The Gibson Futura was an electric guitar

Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

 which was the precursor of the model introduced as the Explorer

Gibson Explorer

The Gibson Explorer is a type of electric guitar that made its debut in 1958. The Explorer offered a radical, "futuristic" body design, much like its sibling, the Flying V. The Explorer was the final development of a prototype design which years later Gibson marketed under the name Futura.The...

. These mahogany prototypes, christened "Futura" many years later, resembled the eventual Explorer design, but had a differently-proportioned body, as well as a 'split' or 'forked' headstock which survived into the first few production Explorers but was quickly replaced. Gibson obtained U.S. Design Patent number 181,865 for the Futura body shape.

Original design

Gibson's designers made a very few, perhaps 2-4, of these prototypes between 1957 and early 1958, using patternmakers' mahogany as per standard practice. One of these, a mockup without electronics, was photographed at the 1957 NAMM trade show; two are known to be in existence as of 2008.

Explorer Production

When Explorer production began, with the final, wider body shape in "korina " or African limba wood, a few very early examples retained the "split-V" headstock. One of those "transitional" models is today owned by Rick Nielsen

Rick Nielsen

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. The Explorer offered a radical, "futuristic" body design and golden-blonde korina, much like its sibling, the Flying V

Gibson Flying V

-External links:*, , , , and , from the Gibson website*, a June 2001 article from Guitar Collector magazine*, a tribute site that lists all models and re-issues and most notable players**...

. Its initial run was unsuccessful and it was discontinued in 1959 after shipping fewer than 50. The Gibson Explorer was reintroduced in the 1970s and is still sold today.

Development

In 1996 Gibson brought out as a limited edition the "1957 Futura Korina Reissue:" something of a misnomer, since the design had never been issued in the first place, and of course in '57 the guitar didn't have a name. Since that time Gibson's Custom Shop has occasionally produced additional Futuras. Epiphone has recently added two versions of the Futura to its higher-end "Prophecy" series of guitars. Both guitars feature an ebony black finish with matching hardware, available with a Floyd Rose

Floyd Rose

The Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo, or simply Floyd Rose, is a type of locking vibrato arm for a guitar. The first of its kind, Floyd D. Rose invented the locking vibrato in 1977, and it is now manufactured by a company of the same name...

 double locking tremolo or a fixed bridge. Other guitars in this series include the Les Paul, SG and EM-2.

Corvus

Gibson marketed another model named the Futura in the early 1980s. This Futura's body shape was nothing like the Explorer or its prototype: it was instead an upscale version of the Corvus

Gibson Corvus

The Gibson Corvus was a short-lived series of guitars produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in the mid-1980s. It featured a solid body with an offset V-cut at the tail, which led it to be colloquially known as the "can opener" guitar. Also, if the guitar is turned sideways it looks as if it is...

"can-opener." Due to this fact the Corvus is commonly mistaken with the Futura today.