Epiphone 58 Korina Reissue V

The features of this guitar that stick out to me are : Korina Body, String Through Body Design, and a Set neck.


Last item first, A set neck is what I like. This is the first set neck guitar I've played in a LONG while. Its so much better, especially for those occasions where you play REEAAAL HIGH on a solo or something.

String Through Body. I first checked out the Gibson V's but they had the Stop-Tail Piece as opposed to the String through body. In my opinion The stop-tail piece can sometimes help give better "chugginess" but overall I think it makes the tone a little thinner or something (At least with my playing) especially for leads and solo's. I might not be a sound engineer or anything but I think the String through part is what makes me like the Epiphone V's more than the Gibson's (Again, thats just me, maybe I'm weird).

Lastly, The Korina Body. I have to admit, this is what Attracted me to the guitar in the first place. The big question is "IS IT REALLY KORINA WOOD?" I don't know and I'm not going to crack the finish just to look. I see it this way though: I also own a Dean MLXM. While the Dean IS a budget-level guitar, it is in many ways similar to the V (Double Hum, String-Through body, Aside from the headstock they are identical in size) however it has "Paulonia" wood, which I don't even know if its real wood. The V (wether its really Korina) sounds so much more resonant, even in spite of the fact it actually has less body mass, surface area (honestly I'm not quite sure how all these attributes affect this). Anyways, hands down the V is just way better. Obviously its hard to describe sound but its just so beautifully natural. Clean, Dirty, or something in-between is just beautifull. So yes it sounds good, but if you're a professional audiophile or something I really don't know if you can trust Epiphone's word that it has a Korina Body...but if you are really that concerned you probably aren't looking at Epiphone guitar anyway right? hah. All the same, I thought I'd share




Other stuff:

I received this used. Perfect condition, and previous owner Changed Tuners, Pot Covers, Toggle switch, And pickups. ( I can't say for certain but I think he might have had the bridge-piece changed also)

Good Work on his part...

However, I don't know what pickups they are, I'm thinking the bridge might actually be a real Gibson pickup as its on the crunchy side and fairly aggressive..I don't know anything about Gibson's PU's though and I don't feel like opening it up to look (Sounds good as it is).


...I think the original Pots are still in it though, since they are noisey and they cut out occasionally. *ugh* I have not had any good experiences with Epiphone electronics. Their stock PAF-ish pickups are pretty good but everything else just falls apart quickly.






So all in all. The things I like, I LIKE A LOT
The things I don't like are changeable (aside from the body wood)

The guitar for me!

'nuf said there, but just for kudos I'll elaborate.

I have to use this with my Solid State Marshall Head since my tube amp is malfunctioning.

THIS SEALED THE DEAL IN BRINGING MY SOLID STATE AMP TO LIFE

I usually use with my SD-1 or Tubulator as a crunch and BD-2 as a boost.

Beautiful is really the only word I can use. I can get a nice Clean Vibe rhythm sound. Very Full!!

For Classic Rock This is Absolutely Great! It has Great clarity, Attack and Crunch! I think the pickups it has now could use a little more mids and just a tad less crunch but not to the point that I actually want to change anything just yet.


Whats best about the sound is that it sound Absolutely Great At ANY LEVEL of Distortedness or Cleanliness. Though, it might not be best suited for modern, Nu-Metalish stuff..I'm sure with the Right electronics you could definatley pull it off but I think the body and string design are best suited for playing other stuff.


It feels like mine is strung with 9's. I'm probably going to switch to 10's, the thinner strings just don't feel right on this meaty guitar.

Finish is awesome, but thats obviously very subjective.

I love these things. You can have low action but a lot of tension is stil retained on the strings so it feels right and plays easy to me.

I think I can rely on this since I know the switch was changed.

If you get it. Change the switch (and probably the pots while you're at it). They're really the only thing bad about it. Its well worth the few dollars you'll pay to do that.

I've been playing for about 9 years now.

This guitar sounds good and plays good.

I also owned the Mohagany 58 V long ago. This is obviously very similar but the sound comes through clearer, all the while retaining its warmth and colorfullness.

If anyone wants some samples of this guitar I would be happy to send some. Just see my address below

The pickups are not hot enough for my style of playing, which is death metal. I immediately got an SH-8 invader installed into the bridge position. This is a great stage guitar for me! It sounds great with the invader because naturally, the wood gives this guitar lots of mids. On clean, this guitar sounds fairly decent (with the neck pickup). I am satisfied with the bluesy/jazz tone the stock neck pickup produces. With death metal, I never use the neck pickup for soloing. I wouldn't anyways because it isn't hot enough, so it's strictly a clean/jazz/blues pickup. Overall, awesome sound.

As soon as I picked up the guitar and started shredding, I knew I was going to have to buy it. Normally, I HATE gibsons, and epiphones..absolutely HATE them because most that I've tried, played horribly. This one played amazing. The action was perfect. Very low. No buzz. The bridge was awesome,(stop tailpiece), mainly because of the string thru body (great sustain!). This thing is flawless. I was very mind boggled. The neck wasn't huge and awkward like most epiphones. It is a medium "C" which is perfect. Very smooth. It plays much better than my RR-3 Randy Rhoads. Upper fret access is GREAT! I got it for $540 CND brand new, and it really should be much more than that. It stays it tune as well..(GROVER tuners!!!).

I use this guitar for live playing only. It does the trick! No flaws here. This thing was built to last.

The dealer I got it from is a small place called "B&B Music" in Prince George B.C.. The staff are amazing, and will fix anything.

I've been playing 5 years (solid). I am obsessed with guitars..and playing..so I do know my stuff. This guitar is fantastic! I chose this over a Dean 79 series V, and the Black Gold V. I also tried a bunch of high priced ESP's and they SUCKED compared to this guitar. I would definately replace this guitar if it were lost or stolen, and I'd pay full price. I really have no idea why everyone else gave this thing a shitty review... The only bad thing about this guitar were the pickups, and that's only because I play death metal. They'd be fine for rock, and pretty much any other style of music. Flawless guitar..

See previous for features.

I play rock/metal.The neck pickup has a real muddy sound and bridge pup gives bright/trebly (&weedy) output. The most important thing is the feedback, even with lowish gain and the pups lowered this guitar just wants to feedback all the time. After I replaced the bridge pup with an EMG 81 it still isn't great. Maybe its the Korina wood, or I'm doing something wrong.

The guitar was set up pretty well and has a lovely finish; the gold hasn't really tarnished all that much 2 years on. I repositioned the strap nuts as it was very neck heavy. I've adjusted the action using the truss rod (the top nut height seemed ok) then lowered the saddle as much as i could. Nice low action with no fret buzz on e-B but the top end High e/b's really buzz. I'm suspicious the neck may be warped or perhaps (more likely at time of writing) i just screwed up the adjustments. The jack is a pain, I keep losing the signal. I think the guitar stays in tune so am pleased with the grovers.

Played live and am happy with durability since it is quite a light guitar. Has usual dings.

Never tried

If it was nicked, well I would just try something else, but I do love the look of it, really cool. So overall great looking guitar with crap electrics and poor factory setup.

Nice Korina body/neck (everything I've read and have seen so far suggest solid low grade Korina wood), probably a poly finish but it's a nice thin finish. Grover tuners (nice), strings through body (really nice), nice low action with proper setup. Gold hardware, 2 humbuckers. For those trying to emulate the 1958 Gibson, visually these are close and as a bonus...the Epiphone name on the peghead is just a sticker and comes off really easily :-)

I don't love the pickups, I find them a bit muddy...but for the money it's a really good sounding guitar stock. Acoustically it's brighter, but in a good way, than mahogany based Les Paul's I'm used to. This is a great rock guitar.

This is a cheaply priced Korean guitar. Always expect to "tweak" these. Don't like the nut (easy fix), tune-o-matic posts too long and scrape your hand (also fixable by chopping them and filing them). Everything fits very well, did notice that most of the screws were crooked though.

No reason to beleive that this guitar won't be as reliable as it's higher price sibblings in the Gibson camp.

No idea, bought it used.

I've been playing since...gulp, about 1973. Gurrently I have a 1981 Gibson Les Paul Heritage 80, Gibson J-100XTRA, Fender Strat, couple other electrics and acoustics (total of 12). THD Flexi 50/Avatar 2x12 & 1981 Fender Super Champ handle amplification.

This guitar is excellent value. Played a Gibson V that was priced twice as much...walked across the store and played this one and in all honesty...the Epi was significantly better unplugged, much better looking than the Gibson faded cherry. I'm a multiple Gibson owner and lifetime fan, so it really hurts me to say that many of these Korean Epi's are as good as (some better) than the sub 2G's Gibsons.

I will replace the pickups with hand wound, replace all electronics, replace the nut and maybe even the bridge. You don't have to do all this as these are pretty darn good right out of the box, but throw some decent electronics in and you've got a killer.

This is a fairly accurate repro of a 1958 Gibson Korina V. When I was a kid, a buddy of mine had an original. It was a long time ago, but the neck on that old guitar seemed HUGE. I wish the neck on this one was a little thicker, but lots of players like a more modern, slender profile. My hand cramps up on really skinny necks, so I really appeciate the medium 'C' profile of this one.

I've recently become interested in lighter guitars w/easier access to the upper fretboard & the V fits the bill nicely. It is awkward to play sitting down, but balances surprisingly well when standing.

This guitar was made in '98 and has Kluson style repro tuners rather than the Grover knock-offs they're using in current production of this model. I prefer the look & feel of the Klusons and they hold tuning quite well.

I got the guitar w/an aftermarket hardshell case that's held together with gaffers tape - Still preferable to a gig bag for a guitar of this construction.

Almost everybody hate the stock pickups in these guitars, but I'm quite happy w/the sound. They are weak, microphonic p-ups that are prone to feedback in hi-gain situations, but that's not an issue for me. I prefer the TONE of underwound vintage-style humbuckers to modern 'hot' pickups that sound too muddy and midrangey to my ears..

The pots are very cheap. Definitely the 'Achille's Heel' of this guitar. Very uneven taper that goes from mush to wide open in a fraction of the rotation. Some day when I'm feeling ambitious, I might upgrade them.

It's very well put together. These Korean made Epiphones are usually pretty sharp looking guitars, and the Flying V's no exception.

Playability & tone are definitely superior to the other Epis I've bought & sold in the last few years.

I recieved the instrument w/a good setup; low action, proper neck relief, correct pickup height, intonation bang-on. Of course, the guitar's 8 years old, so it's impossible to say how it was when new.

They've done a very nice job w/the Korina lamination. Of course it's not solid like the original Gibsons, and I've no idea what's under the 1/32" veneer - probably basswood. It's funny.. everybody used to diss this wood as inferior till guys like John Suhr started using it in his premium designs. Now everybody loves the stuff.

The finish is thick poly of some kind.. Hopefully polyurethane, as it ages a little more naturally than polyester..

I wish these guitars came w/a bone nut, as it really does contribute to tone & tuning stability, but the standard nut, altho' well cut, is plastic. There's a big chip by the low 'E' string, where it must have taken a good hit at one point in it's life, so I may upgrade this part some day..

For a used guitar, this one's in surprisingly good shape. The last Epi I owned had 'gold' plated hardware that began tarnishing almost immediately, but this one seems fine. Even the electronics are still holding up well in spite of the fact that the pots & switches on these asian made guitars are often failure prone.

Because of it's set-neck construction, and the way they've glued the headstock onto the neck, I'll be a bit moe careful handling it than I would a bolt-necked Fender-style instrument.

No idea. I've always undertaken repairs myself, or had them done locally.

Been playing a long time now, but this is the first 'bucker equipped guitar I've had in over 30 years.

I've had uniformly disappointing experiences with these Epiphone reissues up till I bought the V, but I can honestly say that his guitar actually makes up for them all.

I'm now on the lookout for a matching Korina '58 Explorer!

Bought used,1991 model, probably Samick built in Korea, (had Made In Korea) on back of headfstock. 2 volume, 1 tone, dual hombuckers, gold (faded covers), Body Korina Natural color, Gold hardware all around, string thru design. Gloss finish, tune o matic bridge with Gibson hard case.

Is alright, nothing earth shaking, Lots of feedback, unpotted humbuckers, plan to install SD pearly gates in Neck and Bridge. Don't care a lot for pickups.

Guitar had been setup by an idiot, had to readjust everything to proper specs. Can't say I blame Epiphone, strings were touching pickups! (Some people should be arrested when they find a screwdriver at their house.) But as Ron White says, "you can't fix stupid."

Should withstand live music play, seems to be tough. Hardware seems first rate, Finish is glossy and thick. Volume tone controls needed a good cleaning with electronics cleaner and compressed air. 3 way switch worked ok after cleaning. Guitar seems tough.

never dealt with Epiphone.

I own WAY too many guitars. Play blues mostly, some rock. If stolen, probably would try another brand Flying V. Chased a brand name on this one and was not impressed.

Purchased second hand with a hard case, definantely a decent buy although the electronics leave alot to be desired, as you would expect from epiphone

Im playing through a marshall with a metal zone pedal, the pickups are awful and iam replacing them as soon as possible, the guitar definantely has a nice tone especially in the neck position but when playing heavy styles of music with the bridge pickup it just sound very weak

Action was fine although the bridge needed a bit of adjusting. I also moved the strap button to the back of the guitar like every other gibson or epiphone flying V. I guess they put it there to match the real korina model, i had a leather strap and the neck dipped a bit, moved the strap button and its very solid and comfortable! The tuning pegs also need replacing, they are horrbile...they feel flimsy, look like crap, make it hard to tune the guitar accurately and seem to slip even. But the guitar looks awesome!

Of course it will withstand playing live, the guitar is a few years old and the hardware is still looking quite nice.

N/A

I have been playing 7+ years and i have always wanted a flying v. I bought this guitar with no intention of keeping the stock pickups and tuners and will probably upgrade the volume and tone pots aswell. This guitar can definantely sound great its just that epiphone seem to spend all their money on the wood and construction and minimal amount the electronics. I give it a 7 because its not awful and the finish looks great!

Just like the others, this one was made by Sammick, I think that they made the earlier versions, so I don't know what year it is. I bought it used with a Gibson V hard case for $225. It looks great.

I ususally swap the pickups for Seymours ore DiMarzios, but these sound mighty fine right now. I use this in a blues band and it has a "Creamy" tone. Lot of harmonics and definition, maybe because the pickups are not too powerful, have a very useful musically tones. I have been using it through a 1965 Fender Tremolux piggy back with 2x12 JBL's that are about 30 years old. Mighty brown sound.

For an inexpensive guitar, this is one cool looking dude. Solidly made, of course the hardware isn't top grade--but mine stays in tune and sounds great. Outstanding appearance overall.

What still surprises me is how light this V is. It is a little neck heavy, but standing up your picking arm will counter balance it enough to make it comfortable. I really like the weight, especially after using a Les Paul for about 25 years as my #1. I never gig without a backup. I was playing a PRS McCarty on a big job one night and the input jack screwed up. I immediately threw on my stand-by Tele and continued.

Never dealt with them. Good website, check it out.

This one was a great value for money spent. I really like the tone, appearance, and feel of this V. I like it because even though it's a 1958 design, it is still radical, weird, and cool. This is a testament to the original design. Don't you know that the average player in 1958 thought this was an insane design? A real '58 will now bring about $100,000--amazing.

Not sure of the year. First got it whan I was 11 or so, so didn't really pay attention to things like that. Feature wise, 2 humbuckers, two volumes, and a tone. Pretty basic, but get's the job done. The gold hardware on the amber finish looks nice. Didn't come with a case, and so I had to go almost a year carrying this thing around in it's original cardboard box. Amazingly enough, both the guitar and the box held up pefectly.

The wood gives it a very nice, grainly tone, but the pickups leave something to be desired. Rather thin and quiet. After swapping then for a set of Duncans, this guitar sounded great. After modifying it, I'd have to give it a 9 for sound, but stock, well, I can't give it that high just due to those stock pickups.

Finish, wow, now that's a strong point to this. The finish looks amazing. As for feal, the action was great right from the start. This guitar seemed to be a much larger value than it really was actually, I'd easily consider getting an epiphone version instead of it's much more expensive Gibson equivalent any day due to this guitar. Only problem whihc plagued this guitar was a scratchy volume pot on the bridge pickup.

This is where the guitar shines. While the korina is a very soft and light wood, it wasily took a beating. This guitar has been dropped numerous times, has fallen face down onto a concrete floor off of its stand, has had the head knocked into a brick wall, and many other things. This guitar was solid throughout. With the exception of a few minor scratches and dents, it survived perfectly. I never had to worry about this guitar, as I knew it would be able to survive whatever I put it through. This makes it an ideal live guitar(also helps that the shape looks cool onstage as well).

Never used.

Overall, great guitar. Rock solid, and looks cool to boot. I don't have mine anymore, it was lost during an incident with an ex bandmember, and I loved this guitar so much that it's still somewhat of an open wound for me. I'd definetly consider buying one again, but just remember that those stock pickups aren't going to get you anywhere. Put a SD Jazz pickup in the neck, and any high output humbucker in the bridge however, and this guitar will sing.

This is a 2000 model in black finish that I got cheap in a pawnshop in Kansas City whilst out touring. It was stock and showed a little wear. It ain't real Korina, but it's super light and resonant. Strings thru body probably helps this. The neck is HUGE, biggest of any axe I have. The tuners are cheap. I have a few Epi's as does my brother, and these tuners and the plastic nut, as well as the strap buttons are the first to go. I also replace any cheap feeling jacks pots and switches if needed(this V required only a new toggle)The stock p/u's were thin but I happened to have a gibson 490T and a DiMarzio PAF copy laying around...so in they went...BLAM!! instant V-gasm! Superior Gibbons style texas tone-sweet! If you've seen my reviews of my Casino ,goldtop, and junior you know I'm a p-90 guy. My brother plays lead in the band and prefers his humbuckers in his Epi SG custom, F-bird7, and Black Beauty-He played this V, snuck out the door and took it home-next rehearsal there's gonna be a fight! Gimme back my V! Not a feature laden axe, the V is what it is, but for the big neck,light weight and killer resonance, i'll give an 8.

Having changed the pickups, tuners and nut weren't quite enuff-it still sounded a shade sparse. I got a 70's Nashville tunomatic bridge for 20 bucks from a repairman. This bridge is a bit grungy looking but weighs 3 times what the stock one does-this mod put the tone right where i want it-big and toothy with fat chord sounds and gristly midrange with a hot searing tone.I use it through my same Sovtekamp/SoundCity 4X12 rig as my p-90 guitars with not a tweak! The big surprise is how many cool funk tones it can get when turned down-Im gonna add a coil-tap on the master tone control to further investigate it's clean side-When my brother clamps on his Mexi-Strat for our more bluesy, R&B numbers the V will be my choice as my p-90 guitars sound real blatty when clean. Nice. There is nothing not to like really, and it looks bad-ass onstage as well-the 2 times i gigged it the compliments were many! nice!

The finish had sunken spots at the headstock scarf and the neck pocket,but structurally it's solid. The frets were great, as was the action. whoever owned this axe never cleaned it and it was grossly dirty, but cleaned up nicely and the dirt probably helped me get it cheap more than any other factor. I guess though, that since I replaced the nut, toggle,strap buttons, tuners, bridge, and pickups I should rank it low, but for a casual player it would have been fine. I need it to stand up to the rigors of gigging for a living, thus I changed it.

i'ts light in weight but built like a tank-We never play without backup gear for all of us but this axe stays in tune and isn't prone to breaking strings so I guess if forced I could use it for a show by itself. These Epis are really cheap and the poly finish much more durable than the nitro on a real Gibson and we have had great success and solid value from the several Epi's we own. But, as is the case in every one of these axes we have-many parts must be changed or adjusted for ultimate tone and extreme reliability. Without the rock solid build quality of the body, fingerboard and neck we couldn't fix them to suit our needs. The basic guitar is very tough indeed.

Bought all our gear used from the net, a wholesaler, and second parties-no warranty was ever expressed or expected.

Been playing most my life as has my younger brother. I own a Martin DM dreadnought,and Epiphone Casino, LP 56 goldtop, and Double cutaway LP Jr. at home I practice thru a line 6 pod, live I have a Sovtek mig60 head and a 4X12 SoundCity cab loaded with Celestion 30's. If lost or stolen or damaged I would try to get a Popa Chubby V to replace it as I primarily use p-90's.I love love love the light weight and fat neck on this axe. Now if my low-down filching brother will return it I'll be set. I may have to kidnap his Black Beaty or Firebird to get the V back-he raves about it's tone. Darn Thief!