korina finish, but a darker honey/amber, has chipped to the bare wood...and it shows a very light colored wood...almost white..like Sen:
The neck appears to be a one piece mahogany job, with a scarf joint at the headstock. You can clearly see the difference in color between the body and the neck, also it has no hump in the heel junction:
It has a very nice Brazilian rosewood board, with black streaks and MOP dot inlays:
Everything on this guitar seems like excellent quality...except the plastic nut, which I am not sure is original or not. Tonally the guitar is very open and airy...it is bright. Not what I would expect from a Mahogany body..more of what I would expect of Swamp Ash or even Basswood.
The neck is a chunky 50's style variety with vintage style frets. It is a great player though.
Overall, a cool mojo'd out beast from the days of old. I got it for VH tunes, and it handles that quite well....nails that "On Fire" tone to the bone.....
Mike
That's pretty cool!
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