Epiphone Flying V Bass

Name: '58 "Korina" Flying V Bass
Brand: Epiphone
Year: Unknown (Somewhere in the late 1980's... 1988-1990)
Manufactured in: USA, together with the Gibson V's I suppose
Bought: Used - US$ 700

Construction
Body Style: Flying V / V-Factor
Body Wood: Korina
Finish: Gloss Black
Fretboard: Maple
Nut Widht: 1.65" - Brass
Inlays: Pearl Dots
Scale: 30.5" (Shortscale)
Headstock: Arrowhead

Hardware
Pickups: Dual Epiphone humbuckers, passive - Bridge and neck.
Tuners: Gotoh
Bridge: Tune-o-Matic
Potentiometers: Volume, tone, 3-Way pickup selector (Which is AWESOME)

I play mostly rock, punk, and metal, and this bass delivers it like a hot knife on butter.

Sound can be shaped from the gritty-edgy of punk to the thumping metal sounds to the metallic sounds of funk!
Basically, you can create a good tone just by flipping the tone and the pickup selector around for a while.

On default settings (tone 5, volume 5, selector in middle), it sounds bassy with average middles and low highs.

No noise or hum, which is awesome. makes a good studio bass, and delivers on stage too!

I play on it through a Hartke VX3500 combo amp, which can really shape the sound up.

One thing I didn't like was that I felt it needed more high and a bit less middle.

Bought used, the owner was a collector, probably wasn't modded.

So yes, action is flawless, pickups were placed well apart, giving more tonal width, which PWNS...

HOWEVER: This bass is NOT good for slapping. Picking and fingering works wonders. Slapping, not so much.

I felt weird with the strap buttons, feels awkward.
The V also has unbalanced weight, resulting in a neckdive when using a strap. (You can't balance it sitting down for OBVIOUS REASONS)

Paintjob was flawless.

hmmmm

For me, this bass is a little fragile. I dropped my hardcase with the V in it, and I later found out that the neck had been cracked.

So now I take all the care necessary.

Paintjob also seems to be sensitive. It slipped a bit on the floor and caused a streak of color-swap.

hardware is solid, no problems here...That includes the truss rod, never had to adjust it.

So yes, I would take care of this. it's not your average P-Bass, after all!

Never used.

This is actually my third bass, and probably my favorite.
I also have a Fender Standard Jazz Bass and a BC Rich Warlock.
The unique sound is easily shapeable, I LOVE the looks of this thing, simply sexy. heh.
Favorite feature is probably the pickup selector, and even the pickups themselves..
If this was stolen, I'd sell my house to get another one. And a shotgun, to kill the thief.

Definitely worth buying. If you can find one, that is.

The crew at Guitar Center swear this is a current model (I just purchased it from them new), but I think they are wrong. It's made in Korea for one thing, not China, but besides that, they haven't offered it for sale for a few years. My guess is that it was an unsold warehouse item.
I replaced the bridge (which is perfectly fine) with an Hipshot I happened to have sitting around-the ones designed to replace 3-post Gibson bridges. That does give it much more adjust ability, but it's not something I would have gone out of my way to do.
Interesting in that it has a solid brass nut.
The neck is very thin-as though transplanted from a 60's SG guitar.
The pickups are from the thunderbird, explorer and a few other epiphone basses over the years-nice pickups.

Strings are junk. i replaced them with laBella deep talkin' bass in short scale soft guage (102).

I'm using this with an Aguilar head/various cabs or a 70's era Acoustic combo.
I have a pedal board, but now prefer just plugging into the cheapo Behringer V-amp bass pod-like thing.
This bass has a really nice growl for a short scale, with medium output, and 2 fairly distinct sounds that would make it usable for all kinds of music as long as you like a short scale.

As all of the Korean Epiphones have been in my experience, this one is superb. I have not been able to say that about the Chinese made epi's lately. Everything was adjusted fine.

nothing to worry about on this bass. even the output jack is of good quality. I added Schaler strap locks.

I started playing in 1977.
I also have a jazz bass, allen woody, gibson ebo.
I love the way it looks and the light weight.
It does neck dive with a slippery strap (use leather, not nylon),
but it is so light, that it really doesn't matter.

Bought early 2005 made in Korea. Bought from Aire Guitars, these guys have always sold me top quality instruments, so the build quality seems higher than the reviews ive read here.
All details same as above, had to buy epiphone case for it
Standard two pickups, two volumes one tone, selector switch. As usual for twin pickup basses, you couldnt use the bridge pickup on its own.

Great rock sound, not massively bassy (i'd put that down to it being a shortscale) but its middly sound is great for punk and rock, which is what my band plays.
I use a marshall VBA 400 stack so it's got plenty of ooomph!
The pickups arent noisy or scratchy, while retaining a good hi frequency output. This bass doesnt feedback when ive got my boss bass overdrive switched on like some basses can, i put that down to the humbuckers.
As with most twin pickup basses, if you put both pickups up, it makes the guitar quieter! I like to back the bridge pickup off a little, which leaves it bassy, but just raw enough for a great Blink 182 bass sound.
I prefer to use this bass onstage as it is so easy to play being a shortscale. Even though the neck is a little fatter than a precision at the nut, i find even my small hands can run around the fret board and not get tired during a gig.
In the studio, the shortscale possibly lets it down, and with today's recording techniques demanding unfailing bass tone, id probably switch to my mexican fender precision bass deluxe (p/j pickups)

Action was good, altho i did need to set the intonation and as a result adjusted the bridge height to counteract this. It's set up beautifully now if i do say so myself, but it werent far off anyway. Just low enough for speed, just high enough not to buzz. The three point bridge is fab and i havent encountered any problems.
Pickups dont seem too adjustable, but i dont want to anyway. I cant play slap bass, but i do slap on one song in our set, and it produces a really meaty thump. Im not gonna challenge Mark King, but this bass performs perfectly for what i ask it to do.

I have gigged this bass all summer and i havent had a problem yet.
The gold hardware is solid enough and i cant find any dings yet (even though it went without a case for several gigs and rehearsals)
The finish is quite thick, black ebony, i would have preferred the natural korina finish but they stopped making these a few years b4 i could get one!
I replaced the strap buttons with gold straplocks, just because i treat all the guitars i love to a set of them. No probs with position of buttons either.
I would quite happily use this without a backup, altho i normally use this bass for the first half of our set, then switch to a fender for the second half.

Epiphones are imported via Rosetti's in the Uk and all my dealings with them have been positive and very helpful, from buying enquiries to getting tiny replacement screws for a 30 year old Rickenbacker bass!
Aire guitars where i bought this bass are always great, offering low prices but high quality instruments, they even found me a case for this beast (shame they dont sell them as one item)

I have been playing bass for 11 years and gigging for 8 years. I use a Marshall VBA 400 stack. I also own the fender mentioned previously, a gibson SG bass and many other guitars
If this bass were stolen or lost, i would probably not get another one, as they are so metal looking and doesnt fit with the look of the band!
I love the sound of this bass and its playability for a shortscale instrument. The only thing im not keen on is the look, ok i know its fairly obvious what this bass is gonna look like, but it doesnt quite fit with the look of the band.
I tried several shortscale basses before i bought this, and this was the best of the bunch. Fender mustangs lack tone, Hofners are too lightweight and fragile, Epiphone EBOs are too slapdash and inconsistent (headstock heavy also) I chose this as the sound was killer, very playable and its brass nut gave it amazing sustain.
I wish that epiphone made a shortscale bass with these pickups that wasnt a flying v shape, as it is a bit too metal for some. I also wish that epiphone would include the case, as i got a bargain at #279, but had to pay another #99 for the case.
I love this bass, but im selling it, i'll probably regret it soon enough.

2004 made epiphone flying v bass
gloss black
no case

Awesome sound-but the bridge pickup is lowerd slightly to the left so doesnt pickup d+g strings ver well. but very good sound,use it with a trace elliot ah 130 head and 2x10 cab

amazing set up-perfect low height. but strings only stayed new sounding for a day which sucks.

one very bad thing about this bass is the epiphone decal-its a metal sticker. when cleaning it, the top half of the e fell of, so now its a 'cpiphone' not good. my bass was one of the new ones, so didnt have gibson on truss rod cover

lovely black finish, with gold hardware-looks so damn good-firts gig i played with it, everyone was trying to touch it from the crowd ;)

when i took the strings off the nut fell off ( not the first time, about the 10th time i took em off) and the bridge comes of cos its held on by the strings-bloody pain. strap buttons still solid after 6 months.

i won other basses, but this is by far the best. i chose this out oa mexican fender jazz-on looks etc this is by far best

Bought it from Germany via web and had delivered to England for ?15 including solid Beast bass rockcase. Standard Flying V Bass. 2 volume controls and 1 tone. 2 passive humbucker pickups. 31.5" scale, fretted.

Sound is good and solid, as you would expect from humbuckers. I use it as a back up Bass to my 24 year old Rickenbacker 4001. As you can imagine (if you are a Ricky fan), there is no other bass in the World that sounds like a Rickenbacker but that is not why I have the Flying V..! Main reason for the V is because the Ricky is as heavy as a suitcase full of lead, and can become too much in a 2.5 hour gig. What better then to have a much lighter Flying V that not only sounds good, punch's out the sound like like a brick through a plate glass window, and looks great. I do use it through a Zoom bass pedal, and play through a Marshall Valvestate 265 which sits on top of a 2x15 200 Watt HH bass cab. Could do with extra tone control for pickups so that front and back could be set to required sounds without having to adjust each time.

Factory set up is OK. Action was a lot lower then I thourght it would be on delivery. Front pickup was much higher then back. Finish was better then I expected for price. Very shiney with only a couple of flaws in the paint. None of which are on front of bass. Good solid construction, and nive balance. Good brass nut and bridge. Not too fond of white scratch plate so will make brass replacement. No fret buzz on factory setup, and internation more or less spot on.

V will be an excellent back up in gigs. First test is due in a couple of weeks time at an open air BBQ gig. I feel that I could use it as a single bass without a backup. Only time will tell if the finish holds up.

Not used

I have been playing for 24 years. I also own a 1981 Rickenbacker 4001 bass, 1991 USA made Fender Telecaster plus a few other accoustic guitars and bass. Must say that if it were stolen or lost I would replace it. It is a fanastic bass to look at, and turns heads. It has taken me 23 years to even think of playing any other bass from my Ricky. Only other bass I would like would be a Gibson Thunderbird. If you play in a band like mine that like to crank up the volume until your ears feel like they are about to be ripped off the side of your head, this is the perfect bass to own.

2004 korina V, 2 volume , 1 tone, and pick up selector. passive electronics with standard epiphone humbuckers

nice metal/rock tone, realli picks out the sharp high sounds!
much louder than my previous bass (yamaha rbx170)
im currently using it through a laney R5 with a zoom 607 multi effects its sounds sublime! takes a bit of gettin used to but after that it rocks!

factory set up seemed fine, came with rubbish strings so i got some rotosounds (shuperb)

i would and do use it gigs without back up nd neva hav to worry at all, i havent had it long enough to see how it will last but everything seems realli solid and durable

havent dealt with company

ive been playing bass for about 3 years and i think its a superb bass! the sound is clear and crisp IT LOOKS BREATH-TAKING! i cose to begin with because it looked like nothing id ever seen before, my only advice is to make sure ur strap is low if u play wivout a pick like me because otherwise u end up hitting the broidge but its somthing u get used to

For a 4 string flying v bass made by epiphone with nice black finish and shiny gold hardware, i think the value is excellent. Allthough you do get what you pay for though. Dont expect a 2,000 dollar high end sound out of it...its a perfect indie rock bass, These are some of the best sounding passive pickups that i;ve heard. They appear to be standard epi humbuckers. Its cool that this bass has a pickup selector toggle switch as well as the separet knobs, and a tone knob. I was shocked that it had a brass nut. thats awesome. It appears to have a set neck...no bolt on...this is great too. tunomatic bridge is clean looking...form fitted HUGE case. its nice though....

indie rock...perfect bass... Its running through a gallien-krueger 400RB-III into 2 4x10's made by avatar with eminence speakers. I love the tone for this bass. I bought it for an indie rock picking type sound, and it is absolutly the best sound of that that i could have hoped for...ive never owned an epi before and this surpasses my exprectations...great sounding passive humbuckers...rich and full. but mine sound rich and full through a gk head that has the bass all the way up and a preamp boosting everything including the bass. But i have pluged it in without all of this and it still sounds good, it just dosnt have as much character to the tone without my custom settings. Great sounding on stage...havent tried it inthe studio yet. Ive done about 4 shows with is so far.

factory set up was exceptionally average to not good. the action was high. Its like playing a bass at a guitar center! (hahah)The pickups came lifted up to the strings. I love the sound of them, but some musician friends who have been in the audience have told me to lower them because of how poppy and bright they sound, but i like it. Great glossy finish. great tuners...they stay intune well...they sometimes will go out of tune when im really rockin hard, but if you tune it perfectly, they will stay unless you really pluck the hell out of them!!!

I installed SCHALLER STRAP LOCKS.... i moved the badly placed strap button to the back of the neck area...(the heel as some people like to refer to it as...)good finish,...i depend on it, but i like having a back up because some weird stuff can always happen. You never know. Perfect live bass...i actually bought it for live play...ITS A FLYING V!!!!

Very helpful company...my bass had a bushing pull out when i tried to adjust the tune-o-matic bridge, but i took it to my local authorized gibson dealer and he fixed it and set it all up for free...(limited lifetime warranty)...

im 20, and I've been playing for six years now, and i play obsessivley...it holds up my playing....A+++++++++++ I hear that the epi version sounds better than the gibson that was around in 1981. Plus looks awesome...i got the blck one.

My epiphone flying v bass was a 1999 model korean made with korina finish and with all the other things the previous reviewers listed.

This bass hmmmm it was both a big hit and miss for me. I'm running it through an ampeg SVT Classic and 810E cab now but i used to through a peavey tko 115 combo and peavey mark III bass head before i got the ampeg. I found the sound of this bass ok but it really lacked in volume i found i almost considered changing the pick-ups to high out-put passive ones but I didnt bother. It fit most of the playing styles I would do Metal, rock and blues but the volume on this one wasnt as good as my other basses. One thing it had going for it was a pretty good tapping sound when overdrive was engaged but other than that thats about it.

Ok here's where there was another problem for me one I absolutely couldnt stand, was the bridge they used for this bass, I dont know if it was string spacing or what but i found the bridge set up very limiting in what you could do with it. I also didnt like the positioning of the neck pick-up it's sooo close to the neck that you can pretty much forget about playing slap bass on this thing at least for me anyway. Playabilty wise it's mediocre at best I would say. Another problem for me was the brass nut actually broke off when i tried to re-string it once so I had to re-glue it on, that reaped cheapness for me. Other than that the bass holds up alright.

I have only used this bass about 3 times live and that was it. It never gave me problems aside from the ones I mentioned in the last section. I wouldnt bring it to a show anymore because of it's odd shape and it wont fit in my guitarists and I's 7 way guitar stand, so it's not really practicle to have live as I said again unless you want to wow people with it.

n/a

On an overall whole this is really a show off bass "wow look at me flying v bass." It's only slightly redeeming quality was it sounded ok with bass overdrive through the SVT but I mean it definately didnt make up for where it was lacking. I guess some guitar shapes just werent meant to work on bass, well actually not unless spector or some high-end company decided to make their own style of flying v bass. Aside from the initial reaction of seeing it, it didnt really do much for me in the long run and at the momment i'm trying to sell it and move on.

Epiphone Flying V Bass - made in 2003 - Made in Korea
2 Volume Knobs - 1 Tone Knob- Pickup Selector Switch
Passive Electronics - Body and neck wood unknown - Neck and Body painted black - Typical Epi Bridge/Tailpiece - Unknown brand tuners - Nice wide frets - Hardshell case included in price

Would probably be OK for most styles - I play hard rock, psychedelic, etc. Not noticably noisey. Doesn't seem to have the low-end punch like a Fender Jazz bass but the mid to higher notes sound clearer than the Jazz Bass.

As I stated in a different review, factory setup usually means that the strings are attached!! I EXPECT to have to do a setup on EVERY guitar or bass I get. The overall workmanship on the bass is good with a few exceptions. One of the studs that anchor the bridge was pulling out of it's cavity. I removed the bridge, tapped it down flush and when the string tension was reapplied, it pulled out again. At that moment I realized that the bass was going back!!! However, I happened to have a massive Guild B-302 tailpiece, so I drilled the stud-holes bigger and replaced the bridge. It looks a lot better in chrome than the original gold plated one anyway. The good news about the nut is that it is solid brass (Total Shock!!). The bad news is that it fell off when I removed the strings. That's why man invented glue. Problem solved. The holes in the peghead for the machine heads aren't lined up perfectly symetrically but that's just an annoyance. The neck seems to be joined to the body nicely (It IS a set neck)and the paint job is nice. The action is pretty good. The position of the strap button by the neck is ridiculous unless you enjoy dropping your bass on the floor. So you would have to either reposition this button on the back of the bass at the neck heel or get Schaller straplocks. I did both. Repositioning the straplock button at the heel will take away the feeling that the bass is neck-heavy. I did this and now the bass balances perfectly!! Also, the combination and silver and gold components looks nicer than you'd think. The gold colored tuners seem OK but I'll be replacing them with chrome Schaller tuners and that will complete the package!!

Too new for rating

The only time I've dealt with Epiphone was when I called them to find out approximately how many Epiphone Moderne guitars were made. He was friendlier than the Night Stalker but not as friendly as the Son of Sam. Need I say more ?? In fairness, if I actually had a problem, they might be more helpful.

I've played 20+ years - Also own an Alembic Epic Bass and a Fender Jazz Bass. If it were gone, I probably wouldn't replace it because I have 2 other basses and need a better amp. But I would be sad. Despite the problems I've had with it, now that it's all fixed up, I really enjoy it. Playing the V bass is like playing a rocket or a big dart. It just feels and looks really cool and sounds good too. That's what it's all about !! My overall rating is higher than the individual ratings because now that it's customized a bit, it's so much fun !!!

Korean made. Korina body with black finish and short scale length. Has gold hardware with 2 humbuckers. Basic flying V controls, two volume one tone. Has a very heavy adjustable bridge.

the neck shape is really great. Has a brass nut.

Three way selector switch.

the sound is great. It has a nice throaty sound, very resonant, stringy sound.

Again the neck shape is great, Very playable. very comfortable neck. I like it.

Fit and finish much better than normally found on the samick made Epiphones. This one is a new from the new ephiphone factory in Korea. A much better instrument than the previous ones.

Built like a rock. I cannot imagine what can go wrong.

Who knows?

Excellant value. Plays great, looks great, sounds great. What else do you need?

A 4 string Flying V bass, the coolest ever I swear it is made by epiphone and has 2 loud humbuckers (louder than my ibanez tr50) passive pickups it has a black finish 21 frets and a smaller 30.5 scale the neck is not too thin or fat (like fender)i got a case with it.

It suits what i play thrash,speed metal it has a 3-way toggle to make it very versitilty

perfect had my local music store set every thing up for me strings sucked but i got Ernie Balls :)

It seems too have a nice thick finish and i got strap-lok's for peace of mind i wouls use this bass with out a back up

i have never delt with them so i have no clue

over all i like the feel of it. it has nice balance and all frets are acessible this is the coolest bass ever