Explorer LE 76 - Korina or Mahogany?

[Cyberrock]

Hi,

 

Recently bought an Explorer Limited Edition from 1976 in natural finish. The guitar sounds as great as it looks!

 

It's not that big of an issue but I'm quite curious about the wood...

In Gruhns Guitar Guide Book it does say there is 76 LE guitars in Korina and the seller at the musicstore seemed to know his stuff and was positive it was Korina, but when reading about this on the web there seems to be lot of people saying it's not. That Gibson in fact didn't use Korina for any of the Explorer guitars made in late 70s. Is there any easy way to find out for sure? I've read somewhere you could tell by the grain of the wood... ?

 

Anyone here who can tell for sure?

[cjsinla]

Hi,

 

Recently bought an Explorer Limited Edition from 1976 in natural finish. The guitar sounds as great as it looks!

 

It's not that big of an issue but I'm quite curious about the wood...

In Gruhns Guitar Guide Book it does say there is 76 LE guitars in Korina and the seller at the musicstore seemed to know his stuff and was positive it was Korina, but when reading about this on the web there seems to be lot of people saying it's not. That Gibson in fact didn't use Korina for any of the Explorer guitars made in late 70s. Is there any easy way to find out for sure? I've read somewhere you could tell by the grain of the wood... ?

 

Anyone here who can tell for sure?

 

We need pics. Generally, korina is a golden color and mahogany is browner. So, you would go by the color, less than by the grain. My bet is that if it is the color of the back of a regular Les Paul, it's mahogany. I do know that they were making koriana Explorers, V's and Modernes starting around 83 or 84. I also know that they were making mahogany V's and Explorers at the end of the 70's as I have some.

 

Here's a pic of a mahogany 79 Explorer

 

 

And a 84 korina V for comparison

 

 

I hope that helps. All in all, not sure how much difference the two woods have on actual tone.

[cjsinla]

Found a link to another korina Explorer that shows the actual color of koruna better than my pic of the V

 

Gbase Explorer

 

[Cyberrock]

Hi,

 

Thanks for your reply cjsinla, I now got a somewhat better idea on the colour difference. It's not quite as brown as the back of my Les Paul, but still not as yellow as the examples you refer to in Korina,

 

I did contact Gibson that did confirm it's Mahogany and... in a way gave a hunch that all LE-76 are Mahogany.

 

By the way there was 2000 made. So it's mine, the Edge's and 1998 more out there. If all has survived the 37 years. :-)

 

One guitar expert told me Gibson did no Explorer in Korina until 83, as you wrote. (Excluding the very few made in late 50s and maybe some one-off-custom-made)

[Cyberrock]

Hi,

 

Does anyone have a copy of the Gruhns Guide to Vintage Guitars or Blue Book?

 

I've seen one of them refering to LE-76 as Korinas and I am curious which of these books, and especially if there is a mention about LE-76 Non-Korinas as well?

(Either they are completely wrong or there is a few really rare Korinas made in 76.)

[mat-with-one-t]

I too have been trying to suss this one out. I have a 1981 A series Korina V, and a (really hard to find!!) 1983 custom shop LE explorer in Korina.

There's alot of chat, but i've not seen actual proof of 2 things (and please let me know if anyone can chime in!):

 

1. It is said in some circles that there were SOME 1976 Explorer LE's in korina. I hear that there were great attempts to produce them, but there was jno quality Korina available at the time, so they went with mahogony. However, some swear a few Korina versions were made. I am yet to see proof of this

 

2. There were, later in 1983, apparently around 100 Korina Explorer Custom Shop Limited Editions (pressed serials, newer style tuners and custom shop logo), and about 100 "Heritages" (stamped serial, original '58 style tuners). Thing is, I am actually yet to see an example of the "Heritage" style! Anyone got pics/proof/serials? I don't doubt they exist, it's just that I have never seen one of found a pic of one!

 

Mat

[rct]

 

...I hear that there were great attempts to produce them, but there was jno quality Korina available at the time, so they went with mahogony...

 

Korina never was, is not now, and probably never will be rare at all, there has always been metric tonnes of it growing in Africa. Profit on it isn't as high, sorta like we do to things here. That's the only reason it isn't used much by American guitar makers. The Korina Explorers and Vs I've tried were no different than mahogany guitars, just stupider priced due to the massive mojo injections.

 

rct

[pippy]

'Vintage and Rare' in London's Denmark Street had a mildly modified '76 Korina Explorer in their shop around 18 months ago so there is no question that they exist.

It's p'g had been swapped for one made from a sheet of brass () but otherwise seemed all-original.

 

Apart from that all I can do is expand on my reply in the thread you started in the Historic sub-forum.

 

The author Ian C. Bishop wrote two volumes on 'The Gibson Guitar from 1950'.

Volume 1 was written in 1976 (it was published in 1977) and he wrote thus;

"A Gibson Limited Edition became available in late 1976 and will number approx 1,000 guitars......"

He then followed this passage up with an addenda as follows;

"The Gibson company have let it be known that all these limited edition Explorers will be constructed of korina as were the originals. However the prototype instrument that was on display at the Frankfurt Trade Fair early in 1976 was of mahogany and doubtless several other mahogany guitars have been produced for demonstration purposes."

 

In Volume 2 (published in 1979), however, he clarifies the actual production situation;

"The 1976 Limited Edition of the Explorer was to have been produced in korina as were the original guitars. After purchase of the necessary timber, it was discovered that much of this would not be of a sufficiently good quality to pass the stringent quality controls, and only enough good quality timber remained to produce a very small proportion of the proposed edition. I am told in fact that only 38 were made in korina, and the bulk of production was in mahogany. A few 1976 Explorers were also finished in black."

Ian C. Bishop was a journalist and author who wrote for 'Guitar' magazine.

He gained much of his information from Gibson's Bruce Bolen and, indeed, interviewed Mr. Bolen in person for his publications on the marque.

As he was writing these books when the instruments were both 'future models' and then 'current' I think his information can be regarded as reliable.

 

P.

[rct]

...In Volume 2 (published in 1979), however, he clarifies the actual production situation;

"The 1976 Limited Edition of the Explorer was to have been produced in korina as were the original guitars. After purchase of the necessary timber, it was discovered that much of this would not be of a sufficiently good quality to pass the stringent quality controls, and only enough good quality timber remained to produce a very small proportion of the proposed edition. I am told in fact that only 38 were made in korina, and the bulk of production was in mahogany. A few 1976 Explorers were also finished in black."

 

Translation: "When you bid 50 bucks on 3 pallets of wood, you generally get 50 bucks worth of wood spread over 3 pallets."

 

rct

[pippy]

Translation: "When you bid 50 bucks on 3 pallets of wood, you generally get 50 bucks worth of wood spread over 3 pallets."

 

rct

Or, if you are less fortunate, you might get 50 pallets of wood with a total worth of 3 bucks.

 

P.

[capmaster]

Translation: "When you bid 50 bucks on 3 pallets of wood, you generally get 50 bucks worth of wood spread over 3 pallets."

 

rct

Or, if you are less fortunate, you might get 50 pallets of wood with a total worth of 3 bucks.

 

P.

Timbers of superior quality may become a Firebird, the inferior ones firewood.

[rct]

Or, if you are less fortunate, you might get 50 pallets of wood with a total worth of 3 bucks.

 

P.

 

Unfortunately, back then, that is likely exactly what happened.

 

rct

[j.dub]

 

2. There were, later in 1983, apparently around 100 Korina Explorer Custom Shop Limited Editions (pressed serials, newer style tuners and custom shop logo), and about 100 "Heritages" (stamped serial, original '58 style tuners). Thing is, I am actually yet to see an example of the "Heritage" style! Anyone got pics/proof/serials? I don't doubt they exist, it's just that I have never seen one of found a pic of one!

 

 

Mat, I believe there are actually two different sets of Korina Explorers during that time. The 83 "Explorer Heritage," was the "limited edition," reissue of the 58 explorer. That one had had an inked serial number. Then there was also the Explorer Korina from 82-84 which had a stamped, standard serial number, gold hardware etc., looks about the same, but were not the actual limited edition Heritage Explorer. The difference being inked vs standard stamped serial number. So I think that inked serial number is what you have to look for in trying to spot the limited Explorer Heritage.

 

All this being said, I'm no an expert by any means. This is just fodder from vintage guitar books, etc., and you know how that goes. So I could easily be wrong. Just trying to help because I would really like to see an example of one too. Heck, you may have already said that anyway, I've been rambling so long I forgot the question was. Sorry... My mind wanders. LOL

[mat-with-one-t]

Mat, I believe there are actually two different sets of Korina Explorers during that time. The 83 "Explorer Heritage," was the "limited edition," reissue of the 58 explorer. That one had had an inked serial number. Then there was also the Explorer Korina from 82-84 which had a stamped, standard serial number, gold hardware etc., looks about the same, but were not the actual limited edition Heritage Explorer. The difference being inked vs standard stamped serial number. So I think that inked serial number is what you have to look for in trying to spot the limited Explorer Heritage.

 

All this being said, I'm no an expert by any means. This is just fodder from vintage guitar books, etc., and you know how that goes. So I could easily be wrong. Just trying to help because I would really like to see an example of one too. Heck, you may have already said that anyway, I've been rambling so long I forgot the question was. Sorry... My mind wanders. LOL

 

 

Hey thanks for the reply! I'm happy to say I have now seen (a pic at least) a LE Heritage 1983 Explorer. It indeed has a stamped serial and old-style tulip tuners. Other than that, it looks like all the 1983 reissues were the same. The Heritage just looks a bit more authentic, I suppose. Man, they're not easy to track down!

 

Oh, and here's an intriguing link:

http://www.geocities.co.jp/SweetHome-Skyblue/1811/explorer2.html

anyone knoe the lingo!!??

[cjsinla]

Hey thanks for the reply! I'm happy to say I have now seen (a pic at least) a LE Heritage 1983 Explorer. It indeed has a stamped serial and old-style tulip tuners. Other than that, it looks like all the 1983 reissues were the same. The Heritage just looks a bit more authentic, I suppose. Man, they're not easy to track down!

 

Oh, and here's an intriguing link:

http://www.geocities.co.jp/SweetHome-Skyblue/1811/explorer2.html

anyone knoe the lingo!!??

 

 

I believe we had this conversation: Here's a pic of my 1982 Heritage Flying V in koruna. Ink stamped serial number, A 2XX, Made in USA stamped into the wood. Most came with a black pick guard, I put a white one on mine.

 

[wolfman2020]

I see alot of answers but the LE is the Korina, the Mahogany ones made in 1976 have Explorer instead of limited edition on the headstock and in 83 The 58 reissue "Heritage Explorer" was made of Korina and it came in Black, White and Natural.