Gibson has discontinued production of this model, and these are the last of the line. They are an exceptionally good value.
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Gibson introduced the Explorer in 1958, but it wasn’t exactly an unqualified success and was discontinued in 1959. Over time, guitarists came to appreciate its radical lines and the fact that it just sounds great and plays well.
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When I think of the term super strat, this is the guitar that comes to mind. When I think of my days of youth cutting my neo-classical teeth on a beat up Fender Japan Strat modded to the nines, I really could have used the 24 frets that comes stock on this model. The Silhouette has been a longtime go-to guitar for players like Keith Richards, Ron Wood, Albert Lee, Steve Morse, Chris Poland and many more. This is the one that really got the company in the favor of all the pros, famous and infamous alike. The neck is very much like a shaved down modern “C” shaped profile with medium fret wire. The radius is super flat and very shred friendly. The real beauty here is that this guitar is available in a dizzying amount of combination’s. The one pictured here is a gem and a pinnacle of versatility. The body is a vividly grained alder with a gorgeous vintage burst and finished with a faux tortoise shell pickguard. The electronics come to us from the amazing people at DiMarzio who lovingly wound some custom pick-ups for this model. They are loosely based on a PAF style tone with a little smackdown on the bottom end. They are super versatile and have enough spunk to go from uber clean to downright nasty. The Musicman vintage modern bridge features some heavy duty saddles that add a ton of chunk to the sound while working with the two pivot point trem to keep everything in tune. The Schaller locking machine heads really help to keep things from going south in the tuning department. The layout is very basic and utilitarian. This very combination echoes the hot-rodded guitars of Steve Vai, Steve Morse, Scott Henderson and Allan Holdsworth yet still keeps a firm grasp of vintage sensibility. I owned a guitar that was very similar to this very model…only mine was tricked out with my draconian touch and flair for Darth Vader-like fashion sense. It was my main go-to guitar for my cover band work and playing this specimen really has me thinking as to why I let my beloved “Darth” go. It now lovingly finds its residence with a good friend of mine in Montreal who claims that the guitar makes him set new land speed records when he’s out gigging with his band. Its funny how this voodoo thing works isn’t it?
MORE →At the 2011 Winter NAMM Show in Anaheim California, Fender unveiled their new “Telebration” series of guitars. Celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Telecaster, Fender is building a series of limited edition Tele’s over the course of the year. Each guitar is a being built in a strictly limited run.
MORE →On April 25th 2010, I flew to Nashville along with 13 other Canadians to visit Gibson Guitars. Our group was assembled and led by Jeff Cowling and Jeremy Berger of Yorkville Sound; the Canadian distributor for Gibson. Over the next 4 days, our group would visit Gibson USA, Epiphone USA, Gibson Custom in Nashville, and Gibson Custom in Memphis. We were treated to in-depth tours of the guitar building facilities, as well as some hands-on time with new prototypes and upcoming models. We also got to spend some time in two of the most important cities in music history.
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