Epiphone Ltd Edition Korina Explorer

[Muzikman7]

Anyone have one of these? http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend.com/product/Epiphone-Ltd-Ed-Korina-Explorer-Bass?sku=581873

[Dave W]

I'll bet the korina body is just as genuine as the mahogany neck, i.e. not at all. Unless it's a korina veneer over some other much less expensive wood. Wouldn't be the first time Gibson has misrepresented Epi woods.

[godofthunder]

I think it is a very thin Korina veneer over alder, basswood, or poplar.

[Muzikman7]

I'm really a Fender player myself but for $399 I thought it would be amusing.

[uwe]

They've resurrected the Explorer bass for a short run with no apparent changes to the last run before deletion a couple of years ago. Back then, the Explorer body underneath the fin or thin veneer featured a very light (in color and weight) and incredibly soft wood which surprisingly sounded very good though, resonant and rich over all frequencies with a nice fuzzy blur. What it would have needed is a hard maple top to protect it from dents.

[Freuds_Cat]

guilty! 



The veneer on the one on the MF site looks different to mine but Dave is right. Mine has a Scarfed maple neck and what I'm convinced is Poplar under the Korina veneer.

Sounds like this.

[Dave W]

Maybe they didn't exactly resurrect it. Wouldn't surprise me if these have just been sitting in a warehouse somewhere, like the white Melody Maker guitars MF blew out last summer.

[TBird1958]

They've released some Vee's too tho...... I played one a month or so back at the local GC

But they're quiet about it 

[Nocturnal]

I've seen the new V's at GC as well. There were already too many people plugged in "playing" so I didn't bother to try one out. It looked nice, aside from the gold hardware.

[uwe]

The Vs look the same as ever too.

I found the deletion of Explorers and Vs a few years back surprising. In germany at least, they were together with the TBird the most consistent sellers in Epis line. And the German distributor still sold Explorers more than a year after they were deleted in the US, he even had one tested in a mag which struck me as weird: why dend something in that is no longer being produced?

[Freuds_Cat]

If anyone gets a close up look at one check out the serial number and report back what letter it starts with. That should tell us if they are one of the original Unsung Korea ones or a new production from a Chinese factory.

[Muzikman7]

Thanks for the replys guys maybe I'll pick one up.

[Freuds_Cat]

Great fun to play Tony. Neck is quite wide. A bit like driving a truck, not uncomfortable just bigger and more cumbersome.

[eb2]

I have been figuring on picking up one of these eventually.  Maybe 2020.  But I have probably put a bit of wear and tear on a few at GC over the years.  As Uwe points out, they sound fine, and I like the way they feel.  I could quibble about the construction, but for the dough they are great.  And heretical as it may be I am glad these came long scale, unlike the less than inspiring Gibson variant from a few years before.

I hope Merc will get some damaged one and it will show up on fleabay, so I could give it a proper bridge and pickups.

[Freuds_Cat]

+1 on the long scale. Bridge is a straight replica of a Gotoh 201. Admittedly not quite the same build quality as the originals but still adjusts correctly and the bass sounds good so I haven't bothered putting a genuine Gotoh on mine.