Gibson Explorer

2 x Humbucker

• 2 × volume
• 1 × Sound
• 1 × 3- pick-up selection

The Gibson Explorer is an electric guitar model, which was first marketed by the U.S. company Gibson Guitar Corporation to market in 1958.

History and construction

The President of the Gibson Guitar Corporation, Ted McCarty, decided in mid -1950s to take up some new guitar models with modern requirements to the corporate program. As a result, the Flying V, the Explorer and the Moderne emerged.

All three models had a solid wood body ( solidbody ) from Korina wood ( a tropical mahogany - type ) and were equipped with two humbucker pickups. The eye-catching instruments were mainly intended for the existing as progressive jazz guitarists, but largely met with rejection and was a commercial failure. Therefore, the Explorer was first produced only from 1958 to 1959, and the beginning of the 1960s, remaining unfinished guitars were not completed and delivered These models differ from the delivered in the 1950s only by partly different hardware and pickups in the factory.

In the delivery lists Gibson is among the entries for the Flying V is a column for " Korina ( Mod Gtr. ) " That lists nineteen instruments for 1958 and three for 1959. It is believed that this is the production figures for the Explorer because to date, no proven original Gibson Moderne has appeared (there was the attempt to interpret that it was in " Mod Gtr. " To modernity ), and during the production time gave different names within the factory for this model.

Only with the advent of the Hard Rock beginning of the 1970s was the Explorer into a popular and sought after model and inspired numerous manufacturers of instruments for Hard-Rock-/Heavy-Metal-Klientel to own variations of the Explorer theme, such as the Company Jackson Guitars, ESP, Ibanez, BC Rich and others. Gibson Explorer 1976 led therefore initially as a "Limited Edition" on again now but with a mahogany body. The guitar is also manufactured in different versions, this usually only for a limited time or with limited numbers. For example, a " Pro" with a slightly reduced body, as " Reversed" a different headstock shape is in the mirrored the body shape and present, as " Holy" are in which geometric breakthroughs milled into the body, or as a "Shark Fin" which clearly is away from the original shape. Original instruments from the first production series with Korina corpus belong to the extremely small, produced, quantities now one of the rarest, most sought after and most expensive solid body electric guitar models.