When in 1958 Gibson president Theodore ‘Ted’ McCarty designed the ES-335 and its siblings the ES-345 and ES-355, it was clear that his understanding of electric guitar design ran deep. The models were an instant success and their unbroken production from then until now has proved so in spades. How come, then, that in that very year the self-same designer dreamt up these two?
Other than the basic electronics, the Explorer and Flying V couldn’t have been more different. Of course, this was the ‘space age’ and Fender already had designs called Stratocaster and Telecaster that evoked cosmic adventure and all that was groundbreaking and modern. So it seemed Gibson was gunning for its share of this market, too.
