This review is from: Epiphone 1958 Korina Explorer Electric Guitar, Antique NaturalI just got this through one of Amazon's resellers, Music 123. I will do my review here point by point:1. The finish looks more golden in the photos here on Amazon and on other websites, but what you actually get is more like a honey or light reddish brown. It looks ace.2. However, the wood quality could have been slightly better. It looks bruised in places, almost all on the sides of the body, and the finish couldn't entirely conceal it. There was also a slight blemish on the top side of the lower bout. At this price point, though, the limited extent of these defects isn't that big a deal to me. This will be a YMMV for people, though. 3. The pickups are going to have to be replaced. The middle position on the three way switch is really boomy. These are by far the worst sounding pickups of my now six electrics, with the exception of my Squier and that is only because of the weak output of that guitar's pickups, causing them to sound somewhat on the lifeless side. Judging by the reviews of this axe I read online, I knew the pickups were going to be an issue. But keep in mind that I also bought this as a project guitar. I'm going to put a Wilde L90 in the bridge and a JB in the neck for some of that Matthias Jabs mojo and I will also have the tuners changed out in favor of Gotoh's. I am going to have new electronics installed, too. There have been reports of problems with the nut and it is a plastic one, but it looks like it was well cut to me since there was no burring or buzzing and it tuned right up and stayed there. I may have it switched out, but then again, maybe not. 4. It does neck dive somewhat. Epiphone needs to relocate the top strap button to help balance things out. Again, this is a known issue. However, the body is also light, so as far as the level of burden on your back and shoulder, no problem. 5. While I don't expect the action to be like butter on pretty much any guitar (the factory action on my Gibby Flying V was a bad joke, for example) right out of the box, it was high enough on the last third of the neck that doing fast licks fluidly there was pretty much impossible. There was no string buzz at all, but if the action was more even, I might have added a star. 6. The cable the guitar came with might be fine for cheap headphones, but not a real guitar. 7. The neck pickup produced some pretty serviceable sounds. Same goes for the bridge pickup. But when you factor in how bad the rhythm sound is, the pickups gotta go. 8. The packaging was mixed. The guitar came to me safe and sound, fortunately, as the guitar box was inserted into a larger box with a big paper bag type material attempting to fill the gaps. The guitar box itself was rather flimsy, as they used three or four lengthwise strips of packing tape only to try to hold it closed. During shipment or handling, parts of the box had torn away from the tape. The guitar itself was swaddled in a combination of bubble wrap and some of that silverish white stuff. This doesn't do it for me since there was no case shipped with this guitar. So gotta definitely do better there, Epiphone and Music 123. 9. Spent an extra $5 with Music 123 and got the 3-5 day shipping. It arrived in three following shipping (which took less than 24 hours from when I ordered). Totally stoked about that. 10. Acoustically, this guitar sounds beautiful. In fact, it would be second to my V in that regard (I also have an American Strat, an Epi LP Custom, and a Jackson Rhoads). This gives me great anticipation of how it will turn out once I have all the mods installed. Conclusion: I had waited for quite a while hoping to get this item in good condition used from a respectable dealer, but none would seem to show up. Thus, I used a coupon to get it new from Music 123 at a discount instead. Out of the box, this is not a gigging instrument. You will have to definitely modify it. Considering that the cheapest brand new Gibson Explorer is $1400, opting for this and hot rodding it is an option that everyone should consider. I will probably end up spending about $400 on the mods, still saving me $5-600 compared to the Gibby. So this makes a good project guitar, but if you want a gigging instrument on a budget out of the box, look to ESP or the Epi Les Paul Custom series....
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