Epiphone 58 Korina Reissue V

I had been waiting for years to buy a Korina Strings-Thru-Body Flying
V, so I bought two. I am a certified Albert King Fanatic
and when I met Albert he was still playing his Gibson (early 70's)out
on the road. Mine were made in 1998 and are both constructed of 2 pcs
of Korina; they are 22 frets and came with the red&blue plastic covered gold humbuckers. The only mod I have made is installing a Tusc
Nut. Both of mine came with Brown Gibson Cases with the satin sheets.

I play anything with this Guitar, mainly I prefer Blues,Country & Jazz
I prefer 11's and in the six years I have owned them have had to make
no adjustments. Get a really great faux L-5 Tone on The Neck which I
use on all Ballads and a really great Solo Tone on the Bridge Pup that
is "so Southern you can smell the barbeque".
If I play in "the middle position" I get too carried away - so I avoid
that position unless it's just me.

I always install a Tusq ManMade Ivory Nut on everything I buy and it's so easy I can do it. The Finish on both of these guitars is
OUTSTANDING. Six years and very little if any oxidation on the gold
hardware. Guitars can do it all, total fret access, always stays in
tune with the 11's regardless of massive Albert-like bending.
Simply a Dom Perignon Guitar at an Andre Price.
Frets are outstanding on both instruments.

Yes to the 6th Power. But I've got two so I'm set for life.
Don't even care about buying a Gibson, frankly these V's that I own
are better than the lower-end stop-tailpiece Gibsons...WAY BETTER.

Won't need it, it's been 6 years.
They're extremely light, but TOUGH.

To Share; this is the most comfortable Guitar I've E-V-E-R played
sitting down, people who don't think so O-B-V-I-O-U-S-L-Y flunked
Math and Physics repeatedly !!!!
PUT THE "V" AROUND YOUR THIGH !!! N-O-T THE LOWER WING ON TOP OF YOUR
THIGH. D'oh !!!

Made in Korea. Gold hardware, pea-green tuners. Covered humbuckers.

There are polar goods & bads here. It DOES sustain pretty darn well for such a light guitar, and when listening to playback after recording my band, I'll sit there and say out loud, "God, that guitar sounds good." ..beautiful thick chunky, even complexly rich sounds are on tap. But as is, it's unusable. Why? FEEDBACK. It is so bad that when I came to this site to read reviews, I was stunned to see nothing mentioned about feedback. It's not even that nice howl that can be appealing, but a cheap, high-pitched microphonic squeal. During a 1 second pause it returns immediately! There's ZERO build time. Don't want to hear it? Play it in the practice bedroom only. At live levels, it's useless.

Nice set-up. But I always tweak things anyway. I was grateful to get my favourite low-action setting with minimal buzz compromise.
Finish? Beautiful. Impresses all who look at it. I've had it 2 and a half years now and yeah, the gold develops a dulling patina, but that'll only bug you if you prefer the glossy full-dress-uniform appearance anyway. I mean, it IS a '58 reissue anyway, right? Can't it look old?
Tuning? I can't be nice here. I have to tune this guitar more than any I own. And that's with-OUT be a bend-freak. This REALLY sucks when you play something hard that ends with clean open chords. You'll hear the sick strings for sure. 8(

I've heard complaints of it being head-heavy. (the ol' neckdive). I had a bass lke that, and there's no doubt that it can frustrate the hell out of you. But if you use a 100% cotton strap instead of synthetic stuff, or leather, it should be a non-issue.
The wood? Oh my God. I prided myself for keeping it almost 3 years without the ubiquitous head&tail dings that plague angular guitars. But last week I dropped it. It slipped down the back of the sofa. I reached to catch it, smacked it in the neck forcing it into the corner of a coffee table. No too hard, but damn, what a dent for such a simple misfortune.

No communication with them yet. I don't expect it, quite frankly.

If I lost it, I'd replace it with a Gibson. Why not? I'm going to have to replace these pickups anyway. Any likely the tuners as well.
Also have a 50's Strat, an Epi Les Paul, a Gibson Explorer. I play all kinds of music but mostly chunky stuff.
I love the look. The chunk. But hate the feedback. It's a deal-killer. Inherently, too, you can't really sit down and play it. At least not in the traditional way. But that's a V! I like having the old bird around. 8)

i think 2002 made and korean (there is no value about this is there any american made?i dont know )
22 frets
natural korina top
two volume one tone one switch (3 way)
two humbackers (lespaul writing on back of pickup)

rock hardrock ,the king of the v michael schenker!
peavey express 112 65w and ibanez ts9 used
sound very dark and not noisy
u must tweak your amp dist. or pedal
its very quiet guitar
i love it

factory setings good enough

it fit any type of playing

never deal

everybody is speaking about changing the pickup
but this is personal choice
not necessary
it is about what you like to play

2003 Epiphone 1958 Re-Issue Korina Flying V
22 Frets
Volume, Volume, Tone, Three Way Switch
Gold Hardware
Gibson USA Humbuckers
Solid Bookmatched Korina Body, Set Maple Neck
Natural Stained
Tune-O-Matic Bridge With String-Thru_Body Tailpiece
Grover Non-Locking Tuners
Jumbo Frets
No Case

I play original funk/blues, and I split time between this and a heavily customized Fender Stratocaster. I run into a vintage Russian Big Muff Pi > Chorus > Phaser > Delay > Wah > Twin Amp.
The neck pickup is a nice warm "woman tone", but the bridge is a bit trebley for my taste. I usually select the middle position to play rythm, and the neck for leads. Very quiet guitar due to the humbuckers. This thing sustains FOREVER, but it weighs very little. It has a beautiful tone quite unlike the Mahagony V's I've played.
It gives me a counterpoint to my Stratocaster, which is what I wanted.

Setup was not very good, but I redid myself, and it plays great now.
The pickups were too low, and the intonation was off, but once I adjusted them it was fine. The bookmatched top is flawless, and the bridge was fine.
Some glue had leaked out of the neck joint, and been finished over with the lacquer, but you have to look to see it, and I believe this is why it was a second from the factory. The guitar is stamped "2nd" on the back of the headstock. Everything else was fine.
It gets a 5 though because I had to set it up correctly and for the glue.

I gig with it and I have had no problems. I hear the gold hardware will tarnish, but it hasn't happened yet. The Korina wood is soft, but I take good care of my equipment. The lacquer finish is holding up fine. Strap Buttons are fine. I depend on this guitar without worry. I never gig without a backup, no gigging guitarist should.

I've never dealt with them.

I have been playing 11 years. Besides the Flying V, I own a Fender Stratocaster, a mid 70's Ibanez Les Paul Custom Copy, An Artisan Lap Steel, an Alvarez Artist 5212 Acoustic, and a mid 70's Yamaha acoustic. I can't think of anything I would have asked.
I would definitely buy another, if I could find one like it. They have apparently discontinued it according to Musicians Friend, and the older ones were not nearly as high quality according to the reviews here. I love the sound/sustain, and the way it looks (shape/color). I really don't like the Grovers as they have tuning problems oddly enough, so I will replace them. I am also going to install push/pull coil splitters in it, just because I want to.
I compared it to several Epiphone Les Pauls & SG's, and the Santana SE from PRS. It blew them all away, so I ordered one. I wish it had coil split capabilities, but I will take care of that soon, as well as locking tuners.

This guitar is worth far more than the $300 I paid for it. My friend owns a 1960 Les Paul, and he thinks this V is one of the best guitars he has ever played. The neck on it is identical to his Les Paul.
I am very happy with the guitar overall. I have not had any problems with the neck being to heavy as some have stated, and it looks & sounds terrific. It gives me the perfect counterpoint too my Stratocaster, and that is what I was looking for. I love this guitar, and I can't see paying for a Gibson when this Epiphone is clearly a top notch guitar.

'58 Korina reissue flying V circa 2001. I've had Gibsons over the years but I mainly played Fender's (teles/strats). For some reason I had an urge to try a Flying V. I had read the reviews on this model and was planing to do a complete overhaul on one if I ever got it. When I saw a great used one on Ebay I nabbed it. The model was stock when I got it with the standard Epiphone hardware/PAF "style" pickups/Tuners

I play mainly blues and roots type music. The sound with the stock pickups was rather weak and dull to my ear through my Fender Custom Vibrolux (when compared to a Gibson SG and A Gretsch Duo-Jet). I swapped them out with a Seymour Duncan '59 in the neck and a Duncan Custom 5 in the bridge. WOW. This thing smokes! Sustain, bite and nice tight piano-like bottom end.

The setup had already been done by someone else (and a damn good one btw) so it played sweet right out of the box. I replaced all the hardware - bridge, screws, pots, wiring, switch, tuners with all top end gold Gibson stuff and had a bone nut put on in place of the plastic one that came with the guitar. The original stuff was all low grade crappola and the difference is like night and day. The wood/fit/and neck on this guitar was SO nice I didn't hesitate to put money into it. I wanted a great axe and I got it. The "7" I'm giving it here is for the pre-overhauled stuff.

It's a guitar not a hammer, so if you treat it right it will last. And since I upgraded the hardware it's a tank. The Korina wood IS soft so if you bang it you're going to be living with the dents forever after. I tighted the strap buttons and so far they seem to be hanging tight. I can depend on this guitar, but I always take a backup on stage. That's a no-brainer.

No experience here. If stuff breaks I fix it myself.

I've been playing for over twenty-five years and have toured and recorded extensively. I've owned just about one of everything, but right now have slimmed down to just my Vibroluxes, The V and my Tele (as far as guitars go, tons of other stuff). I use a BadBob boost (although not really needed with these Duncan pickups now, but I like the tone jump rather than a distortion box on low volume settings), and a Clyde Wah-Wah. If this was stolen I'd get another, I'm knocked out by this guitar now that I did the over-haul. It plays great, sounds awesome and of course just looks too cool with the gold hardware and Korina wood. I bought mine with the express idea of "cherrying" it out, so you might not want to put the extra cash into it ($505 in upgrades added to the purchase price of $355 w/hardshell case) but I'm loving mine, so there ya' go!

2003 Korina V, made in Korea, Grover tuners, medium maple neck w/jumbo frets

I play a variety of rock, blues, some new country and originals. I run through a Valvulator-cry baby classic-MXR super comp-BOSS distortion-chorus-delay-Reverend Hellhound head through two Reverend 1x12 cabs. Replaced pots, jack and pickups. Professional setup(level frets, remove sharp edges on frets, replace plastic nut with bone nut, remove burrs on bridge, adjust neck and intonation,...)
Never plugged in with original hardware. Sounds like a V, not as thick as a LP and plenty of bite, sustains FOREVER!!!!! Very light and comfortable.

Typical lousy setup, never played the original pickups, nice finish, above average tuners(pleasantly surprised!!), cheap pots and input jack.

Now that I've upgraded the hardware I really like this guitar. Killer sustain and very comfortable to wear. I never play without a backup but have no fears about reliability now.

n/a

I've been playing since 1972. I also have a 68 LP standard, a 2003 Reverend Rocco, a 2003 faded SG and a 70s Ovation. If stolen I'd buy another ASAP. Much cheaper than a Gibson Korina V even after new hardware and set up. By the way, I've had 2 Ibanez Vs and 1 Gibson Heritage reissue V and the souped up Epi whips them all. I also play through a 64 BF bandmaster through a Randall 4x10 (Celestions)at home. I've always played a lot of lead and no other guitar has easier access to upper frets (well maybe a Steinberger but I've never played one). I had the pleasure and priviledge to meet Albert King when I first started playing - he showed me his custom V and I've been hooked ever since. He was very kind and encouraging to a suburban snot nosed kid and I've never forgotten it.

2000 (probably) Korina V reissue, gold hardware. Tuners are the "vintage" jadite style, but I plan to swap out for sealed gold tone tuners. I just don't care for the green.

Bought this for looks, not sound. Pickups are not as hot as other Epiphone/Gibson humbuckers I have on other guitars. Does crank out nicely though with tweaking. Like the through-body stringing on this.

The finish and the wood is gorgeous. Very light guitar. Gold tone hardware is losing its finish on pickup covers. Bridge is totally lacking in stability and reliability, in my opinion. I will be looking to modify this. Found that it requires a heavier set of strings due to what seems like a neck that goes on forever!

The set neck on this will probably keep it from being a gigging guitar. Just doesn't seem like it would hold up to the rigors of the road too well. However, it is great to play at home. No issues with the reliability of the electronics. Solid guitar - not a road warrior, though.

-N/A-

I think if I were to replace this guitar, I'd go with one of the mahogany versions - more weight, more rugged. Would definitely look at different bridge configurations.

My guitar was made in 1992 in Korea.22 frets, Solid-Top, 2 volumes and a master tone. 2 gold plated humbuckers that sound remarkably well,the guitar is made of perfectly matched Korina wood, Passive electronics, with a high gloss transparent finish,the body shape is a V, it has a string through body with a Tune-O-Matic style bridge,Non locking vintage style tuners also gold plated,rosewood medium frets, and came with a gig bag

This guitar suits my music style quite well,which is punk,metal, and rock.I use a Magnatone amp and use a Zoom 606 pedal,Boss distortion, and an Ibanez Flanger.The noise on tis guitar is kept to a minimum. The guitar does have a rich and creamy sound aided by the humbuckers.The only thing i dislike about this guitar is the neck is heavier the body itself..therefore making hard to have a strap on it and play fastly,and the awkward body shape makes it difficult to sit with..but thats a small price to pay for a guitar that looks and sounds amazing.

The pick ups on the guitar were set very well,it also has a properly routed bridge, my guitar did not contain any flaws, visually this guitar is perfect, though i haven't played long enough to comment on the overall playibility of it.

Though i have never played live with my guitar i am quite positive it could withstand a live show the only problem being the neck out-weighing the body making it difficult to play standing up. The hardware seems like it will be durable for many years to come.I have only ever had one problem with the guitars strap buttons when one came loose.I feel i could depend on this guitar for quite a while. I cant comment on using it in a gig due to the fact i have never played one ,but i believe that no matter how good any guitar is there is room for things to go wrong.

N/A

I have been playing my guitar for 1 year and i own a Boss Distortion DS-1,Magnatone amp,Gorilla amp,Zoom 606 pedal and an Ibanez flanger FL-9.If my guitar happened to get stolen or lost i would without a doubt buy another V as it has been an amazing sounding guitar and has given me no major problems.I love the way this guitar sounds, but again,dislike the neck out-weighing the body itself.I dont really have one favourite feature due to the fact this guitar sounds amazing.

Made in Korea. Other features described by others below, so I won't be redundant. Once difference: mine came with greenish ivory tinted tuning pegs (I've seen others with gold Kluson sealed back tuners). These look like the original Gibson tuners and work great.

As purchased:

1. Pickups were weak and without any character or heat. This model I bought seems to be from 2000 or 2001. Another model I played in a store recently had pickups that had a "Gibson USA" label on them and sounded a lot better than these pickups, which I noticed said "Epiphone" on the back after I removed them.

2. 3-way switch--in my first band practice with my guitar the switch quit working in the neck position. I put this in the "sound" category because without this switch functioning, there ain't no sound.

3. volume pots--I don't notice the pickups "cleaning up" as I turn down. I plan to put Gibson pots in here ASAP anyway, because the pots are noisy as you turn them.

Action was good. Frets were good. No buzz, neck was straight. Finish was perfect. Very happy with the way the guitar looks. It is the only reason I bought it.

Unreliable. See above re 3-way switch. Quit on me during a practice. Luckily I brought a strat and all was fine. Very unreliable electronics

I have been playing since I was 13 and I am 31 years old. I own Gibsons, Fenders, Martins, Squires, Jacksons. I play through Marshalls, and some boutique tube amps. The fit, finish, action and playability on this guitar are every bit as good as my Gibson. After replacing the pickups with a 490R and 498T and a Gibson 3 position switch, I am VERY happy with the playability and the sound. This is going to be a good guitar. As purchased, the rating is a 3 because it simply is not suitable for "real" use, but is an adequate toy for beginners. Why they put ten-cent parts in what could have been a *really* good guitar is baffling, but easily remedied. As modified, I give it a NINE

Korean-made copy of original Gibson 58'Flying V. Set neck, Korina wood veneer (don't know what's under it) 2 humbuckers, 2 tone/1 volume control, gold plated hardware, 3-way switch, string-thru body, etc...if I forgot anything, check one of the other reviews.

I play mostly rock and roll and blues, and plug straight into a Roland BC-60 blues cube. (occasionally,I might also use an Electro-Harmonix memory man for slapback/delay) Despite what some people have said about this thing, this guitar sounds great. I play almost totally with the bridge pickup and my amp cranked, and with this combination you can get that fantastic Gibson sustain. (not quite as much as with a Les Paul, though) Couldn't really tell you what the "clean" tones sound like...because I never play it clean!

I bought this from Musicians Friend as as a "manufacturers refurbished" guitar, and it is stamped "2nd" on the back of the headstock. The only flaw that I could find on it that would justify it being rejected was a scratch in the finish on the back. Big deal. Set-up wise, everything was great right out of the box---intonation, frets, action, pickup height, etc. etc...I know that I just got lucky on this, because I have bought other Epiphones that came out of the box completely unplayable! Hardware seems pretty good, although it would seem from reading the other reviews on this site that this is where Epiphones usually have a problem.

This guitar seems pretty solid to me, although I know from past experience that the hardware on Epiphones can go bad pretty quickly. Everything is fine now, but I am pretty much resigned to the fact that I will probably have to change the pickup switch, and possibly also the tuners in a few years. I also know that the gold plating on the pickups is going to go as soon as I start to really play on this. Strap buttons also seem a bit dicey. All in all, I would say this guitar is pretty dependable, but there is NO WAY I would ever gig without at least one backup axe.

never dealt with Epiphone.

I have been playing for 12 years, and I have gone through a lot of guitars. Besides the V, I also own two Epiphone Les Pauls and a Fender Stratocaster. The Pauls are obviously at the top of the heap for me, but this guitar is a good addition to the collection. I bought it pretty much pretty much based on looks and what you might call the Flying V "mystique"---you know, Lonnie Mack, Albert King, Hendrix, etc, etc....---but ended up being pleasantly surprised with the sound. It can be kind of awkward to play, especially if you are used to more "traditional" guitars, but ultimately I think it's worth the trouble, and for what I paid for this, it was practically a steal. If this were stolen, I would replace it with another V as soon as I'd tracked down and kicked the @#% of the guy who stole it!