1958 Epiphone Korina Explorer - pups

[Nadz1lla]

Hey all!

I might have found a buyer for my surfboard, and the proceeds will finally be going towards funding my infinite GAS for one of these beauties:
http://www.gak.co.uk/en/epiphone-1958-korina-explorer-natural/16615

Now, I have a set of Gold covered Nailbombs on my Warlock that I was thinking of putting in this beauty when I get it, and seeing as I don't know much about other makes of pups and how they sounds etc, was wondering if anyone here could tell me if my Nailbombs would have more "mids" than the stock pups?

I will be taking my Pod and my Warlock to my local axery to compare my axe to the Epiphone, but as they are completely different woods and construction, I'm not really going to get a "true" a-b of the pups, so any info I can get from picking the brains of you lovely people would be awesome!  :D

[Toe-Knee]

do you want the korina model specifically?

You can get the newer 1984 ex that is far far nicer spec wise and comes with better hardware and emgs.

And i cant say regarding the mids but i know from experience that epiphone pickups are generally really hot and bassy.

[Nadz1lla]

Yes specifically the Korina. I fell in love with the sound on the first stroke of a chord when I tried one in-store. I later tried (for a laugh, there's no way I can afford it) a "proper" Gibson Explorer that came with EMG's and had "better" hardware, costing around the £800 mark and it sucked the big one. I mean it really, REALLY sucked, the tone noise of it was really brittle and trebly. I guess it was set up to be for Thrash, because it really had a lot of harsh tonal properties to it. So yeah, £320 Epiphone FTW.  :D

I tried a few different Epiphones, but this one...man I can't really describe it, it sounded like warm butter melting into a freshly baked roll, it was undeniably beautiful. That same day I went around trying all sorts, PRS, Fender, Gibson's, Epiphone and more, and the one axe that topped them all was this '58 reissue, so I vowed that day that I would one day own one. It also just "felt" completely "me", which I've never really experienced in a guitar, it was like this penny that became suspended in the ether when I first picked up a Guitar when I was 14 finally dropped when I tried this thing, heh.

It's really strange, I keep torturing myself with all this expensive custom guitar pr0n, and the one thing that really takes my breath away is considered more at the budget end of the scale!  :lol:

[Toe-Knee]

Yes specifically the Korina. I fell in love with the sound on the first stroke of a chord when I tried one in-store. I later tried (for a laugh, there's no way I can afford it) a "proper" Gibson Explorer that came with EMG's and had "better" hardware, costing around the £800 mark and it sucked the big one. I mean it really, REALLY sucked, the tone noise of it was really brittle and trebly. I guess it was set up to be for Thrash, because it really had a lot of harsh tonal properties to it. So yeah, £320 Epiphone FTW.  :D

I tried a few different Epiphones, but this one...man I can't really describe it, it sounded like warm butter melting into a freshly baked roll, it was undeniably beautiful. That same day I went around trying all sorts, PRS, Fender, Gibson's, Epiphone and more, and the one axe that topped them all was this '58 reissue, so I vowed that day that I would one day own one. It also just "felt" completely "me", which I've never really experienced in a guitar, it was like this penny that became suspended in the ether when I first picked up a Guitar when I was 14 finally dropped when I tried this thing, heh.

It's really strange, I keep torturing myself with all this expensive custom guitar pr0n, and the one thing that really takes my breath away is considered more at the budget end of the scale!  :lol:

I know the feeling! Thats exactly what happened when i played the RGD i even played 3 others of the same model and they werent half as nice so i had to hurry back and grab that particular display one rather than the boxed one.

Now you need to just buy it!

[Nadz1lla]

Yeah, just waiting for the guy to make up his mind and buy my frickin' gear, heh.

[Telerocker]

I like Explorers and especially the korina ones. So buy it, if it feels and sounds great. Nailbombs have quite some mids, so don't worry about that.

[Ratrod]

These guitars have alot of lower mids by nature with all that wood behind the bridge. A pickup with upper mids can compliment that nicely. A pickup with lower mids could make it muddy.

I used to have one. I had a set of Gibson 'Modern Classics' from a Les Paul. They were horrible in the Les Paul. An upper mids pickup in a guitar that has plenty of upper mids already. But they were pure magic in the explorer.

[keith]

Also had one of these and I sold it ...........and regretted it, was a great guitar but as usual wanted something else. I swapped out the pups for Gibson 496/500 but that was back in the day before I knew of BKP's...now if I still had it there definitely would have been some Mules or Crawlers in it. Now I have a white Gibson Explorer which I wont change out the pups as I may be selling it.

[BigB]

now if I still had it there definitely would have been some Mules or Crawlers in it.

Not sure Crawlers would sound good in that guitar - they are already quite warm by themselves and I think they would just become a bit muddy here.

[Telerocker]

Crawlers excel in alder/ash bolt-guitars. In a bright sounding mahogany guitar they could perhaps do the job, but it would not be my first choiche. Personally I would fav RiffRaffs or VHII's.

[keith]

now if I still had it there definitely would have been some Mules or Crawlers in it.

Not sure Crawlers would sound good in that guitar - they are already quite warm by themselves and I think they would just become a bit muddy here.

Mules and Crawlers are the only pickups I have had and which I really like but in Les Pauls so I couldnt comment what they would be like in an Explorer. Having said that I dare say I could compensate with different settings on the amp, having said that it doesnt matter anyway as the explorer is going the journey

[HTH AMPS]

I had an Epi Explorer, was a DARK sounding guitar.  Emeralds didn't work, neither did the Nailbomb - ended up with EMGs in it, might have just been a weird guitar.

[PhilKing]

I have a mahogany explorer, I've had Miracle Men in it, but now have a Warpig bridge and MQ neck.  I love the sound of them (I have raw nickel, but you could get them in gold to match the hardware).

[Nadz1lla]

I'm probably not going to be able to afford new pick-ups as well as the guitar, was just thinking of putting my Nailbombs in but was wondering how they compared EQ-wise to the stock pups. I guess I'll just have to do the non-lazy thing and do an A/B test when I get it. But I so hate soldering. It takes too long, meh. :?