Riffster Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 A little eye candy to start the conversation So experts put the original production of 1958 Explorers at just 22 guitars and a further 16 made a bit later. Gold hardware initially then nickel in the later batch. Of the original 22 I have seen (pictures) of one with the split headstock, 2 with bigsbys: one belongs to Slash and the other one I believe fetched $611,000 at auction in October 2006. Dave (guitar in the pic) has one, Rick Vito ex-Fleetwood Mac has another, Allen Collins of Lynyrd had one and we all know what Eric Clapton did to his. So I guess they are pretty easy to spot but yet nobody knows much about them generally speaking. Gibson usually re-issues batches of this guitar using the magical number of 100 always korina limited edition. Some sites reference it as the original number of Explorers which is not true. korina is supposed to be a hard to get wood but yet Epiphone makes their Explorers and V's in korina (are they veneer?). Is the Explorer the guitar with better profit margin for Gibson? they don't make the re-issues much but when they do they sell out and at a hefty price. And then we have the Explorer 1976, mahogany, slightly different pickguard and uncovered pickups. Dave, yes the same Dave has a 1973 namm prototype for sale, interesting. http://www.davesguitar.com/products.html?13256 So what do you guys think? why has this guitar fetched more than a 1959 Les Paul and yet not a lot of people talk about it. Too few of them? so people did not see many guitar heros using them? too strange to be popular? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ppie Posted July 19, 2008 Share Posted July 19, 2008 Well about the korina- mahogany question, it may be possible that the US nowadays dont allow the import of korina due to possible contamination with excotics (insects, larves) in the wood. Its a long shot, but at my work we regularly ship to the US and the pallets we use for the US are all plastic. Wooden pallets are not allowed becuase of these restrictions.. ppie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cudamax2343 Posted July 24, 2008 Share Posted July 24, 2008 I hear the Korina wood is not only hard to get but it takes a large piece 5 to 6 times the size of the guitar to get one piece for the guitar to be made, something about the korina wood, can't remember. I think It was or is a knotty wood, too many knots or some ****. The epipys say the body is korina wood, but over at the epipy forum, a guy said that's bullshit and has one he sanded down and said it some kinda thin venner over some kinda of mahogany. The epipys explorer and flying V, do look good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted July 25, 2008 Author Share Posted July 25, 2008 I know that wood treaties are getting tougher especially when it comes to exotic woods. I had read Korina is hard to import and hard to get attractive grain out of it but the whole epiphone thing confused me because on the specs they say Korina and not veneer. I saw a Epi Explorer and the sides of the guitar were painted amber definitely a way to hide the laminate, I guess that's confirmed. No doubt Explorers have the most confusing story of all Gibsons... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hydra26 Posted July 27, 2008 Share Posted July 27, 2008 Had an epi V once, I forget what year. The Korina looked very amber in color and when I removed the jackplate there was defintiely some lamination going on. As to cost, it's a model that was neevr truly popular until the 70's. The reason for the price is scarcity. I mainly play explorers myself. As far as Korina being a rare wood, sure, it costs mroe and is prone to imperfections but a lot of companies use korina for oddball gutiars (heck hamer even makes explorer and v shaped ones). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morten M Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 My brother is a furniture maker who's ben working with exotic woods, danish design and high end stuff in general for many years. His interest in guitars is non-existent. One day we had a discussion about mahogany. He says mahogany is a general term for a wood type. And the difference between the many sorts can be huge. That got me interested. Wanted to see what he could provide of insight/knowledge So I started taking out a pair of Gibsons and asked for his opinion on the wood. Faded V: Normal mediumpriced mahogany. Good type. Better exists but more expensive. Epiphone '58 V, two piece body: Cheap mahogany. Blond types comes in many variations from around the world and they're as a rule of thumb soft and cheap. Took out some pictures of pictures of korina V's and the comment was, even though this wood comes from Africa you can easily find the same quality and look comin' from Southeast Asia, Brazil or Indonesia for that matter. So here's my theory. Gibson came up with the Explorer and V design in order to boost sales. Choice of wood was cheap (which is no problem because of the brilliant sound characteristics and low weight for that matter) and kept production costs down. A healthy business strategy if you ask me. And a bonus to mankind soundwise! Just too bad sales didn't catch on back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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