11 Facts About Gibson Explorer

Gibson Explorer is a type of electric guitar model by Gibson guitars, released in 1958.

The Gibson Explorer offered a radical, "futuristic" body design, much like its siblings: the Flying V, which was released the same year, and the Moderne, which was designed in 1957 but not released until 1982.

Gibson Explorer's initial run was unsuccessful, and the model was discontinued in 1963.

In 1976, Gibson began reissuing the Explorer after competitor Hamer Guitars had success selling similar designs.

The Gibson Explorer became especially popular among the hard rock and heavy metal musicians of the 1970s and 1980s.

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In 1976 Gibson released a "Limited Edition" Explorer in mahogany with gold hardware.

In 1984 and 1985 Gibson produced the Explorer III, with three single-coil P-90 pickups and an alder body, as well as the Designer Series Explorer, which had factory-painted graphics in geometric and "Artist Original" designs.

In 1998 Gibson introduced an Explorer in its "Gothic" line, which featured Gibson's guitars in matte black finishes.

In 2001 Gibson produced limited editions of Eric Clapton's modified 1958 Explorer, the Explorer Clapton Cut, featuring a shortened bass bout that allows more comfortable arm positioning and the Explorer Split Headstock, a faithful recreation of the original 1958 korina Explorer with the "forked" headstock found only on the very earliest examples.

In 2008 Gibson released two new versions of the guitar, the first of which was the "50-Year Commemorative Explorer".

The final new 2009 model is the Holy Gibson Explorer, designed as a counterpart to the Holy V, with numerous notches cut through the body of the guitar.