Best Rosewood Fretboard Explorer Style Guitars in 2024
Here you'll find the best Rosewood fretboard Explorer style guitars. Since the ban of Brazillian Rosewood, this has become a rare and expensive wood. It's not usually used for guitar bodies because of this, and also because it's heavy. Instead, it's used mainly for fretboards. Sometimes it's also used for necks because it's an extremely hard wood (even harder than maple). Its tonality tends to favor warm tones.
After comparing the 2000+ guitars in our database, these are the best scoring ones with these characteristics. You can use our filters to the left to narrow down these results, or click on "Compare" to get a deep comparison between them. Our automated scoring system takes into account the ratings from ours users who own the guitar, and dozens of parameters to determine the build quality, playability, pickups quality, value for money, and more.
There are affiliate links on this page that may earn us a commission if you purchase after clicking. We are members of the Amazon Associates Program, and many others. However, we compare each guitar against each other under the same parameters, so this doesn't influence our scoring.
After comparing the 2000+ guitars in our database, these are the best scoring ones with these characteristics. You can use our filters to the left to narrow down these results, or click on "Compare" to get a deep comparison between them. Our automated scoring system takes into account the ratings from ours users who own the guitar, and dozens of parameters to determine the build quality, playability, pickups quality, value for money, and more.
There are affiliate links on this page that may earn us a commission if you purchase after clicking. We are members of the Amazon Associates Program, and many others. However, we compare each guitar against each other under the same parameters, so this doesn't influence our scoring.
1. Gibson 80s Explorer
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What our users think
- Neck profile shape: C (8 votes)
- Neck speed (thickness): Fast (6 votes)
Strengths & Weaknesses
Gibson 80s Explorer
Gibson 80s Explorer
- Made in United States
- Expensive Wood
- Ivory Tusq Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Tri-Sound Pickups
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Tremolo
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
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Strengths & Weaknesses
Gibson Custom 1958 Korina Explorer Reissue
Gibson Custom 1958 Korina Explorer Reissue
- Made in United States
- Expensive Wood
- Nylon Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Tremolo
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
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Strengths & Weaknesses
Dean Z 79 Floyd
Dean Z 79 Floyd
- Expensive Wood
- Locking Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Tremolo
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in India
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Retainer Bar
- No Strap Lock
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4. Gibson Lzzy Hale Signature Explorerbird
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What our users think
- Neck profile shape: C (8 votes)
- Neck speed (thickness): Fast (6 votes)
Strengths & Weaknesses
Gibson Lzzy Hale Signature Explorerbird
Gibson Lzzy Hale Signature Explorerbird
- Made in United States
- Expensive Wood
- Ivory Tusq Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Tremolo
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
All Prices
5. Gibson Explorer
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What our users think
- Neck access to high frets: Easy (1 vote)
- Fret edges: Smooth (2 votes)
- Tuning stability: Holds tune well (2 votes)
- Weight: Heavy (1 vote)
- Neck profile shape: C (8 votes)
- Neck speed (thickness): Fast (6 votes)
- Pickups noise: Slightly Noisy (4 votes)
- Pickups power: Slightly Hot (2 votes)
Strengths & Weaknesses
Gibson Explorer
Gibson Explorer
- Made in United States
- Expensive Wood
- Ivory Tusq Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Tremolo
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
All Prices
6. Gibson 70s Explorer
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What our users think
- Neck access to high frets: Very Easy (1 vote)
- Fret edges: Smooth (1 vote)
- Tuning stability: Holds tune well (1 vote)
- Weight: Lightweight (1 vote)
- Neck profile shape: C (8 votes)
- Neck speed (thickness): Fast (6 votes)
Strengths & Weaknesses
Gibson 70s Explorer
Gibson 70s Explorer
- Made in United States
- Expensive Wood
- Ivory Tusq Nut
- Top Brand Pickups
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Tremolo
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
All Prices
7. Dean Z 79
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What our users think
- Neck access to high frets: Hard (1 vote)
- Neck speed (thickness): Fast (1 vote)
Strengths & Weaknesses
Dean Z 79
Dean Z 79
- Expensive Wood
- Top Brand Pickups
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in India
- No High-Quality Nut
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Tremolo
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
All Prices
8. Dean ZX Floyd
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What our users think
- Neck profile shape: C (2 votes)
- Neck speed (thickness): Balanced (3 votes)
- Pickups noise: Slightly Noisy (3 votes)
- Pickups power: Hot (3 votes)
Strengths & Weaknesses
Dean ZX Floyd
Dean ZX Floyd
- Expensive Wood
- Locking Nut
- Tremolo
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in India
- No Top Brand Pickups
- No Neck-Through Build
- No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
- No Weight Relief
- No Luminescent Inlay
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Retainer Bar
- No Strap Lock