The 1958 Gibson Korina Explorer
Regarded as one of the most expensive guitars, The 1958 Gibson Korina Explorer is a kind of electric guitar manufactured by Gibson guitars in 1958. The Explorer had a radical, "futuristic" body design, similar to its siblings: the Flying V, debuted the same year, and the Moderne, conceived in 1957 but not delivered until 1982. The Explorer was the culmination of a prototype design that Gibson eventually marketed under the name Futura.
The Explorer's first run was a failure, and the model was canceled in 1963. After competitor Hamer Guitars had success selling similar designs, Gibson began reissuing the Explorer in 1976. The Explorer was especially popular among the 1970s and 1980s hard rock and heavy metal performers.
During the 1958 run of the original Korina wood model, Gibson built just a few Explorers. Because production records were destroyed and shipping records were lost, it is unknown how many were built, but the original run total was estimated to be little more than 50.
The Explorer had a long drooping headstock with tuners in a straight line on one side after the first few guitars (referred to sometimes as "banana" and "hockey-stick"). Grover Jackson, inventor of Jackson Guitars, and other electric guitar producers such as Kramer incorporated this headstock style 20 years later, ushering in the "pointy-headstock era" of guitars. However, the very first Explorers produced between 1957 and spring 1958 sported a unique "split"-shaped head with tuners arranged in a regular 3+3 arrangement, which was carried over from the Explorer prototype (better known as the Futura).
The 1958 Gibson Korina Explorer is one of the most valuable production-model guitars on the market, ranking fourth on Vintage Guitar's 2011 Top 25 and worth between $250,000 and $300,000. Only 22 bodies were shipped in its first two years, 19 in 1958 and three in 1959; an unknown (small) number of residual bodies were finished with nickel 1960s gear and sold in 1963. There are currently 38 examples known to exist.
Price: $1.1 million
