2017 Echopark 58 Explorer Korina
Echopark
$19,995.00
This product is currently sold out.
Super rare 58 Korina Explorer with late 50's PAF's installed, mint brand new condition.
Only 3 traditional Explorers made by Echopark, this is #2 made with extremely rare vintage white limba wood.
1958 spec except for Echopark heel joint, which is superior to the vintage joint.
Will post more photos. Also pictured is a 58 GIbson Explorer I came into contact with recently.
I acquired this guitar from a high-end Echopark collector who has a lot of things the public has never seen. Guitar was not played during his ownership. So only the lightest player wear exists. Superb frets and playability. Nut is correct, bridge is correct. Guitar has been set up professionally and needs no attention. Insane playability, plays at the highest level. Feels incredible, has that wow effect all over the neck. Like with the V's, the high notes just fly off the fretboard, and are amplified. More sustain than a Les Paul.
With a once in a lifetime Michigan barn find of approx 60 year old air dried Korina Echopark was able to produce about 10 V's and 3 traditional Explorers. That wood is done, gone, project is over.
Guitar has a full, non-tapered authentic hand carved big late 50's neck. Feels like the real deal. One of the best Echopark necks I've ever had. Guitar is original 50's spec, and is hand carved. When Joe Perry says "I'll put these up against any of my old stuff", this is exactly what he's talking about. This is Echopark at its absolute finest. Huge Brazilian Rosewood slab fretboard. The combination of high grade Korina and Brazilian is holy grail, as the guitar damn near play itself. There's a bit of flame to the Korina. Guitar is extremely stable and stays in tune like the very best of them. It's a bone nut, CTS custom pots, light nitro finish, aged Kluson Supreme tuners.
Sale includes the gold Arcane Amos PAF's which are extremely full bodied, articulate and powerful. Amazing. These are copies of real PAF's out of the Amos 58 V, and not many sets exist. But within 5 seconds of playing this guitar, I knew I'd be installing real vintage PAF's. There are very few guitars I can say I've ever had that reaction to. But this was instant. So I put in a 1959 bridge and a 1957 neck vintage Gibson PAF. These were a particular matched set. This was a no brainer. And it worked out well, it was a great idea. It sounds like you might imagine. Arcane pickups lack that magic PAF tonal thing that cannot be replicated, but they sound damn good. They don't leave a lot to be desired. But I like the vintage better. Arcanes will be included in the sale. The vintage ones will continually go up in value over time. Both the vintage PAF's were bought as a set from a PAF expert and collector, they are extremely balanced. Both PAF's were inspected and verified prior to my purchase. I have been buying and selling PAF's' since the late 90's. The pickups are guaranteed to be as represented. Both PAF's are long magnet double black. The 1959 bridge is 8.57k and the 1957 neck is 7.92k. The 57 PAF is for sure gold.
This guitar here plays up there with the best of the best, if not better, due to the frets which are the typical Jescar medium jumbo, like a 6105 size. It's truly astonishing wood, out of this world. I will never forget the first time I played this Echopark guitar, it's near the top of my list of greatest guitar ever played. Superior to the competition. I have also owned two Echopark V's made with this same wood, and it's unmistakable and it's undeniable. It's is the best stuff on earth. Korina could be the ultimate tone wood. This guitar is unquestionably deserving of real PAF's, it's too good not to. It's an extremely playable and usable instrument, as opposed to many of it's vintage counterparts.
In 2021 Gibson released a run of 19 Explorers using unspecial, cheap modern kiln dried wood. They were artificially aged, and painted with orange paint, probably sealed with polyester, finished with bad nitro, as they do. They sold out immediately for $30,000 each. There is nothing special about those factory made guitars, they're as good as a baseball card. They are not bought by guitar players, or people who understand tone & feel. If you're an actual guitar player, If you want the real deal, it's not going to come from Gibson. They're probably still using plasticizers and plastic of some kind, low grade nitro. Last I checked they were still putting plastic on guitars, and the company was owned by bankers. Gibson is a marketing company. There is a reason why Wildwood Guitars, the world's biggest online retailer of custom shop Fender, Gibson and Gretsch needs 3 full time luthiers on site, and sometimes has to send back guitars costing 5 figures. Last I heard Gibson is using Plek machines but they don't know how to use them, so they're having guitars get sent back.
I recently played a modern korina Explorer by another builder, I'd have to say it's up there with one of the most all time disappointing guitar experiences, because I had an expectation. Absolutely nothing special about that guitar. Absolutely positively apples and oranges vs. this thing here. I was actually excited to try it. What an unspecial guitar, no offense to anyone. And it doesn't look correct, nor does the ugly orange Gibson. Having spent time with real ones, The Echopark sounds, looks, feels and plays exactly like the real thing. The Echopark is in a league of it's own. But don't listen to me, listen to Joe Bonamassa, who called his Echopark V "insanely good" and said that he was "floored". Read the quotes from Jimmy Vivino, Richard Fortus, Davis Catching, Charlie Starr, etc. This is the same wood, and the wood is gone. He made some of the best V's and Explorers that have ever been made. The old Korina and the Brazilian is incredible. The construction techniques, materials, neck shape all authentic leaving a feeling of deep satisfaction when playing, this is a guitar that feels very special in the hands.
Guitar is being listed for original purchase price plus $7000 for the pickups, fair market value. Includes COA and custom original special order G&G case.