I
f you’re a Gibson player and you want
a Les Paul or an SG, there’s a model
for every style and budget. But when
it comes to Flying Vs, Gibson doesn’t
currently manufacture a 1950s-spec
Korina reissue. If you can get hold of one,
Epiphone’s recent limited-edition Joe
Bonamassa 1958 ‘Amos’ Korina Flying
V model features impressive specs for a
model that originally retailed around £750.
A friend of the Guitar.com team was so
impressed that he bought one and has been
gigging with it over the last year or so.
The guitar is made from period-correct
Korina and features 50s-style through-body
stringing. There’s a fairly chunky neck
profile too, apparently modelled on Joe’s
own Flying V, along with vintage-style
tuners and a fine-quality hard case.
Yet over time, the nagging feeling crept
in that this Flying V could be even better- the thick, dark gloss poly finish and
jumbo fretwire being the chief areas for
improvement. Delving deeper, the owner
wasn’t keen on either the dot markers or
the milky finish covering the fingerboard.
And with a spare set of late-60s Patent
Number humbuckers sitting unused in his
parts box with some CTS control pots,
upgrading the electronics is a no-brainer.
Epiphone has mounted the bridge using
metal bushings rather than screwing the
posts into the wood itself, so the plan is to
change this to as-close-as-possible to vintage
specifications. The owner has also sourced
some high-end replica parts, including a
plastic truss-rod cover and a more vintage-
correct metal ‘V’ plate to cover the string
holes. The brief is straightforward – let the
vintage makeover begin...TEAR DOWN
Removing the parts from this Epiphone
Flying V is no different to any other guitar.
I had expected the bridge-post bushings to
be tough to remove, but they are so loose
in their holes that they lift straight out.
The V-shaped metal plate that the strings
pass through is actually nailed onto the
body. To remove it, I use my end nippers.The finely ground jaws get under the nail
heads to lift them up a few millimetres and
from there, I use a regular claw hammer to
pull them free.
It’s important to lift the nails out gently,
because they’re serrated for grip. Also use
some masking tape to protect the surface
if you’re trying something similar and plan
to reuse the metal plate. The string ferrules
present a bit more of a challenge, because
I discover – the hard way – that they’re
glued in.
With Telecaster ferrules, I’m accustomed
to passing an appropriately sized drill bit
through the string holes and gently easing
them out by tapping the drill bit from the
front side of the body. Attempting the same
here, the first ferrule comes flying out,
taking a chunk of wood and a large patch
of finish with it.
It transpires that the ferrules and the
wood are firmly bonded to the finish. In
fact, the bond between the Korina wood
and the finish is stronger than the bonds
between the wood fibres themselves. I fixDO IT YOURSELF128