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Just announced by Gibson CS: Korina Explorer & Flying V!

Tommy Tourbus

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Jan 1, 2005
Messages
871
To be honest BRW is fine and all but I wouldn't pay a huge markup for it. I have 2 guitars with it, and my guitars with IRW sound just as good, so I don't see the benefit. I do see the benefit of Korina, as it is a sweet sounding tonewood that really is special and sits in my collection nicely, and that's why I ponied up for the Korina V. In terms of Rosewood, the main thing to me is that it's dark and uniform as that's what I happen to be picky about and is what floats my particular boat. I'd rather have a dark IRW board than a light or even medium shade BRW one. But that's just me. Some people love the BRW over IRW every time and more power to them.

I've fetishized the '58 V's for so long that to be getting one of these, and in a replica case even, is making me pinch myself LOL as dumb as that sounds. I wasn't planning on it at first, but I was seduced by their in-stock availability on various dealers sites, and I realized I'd be kicking myself in a couple years if I hadn't grabbed one, as I'm guessing Gibson Custom won't be producing them indefinitely.

In terms of pricing what I really didn't get was when Gibson was doing '58 Historic V's in mahogany and charging a huge markup over all their other Historic models, something like $8-9k was it? Now THAT was really lame
 
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K_L

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Sep 11, 2014
Messages
566
Here`s a real nice video of the new 2021 Gibson Custom Shop 1958 Korina Explorer Reissue--the guitar sounds really great I think! [It`s towards the middle of the webpage].
 
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J.D.

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May 24, 2006
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10,030
Sure, they all better play and sound great at this price point.

At $10k it's gotta be historically accurate; more accurate than the explorer with a 2-piece body and EIRW board.

You can buy a nice sounding and playing guitar made of Korina for a heck of a lot less.

YMMV
 

guitarbob123

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Joined
Jan 2, 2009
Messages
214
Sure, they all better play and sound great at this price point.

At $10k it's gotta be historically accurate; more accurate than the explorer with a 2-piece body and EIRW board.

You can buy a nice sounding and playing guitar made of Korina for a heck of a lot less.

YMMV

I've now got a Banker V on order now with a Braz board and nitro that will check, for less than $5.5k.
It's licensed and authorized by Gibson, using Gibson's very own templates, and made by hand (no CNC) from start to finish by one guy.

I think the guitars in this thread show that Gibson is producing some great stuff, arguably the best for decades and decades, but their value proposition is still a bit off for me.
It's not a question of affording it, it's just that I could have both my V and a single-piece, Braz board Explorer for not much more than a single V/Explorer would cost from Gibson.

As far as I know, the Indian board, non-Murphy Lab versions are not a limited and numbered run either.

Do not mean to piss in anyone's cornflakes btw, I still drool over every guitar in this thread! It's just my 2 cents

EDIT: Just realised I made a similar post last page so I'll stop brigading, I think everyone knows what I'm excited for by now :ROFLMAO:
 

FelixWalfisch

Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2020
Messages
22
Sure, they all better play and sound great at this price point.

At $10k it's gotta be historically accurate; more accurate than the explorer with a 2-piece body and EIRW board.

You can buy a nice sounding and playing guitar made of Korina for a heck of a lot less.

YMMV

I think it's a bit more complicated. If it's a one piece Explorer the price of the V would be too high if they'd cost the same but on the other hand you can't price the Vs lower since you'd crash the used market which dictates $8.000 for any natural korina V.
We saw some of the 50th anniversary Explorers being sold for $13.000 who happen to have a one piece body so I don't see any other solution especially given the problems to find wood pieces large enough for an Explorer.

I'm not a fan of calculation talk but since Bob opened up this topic: Just looking at the price you pay right now for a specific good is not enough. How does the worth develope over time? How fast and for which price can you sell it if you'd want to? Including this data a Gibson korina guitar will beat any replica especially in Europe even tho many would want to make you believe the opposite.
I know many don't like talking about this development after purchasing a guitar and that's completely fine - Play and buy what suits you best, but as you see the price as such can't be the deal breaking argument.
 

J.D.

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May 24, 2006
Messages
10,030
Right, it's remarkably difficult to find pieces of Korina big enough to make Explorers with a 1-piece body in any quantity, hence the historically limited numbers and ptemium price point.
 

K_L

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Sep 11, 2014
Messages
566
Beautiful 2021 2-piece Gibson CS `58 Korina Explorer Reissue here:
 

Gold Tone

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Apr 2, 2002
Messages
6,825
Can’t do the Explorer with seam, would bug me too much, rather go without. Shameful I know, but honest
 

Tommy Tourbus

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Joined
Jan 1, 2005
Messages
871
is it just me, or is the grain on the limba they're using for some of these not that exciting. Some of the ones I've been seeing look like alder or poplar.

And I see what you guys mean with the seam on the explorers. A two piece body wouldn't be that big a deal if the seam were well hidden and the two pieces matched well, but on some of them the grain on the two pieces is very different and the seam really jumps out. Although if I got one like that and it had the magic and sounded ungodly good, I wouldn't care too much about the grain or a seam
 

K_L

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Sep 11, 2014
Messages
566
The 2021 Murphy Lab limited run aged Explorers w/ the one-piece bodies sold out at 30K quickly last year--maybe those that complain about the 2 -piece bodies should try to find one of those to buy! The 2-piece Explorers are selling for 10K & I do know that the CS is still producing one-piece bodies [at least they were a few months ago as I tried to get one but didn`t get very far]--maybe they will be priced at 20K if they become available. Do the 2021 one-piece bodied Explorers sound better than the 2-piece bodies or just look better? I have seen quite a few 2-piece 2021 Explorers that look great [and some that don`t but more that do]!

 
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ourmaninthenorth

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 28, 2009
Messages
7,119
I've now got a Banker V on order now with a Braz board and nitro that will check, for less than $5.5k.
It's licensed and authorized by Gibson, using Gibson's very own templates, and made by hand (no CNC) from start to finish by one guy.

I think the guitars in this thread show that Gibson is producing some great stuff, arguably the best for decades and decades, but their value proposition is still a bit off for me.
It's not a question of affording it, it's just that I could have both my V and a single-piece, Braz board Explorer for not much more than a single V/Explorer would cost from Gibson.

As far as I know, the Indian board, non-Murphy Lab versions are not a limited and numbered run either.

Do not mean to piss in anyone's cornflakes btw, I still drool over every guitar in this thread! It's just my 2 cents

EDIT: Just realised I made a similar post last page so I'll stop brigading, I think everyone knows what I'm excited for by now :ROFLMAO:
Matt will make you a guitar of astonishing quality.

I for one look forward to your impressions once it arrives, and of course the pictures.
 

J.D.

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Joined
May 24, 2006
Messages
10,030
Simple as it gets really. Single material slab body with no carving. Dot inlays. No binding. Simple routing. Common hardware. All means low labor and low cost.

I agree with you, though, on one thing...that if they can get someone to pay $30k for it why price it lower.
 

corpse

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Jun 9, 2007
Messages
4,876
The seam can be matched and hidden. Korina boards of that size (to produce a 1 pc body) must be very expensive- but I don't think Korina in general is terribly hard to source.
 

Tommy Tourbus

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Joined
Jan 1, 2005
Messages
871
$30k is relative. If I were rich, as in a multi-millionaire, I'd have jumped on the Murphy's and bought the set. But my current financial position is such that I needed to move heaven and earth to get one of the 10k V's. To a lot of people 10k for one of these is crazy, and I agree LOL. But still, I had to have one.

In regards to the person that asked if a 1 piece body explorer will sound better than 2 pieces...no, you're not going to hear a difference that would come down to how many pieces it is, as long as the CS guys are tap testing them to make sure the pitch of both pieces are complimentary to each other. There will be great and not so great sounding examples of either. I have a '58 Historic Explorer in mahogany, and always assumed it was a multi-piece body that was well matched so the seam wasn't noticeable, but this thread made me pull it out to do a close inspection and it is 1 piece. It is also an amazing sounding example, albeit a tad dark sounding.
 
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J.D.

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May 24, 2006
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10,030
I would bet they get slabs of wood roughly 2x thick but 1/2 width as the explorer body and process them (i.e. cut lengthwise and glue at the common edge) similar to a bookmatched Maple top.
 
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