This Was* The Worst Gibson I've Ever Played | 1984 Gibson Challenger Review + Demo
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- Опубліковано 7 чер 2024
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Back when I was first getting into guitars and learning about the history and allure of Gibson instruments, I made a promise to never even TOUCH one until I could afford it. One day at the Fort Wayne Guitar Center, I was shocked to see a Gibson for ~$400 ish dollars. Technically, I could afford it so I decided to sit down with it. It was a TERRIBLE experience. It was SO bad that I never wanted to review this model, but over 10 years later I finally picked one of these up for documentation. Now I know that the Guitar Center example badly needed set up. I won't lie and say this review piece sounded fantastic - it was just "ok" but now I think of the construction differently. It is a pretty solid guitar, just needs an electronics upgrade!
I hope you enjoy learning about the 80s "American Series" of Gibson tonight. The Gibson Corvus, Challenger and Invader.
🐕 Episode Guide:
0:00 - Intro - Check Links in the Description
0:12 - Unboxing / Backstory
0:39 - Most Defining Feature
0:56 - Gibson's American Series
2:27 - Redefining Gibson's Budget Lineup
3:35 - First Impressions
4:04 - Different Finishes
4:40 - In Summary
5:07 - Inside Look / Specs
11:59 - Clean Tones
14:01 - Dirty Tones
15:28 - Final Thoughts
16:59 - What to Watch Next!
🎞️ Videos Mentioned:
1:16 80's Gibson Corvus / Futura History
• This is Why Marketing ...
1:51 1983 Gibson Corvus III
• I Bought a "Gibson 6 S...
2:12 1979 Gibson The Paul
• What Les Paul Should Y...
2:27 1981 Sonex 180 Standard / Custom
• The Hidden Secret of G...
2:31 1976 Gibson S-1
• Gibson Made a Stratoca...
2:35 1979 Gibson Marauder Mocha Brown
• The 39-Year Old Virgin...
2:51 2007 Gibson SG 3 Single Coil Fireburst GOTW 21
• If Fender Made An SG.....
3:10 2017 Gibson Firebird Zero Pelham Blue
• Does It Deserve the Ha...
3:32 1983 Gibson Spirit II Tobacco Sunburst Flame Top
• A Questionable Move by...
4:31 1977 Gibson TRUE 25th Anniversary Les Paul Silver
• The Rarest Anniversary...
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Guitar + Recording:
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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
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FYI..... the bridges are the Schaller 455
So… next stop: The Hawk, right?!
@@scdre1974I’m partial to the 456 but they have gotten EXPENSIVE!
I have one on my 1996 The Hawk btw
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!?
I have a mint one for you. 3k shipped!
Tbh most guitars play fine just guitar center workers doesn’t know how to set them up.
True 💯!! I had to set mine up right after buying a brand new fender Strat from them. They said they’d set it up?? Not
@@Stratsrule I have tried playing multiple guitar/basses but I coudnt bcse if the setup.
The amount of them that are unplayable are pretty crazy
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.
@@TayTayKemp Then you shouldn't offer that service, because you guys are bad at it
Love those old West German made Schaller wrap around bridges!!! The Spirit used that bridge.
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.
I own a Spirit 2 with the Schaller bridge and I have always top wrapped the strings ,as it came when I bought it in 1983.
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! 😊👍
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)
Reminds me of my maestro SG, the pickup cavity is open like this one, so if I wanted to put a second pickup in it I could
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 🤘🤘
Look up "Gibson Baldwin." Those all had bolt on necks.
@@markcheetah4960 Yeah but those aren't USA made.
@@topfacemod Definitely not. They were very low end entry level instruments.
Man.. that’s a killer sounding guitar
Any idea where I can find a pickguard for a Challenger 1?
That finish takes on a cool hue. I like it. Reminds me of pewter strats that came out in the late 80s. Sounds good too for a bolt on Gibson.
Cool! Perry's Music is still open and it's a great shop to find cool stuff
I opened a guitar mag, saw a full page ad for a Corvus & knew they’d lost their way trying to be trendy & it’d never recover later.
Wow, Perry's music Villa Park, Illinois, I used to shop there back in the 70's & 80's. Their still in business.
Hard to tell from a UA-cam...but the sound from that pickup really works for some reason. Just nice to listen to.
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 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
Staff Music in Akron, OH still puts a store sticker on the guitars they sell.
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.😮😅😢
3 screw pu adjustment should comback by the batwing sgs i put a pu frame on the bridge pu that it isnt as tilted
Did Gibson create this particular model for the same purpose as the Les Paul junior, primarily as a beginner grade model?
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.
That bridge/ tailpiece looks very cool, looks very modern and looks as it might work well
Has anyone ever tried to make a custom Corvus with a headless neck and tuners on the body.
Perry’s Music Center in Villa Park is still around, outside Chicago.
A detailed review of an underrated model. I really enjoyed this video, and I like the way this guitar sounds.
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.
It sounds great in your hands Austin, super-interesting video, thanks for taking on the Challenger 1
But then which IS the worst? And will you ever cover the Kalamazoo solidbodies?
Curious what’s under all that epoxy. Reminds me of a Thunderbird pickup.
I have the orange tangerine one, I like it a lot, it makes a noise but it might need a modern amp to make the most of, to dial it in.
I would love to see one of these really weird guitars as a signature guitar for someone.
How thick was the body? Just curious why it was so light?
Really dig the looks. IMO, the wear adds to the cool factor.
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
*Epiphone Elitist style headstock, taken from this model.
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.
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 🎸
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
Interesting guitar. It’s always weird when i know I have “better” guitars and then I want this but I won’t spend money on lessons. 😅
A new guitar will 'inspire' you to play better 😅
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!
Does anyone know if Gibson made the Challenger left handed?
Love me a 6LB Lp-style...especially with a wraparound tailpiece.
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.
The Corvus looks like an overgrown can opener. It’s also kind of stupid to have that extra pickguard material when there’s no neck pickup.
That's a fine sounding guitar! Like you said, it a little muddy on the bar chords. It's a neat example regardless!
Perry’s music in Villa Park IL is still in business!
there's a gcc700 for sale near me I'm debating picking it up
Couldn't help but think of the Texas Toast Challenger model when this video popped up in my queue. :)
14:54 🤘
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.
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)
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.
Please do a cover of the Gibson L6-S Deluxe rosewood fretboard I own 30 guitars and this is by far the best one 24 fret neck what's not to like
I like alnico 5 bridge pups. For me, an Al 2(n) & 5(b) is just about perfect.
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?
Mark Spiders lit his on fire and smashed it at The Vogue circa 1990
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.
I guess Perry's Music is still in business. 154 E St Charles Rd, Villa Park, IL 60181
Looks like a Norlin era "Epi" headstock shape
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
I guess you never played an SG 90 with a Steinberger KB-X tremolo, it is the original never-tune bridge.
Kinda like the grit on that pickup distorted.
Not a bad lookin guitar…. If it was mine i’d put a. Seymour Duncan in it…. But not bad overall
The headstock was sometimes called the tombstone style headstock.
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.
Does it explode a minute and twelve seconds into playing it?
Is that bridge a Leo Quan Badass?
No, it is from Schaller West-Germany
Hummmm I never seen a headstock ( Gibson ) without the open book? Challenger hummmm Interesting 🤔 🧐
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.
and nobody sued them for the headstock style im guessing. love ya work Trog's
Don’t think I ever saw one of these. Seems like a cool punk rawk guitar, I like it!
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
I don't know what this particular guitar is made of, but the natural body one that you showed is definitely alder.
I owed a Challenger 3, Traded for a Peavey T-40 bass, Loved the bass. 😂
Evening all!!!
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?
Mahogany body
Great for GREEN Day songs.
I own the black one you have pictured
and you say that the 2015 gibs specs are lame ? when the only good thing on this one is the brand, & not even that
"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]
That one was made on my 14th birthday. Lol.
For what it is it's not bad. I kinda liked it in a way and it would be good in a punk rock setting for sure
I loved mine sooo much. I miss it.
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!
I can see this being a green day signature guitar🤔
I loved it!!!!!!
👍
It would be cool without the pickguard.
Kind of like it it would s a good mod model I have good 👍🏻ideas for it !!! Selling ????😮❤
I've played a few of these over the years. Never found one I liked..Very muddy sounding p-ups..they just feel cheap.
Invader next?
I had one as a kid back in the mid eighties. I hated it with a passion.
Perry’s Music Villa Park still in business cool little shop…if anyone cares
Funny that you just post this. I saw this guitar, for the first time, this morning on the Goodwill action site. Too Funny!!
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.
If done right - not effect, except on the value
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.
@@Trog interesting. Do you have a video explaining how to identify a good headstock repair?
Seller: nice aging
Collector: players grade