The guitar is one of 19 explorers that Gibson produced in 1958, its body is built from korina and it still contains a pair of original PAF humbucker pickups. While there have been guitars constructed as Explorer replicas, very few still exist and even fewer appear on the market. Other notable owners of the ’58 Explorer include Rick Nielson of Cheap Trick and Kirk Hammett of Metallica. In a press release, the store said that they believe the guitar sale is the highest priced transaction ever for a single guitar that has not been affiliated with an artist.
“I have been aware of a set of matching korina guitars for the last 10 plus years owned by a leading collector based in the US whom I have known since I was 16,” says Justin Harrison of Denmark Street Guitars. “He always mentioned that he had the guitar but wanted $1 million plus [for it]. In speaking to the buyer and discussing his desire to own some classics guitars, I discussed that I was aware of a ’58 Explorer that was the holy grail of vintage instruments. After 4 to 5 days of going back and forth, I finalised the sale of this at 1.1 million”.
