1981 Blue-flake Gibson Les Paul Standard electric guitar, serial number 03381589. Carved AA Maple top, Mahogany body and neck and rosewood fingerboard in blue finish, with black leather Ernie Ball guitar strap.

“This instrument has been in my collection for nearly 6 years. Dallas found it in a vintage shop in a small town in Maryland during the production rehearsals for the 2003 Elevation tour. It has a very good tone and the color makes it quite rare. I used it in the studio on the current unreleased U2 album recordings” - The Edge

[Ed: note, if it was for the Elevation tour, that would make the production rehearsal in late 2000 to early 2001]

“I thought that Edge would like the unique color and sound of this instrument. I installed the pickup in the rear “bridge” position where none existed, and it is accompanied by the case that it came with on the day of purchase.” - Dallas Schoo, U2 Guitar Technician

$40,000 - $60,000

Laterz!!

HERE ARE THE FACTS. I contacted those running the auction and here are the facts of WHICH of The Edge’s Explorers is being auctioned:

Dear Jeffrey,

We appreciate the dedication and interest in the U2 community regarding the Edge’s items in the upcoming Music Rising Icons of Music II auction.

As fans of U2 know the Edge has a large collection of instruments, including back up instruments. This particular Explorer is his #3 back up. Meaning, the Edge has at least two other of this model of guitar and used those two guitars with greater frequency than this particular guitar. That said here is what the Edge told us of this guitar:

“Dallas found this one in Cincinnati and it became one of the backup instruments for my main 1976 reissue Explorer during the 1987 Joshua Tree world tour and many U2 tours since.”

Regarding confusion over the serial number, Gibson serial numbers pre-1977 serial numbers varied greatly. Many strategies were employed before the development of the system employed by Gibson today.

From 1975-1977 some experimental serial numbers were used. Please refer Blue Book of Electric Guitars Sixth Edition Gibson Serialization available in pdf form on the Gibson website. Where you can find the following information on page 4:

“During the period from 1975-1977 Gibson used a transfer that had eight digit numbers, the first two indicate the year, 99=1975, 00=1976 and 06=1977, the following six digits are in the 100000 to 200000 range. MADE IN USA were also included on the transfer and some models had LIMITED EDITION also applied. A few bolt on neck instruments had a date ink stamped on the heel area.

In 1977, Gibson first introduced the serialization method that is in practice today. This updated system utilizes an impressed eight digit numbering scheme that covers both serializing and dating functions. The pattern is as follows:

YDDDYPPP

YY is the production year

DDD is the day of the year

PPP is the plant designation and/or instrument rank.”

You can see why many would contend that this guitar’s serial number indicates that it was made in the year 2000.

The idiosyncrasies of the serial numbers can cause confusion that we hope to have cleared up.

Thank you - and happy bidding!”

So there you have it. Them’s are the facts. Cheers!

it’s not *the* Gibson Explorer. We received confirmation from a U2 spokesperson who confirmed for us that it’s not the beloved Explorer. The press release probably will not be updated, but the auction website has been.

http://www.provide.net/~cfh/gibson.html

Gibson Serial Numbers, 1975-1977.
All models, decal, 2 digit prefix followed by 6 digits. The decal can also states the model name/number.
Prefix Year
—— —-
99 1975
00 1976
06 1977