Left handed Explorer guitar - single pickup

For over 50 years Gibson did not make left handed Explorer guitars. As a lefty player myself, it was my own frustration and feelings of betrayal that drove me to build guitars in the first place. The absence of a lefty Explorer highly motivated me to do this. 

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I produced a lefty Explorer style guitar to fill this void. That was in 2007. It was our flagship model. It was never a clone of the original, being slightly smaller and more rounder so as not to violate Gibson trademarks. From 2007 to 2012 this was a factory-made guitar and then from 2013 it became a full Custom Shop model, 100% made in Australia. 

 

Originally this was known as the Gaskell Classic. A "PRO SERIES" option which was available for all Gaskell models  which allowed for guitars to be pre ordered with variations , such as figured tops. different inlays, Floyd Rose tremolo. etc. The single pickup Explorer was called the Classic X1. All models could be upgraded with Custom Shop options, such as DiMarzio, Seymour Duncan, or EMG pickups, locking tuners, Buzz Feiten Tuning System, and custom paint. All done here in Australia.

 

The Gaskell Classic was the most popular selling Gaskell guitar ever.  

 

Eventually Gibson started making left hand Explorers, but by then, I was full Custom Shop. The Gibson offerings are pretty boring. Two colours: "arctic white" or "antique natural."  Throw a dog a bone. 

 

In 2022 Gibson sued Dean Guitars for making Explorer guitars, despite the fact that Dean had been making them since 1977. I will make my Explorer variant in Custom Shop but never again as a production guitar.