Guitar of the Week: Gibson Explorer

As a young man I was always fascinated with the futuristic guitar designs coming out of Gibson Guitars. My initial love affair with these wild wooden creations was the Flying V. But soon after playing the "V" I realized it wasn't for me. Auspiciously, a nearby music store that I visited weekly had an Explorer in stock that I played and fell in love with. So I wanted to feature the Explorer this week and its history.

It all starts in 1958, when Gibson President Ted McCarty hired car designer Ray Dietrich to design a guitar that would have popular appeal. Under Mr. Dietrich, Gibson introduced the classic space age styled solid body electric guitar the Explorer. Mr. Dietrich’s design philosophy centered on taking the classic lines of 1950s car tailfins and melding his design idea with guitars. It was at this same time that other futuristic guitars like the Firebird and the Flying V were introduced.

Features of the Explorer are its Korina (African Limba wood) body with an elongated upper treble bout and lower bass bout and are outfitted with two humbucking P.A.F. pickups. The Explorer fretboard is rosewood or ebony (Classic White only), tune-o-matic bridge, stop tailpiece (some with a Bigsby Vibrato, a white pickguard and its famous scimtar-shaped (hockey stick) headstock. The Explorer came in a natural finish with the Gibson pearl logo.

In 1958 Gibson only produced forty Explorers. Dietrich's designs remain iconic to this day, however, Gibson found little success and the Explorer was unsuccessful. Unfortunately for Gibson, the Explorer's initial run and the model were discontinued in 1959.

Two of the greatest guitarists Eric Clapton and Johnny Winter played the Explorer.

Ironically, the Explorer has had a rebirth among several guitar companies. Companies like ESP, Dean Guitars, Aria, Gaskell, Kramer and Peavey continue to make Explorer-esque guitars that have become very popular guitar among rock and metal players.