NBD - Epiphone Korina Explorer

[neepheid]

Say hello to my midlife crisis bass - the Epiphone Korina Explorer.  I spied it in a photo someone took of the Gallery during their visit and it caught my eye.  I caved when they told me it came with the hard case.  I think the black pickguard makes all the difference - all of the natural ones I've seen up until now have white and I think that looks a bit naff.  Haven't had a war volume play yet but it sounds good in headphones and at low amp levels.  Ergonomics are better than expected - balances really well on a proper strap (so take that, Mr. Dibble).  It's long, it's ridiculous and I love it.  Also has the biggest hard case I've ever seen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That last pic is the hard case of my G&L next to the Explorer's case, with the left sides aligned.

[sandy_r]

Cool!  Looks like it ought to have strobing runway lights across the diagonals.  Will you be bringing it to the SWBB?

[neepheid]

11 minutes ago, sandy_r said:

Cool!  Looks like it ought to have strobing runway lights across the diagonals.  Will you be bringing it to the SWBB?

 

I will!

[Grahambythesea]

It looks like the most uncomfortable bass to play ever! But if you like it…….

[ahpook]

You need a case that big to contain all that...rock

 

Looks fantastic !

[King Tut]

You could split logs with that axe! Looks great!

[Maude]

What an absolutely rediculous bass. 

 

Fantastic, well done! 🤘😎👍

[Mickeyboro]

I had the Ibanez version of this. The case wouldn’t fit in my car!!

[Peejay]

Got a black one of these. Neck is fat and it dives a bit, but it sounds great. Had it ages and it's only needed one tweak of the truss rod. Tuners are a bit crappy too but they're easy to change. Mine has a brass nut.

I don't have a case. Or the room for one!

Glad you like it mate.

[ezbass]

That is marvellous and Ox-tastic! Make that statement and make it loud 🤘.

[Skybone]

Remember being very tempted by one of those when they came out. Seeing those pics, I'm still sorely tempted!  

 

Enjoy! 

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Lovely looking thing; I had been admiring it on the gallery website.

[snorkie635]

Worth waiting for the pictures Neeps. I have a Gibson Explorer and agree with your comments on stability on a strap, size of case etc. Good man - hope you enjoy this for yonks and yonks and yonks. 👍😎

[neepheid]

On 04/09/2023 at 13:13, Grahambythesea said:

It looks like the most uncomfortable bass to play ever! But if you like it…….

 

Surprisingly not bad - no neck dive using a Neotech Mega strap, a chonky neck (which I like) and my arm kinda naturally rests along the top of the body and my hand ends up directly over the bridge pickup.  I'll let you know if I'm still OK after a 3 hour gig

[neepheid]

On 04/09/2023 at 19:04, Mickeyboro said:

I had the Ibanez version of this. The case wouldn’t fit in my car!!

 

Yeah, haven't checked that yet.  Taking it out for some war volume fun tomorrow night so fingers crossed!

[neepheid]

On 04/09/2023 at 19:24, Peejay said:

Got a black one of these. Neck is fat and it dives a bit, but it sounds great. Had it ages and it's only needed one tweak of the truss rod. Tuners are a bit crappy too but they're easy to change. Mine has a brass nut.

I don't have a case. Or the room for one!

Glad you like it mate.

 

The case is ridiculous, it's the kind of case you take somewhere to declare war, not simply play some bass!

[Peejay]

Install some pockets and you have a snooker table. 😁

[Cato]

I'm a big fan of pointy guitars and basses and this is a particularly nice example.

[Peejay]

I also have a Gibson RD Artist. Had it from new. Always loved Explorers and this was nearest I could get when I was 17.

Strange how so many people hate Gibson basses. I'm a big fan of Martin Turner of Wishbone Ash and he is a great player IMHO, and his Gibsons sounded pretty good to me. He also had a Hamer Explorer with Thunderbird pickups., Drop tuned it to D if I recall correctly

Hope the gig with the Epi goes well neepheid.

[msb]

If they did a short scale version I’d be after one in a minute. I have a Korina Epi V , it too , has an enormous case.

 

Great looking bass , congratulations!

[tauzero]

I had a Warwick Buzzard which has the same problem as I suspect you will find with this - you can't get a stand for it. The Hercules grabber stands aren't quite tall enough. I did find a stand eventually, another grabber type one, but despite being quite expensive it was poor quality and disintegrated after a few months.

[neepheid]

54 minutes ago, tauzero said:

I had a Warwick Buzzard which has the same problem as I suspect you will find with this - you can't get a stand for it. The Hercules grabber stands aren't quite tall enough. I did find a stand eventually, another grabber type one, but despite being quite expensive it was poor quality and disintegrated after a few months.

 

I just tried it with the Hercules stand I have in the house and it fits - just.  It's about an inch off the ground - you have to make sure you rest it correctly otherwise the top corner is sitting on metal just before the stand's foot.  You have to kind of align the edge of the body with the leg, then it rests on the foam.

[sandy_r]

5 hours ago, neepheid said:

 

I just tried it with the Hercules stand I have in the house and it fits - just.  It's about an inch off the ground - you have to make sure you rest it correctly otherwise the top corner is sitting on metal just before the stand's foot.  You have to kind of align the edge of the body with the leg, then it rests on the foam.

 

The only thing to watch is the stability to knocks - the Sinsonido (when using 1 bout) also just fits on the compact Hercules stand - I've been using this arrangement for some years and its been fine, but I do need to be careful to place the guitar amongst my gear where it's less likely to get brushed against (it would tip one way more readily than the other)

 

[neepheid]

1 hour ago, sandy_r said:

 

The only thing to watch is the stability to knocks - the Sinsonido (when using 1 bout) also just fits on the compact Hercules stand - I've been using this arrangement for some years and its been fine, but I do need to be careful to place the guitar amongst my gear where it's less likely to get brushed against (it would tip one way more readily than the other)

 

 

It's a grab stand I'm using for this - not even going to try it in a mini stand!

[NancyJohnson]

Korina.  

 

I know a few companies use it for guitar building, but never fails to amaze that Gibson rarely stray using it outside of the pointy models (Explorer/Flying-V/Futura/Moderne), but these are regularly two or three time more expensive than the mahogany alternatives.  I know it's supposed to be a bit harder to work with, but body-sized slabs can be had for £60+, which is comparable with mahogany.  Don't get it.