Epiphone 1958 Goth Explorer Review

The Gibson Firebird style guitar has always been featured as a standby for the hard-edged side of music. It has the angles, the feel, and the sound many hard rock and metal players look for in making the audience's jaws drop and ears bleed. Epiphone, a daughter company of Gibson, now offers The Goth 1958 Explorer, an affordable version of the classic Explorer that packs a mean punch in the metal department. Let's take a look at what the Goth Explorer has to offer.

Features: The body of the Goth Explorer is made of Mahogany wood. As is the neck, which is set into the body instead of bolted. This is a quality I personally appreciate, as it generally marks a step up from entry level type guitars. The fretboard is made of rosewood, and there is only one pearl inlay at the twelfth fret, of which there are twenty two. The only finish offered on the Epiphone Goth Explorer is black satin. If kept clean, it is very sleek. All of the hardware is chrome painted black. In fact, the instrument is completely blacked out. Electronically, this guitar has two Alnico Classic humbucker pickups. Also, there are two tone and one volume knobs, with a three way selector switch.

Playability: This area is largely subjective. Each experienced player has a way they like their instrument. But in my opinion the Explorer style body on the Epiphone Goth Explorer is a bit uncomfortable to sit down and play with. The action (string height from fretboard) is nice, which is a must for metal guitars. But, there are only twenty two frets as opposed to twenty four. This is a negative for many serious shredders. Also, I personally don't like the lack of inlays. When really rocking out, it's nice to have the reference points if you lose focus. Then again, if you really know the neck, it shouldn't pose a problem. One more thing, you should probably figure a workout schedule if you plan on playing the Goth Explorer for extended periods of time. It's heavy.

Sound: The Epiphone Goth Explorer is designed for one thing and one thing only: metal. When cranking up the distortion and letting it rip, it performs wonderfully. But it lacks a little in clean tones. One common observation is that it's a little trebly, no matter which pickup is activated.

Overall: If you're an intermediate metal player who is looking for some good equipment to match your growing capabilities, the Epiphone 1958 Goth Explorer may just be the instrument for you. All in all, it performs great when using it for what it's designed to do. You can find the Goth Explorer in most music stores for around $400.