![James Hetfield of Metallica plays his white Gibson Explorer, onstage in 1986](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4U4ZaTLTQC8zySGfahy4Zf-320-80.jpg)
“It can sing like a Les Paul, bark like an SG and spank like a Flying V”: The Explorer chugged for Hetfield, sang the blues with Clapton and made the Edge sound ginormous – is it still Gibson’s most underrated electric guitar?
The Explorer was a little bit radical for 1958 but popularized by Clapton, Hetfield, the Edge, Rick Derringer and Skynyrd, this all-angled shape came into its own. Does it sound different to other Gibsons? Debatable. But heck, it looks cool