Gibson's BIGGEST Flop Of A Guitar!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.พ. 2025
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Who is your favorite Explorer player?
Allen Collins hands down
Eddie Van Halen
Allen Collins
Your mother
The Edge 😆
Firebird X has entered the chat:
Right? It's not even a competition.
If the Firebird X shape and colors had been released today, without all the stupid electronics, I feel like it could have been a hit with Gen Z musicians.
@@ArmandoLopez-qt6vz if you remove the electronic nonsense you could have released it at anytime and it wouldn't have been bad. What were they thinking!?!?
That’s the first one I thought of. Absolute disaster of a guitar.
@@ArmandoLopez-qt6vz I'm gen z and play with many gen z musicians and we all hated the look of them 😂😂😂
The sales for the Explorer and V may have been lacking when they came out initially, but they were way ahead of their time: they were made for the style and type of Rock N Roll of the 70’s/80’s and beyond.
That guitar sounds amazing, IMO. I love both the Explorer and V shapes - thank God they didn’t stop producing them altogether
The V was more popular for a long time. Not sure today what with all of the copies of the Explorer out there. That shape became a metal axe. Remember that a version fo the V was reissued by Gibson in 1967. the Explorer did not come back until 1976. Of course, Ibanaez introduced their "lawsuit" Desroyer around that same time. I was an attempt to copy the original korina guitar. IIRC, they also did a Moderne like 5 -6 years before Gibson finally produced one int he early 80's but it has a Les Paul style headstock, not the Gumby one. I saw Buck Dharma play one on TV years ago.
Also, the original Ibanez copy that came out in the mid 70s, the 2459 “Destroyer” was the definitive sound of early Van Halen.
After he took a chainsaw to it. LOL
Gibson sued Ibanez, but they still produced more Destroyers versions. A steal now if you can find one from the 1970s-80s. Pretty finishes too.
That’s such a cool guitar! Still can’t believe they came up with that shape, way back in the 50s.
If you look at cars of the time, & Googie architecture, you'll totally see where they got that, & the Flying V.
Now, the Reverse V? That's where someone forgot to put the filters in his hood & went in the spray booth & snorted nitro fog.
@@emilyadams3228 I read that was an April Fools joke that eventually became a custom guitar, but of course cannot find a link to back it up. Oh well.
Everyone things “metal” with an Explorer, but The Edge used his on the early U2 albums, in the documentary “It Might Get Loud” he talks about how they were recording and the engineer was like, “That’s great, can we try it with a different guitar?” And he was like, “This is the only guitar I own!”
I love the explorer. It's one of the reasons why I play guitar. If I didn't see Hetfield playing one of his ESP explorer's, I would not have wanted to play guitar. The shape is super comfortable, they look cool, they all sound great. I own 5 atm, and I'll probably be buying another 5 over the next 5 years. lol
Explorers my go-to as well. They are the shit.
To my shoulders, it has nearly a 50/50 balance to it and is easier to play for extended periods. I know Gibson was going for form over function in 1958 to counter Fender’s shapes and solid bodies, but I wonder if that initial model was ergonomically designed. The V certainly wasn’t. The SG and Les Pauls (chambering aside) have equidistant, yet contradictory, leanings.
I still think there's a Moderne out there somewhere. My old friend Dave who worked in the Kalamazoo factory in the 60's told me they used the body of one to balance a sander which is insane. It's probably in an attic, in a storage room, or in someone's collection as they laugh it up at everyone wondering what the hell happened to the Moderne. There has to be at least one.
I read once that Billy Gibbons has one of the prototypes and that Ham and Hill both saw it but really don't know if I believe it, although its possible..
You can get Moderne's on reverb and ebay....Gibson and Epiphone both. Although, I'm not sure what you are referring to...like the very first one?
@@AvnerRosenstein-ULTRA-LXV Yes, we're talking about the prototypes. Billy Gibbons claims that he has one of them, but so far as I know, no one has confirmed it. Gibson's staff from that era say that the prototypes had been destroyed.
Moderne is a very nice guitar and definitely a conversation starter. I love mine 😉
I agree. I think that there's a long forgotten one stowed away somewhere in the Kalamazoo area.
One of my favorites. Got an Epiphone version. Polished the frets, adjusted the truss rod, set the action and intonation. Plays great!
I’m thinking about upgrading the pickups to burstbuckers. The stock bridge pup is good but a little too high output for me.
If you want to tone down the output of any hum bucker (and sweeten the sound), switch the wiring from being in series to being in parallel.
I’m looking for one.
If anyone has an explorer that they don't want because its a "flop", please send it to me. I'll love and care for it, and play it daily. "I will love him and pet him and call him George".
I've never been that into Explorers although they are cool, but I was shocked by how good it felt in my hands when I tried one for the first time!
Dude Epiphone is currently killing it with their Prophecy series. Better than anything Gibson is currently putting out
An Explorer is basically a single piece of wood Les Paul - as far as components - I would imagine most Explorers are a tad lighter than LPs as well.
@@GroinFaceGroin uh no. That’s just wrong. Epiphones are fantastic guitars for the money but anyone that says they’re objectively better guitars than Gibsons has simply not played Gibsons. Period.
@@Dagger_323 the problem with that is that I'm not the only one saying it. Gibson quality has gone down the shitter lately and people are starting to notice. Gibson is overrated. By the way, if you seen the Prophecy explorer and knew the specs then you would know damn well Gibson would charge at least two or three grand more over the current asking price for the exact same guitar
@@GroinFaceGroin I would be willing to bet that you, like the majority of others I've come across that have repeated that same jargon online about Gibson's QC, have next to zero first-hand experience with the brand at all. I have played close to fifty or so assorted Gibsons and Epiphones over the last five to six years. I currently own five Gibsons. I used to own three Epiphones. Emphasis on _used_ to. Gibsons, objectively, are superior quality guitars, and this is true across the board. Whether or not someone is interested in getting more "bang for the buck" is irrelevant here. Strictly from a _quality_ perspective, I have never played a single Epiphone that ever held a candle to any of my Gibsons. Their tone is comparatively stale, the fretwork is subpar, the intonation out of the box is off, and the tuning stability is worse due to inexpertly cut nut slots. This is to say nothing of the inferior quality hardware and electronics, as well as the fact that they "choke" notes off with less sustain due to their highly plasticized polyurethane lacquer compared to the much more resonant nitro found on Gibsons. An Epiphone is a good budget Gibson. But at the end of the day, that's all it is.
Happy NGD and Rick Nielsen is my favorite Explorer player!
The Explorer is a pure Metal Machine to me. James Hetfield is to blame for that, I’m sure 🤘😂
Papà Het made that guitar achive legend status.
@Trent Walker
Yeah, I know, and I’ve even seen someone play jazz on one with great results. But to me it’s a metal guitar. Even though it really isn’t 😂
I just got the red Lizzy Hale firebird/Explorer to demo for my channel and I'm absolutely in love with it. I've gigged a couple times with reissue korina explorers and always really liked their comfort and their sound/ergonomics but the headstock hard angles the strings pass through either result in not the best time with tuning or requires extra beveling on the nut facing the tuners. That firebird headstock fixes it with straight through strings and I honestly really like the way that looks on the explorer body.
Your tone is always on point, can you share your signal chain details for your videos?
Yeah I’m always amazed at Roberts tone being perfect
I am interested in this as well. I assume he is using his AxeFXiii for these vids through playback monitors, but it would be great to see it cradle to grave.
I played an Explorer all through the 80s, still have it too. I beat the shit out of it gigging and it it shows but the front still looks pretty good. It was a true work horse. the thing weighs about 14-15 lbs though!
That might be heavier than my acrylic Warlock.
My acrylic mockingbird is 12.5 lbs and it is quite a bit heavier than the '85 explorer I regrettably sold. Id say 9lbs for an explorer 9.5 lbs tops.
#2 on the list of "the one that got away" was an original designer series no Kahler Explorer. It's got a vibe all its own. LOVED mine. Congrats man, great choice.
I bought my 2012 explorer used about 2 years ago and I love it. It became my c# "sabbath tuning" guitar. As soon as I saw it I fell in love. it was white but was starting to yellow and had dings and paint chips all over it 😍
Congrats on the new Explorer. Sounds amazing. Seeing Lynyrd Skynyrds Allen Collins and Rickey Medlocke play The Explorer are lifelong Memories.
Yes man I think people always reference James Hetfield, but I always think of Lynyrd skynyrd!!
The guitars with the edges were too edgy for the 1950s!
It always blows my mind that the Stratocaster was a hit but all the ideas that Gibson imagined, except for the Les Paul, failed!
You’d think with all the crazy car tail fins from the late 50s that the Gibson models from the same time would have blown Fender out of the water!
I wonder if it had to do with single coils fitting better with the rock and country music of that era where humbuckers were considered more jazz
Even the Les Paul itself ran into some difficult times, prompting the "redesign" to the SG body style. The "normal" Les Paul shape was out of production for a while, basically till the likes of Clapton, Paige, Richards, etc., all started showing up with them and revived demand.
Michael Shenker( ? from the scorpions), Jonnhy Winter and the guitarist from the Tubes,(not Steve Lukather, the other guitarist).
Guibson probably started a trend with 'pointy' guitars, that would appear later in hard rock bands. They influenced lots of designs!
Mark Hitt?
Not sure who you're referring to but Roger Steen and Bill Spooner were the original guitarists for the Tubes.
@@thelowe6393 Bill Spooner!
Technically, the body shape isn’t even the same as 58 explorer. Modern USA production explorers are much pointer and a little longer. Pick guard shape is different too. Gibson uses the original 58 shape on custom shop explores only. Strangely, most epiphone explores use the 58 shape too. 1976-1989 explorers are a little differently shaped too. They’ve changed the shape 2 times over the years.
RB..!
You already know I love the bluesy endings..! 🤙🏿Cheers from Newport Beach, CA. 🌊
As a kid in the early 60s I was taking guitar lessons and the store had three flying Vs and two Explorer's just hanging on the wall month after month. I owned an Explorer until until 1976 and it was under my bed from 70 to 72 while I was deployed in the Army.
Think explorer is a rad shape but maybe just ahead of its time.
Rock on Robert 🤘
I knew it! Nice man, I love it. I love my explorer as well. The wing behind your right elbow, how many times have you banded it on something now?
Welcome to the Explorer Family!!! I have the 2019 Antique Natural and I love it!!! It's been my go to guitar since I plugged it in for the 1st time 🤘🏾
I got my first Explorer last year (Epiphone Thunderhorse) and I absolutely love it. The band that got me into Explorers would definitely have to be Airbourne! One of the hardest rockin bands in the world
It was just bad timing for the explorer and V. Way ahead of their time. My buddy played an explorer in our High school garage band. That was 1980. Good enough for Def Leppard and it was good enough for us! 🎶
I've always loved Explorers and have a '93/'76 re-issue and it plays excellent. It's a dark-brown/black burst (which I have never seen) and came with a white pick guard that I replaced with a white pearloid one and it looks excellent! I know the black pearloid would look awesome, too. I'd love to add another one to my stock. Oh, and one more vote for Allen Collins!
Favorite explorer player is Rick Nielsen, but first caught my in 1976 Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, KISS, Paul Stanley playing a white Explorer performing "I Want You"
Love the explorer. Would love to have one. Looks and sounds great man.
Black pickguard is definitely cooler than white .... but "E2" CMT in bound tobacco-burst (with black pickguard) is the cooliest of cool 😎
Tobacco Burst & Smokehouse Burst are gorgeous colors. They look perfect on Les Paul Studios & Specials, cos there's no binding to wreck the smoky, dark look, which complements the sound of a Paul nicely. Hell, a jar of Smokehouse Paint would probably look cool.
i just bought a new Gibson Explorer. It supposed to be delivered Tuesday. I already have a couple Les Paul guitars and a SG, but something about the Explore was calling out to me. Can't wait to get it.
Ricky Medlocke and Allen Collins would say different..
I have read that there were as many if not more leftover Explorers (22) with '58 serial numbers that were pieced together with silver hardware and sold in 1963. Also some V's. There are also supposed to be 2 58's that had the split Futura headstock. Rick Derringer supposedly owned one of them.
Rick Nielson would be my player. I had an EX2 I picked up in 82: tobacco burst w/ Dirty Fingers but had to sell it. It was great axe, hope it's still out there singing proud. Thanks Robert.
That's cool! One of my jamming buddies from the 80's had an Explorer bass. It was amazing, but freaking huge!
Have a black 1990, kept the original pickups, but have a JB in the bridge and a 59 in the neck. Smooth, light and wicked to play guitar.
Explorer and Flying V’s are my favorite shaped guitars. Never had a problem sitting or standing and playing either one like some people complain about. Dave Hlubek from Molly Hatchet and Ricky Medlocke from Lynyrd Skynyrd are two of my favorite Explorer shaped guitar players.
Can you add a tab of your blues outros to each vid, just quickly at the end? It's always one of my favorite parts.
I have a 2016 natural explorer. What did it for me was no pick guard. Output jack was mounted on the front so I modified it to be like a 1984. Love that guitar.
I had a Black Epiphone "Korina 50s style" Explorer with the more rounded edges when I was young who knows what wood it was made of or what the specs really were... I wish I could get it back. That thing was amazing - and it was the Epiphone! It was wildly heavy though to carry around with you.
I LOVE Explorers!!! Standing onstage the balance just right. Yeah an F chord is farther down than a Les Paul or Strat but if you are used to an SG or even a Tele you get used to it quickly.
I finally got my dream guitar, my left-handed Gibson Explorer in 2018. I'd ever only held a right-handed one upside down before getting it and my 2018 Explorer is amazing and my ultimate dream guitar in real life. I've got a Schecter E-1 and an LTD Snakebyte now and I love the shape, they are surprisingly comfortable to play, and they just look cool as f*ck.
When I see that guitar, the first thing I think of is the story where teenage Edge visited the US on vacation with his family and took back his Explorer.
When I was in high school I was a big U2 fan. The Edge used a natural with a white pick guard exclusively until the War album. I loved the looks but never really used it much. The neck dive was really annoying. Just sold it recently.
SO EXCITED!!! Will be watching this in a bit!!
As a teenager in the 80s, the Gibson Explorer was my dream guitar. I had a picture of one on the wall in hopes that someday I could replace it with a real one.
Nice! Did you ever do it??
The Explorer and the BC Rich Bich are ultimate metal guitars! Love em!
I have a 2021 in Classic White and love love love this guitar!!!! I was an SG player for 30+ years, the Explorer took over the number one position for me.
My favorite explorer body is my Kramer Imperial. Has quad humbuckers in the neck and bridge, both can be changed into normal humbuckers with a pull of the tone knob
In the Summer of 1978, I worked all kinds of jobs, saved up and bought a brand new Explorer. I'm 63 years old now, own way more guitars than I need or want. That Explorer is the best playing guitar of them all. I'll never sell it.
2nd song: Free Fire & Water
3rd song: Rock & Roll Hoochie Coo
Explorer are just so nice to play, I love the shape of it, same for the flying v imo, both are really good
Robert - what amp are you playing through? Sounds very nice. Great tone!! I have an AxeFx myself but looking into cab/amp combo. Any recommendations-
Robert.....BLACK PICKGUARD
LOOKS KILLER !!
The originals 1958 were yellowish and goes with white pickguards, but yours is brownish/mahogany !
Your kid has very good taste indeed !!!
I heard Free - Fire and Water!!! Kossoff played Les Paul btw.
Anyway, I own an Explorer and 2 Flying V, and a 2nd Explorer on the way soon, hopefully. Fantastic guitars, along with the SG. Been playing SG and V since the 70s, I taught myself how to play on an SG then got a 1975 Flying V, so of course they are my most fav models ever, period.... But it's BS to say they were 'ahead of their time', it's the other way round, they were forgotten about and just a handful of blues and rock guitarists played them, became big and then everybody wanted a V or Explorer, that's what made em popular.
Always loved explorers since I first saw hetfield..also shout out too Matias jabs from the scorpions , and Allen Collins from lynard skynard for rocking the explorer
I love the explorer shape! I have the Ibanez version, the Destroyer DTX 555 BK from the 80's. Some day I will get a Gibson version to compare!
I used to own one, well borrowed from my uncle who owned a music store. Unfortunately he went broke and needed all the equipment back. I had it for around 2-3 years and had gotten attached..
Great catch! Jeff Carlisi has always been my favorite explorer player
this was the dream guitar that I wanted when I was 13. I think I saved up from birthday checks to summer jobs to about 1,500$ by the time I turned 17-18. I was thinking of spending 1,000 on a guitar, but the explorer was 1,300... anyways I tried it out but this was in the era of Gibson's quality issues. It had a couple of bruises, frets didn't look great, on top of that no hardshell case, just a gig bag. Nah, I passed on it and got a Fender Player Jaguar HH for like 750 and I got a used Fender amp to go with it, think it was the Fender Deluxe Reverb with new tubes... killer deal.
I own one of these BUT I rounded off the horrendous sharp edges of the body and replaced the pickups with single coil ones 😅
my first one was Internet Explorer!
LOVED this used white Lzzy Hale Explorer I got to play. Props to her all-around.
For now, I’ll have to settle with my Epi Slash Firebird as my offset and SG as my true Gibson.
I have one, black with a white pickgaurd. Be careful when walking with it. A magnet for anything sticking out and walls. Very light and tons of sustain.
I love the Explorer and the Firebird...
Nice! I used to play a 70s Dean explorer at country gigs in Texas. They’re reasonably versatile
You have great Rock Tone! What amp are you using?
My first guitar was an Explorer. Allen Collins is my favorite. Clapton played one in the early 80's as well.
a white guard doesn't sit wel on natural man, your son was 100% right.
Where can i get that black pick guard?
A unique, one-of-kind! Just like you RB! 🎸❤☺👍
this is a metal machine
I always think of Mattias Jabs when I think of the Explorer. I've wanted one ever since I saw my first Scorpions video back in the 80's. But my favorite has to be James Hetfield.
Sounds awesome - and black pick guard yeah! So cool that a subscriber once owned - cool history on explorer and V guitars thankscheerz peace and rock🤙
Just saw an epi 58 explorer limited edition with korina body and black pickguard for $ 871 on reverb. All you need is a paf custombucker set for $350 and you have a pretty decent guitar that comes close to the original 🤷♂️
I agree. The black pick guard is very nice.
These were never meant to sell in large numbers. These were for show. Like concept automobiles.
The white pick guard is to much contrast, while the black compliments the guitar perfectly.
I put a white pearloid pick guard on mine. It really makes it pop.
Unfortunately it doesn’t look like I can attach a photo.
This is why you buy two of them: one white pickguard and one black pickguard, just so you can be sure which is better for you. And to use as chopsticks.
Loved that 'Free' riff! Was it 'Be my Friend'!
'Fire and Water'...a truly great song....
@@davidpaterson3443 Thank You, I stand corrrected!
Love the videos, side note, I know you always wear wrestling shirts, you excited for Ric Flairs last match tonight?? Keep up the great content, rock on 🤘🏻
EPIC opening riff! And it's nice to hear some Free.
I love explorers. I actually really like resting my arm on the "wing" same with the mochingbird
I always wanted a flying V, found a used 80's explorer. The explorer played great, was modified different pick-ups. I should have bought it left-handed guitars are hard to find.
Congratulations on the new ax. I'm a big flying V guy but my 2 explorers are probably the best sounding out of the Bunch.
I remember seeing lots of concert photos of famous bands using the Explorer in the 1970s. I thought they looked great. Along with the Ibanez ice man guitar that I first seen used by Paul Stanley of Kiss in 1977.
Sales doesn't always equal good. Some guitars take longer to catch on then others. The flying V didn't gain popularity until Hendrix used one in 1968.
They keep changing the distance between the bridge and the bridge P.U.
On my LP Std 2001 60's, I can fit half of a pinky between them.
This juicy Explorer will almost fit a middle finger between them.
🤯
Nice axe. You're son was right about the pickguard.
Great, I can't wait to see the episodes on the E2 and V2, another 2 Gibson flops. I've got one of each and I love them.
I love the shape of the Explorer. I have a Takamine GX-100 from 84 it's just different and Fun to play 🎸🎶🤟😃🤘
Is yours blue or red ? I had a blue GX-100 in '84 and STUPIDLY traded it away. I was young and wasn't making good decisions at that time. What I wouldn't give to have another.
@@DutchVai I have the Red Burst with the ABR style bridge. I really like the Blue that's a Cool shade of Blue ! I sold a Kramer I still Regret to this Day.. Lol I still look for it from time to time !!
I love that I don't really like modern versions of the Explorer (Love metal but I don't like metal looking guitars - even the headstock on my Ibby is a little too pointy for me) but somehow the classic Explorer is just fine with me. If the Edge can play one, it's not too metal lol. Same with Firebirds, they just look awesome.
The one I had that had 500 made was a reissue in 1975 or 6.
Off topic but serious comment, how do you maintain posture sitting down. I cannot play sitting down, it hurts every aspect of my body. I have to stand up. The only exception is acoustic guitars because the body is so large that my picking hand arm has somewhere to be other than curled beneath me shoulders.
Loved the Rick Derringer lick. Had A Hamer explorer in the '80s it was pretty nice
I have a 76 Limited Edition Explorer but with a reversed head. I can't find any information about that, does anyone know how it?
How did you get that Eddie VanHalen sound out of the guitar? It sounds AWESOME!!!!!
Love it. How funny, I was just looking at Reverb to see what is available in Explorers, and prices! I'd love to find one just like yours! I like the black pick guard as well! Sounds great, looks like it plays great too!
Tried one, the access to the higher frets was not as great as I thought it would be, still one of the coolest guitar.
Isn't it strange. I thought the same thing it looks like it would have amazing upper fret access but it really doesnt.
Sketchy upper set access has been the bane of nearly all Gibson guitars. The SG was probably the best in terms of access.