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

[SG Std]

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.

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[SG Std]

I see that Banker Custom Guitars is now selling their Explorers with a 2-piece body--with an 'upcharge' for a one-piece body.

EXCALIBUR

EXCALIBUR 58′ Spec Excalibur $4,499.00 Two piece Korina body and neck (one piece available for upcharge); TonePros AVR2 Bridge; Kluson Tulip Tuners; 6mm Pearl Dot Inlays; OX4 Hot Duane PAF; M…

bankerguitar.com

 

[SG Std]

$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.

Great post! Even if I were rich, I really wasn`t interested in the Murphy Lab aged Explorer, as I am not a fan of artificially aged guitars. I do wonder if, 'down the road', someone who owns one of the 2021 Murphy Lab 'aged' Korina Explorers will dishonestly try to sell it as a real 1958 Explorer--very sad to think that...
As an aside to your comment, I was the one who 'asked' if a 2-piece Explorer will sound different than a 1-piece Explorer and I did so facetiously!

 

[Tommy Tourbus]

That sounds 'simple' but Gibson just hasn`t really made that many one-piece Explorers at all ever since they were introduced in 1958 for whatever reason, and they continue with not offering Explorers with a one-piece body very often. Very few 'used' one-piece reissue Korina Explorers are available & if so they`ll be pretty expensive I bet [if they`re in good shape].

I might be wrong--I do believe that about a year ago, the CS did offer a one-piece mahogany Explorer & was around $8000 but I am not sure as I wasn`t interested with that as I am an original owner of the `76 LE Explorer [which has a 3-piece body] & it is a killer sounding & playing guitar in all respects.

I`ve, more-or-less, always wanted a Gibson Explorer w/ the korina wood but never timed it to buy one until when the `21 CS Korina Explorer Reissue became available a few months ago & am glad that I did. I have a beautiful one I think!

Here`s a picture of a Gibson CS Mahogany Explorer that looks like it has a one-piece body--great looking guitar I think!

I bought one of those a year ago that looks just like that. I had to look hard to make sure it wasn't mine. Mine is a one piece body just like that one, and it smokes! it was in the 5k neighborhood. Here's mine:

 

[SG Std]

I bought one of those a year ago that looks just like that. I had to look hard to make sure it wasn't mine. Mine is a one piece body just like that one, and it smokes! it was in the 5k neighborhood. Here's mine:

That is a beautiful Gibson CS Explorer, esp. if that`s mahogany wood! It looks fantastic! Thank you for sharing such a great picture!

 

[Joe Desperado]

While a Limba (korina) tree is a larger tree, very little of it is milled in wide boards. There is not much use for the wide boards as say the 8-10" versions to most markets. An Explorer requires an 18" wide board to properly align the center. Banker and others were using 15-16" boards and slanting the wood to make the explorer body fit. The result was the wood grain ran diagonally on the body and not parallel. Its always very noticeable to me. I would much rather have a well match 2pc body than a 16" slanted 1pc. There is just not going to be any appreciable difference in tone between the two. Theoretically, I suppose a 2pc parallel body could sound better than a diagonal body, if you consider the vanes/tubes of the wood as part of the overall tone structure. IE: small baffles and chambers aligned with the motion/energy of the strings.

 

[Strummer70]

Some beautiful Explorers here! I could not resist either. Here is my 2021 that is waiting to get in for a Deluxe package with Kim at HM.

 

[Torshalla]

Congrats all… these are beautiful guitars.

 

[Joe Desperado]

Some beautiful Explorers here! I could not resist either. Here is my 2021 that is waiting to get in for a Deluxe package with Kim at HM.

View attachment 16879

Have you or anyone looked under the pickguard to see if these are routed like a 58? Specifically, the pickup wire routes going through the pickup mounting ring screw hole. I am wondering if they changed that a bit to make a more secure way to mount the lower left corner of the ring.

 

[Torshalla]

This one is for sale for 8,6k eur… tempting

 

[Strummer70]

Have you or anyone looked under the pickguard to see if these are routed like a 58? Specifically, the pickup wire routes going through the pickup mounting ring screw hole. I am wondering if they changed that a bit to make a more secure way to mount the lower left corner of the ring.

I have not had the guard off but I'll try to get a picture over the weekend

 

[SG Std]

This one is for sale for 8,6k eur… temptingView attachment 16890View attachment 16892View attachment 16891

Somebody`s gonna get that nice looking Explorer to play--might as well be you!!

 

[SG Std]

Definitely worth repeating due to the disdain of the 2-piece Explorers that Gibson`s CS is currently putting out--Banker Custom Guitars is doing the same thing [their stock Explorer is now a 2-piece body]. I have also heard that the latest batch of korina wood that was shipped to Gibson`s CS is well below their standards.

EXCALIBUR

EXCALIBUR 58′ Spec Excalibur $4,499.00 Two piece Korina body and neck (one piece available for upcharge); TonePros AVR2 Bridge; Kluson Tulip Tuners; 6mm Pearl Dot Inlays; OX4 Hot Duane PAF; M…

bankerguitar.com

 

[guitarbob123]

Definitely worth repeating due to the disdain of the 2-piece Explorers that Gibson`s CS is currently putting out--Banker Custom Guitars is doing the same thing [their stock Explorer is now a 2-piece body]. I have also heard that the latest batch of korina wood that was shipped to Gibson`s CS is well below their standards.

EXCALIBUR

EXCALIBUR 58′ Spec Excalibur $4,499.00 Two piece Korina body and neck (one piece available for upcharge); TonePros AVR2 Bridge; Kluson Tulip Tuners; 6mm Pearl Dot Inlays; OX4 Hot Duane PAF; M…

bankerguitar.com

I thought they had always been two-piece as standard at Banker with an upcharge for one piece (other than maybe the initial run after the Gibson license was agreed). Same with Braz boards, the initial run had those at the base price and then going forwards after that it's a very reasonable upcharge.

From what I've read all over, korina is always a mixed bag, pretty much everyone agrees that you don't know what you're gonna get until it shows up. In one sense it's a shame that it didn't meet Gibson's standards, in another, it's great that Gibson has insisted on those standards and not just shoved them out the door anyway knowing that the demand is likely there.

It's a shame that there haven't been any non-Braz, Murphy-Lab finished models. I'd imagine that there'd be a market for them considering you already have to be pretty into the niche if you're willing to put down $10k on the VOS, it could at least be a M2M option.

 

[Tommy Tourbus]

I have also heard that the latest batch of korina wood that was shipped to Gibson`s CS is well below their standards.

I'm curious what the reasons are that it's below their standards...unattractive grain? too heavy? Dead sounding? And are they still using this wood? My V showed up last week and I love it! Super happy with my purchase. But I have to say that just going by photos, I got one of the better looking ones I've seen in terms of the grain. Most of the ones I'm seeing online aren't as nice looking. It may be (or may not be) great wood in terms of how they sound, but as far as aesthetics, which is all you can really go by when looking at them online, they aren't guitars I'd be motivated to spend 10k on. It's great that Gibson is doing these, but they must really be feeling their oats to charge 10k for some of the unexciting looking ones. I'm curious to know if the less exciting ones I'm seeing is the 'below their standards' wood, or are they getting batches that have yet to be seen that are even less appealing.

 

[SG Std]

I'm curious what the reasons are that it's below their standards...unattractive grain? too heavy? Dead sounding? And are they still using this wood? My V showed up last week and I love it! Super happy with my purchase. But I have to say that just going by photos, I got one of the better looking ones I've seen in terms of the grain. Most of the ones I'm seeing online aren't as nice looking. It may be (or may not be) great wood in terms of how they sound, but as far as aesthetics, which is all you can really go by when looking at them online, they aren't guitars I'd be motivated to spend 10k on. It's great that Gibson is doing these, but they must really be feeling their oats to charge 10k for some of the unexciting looking ones. I'm curious to know if the less exciting ones I'm seeing is the 'below their standards' wood, or are they getting batches that have yet to be seen that are even less appealing.

I couldn`t tell you what the reasons were about the Korina wood being of poor quality--that`s what my friend told me. He did say that they`re hoping for more & better quality Korina wood soon.

I do agree with you that the finishes & 'book matching' on some of the new CS `58 Korina Explorer Reissues weren`t well matched--I feel sorry for the vendors who bought them. I`m sure that if Gibson did decide to market a one-piece `58 Korina Explorer Reissue it would list at $20K [and maybe that`s the reason why they went with making 2-piece bodies & then priced them at $10K]--just 'a guess' on my part.

Can you post a picture of your new Flying V? I`d sure love to see it!

 

[Tommy Tourbus]

Can you post a picture of your new Flying V? I`d sure love to see it!

Sure, here's a couple of the dealer's photos of it:

 

[Tommy Tourbus]

You know what's interesting...my 2020 Mahogany '58 Explorer Historic reissue has the narrower '58 style frets. This 2021 '58 Korina V has the usual Gibson medium jumbo frets. I wonder if they've gone back to that for all Historics across the board

 

[Rockhard]

My 2022 .

 

[Torshalla]

Just seen this on Reverb… very tempting, price is close to release price, I think it will sell without trouble…

Gibson Custom Shop Murphy Lab '58 Korina Flying V with Brazilian Rosewood Fretboard | Reverb

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