I believe that 3 of these 4 are original `58 Explorers.
I believe that Mike Stevens re-necked the Explorer that he`s holding in the first picture & it`s the one that now belongs to Dave Rogers.
Collecting At Dave's Guitar Shop - Wisconsin Life
When Dave Rogers opened his first guitar store in the early 1980s in downtown La Crosse, it was in a tiny former dental office. He filled it with Fenders and Gibsons. “I put every guitar that I personally owned, it was about 15 or 16 guitars, out for sale to...wisconsinlife.org
It looks like the Explorer Dave is holding the YT video above is the same Explorer seen in the 3 pictures that I posted above it [Post # 267]--the markings all seem the exact same under the vol. & tone controls, along w/ the 'chipped' pickguard.
I believe he charges around $15,000 for either of those two--and I bet they sound & play great!Stevens, 2021
That Futura is the one thats in the Duchossoir book. Considering that association alone, I believe it's legit, but I don't understand how it was ever verified. Allegedly, this is the prototype and the only one ever built.
This is a really fascinating guitar to me. The ribbons in the wood around the knobs and on the back make it look like its made of African Mahogany, IMO. Although African Mahogany looks very similar to real mahogany, its not really Mahogany at all. Its a different species of wood that I've only seen used on more modern guitars in lieu of good lightweight real South or Central American Mahogany. We all know Gibson had a pretty good supply of real mahogany around 1957 so why would they use this stuff? Im not a guru on the old guitars at all, but I've never seen pictures of another '50s Gibson solid body guitar that for even a second I suspected was made from African Mahogany.
Also, it kills me that only a single example of the Futura could possibly exist and that the Japanese companies have still managed to copy it accurately
