Epiphone '58 Explorer Reissue

2000 made in Korea. korina body, H/H, 2 vol 1 tone blah blah... check out website for features. Mine is ebony finish.

I have 3 guitars, a korean PRS copy (great guitar) which I keep in drop-C tuning, a gibson SG (my main axe) and this one. All my guitars have aftermarket pickups in them; the explorer has EMGs and I bought it that way. Anyways, the combination of the korina body, maple/alder neck (I'm not sure what the neck is made out of anymore, but its bright) and the EMGs give this guitar a very treble heavy tone, and that was exactly what I was looking for. This guitar sounds great, it seems like the body/neck and pickups are a perfect match.

serious gripe here: straplocks. I dont know why, but epiphone put the neck straplock in a very rediculous place: on the semi-horn above the neck (the one closer to the players head). This position makes the guitar, when resting on your shoulders, sit almost parallel to the floor. I amd efinately going to have to move it, I'll probably move it to the neck joint like my SG...

As for the gold hardware, mine is like 5 years old and the hardware is seriously worn... but thats ok, im probably going to fit this guitar with a tone pros locking bridge anyways, or maybe a floyd rose.

Well like I said, I just got this guitar and I havent gigged with it yet because I cant stand the way it sits, so I cant say anything for the durability from my own experiences. What I can say, however, is that the hardware is very worn after only 5 years, the pots are pretty shitty (im probably going to replace those) and I have a feeling the quality of the electronics is going to be pretty bad, but that is just speculation.

I did deal with them briefly concerning the serial number but I have never had any warranty issues with them or anything like that so I am gong to say no opinion.

I have been playing about 3 1/2 years, I listed my other axes above. Overall, for the money, I think this is an awesome guitar. Normally I wouldnt buy an epiphone, I would just save up and get a gibson, but I wanted the korina body and gibson korina explorers are like $8 grand. In this respect, even taking into account the cost of all the mods I'm going to have to do with it, I am getting an amazing deal. My point is that everything that counts with this guitar is good quality: frets, neck, body etc. so if you buy this guitar with modding it in mind, you are not going to get a better explorer anywhere else short of the gibson custom shop.

Made 2004 and bought new in the box. 22 fret, construction like everyone else says, Black with white pickguard and gold finished hardware, including the epiphone passive pickups and grover tuners. This was new when I got it, there was still plastic around the pickup switch.

For playing general rock music, the guitar has a pretty good basic sound, although the pickups were a bit microphonic from the factory. Now replaced with seymour duncan pickups as well as a GR-2A for playing it as the driver for a VG-8.

The guitar was bought from a box shifer on ebay, so they had not adjusted it at all. I guess this means it came as it comes straight from epiphones factory. The setup was rather poor and I was initially dissapointed. Action was too high for me, and the frets at the top were choked. Also the 18th fret stuck out and some of the laquer was chipped around the neck/body join.
All of these problems were fixed by a local luthier and once finished, the guitar is now very good. Just a bit dissapointing it started that badly.
Also noticed when replacing the pickup that the soldering wasn't that good either.

Although the explorer shape seems designed to hit every available object, it feels stronger than it looks. I have hit it on a few things but there are no chips yet.
The plating on the gold plated hardware seems a bit poor and destined to wear off, although that is no bad thing. The guitar finish seems fairly tough though and doubt it would have a problem with live playing (although not so good to get it to stand up on its own!).
Strap buttons seemed pretty solid, but locking strap buttons are worth the price of seeing the delicate looking head plumetting to the floor.
It seems good enough to gig without a backup, although I wouldn't.

No idea.

I have been playing for 20+ years and have owned a large number of other guitars, fenders, ibanez, but this has been my favourite in that time. I am quite happy I bought it, and it was still a good price even factoring in the cost getting it setup properly.
If it was stolen, I would be quite tempted to buy one again, although I might pay the extra and get the same guitar with gibson nametag on the top.
I still have no idea why I bought it, I just saw it and had an urge to get it - I had never wanted an explorer before.

Probably a 2004 model. Purchased new in 2005. Was sold as is: no gig bag or anything. Korina body and maple neck with a yellowish finish. Rosewood fretboard. White 3-ply pickguard. Gold hardware with grover tuners (a plus)

Well, as fate would have it, I didn't keep it stock for long. I had some Gibson pickups from a 2002 Gibson Les Paul Custom laying around, and got them installed almost asap. That's the only real modification I've done to it, aside from having ot professionally set up with .010-.052 strings
After lugging Gibson Les Pauls around all the time, I was very suprised at how light this guitar is. Light as a feather. But it has an extremme amount of resonance to it when played unplugged. That's one of the very first things I look for in purchasing an instrument. You can fell the whole guitar vibrate when strumming a chord, and it's easier to tell where those "sweet spots" are.
I was expecting the guitar to have alot more high end frequencies than my Les Pauls, and to have a possibly more brittle type sound. Not at all. While it does have a different tonality than mahogany guitars, it has a very nice, full bodied sound, accentuated a little more in the mid frequencies. This is one of the feww guitars I've ever owned where I keep the tone knob on 10. My other guitars are hot-rodded with EMGs and designed for metal, so I purposely put a little tamer pickups in this to do more classic rock, like Skynyrd and such. The Gibson equivalent of this guitar is what Allen Collins and Ricky Medlocke have used to play the Freebird solo.

The initial set-up was not good. It was strung up with probably .009 to.042 strings and it buzzed about halfway up the fretboard. After a professional set up was done, there's still a small amont of buzz, but nowhere near as much. Other than that, no complaints.

I think it could stand a bunch of gigs with no drama, but the lack of higher quality hardware (except the grovers) prevent a guitar from getting the best possible setup, which is very important when playing in front of a discerning crowd that wants to be entertained.

I've not dealt with them.

Been playing about 15 years so far, and have owned about every major brand out there at one time or another. I eventually settled on Gibson, but with the criminal overpricing that they are notorious for, I find myself looking to Epiphone a bit more.
This is my second Epi. My first was a Epi Zak Wylde bullseye Les Paul, where I put the real EMG Zakk Wylde kit in it (I still own that one). And it rocked my world. Love it.
The thing about Epis is that you have to get one in your hands , give it a very thorough test drive and see if it strokes you the right way. Quality control is a bit suspect, so I would not advise ordering one of these online. But for now, the explorer suits my purpose.

Mine was made in Korea 2001, its not the orange korina, but its much tackier 80's looking brother, black w/ white pickguard, and gold hardwear, solid top. It Has the one volume and two tone controls with three way selector. Very active elctronics, Ive had a few guitars, fender strat, another epi LP, and Iv'e played on a few esp guitars, and the controls seem to have a great deal of effect on the sound, although I hardly use them because I have one mother of an amp Carvin SX200. 22 frets with non locking tuners, but it seems to hold its tune pretty damn well, tune it up once a week and it still plays good as ever.

I play blues rock mostly zeppelin and floyd things of that style, its sound is incredibly rich and versatile, Ive got freinds in all the styles, and this thing seems to be able to suit everything better that their own guitars, I cant stand metal but this thing seems to do pretty well for it, can crank out all kinds of high gain noise with pretty good clarity.

I got mine of ebay, used, but still had the plastic on everything... person complained of bad tone, I bet it was the plastic on the pickups... never had any problems with this except for the cable input at the bottom seems to be a bit loose, hard to tighten and loosense pretty easily with use,im about to the point of going to home depot and getting a lock bolt for it.

Things a fricken tank. Im a teenager, I take this thing everywhere with me, 7 months, no case because they are hard to come by off the internet. It's got an odd shape and Ive hit every part of this thing on every substance imaginable, transported caseless in trunk, smashed into doors counters, dropped onto my tile once... and I just nailed the corner of the desk with it. after all that ive got little more than a few surface scratches in the glossy coating, it holds up damn well. I wouldnt have a backup for this, this is my one and only and it works great.

Never had any problems with it that needed support

Ive been playing for about 3 years now, Im still around the intermediate level, maybe advanced depending on your criteria, and this and my carvin amp have done everything ive ever asked of them. If it were lost I'd track down the bastard myself take it back with force. I love this thing that much. I spent under 200$ on it due to good timing on ebay, at the time I couldnt have known but id have been willing to spend much more, If something ever happened to it, id go out to the store and replace it for the full 500$ price, if it were more id pay more, its just that good a guitar, The only thing I wish it had was slightly less tacky hardwear, the gold is a little much for my taste, but thats not big deal. Id would deffinatley buy this guitar unless you were to the skill level where you needed its gibson counterpart. Its just great.

Any questions on this thing... just email ill back it 100%

1998 Korean Epiphone 'reissue' of the 58' Explorer
3 piece korina body, laminated top and bottom. 22 fret scarf joint Maple neck, and dot marker rosewood fingerboard.
H/H pickups, gold tunomatic & stop tailpiece, black knobs and pickup rings, white pickguard.
came with Hardcase.
With a Gibson LP and V, I was GASing for an Explorer, an the wallet prescribed Epiphone.

its a plank with strings stuck on it... what kinda style is that ?
I use either a Marshall combo, or rack setup w/the usual suspects.
The Pickups sound like Gibson 57 classics but were microphonic and needed a wax dip.
Less pick attack than a SG, less mechanical sustain than an LP,
the Korina is light and absorbs string energy faster than mahogany,
from your amp too... good stuff.

Natural Korina is Beautiful. switched to creme pickup rings and amber knobs.
Action is great, the guitar is well made, and the QC is good,
But the Pickups needed to be waxed, and the volume Pots replaced.
Like someone else mentioned, mine wouldn't completely shut the pickups off.

seems fine. always toss strap locks on first thing.
I'm still looking for a stand that will hold this thing.
I know if it falls over, the headstock is history...

uhhh, like what

playing 30+ , if I lost it, only GAS could tell ...
Its an excellent guitar, after the mentioned fixes, looks great,
was inexpensive, down right cheap including the case, and I think I've pretty much proven,
no amount of gear will replace study and practice !

all you posers with R9s know what i mean

This guitar was made in Korea, not sure of the year. Has 22 frets, medium size I believe, black finish, white pick-guard, and gold hardware. Solid top. The controls are 2 volume (one for each pickup) and tone, and 3-way pickup selector. This guitar is good because it has set-neck controlction. The neck is a bit wider than I'm used to, but its not a big deal at all. The only thing I dont like about this guitar is that it is neck-heavy, and the strap came off every 5 seconds when I'd start playing. So deffinately get some strap locks, order them with the guitar if you can.

I love the sound of this guitar. It is PERFECT for metal, which is what I play. I hook it up to a Behringer Ultratwin GX 210 amp and it totally rocks. The pickups are perfect, not noisy at all. The sound is so full and overwhelming you have to smile when you hear it. The pickups that come with it are very good. I still think I'll put in EMG 81/60 when I can afford it. That will make it nearly perfect.

Looks totally awesome. The action couldn't be better. I use it mainly for rythm playing in my band, but it would also be a great lead guitar because you have wonderful access to the upper frets and dont have to break your wrist and fingers trying to reach those really high notes. The pickups are positioned pretty good. They could be a little lower for my taste. There's not a single flaw in or on any part of the guitar. Eventually I'm going to have the pick-guard painted black to match the body. The gold hardware can stay though, but the control knobs will be replaced also probably with gold ones.

This guitar will survive anything. When I play with my band, my guitars take more damage and abuse than most people can deliver to their's in a lifetime, and this definately holds up grandly. The finish will last forever. I'm really scared that it will get scratched, and if it does, I'll cry whenever I see it. So I'm gonna try and find a gig bag because hardshell cases are too expensive, or maybe I'll just make one myself I dont know. The strap buttons are strong, but take them out, and replace them with strap-lock system pegs. I probably would use it for a gig w/o a backup if I didn't have a back up, but I do have a backup, so no.

Never had to deal with them. However, the place I ordered it from took forever to get it in for me, like over a month.

I've been playing for a little over 3 years. I also have a crappy Slammer or something guitar that I dont even really like to look at. I run the EXPLORER on a Behringer GX 210 amp and it sounds great. I also have a small Peavey rage 158 amp, its ok for taking out of town. Man if someone stole it I'd cry a lot and would do whatever it takes to find the idiot dumb enough to steal something like that from someone like me. If I'm mad enough I can take anything to extremes and this is no exception. But if it were stolen I'd probably beg the hell out of my parents to let me get an other one. I'd pay for it of course as I did with this one. So........if your looking fot the perfect guitar to use for any style of music, consider on of these......you wont be dissapointed, I wasn't.

This is a 90's made eppi 58' korina explorer copy, natural finish, 22
frets, laminated top and back. I bought this guitar used with extra features, the back of the head stock is stamped with a 2nd(second) but is see nothing wrong with the guitar. the previous owner changed all the haedwear to gibson, the bridge pu is a larwance, and the neck is a jb duncan, it also came with the original hard shell case

This guitar is highly modified so it can prety much cover all types of sound and styles, except of course strat and tele types. I played it through a carvin quad x pre-amp, and a carvin t-100 power amp, through various rack and pedals, and experienced a plethera of sounds.

When I received the guitar I had to give it a set up and intonation but other than that the guitar was what I expected for $350

I have giged with this guitar and even opened up for Ted NUGENT with it and it was great. Derek St. HOLMES even liked it. I never gig without a back up

None needed

I have been playing for around 26 years and I own around 47 guitars fenders, gibsons, charvels, hamers, carvins and this guitar holds it's own

I think it was made in -97 in Korea. 22 frets with Korina body (so they say). Alder neck i believe. I bought it used just a day ago and the finish on the gold, stock hardware was worn down. No quality here for an axe this "young". Passive standard PU:s that works quite nice on your home practicing amp, but in front of a blasting 100w Marshall they suck big time. Neck is kind of fat. I like it though since i believe a fat neck effects your sound in a positive way.

Gig bag included.

I play hard rock with influences like Black Sabbath, Kiss, Ozzy and so on. I use a modified 100w Marshall head with an extra preamp stage built in. Sounds like Marshall on stereoids. A fat tone with a lot of gain.

The PU:s was giving feedback like nothing else on this planet when i turned my amp up. The sound wasn't impressive either, BUT i knew that before. I wanted the guitar cause of the shape and that it's hard to find a good sample of the 70's Ibanez copies that where made then for a reasonable price.

Even though the stock PU:s are no fun, they have a good bottom end, so they can work for just using it on your practise amp as i wrote earlier.

The action on the guitar is OK. Reasonable low and the strings didn't buzz that much. The frets where worn quite a bit, so the former owner has used this axe a lot.
Oxidized hardware, both bridge and tuners and the joint between the body and the neck where bare and someone have tried to hide it. Bad job done. The pickup switch was working every other time. Need to clean that one bad. The volume controls worked in a funny way. When I used the front PU and turned the volume knob for the bridge PU, the sound on the front PU altered???!!!!! Maybe some amatuer "do it yourself" has tried to fix something?

It seems quite good. I'm a little bit conserned for the neck/body joint though. Will have it checked up soon!! The hardware are low quality but for this price..... I don't complain. I wouldn't not use it on a gig without a backup since it's not "broken in" yet and since the hardware do not seem reliable. But that is for semipro performing!

I've been playing for over 20 years. I've tried several guitars, included Gibson Explorer and the legendary Ibanez Explorer (made in the 70s. This Epiphone is a bugdet guitar over all, not as good as the Ibanez copy. If you can't afford the original or can't find a Ibanez, buy this one, change the hardware and the pickups and you'll get a great guitar for a low budget!!

I have a black 1999 epiphone exlorer(58' reissue). 22 frets, blah blah blah. When i bought it, it had all stock stuff. everything that epiphone makes stock completely sucks, but the actual guitar(body, neck, paint) are great. I have since replaced everything possible. I put black hardware on it, a black dimarzio super distortion in the bridge, black air norton in the neck, and a black pickguard. My biggest complaint about customizing an epiphone is that nothing is normal. The bridge studs are not the standard size, so if you're going to replace the hardware, you have to leave the gold studs in, but they don't show, so it's ok. Also, there is no replacement pickguard known to man that will fit an epiphone explorer. It is a diiferent size than the gibson, and all the screw holes are in a different spot, so those won't work. I had to cut mine out of 1/8" plexiglass with a dremel, and then spray it black. You have to put a bunch of monster coats of clear coat on it too to get it to shine like the body. Automotive clear with hardener would work well also. with everything on the guitar black, it is a stunnning piece of heavy metal artwork, ready to kick the ass of anybody who looks at it.

with my set up(super distortion and a Line6 Flextone II HD with a Flextone 4X12) this guitar kicks ass. It is high output, low noise, and even clean it sounds great. I use it for metal, but it could be used for a lot of other stuff...blues, country, grunge, alternatve, blah, blah, blah.

The guitar was set up like shit, but once i got it home i tweeked it nicely. Now it has nice low action and the truss is just right. The pickups had to be adjusted as well. The guitar had no flaws other than a bunch of fingerprints, i think the guys at the store had been playing with it before i came to pick it up.

This guitar has withstood live playing thus far, and will continue to do so. It is very dependable, but if you leave the stock bridge on it you will break strings constantly...CONSTANTLY! i don't know why they did it but the saddles are like fuckin knives. i used to go through a low E every two weeks, and i use heavy bottoms.

i do my own work

This is a great beginner guitar when stock, and a great professional guitar after a little customization. Looks good, sounds good, rocks hard. I would by another one if it was lost. If you are deliberating between the gibson or the epiphone, buy the epiphone, get some chrome hardware, some new pickups, and save yourself $600, or hell, by two. This is a great axe, especially for the money, buy one.

Lemme see... my Explorer is a Korean 1999 model in natural Korina finish, all gold hardware, with the bonus of nice sealed tuners like on a LP Custom. Standard stop tailpiece and tune-o-matic bridge. Block Korina body is finished with a veneer of Korina to give the appearance of one solid chunk of wood. Came with the "designed by Gibson" HB's, no complaints there, I finally ripped the covers of them and the sound is very good. Guitar is much lighter than you'd expect, being made of Korina (which is basically a fancy breed of mahogany). Nice rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays, fat frets, and the headstock is pretty much identical to the Gibson, no obvious "Epiphone" look here. I changed the black speed knobs for gold tophats which look more at home on this axe.

The sound is great, especially with the covers off. Good sustain and very clear tone, a bit brighter than an SG. Very quiet in operation, no problems with the electronics as yet. When I starp it on I just naturally gravitate towards a heavy music style.. dunno why.

Action was a little high, I am going to have to take the bastard file to the frets one day and do some milling so I can get that "fretless wonder" action I like. Finish is beautiful. An excellent job, hats off to Epiphone. I always lusted after an Explorer and this is one I can actually afford.

I don't gig, so not much commentary here; however one thing I did was to move the forward strap button to the back of the body by the heel of the neck, which is where it should have been in the first place. This makes the guitar balance much better (less tendency to dive for the deck) and the strap is less likely to unhook in this position. I don't know why Epi decided to change the location when they copied this guitar.

No comment. I do my own work.

Overall I'm very happy with this guitar; although I wouldn't call it my main axe it's a lot of fun to play and the sound is just fine. If you're looking for an axe that'll stand out amongst the Ratcastraters and Les Pauls, this is the one.