A guitarist who uses an Explorer-type (guitar)
From among Gibson’s electric guitars, I’ve compiled a list of guitarists who use the Explorer type.
Its avant-garde design reportedly didn’t make it very popular at first, but these days it’s a well-loved guitar used by many famous musicians.
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Guitarists using the Explorer type (21–30)
Joel O’Keeffe
Joel O’Keeffe, the singer-guitarist of the Australian hard rock band AIRBOURNE, is also a devoted Explorer player.
Is it perhaps METALLICA’s influence that makes the combination of a singer-guitarist and an Explorer feel like such a perfect match?
Nick Stewart
Representing Texas, Power Trip is a crossover thrash metal band formed in 2008.
Guitarist Nick Stewart has long been an avid Explorer user.
It seems ENGL amps pair perfectly with the Explorer! This is from a house show they played in 2018.
The band is known for tight, chugging riffs in standard tuning and massive breakdowns!
Ace Frehley
Is this also unexpected? Ace Frehley, known as the guitarist of KISS, actually used an Explorer too! Do Les Paul devotees inevitably try an Explorer or a Flying V at least once? Owning an Explorer is uncommon, but it doesn’t feel out of place at all.
Syu
Through his activities with GALNERYUS, Syu has firmly established himself as one of Japan’s leading metal guitarists.
While his guitars are now strongly associated with ESP signature models, in the early stages of his career his trademark was an Explorer-type guitar with a mirror pickguard.
At the time of this Animetal live performance in the video, he was still only 22 years old, yet his playing was already remarkably solid.
Edward Van Halen
In the 1980s, Ibanez released the Destroyer as their Explorer-style guitar.
Edward Van Halen’s guitar known as the “Shark” was created by heavily modifying one of these.
Many fans have recreated this guitar, so if you’re interested, definitely look it up—but it hardly resembles the original anymore.