The Epi Explorer is back?

[Basvarken]

Any of you guys bought or tried the Epi Flying V?
Epiphone claims it's Korina body and set Mahogany neck (short scale)
And they're quite cheap (298 euro)

http://www.thomann.de/nl/epiphone_korina_flyingv_bass_aw_ltd.htm
The soundsamples aren't half bad.

[Dave W]

I would be surprised if it's solid korina at that price. From what I've read, earlier Epis said to have korina bodies really only had a korina cap.

[uwe]

I assume it is the same light, soft wood that I have on my rotten wood Exsporer to which my luthier said, it's not classic korina, but some related species to it, not bad acoustically at all, just very ding-prone. The veneer on the outside is actually also protection for the soft wood which looks non-descript. But it has a very warm and fuzzy tone even when played unplugged. You can try mine when you are here, Rob. The mock-korina is too soft for a neck structure though, hence the (again not classic, but similar) "maho" neck.

In my book, the Epi Explorer even in unpimped form beats the crap out of the eighties Gibson Explorer (either alder/maple or maho/maple) for the superior wood construction alone. I see no reason why that should not be the case with the Epi Flying V as the original Gibson Flying V was a sorry affair made of alder and maple (I know it works fine with a Fender, but it didn't with the Flying V). One of our brethren here has an Epi Flying V and likes it. I forgot who though. Some old geezer, but aren't we all?

Both Epi Flying V and Explorer were consistent sellers in Germany, probably the most prevalent Epi basses after the TBird. I remember that exactly around the time they were deleted they even had a glowing review (as somewhat "different" budget models) in one of the magazines and I thought "what horrendous timing, have those basses featured favorably and deleted at the same time, only Gibson/Epi can blunder like that". The German distributor must have had a heart attack, but he couldn't do much about it as Gibson replaced him with a subsidiary around the same time (prices got cheaper that way, but service a lot worse!, there is no free lunch). With the buying power of Thomann, I think they simply decided to take things in their own hands and resurrect the buggers.

I'm not above getting one of those someday and maybe transform it into a rotten wood pimp brother of my Explorer!

[Dave W]

With the buying power of Thomann, I think they simply decided to take things in their own hands and resurrect the buggers.

It's not just Thomann, the Korina V is available as a limited edition from Musicians Friend/Guitar Center and their related companies for $399.