As you can see, I am not a vintage obsessed guy. False, I am.
HOWEVER 😀 I do in general like old guitars, not just old but aging, so not necessarily vintage.
Just as a well-read classic book has tatty pages, old guitars have the appeal of something I call “played”.
Well, supposedly they have been played. Although that’s not always the case (some have been stored under a bed) I make sure – when looking at older guitars – that they’re battered, dirty, or possibly cracked somewhere.
All this means that they’ve been loved a bit, desired and used. I like this because it is a sort of additional guarantee that the guitar sounds good – or sounded good – and felt good to someone. Therefore, me likes!
That’s the case with this 1993 Korina, almost 20 years old, so relatively recent SG.
The irony is, back in 1993 – when I still sucked nuts at guitar playing – I bought one just like this. I can’t remember what number it was out of 500, but I had one.
The color and “pancake” fashion (it’s made of different layers of wood) had caught my attention, even back then when I knew nothing, or very little, about guitars.
These were made from Korina – a supposedly protected African wood. Here’s Gibson’s own claim:
“This guitar follows in the tradition of the 50′s era Gibson Explorer and flying V guitars with its beautiful Korina wood body and neck. This African hardwood is renowned for its resonant acoustical properties that impart this SG with amazing sustain and great string definition. It’s very well balanced and light, weighing in at 6.6 lbs”.
Unfortunately I sold it almost immediately after purchasing it……..
The memory of that guitar has haunted me for years, especially since I’ve started to know and understand more about guitars. I’d always thought that that SG had sounded well.
So, when I eventually saw another one on eGay, I went for it.
This one arrived in the condition you see here, except that the neck was bent like an arch because the guy who had it before me used piano strings instead of guitar strings (just kidding, but he’d used huge strings!).
I had to set it up myself and now it’s virtually perfect, with super low action, no buzz and good resonance and tone.
The only thing that still bothers me is the wiring. I think these are wired (i.e. the internal circuitry and the way the pickups and switch selector and connected) following the modern method.
Instead, I prefer the ’50s style of wiring which basically lets you clean up the guitar as you roll the volume down, however the guitar still remains bright in tone, not muddy at all. So possibly I’ll have to modify the circuitry, Will update you here, watch this space.
Oh, and By The Way, when I found out that Angus has one (with which he’d used to record the album “BallBreaker” – this picture is in fact a BallBreaker studio Angus guitar rig image, i.e. he is one of the 500 owners of these), that helped me pull the trigger!
Body details
Adaptation By Robert Taylor
Note of the author for the more ‘particular’ reader: these articles on SoloDallas’ gear are not intended to be egotistical, neither am I intending to show off. They are for passion, documentation/information and sharing pleasure with those who have a similar interest. Thanks for your trust and understanding, SD
