Holy? You betcha’, and the pun is intended on this one. Taking its cue from last year’s highly successful guitar of the month, the Holy V, Gibson USA is proud to introduce the first offering of its new 2009 Limited Run Series guitars, the Holy Explorer.
An enormously playful take on the seminal Explorer, the Holy Explorer from Gibson USA offers all the meaty tone and speedy playability of the original model. Yet, while following the exact body lines of its iconic predecessor from the Modernistic Series of 1958, the solid mahogany body of this new Limited Run Series model is shot full of holes, creating both a lighter guitar and an interesting modification of the original Explorer’s resonant characteristics.
On top of it all, the Holy Explorer is certainly destined to be a collector’s item: available now from your nearby Authorized Gibson Dealer, it will be produced in a strictly limited run of just 350 guitars.
Sweet Little Rock ‘n’ Roller
The Explorer has always been a rocker, but the Holy Explorer winds the "X" factor up a notch to crank out a contemporary descendant of the heavy rock sound. A pair of Gibson’s own uncovered ceramic-magnet humbucking pickups — a 496R in the neck and a 500T in the bridge — maximize output and sustain while retaining clarity and string definition.
Down to Business
The minimalist control array is designed to let you get right down to business. There’s just a single volume control, positioned for easy pinky-finger volume swells, and a three-way pickup selector — nothing superfluous to get in the way of you and your tone. And playability, naturally, is flawless, on par with the Explorer’s famous high neck/body joint and easy access right up to the 22nd fret of the Holy Explorer’s fast, super comfortable 24¾-inch scale neck, which is also made from solid mahogany.
Head Over Heel
The Holy Explorer also retains its ancestor’s distinctive “drooping” headstock with six-in-line tuners, which in this case are Grover Mini tuners. The guitar is also fitted with a 1-11/16"-wide Corian nut and Gibson’s traditional stop bar tailpiece and Tune-o-matic bridge, which keeps everything firmly anchored and ready to wail. From chunky rhythm work to screaming lead tones, the Holy X-plorer is one unholy hell raiser of an offspring of the original Modernistic rocker. Its Limited Run of 350 won’t last long, so see your nearest Authorized Gibson Dealer quickly. Each guitar comes with a customized Limited Run Series certificate of authenticity, and a black Gibson hardshell case with plush white interior and silkscreened Gibson USA logo.
Here are the specs for the new Limited Run Series Holy Explorer from Gibson USA:
Made In: Nashville, TN USA
Body Wood: mahogany
Neck Wood: mahogany
Nut: Corian
Neck Joint: Set; Glued-in
Fingerboard: rosewood with acrylic dots
Scale Length: 24-3/4"
Nut Width: 1-11/16"
Fingerboard Radius: 12"
Frets: 22; jumbo
Machine Heads: Grover Mini
Hardware: Chrome
Pickups: 496R neck, 500T bridge
Controls: 1-Volume control, three-way switch
Bridge: Tune-o-matic
Tailpiece: stop bar
Includes: Hard Case with silkscreened Gibson USA logo
Check back next week for the introduction of the next guitar in the Gibson USA 2009 Limited Edition Series — the Grabber II Bass!
Click here for a closer look at Gibson USA's Holy Explorer!