Gibson’s quick redesign of the Explorer’s headstock from the split-V to the curved “scimitar” shape could not save the model.

Gibson’s shipping records do not list the Explorer specifically in 1958 and 1959, only “Korina (Mod. Gtr.)”, and the total for those two years ia a meager 22 instruments. Unlike their Flying V model, the Explorer remained out of production until the mid-1970s, when guitarists intent on pushing rock’n’roll to new limits began looking for an untraditional guitar to identify their music.

In 1975, prompted by Hamer’s introduction of a similar model and by Eric Clapton’s appearance in a Music Man amplifier and playing an original Explorer, Gibson brought back the Explorer.
James Hetfield of Metallica and Mathias Jabs of the Scorpions established the Explorer as an I.D. badge for heavy metal guitarists.

Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters and The Edge of U2 have also wielded this model. It achieved immortality of a sorts when it was played by the character portrayed by Nigel Tufnel in the film “This is Spinal Tap”.