Gibson’s debut solidbody line got off to a great start following the release of the Les Paul Model/ Goldtop in 1952. By 1957, however, Les Paul sales had tailed off significantly. Facing stiff competition from Fender, company president Ted McCarty and his design team doubled down on their efforts to come up with exciting, innovative products. Diving deep for new ideas, Gibson surfaced with a plethora of now iconic designs in 1958. Among them were the Explorer, Flying V, ES-335 and electric
