Just got to the glue selection bit. I’d have paid money to see Colin hopping around the studio with one hand glued to his Crocs and the other glued to the headstock 😹
You’ve hit the nail on the head for Epiphone Colin. It’s the ability to have an LP, an SG, a Flying V, a 335, a Firebird etc. And I do have all them. I don’t need Gibson on the headstock. I appreciate the design, the look and final differences. They’re all unique.
Can’t argue with that. I’ve bought 4 over the last couple of years, a Koa Custom, an Inverness Green 335, and Pelham Blue SG Special and a Goldtop Les Paul Classic for less than 2 Gibsons, and they are all in my regular rotation. Haven’t needed to really change a thing, which is unusual for me. With the exception of the neck finish on that Classic. I really don’t like the fell of the “worn” finish on the back of the neck. They all play and sound really great bone stock, though.
@@adolfusknall3341 I have three with Indian laurel fretboard, a eppiphone firebird ,Gretch 2215 streamliner and a squire c v mustang. The firebird had the best fretboard of them all. The gretch was a very close 2nd , the squire classic vibe mustang was not very good. Rough ,dry the grain of the wood had cracks frets looked like they were leveled with 120 grit. With a lot of tedious work it's polished up to 2000 grit and fine now. And it will be my last classic vibe with Indian laurel unless I hold it in my hand.
It was fortunate that you had a large surface area for the glue. The glue bond may even be stronger than the original wood :) plus the string tension may help keeping the joint together. Nice fix.
That's how it works ! I found a great way to make lots of money. You buy a cheap guitar and drag it behind your car for about one mile. Put it up for sale and watch the people climb over each other to buy your guitar.
Speaking from doing this numerous times - Absolutely the right choice to use the Titebond as the main adhesive. You can then wick in super thin CA glue into the hairline crack afterwards which even worst case, will serve to drop fill the crack. Interesting choice with the tubing. Quite a neat way to get pressure across a large area.
Thanks, Mate. These comparison videos were super helpful. I've been wanting a V for about 45 years, but only recently decided that since I'm almost age 60 and finally in a band that has regular gigs its time to get one. No need to take on debt for the USA-made version when this black one is a fine instrument for most of the music and places I play. I'm still putting my son through college, so thanks to Epiphone for making these inspired and affordable versions of the great designs from the glory days of rock and roll. Cheers!
This inspired me to buy an Epiphone SG with a broken headstock I recently found on Facebook marketplace. It was $50 Canadian. I went to pick it up and saw it was a clean break, just like yours was. Glue, Ratcheted, and clamped and now, after 36 hours, it plays and sounds like BUTTER. Its a 2009 Limited Edition custom shop model. Thank you for the inspiration Colin. I am now the proud owner of a wicked little guitar.
Great repair and I appreciate your thoughts. It's refreshing to watch a reviewer who says it likes it is. Is it worth 2x more than the cheaper one? No, it's not. Great stuff!
This was a great episode. So glad you fixed the korina without any major problems. As far as the comparison goes, I like the ebony for looks and sound. The korina just isn't worth the extra money. Thanks for another great show.
Man you've got guts. Taking up a project like that for the first time is surely stressful. You did a super job. You for sure were very proud of your job. I think it showed in your smile and in your play. You were on fire. Congrats. PierreG
I was really looking forward to this, that little giggle you had when you thought it was playable was perfect. It breaks your heart to see a broken headstock, so nice to get it fixed. The glue is usually stronger than the wood. There are some very famous guitars that had neck breaks early in their career and went on make some amazing music. The fretboard looks a little dried out. I have 6 Epiphones and I love them all, if I had to replace them with the Gibson equivalent I could have spent over $20K instead of about 4K. and short of bragging rights I would have terrible buyer remorse spending so much. I get so much joy from my budget guitars and the only one I own that had been a real disappointment is a Squire Strat, all my Epiphones are beautiful instruments, not toys! Confessions of a guitar addict ;)
Despite the result of the shoot out, that particular Korina V is now exceptionally cool. Because it has a story, Colin gave it that, shipping damage gave it that, rubber tubing & glue gave it that. If it were me I'd pull the old Albert King C# tuning with 10s thing on that & just enjoy the cool.
I was putting new strings on a student’s violin yesterday, and the tail gut (the cord holding the tailpiece to the bottom) broke. All four strings were at full tension. You can imagine my surprise! Luckily my violin tech and I fixed it before the student showed up. Still something I’d prefer not to experience again. Ps: cheers on the repair! Bully for Colin! Huzzah! Your total satisfaction came through in your playing.
That's the spirit! You are officially my new hero Colin! I'm inspired as hell now and will spend next few days on my latest guitar build for sure. All thanks to you mate... Thank you! Stay awesome and Rock'n'Roll AF!
Epi are in a really tricky position - it's clear they can produce BRILLIANT guitars and it's also clear they're desperate to release more 'upmarket' stuff. The problem is if they did produce a quality original, would people ignore the brand on the headstock? Also prices have risen SO much over the last year or so that the bar for entry into quality has shot up. £1k+ doesn't go that far in Gibson land, and I'd bet that V is better than a lot of the cheap Gibson stuff. You're a brave man for fixing that neck Colin.
Personally I bought and tried out a new Gibson Studio LP back in 2015 when they were a grand and it was the biggest piece of junk from the pickups, hardware, finish and quality. I recently bought the epiphone 59 for 900 bucks and I give it 5 out of 5 stars on all levels.
That tube is great for doing this. I have used bicycle inner tube for gluing fretboards. ‘I am scared’ 😅 yeah can imagine that. Well done and great you did this. I’d use Titebond for this aswell.
Regardless of the "value proposition assessment"..;-) I just got one of these. I decided a 1 yr old, pristine option w/a $500 set of Lollar Imperials (Retail + tax, shipping and installation) in it for under 1k. was acceptable. As new, w/case etc. Def. not cheap at the price I paid, but I bought it as a keeper, figuring compared to the cost of a Gibson or even some of the other well known guitar company's 'V' options, it was doable, my 1st Epiphone, and the official " Gibson custom shop" inspiration/connection whatever didn't hurt. My 2nd most expensive guitar purchase and absolutely the most expensive USED guitar I've purchased........ 1st thing I did when I opened the box was check that head stock carefully. I pulled the p'ups, shield painted the cavities, checked nut, polished the frets, cleaned & treated the fretboard a cpl times w/Fret Dr. & replaced the strings. My laurel fretboard has some nice light flame figuring as well. This guitar is also very resonant. Unplugged, it really rings and is remarkably loud ;-) I decided that this will be the 1st guitar I own that will get PLEK'd and a pro setup at 13th St. Guitars as soon as I can get an appointment next mo. & Yes! TWoodfrd is great channel as well.! Enjoying this video Colin, really nice to see how well that repair turned out, guitar sounds great!
Just brilliant viewing Colin, hats off to you fella, very brave by most guitarists standards to even attempt this and it gives us all the confidence to have a go at some point. Still cannot believe they are putting a laurel fingerboard on a £1299 guitar..... Epijoke.....
They have to get rid of all of the indian laurel they bought because after the goon govt raided their shop they peed themselves and jumped on the moronic anti rosewood ban. Instrument rosewood accounts for about 1% of rosewood used. It was hysterical nonsense and proven to be just that.
Im not a guitar player but stumbled onto the first video and have followed through the next couple just to see where it went😂. You got a great manner for presenting mate. Good stuff.
At this point you should just finish sanding out the neck all the way up and down and wipe on a light coat of matte poly. Call it done. I bet you keep this one just because of the memories. Cheers from Dallas!
I enjoy all your videos, Colin, and look forward to each one! Nobody skips ahead, we watch it’s entirety. Great job on the repair, and your humor, you’ve got balls tackling this. You’ll always have a Special Bond with this V ! 😅 Stay Well, my Friend!
I’ve been watching your channel for about 2 years now,and THIS WAS MY FAVORITE FILM ! I love this kind of (G.A.S.) stuff. Great great video.I could watch this kind of stuff all day ! Great fix ! Ya,I love Epiphone,I own 6 of them. But if I’m going to spend $1300, I wound rather get a Gibson,or Schecter,or ESP/LTD. And MAN would I love a 56’ Gold Top Lp. Look foward to next week Collin ! As you would say “Cheers for now “! Have a great weekend and thanks for a great video ⚡️🎸⚡️🤘😎
I agree a 100% with your thoughts about Epiphone prices. For my Lazarus I paid about 820 pounds, and that is a decent price for what it is. More than 1000 and you are already in Eastman or even Gibson territory. And that's not where Epiphone is. To prevent any misunderstanding: I love the Epiphone Guitars since 2020! I have two Les Pauls and two SGs and with a proper set up and even some upgrades they are really good guitars! Thank you for this video 🙂
Well done Colin for taking on the break! Agree with your comments about the Epiphone pricing policy of late as well. I think they pushed it with the 59 les paul but going over a grand is stretching things a bit too much .
The 59 does come with a nice $130 case so paying 900 for the one I bought didnt bother me and after I received the guitar i have zero regrets paying 900 bucks. But I wont pay over 900 for any epiphone.
@@johnsmith-ug5tp Think that seems to be the general opinion on the 59. It was a step up in price but all things being equal it was worth it. Going up into the £1000+ range is possibly pushing things a bit too far for some ?
Epiphones are notorious for neck breaks at the nut going back down the neck. I had a first edition Slash AFD LP that did pretty much the same thing as your V. I used Titebond and a couple wood clamps. Guitar played great after and I passed it on to a friend. We always referred to it as "Old Broke Neck".
I used to be afraid of broken necks and headstocks until I bought an old single P90 sixties SG that had the headstock completely broken off but had been repaired by some one. The repair was not pretty. I was unsure of it so I strung it up with heavy strings and put it under the bed for several years. With no problems visible when I finally got around to it I put it in playing order and had no problems for years and I finally sold it to a coworker. I’m impressed with your repair and I would probably attempt one myself now after watch your repair video. Thanks for the great vid. Another Friday off to a good start.
There is a school of thought amongst many luthiers that not only is a well done repair stronger that the parent wood, the guitar will often sound better too. No idea if it’s true.
Hi Col, Sorry for late comment - just back home (sunny Essex) a great hour spent watching this session mate - tense, scary, but well done for taking this on and bringing this guitar back to the world!!
Bravo Colin I knew you could pull it off. You looked so happy when you finally got to play it. Watching Tim is addicting and informative, anytime I need to do a repair he’s the first one I turn to. Again bravo and can’t wait till your next episode, Cheers.
It’s amazing to me how close the standard is. I’m a little biased as I have one 😂 The price difference Is eye watering. In Australian dollars I picked up the ebony standard new for $800 (probably $400ish in pounds) while the Korina is almost $3k. Interestingly while there’s little difference to hear for me, I do feel there’s a reasonable difference between the 59 Les paul (which I have) versus the standard LP.
Yeah mate, we get ripped off here. I see £400 guitars on UK shows, they get out here & it's $1350 etc.... I wanted to buy a Sire semi hollow w/ p90s & the price difference was criminal!!
@@voiceofexperience you mean the custom shop collar version I assume. I was lined up to buy the SG. I have the standard in cherry which is great. I was a bit underwhelmed too. But one of the things I’ve learned is set up makes such a difference. The standard Epiphones mostly do need a little work on pickup height, action etc. Once that’s done they come incredibly close.
Colin great job on the neck break!! So glad it worked out so well for you! While watching I had the idea of using compressed air to blow some of the glue back farther into the crack. You could use an airbrush (no paint) for fine control. Just a thought.
I used Titebond Hide Glue, with great results, on my Epiphone Firebird that arrived with neck/fretboard separation. Scraped all the dried glue. I got a small paint application bottle at the craft store with a needle tip for the glue, and it did the trick with no mess. Clamped it for 2 days, and its been great since. Only a little flaking of the lacquer where the separation occurred. Just smoothed it with some emery cloth.
Another great video. You are correct again about the value of a guitar. It always does come down to which guitar makes you want to play? We have to let our guitar ego go.
I’ve had both these models (both 2022) and refinished the black V. I’ve learned that underneath the very thick finish there’s a millimeter thick mahogany veneer on the body, front and back (which I sanded off). What I found troubling was that the wood pieces (5 of them) underneath those veneers were completely mismatched and I’m not even sure they were all from the same species. The quality was poor as they had knots all over and there were plenty of holes that I had to fill before refinishing it. The neck was better though, with only the scarf joint. I’m not justifying the crazy prices of lately from Epiphone, but regarding these two models you compared, underneath that ebony finish there’s a world of not so nice surprises to be had.
I am really impressed!! When I saw the first video I was wondering if you'd try to fix it! I really appreciate you letting us in on this repair. Really well done!!
Cheers Col, I love these episodes where your tinkering, pretending you don’t know what your doing, but really your skills show through, we ain’t fooled😂😉👊 keep em coming fella…
Very interesting video Colin - well done mate. They both sound well but the Korina will always have something special going on for you now … excuse the pun but a bond 🎸👍👏
I think the idea was to enable people who really like or wanted a Korina V or Explorer but couldn't afford £9.000 for the Gibson. So perhaps that's where the value lies
100% that was my justification, rationalization etc. I've jonesed for one of these for 45+ years... never assumed i'd be able to get a nice Gibson version. I looked at the Jackson 'Rhoads' options etc, and all the knock offs here and there but the classic " V" design/style appealed more... when i saw these Epiphones used were dropping to around $800- $900 a year + - after they were sold, I started looking.
Remember when Fender opened the Mexico factory? Uproar! Now the player series are often pointed to by reviewers as the best Fender "value proposition" as you say Colin.
awesome awesome video my friend!!!! I thank you for your passion and love of guitar. And also FOR YOUR TIME!! they were SOO close tonaly. imho, turn the tone knob on the amp when playing the standard, and identical. very very simulair
I think personally that you did an awesome job man!!! Sounds great too , still don't know that there worth the upcharge? The standard sounds really awesome too!!! Great show as always.
Well wouldn't you know it, I just broke the head off on my korina Vaschenko flying V. So this video was very interesting! Seems like you fixed it good :)
Oh this is absolutely a collectors’s item…it’s the only guitar to be not only played but hand repaired by Colin. I’d say that makes it a very cool piece to own. Cheers! 🤘😎
you can use damp cloth clean all the dry glue first , if very clean break , no need any sanding at all , sometimes hardly noticed the break , great repair ,a successful repair anyway, i think gloss finish looks better, maybe polish it, turn to gloss . you got lot of glue left , video idea for you, diy project guitar😁..?
I’m so glad you didn’t go with the CA. It’s brittle and impossible to sand. Titebond is much easier to work with and sands like wood. Great job and great playing, as always..
Your spot on as usual! I bought a Epiphone slash firebird used $700 instead of the flying V Epiphone. I'm not going to pay over $900. For an Epiphone... Thanks again for the video. Very helpful!
About a month ago I also said 900 bucks is my cut off for an epiphone. I was so close to paying one of these new ones but stopped myself when I remembered I could get a Gibson flying V or explorer for 2k and just a year or so ago they were only 1,700.
Hi Colin! Good choice on the glue, the CA is too quick for good work-in. Titebond is excellent for working time and holding strength. Congratulations on a job well done! Hey, I have pictures of some of my more interesting guitars I'd like to show you. Can that be arranged? Once again, congrats on a good job! Scary the first time!!!! And I agree that the difference in sound is negligible. The korina is pretty though....
If the comparison is anything to go by, there ain't no $650 dollar difference between these two V's. It's good you were able to 'save' the Korina V, and with relative ease, but I would get rid of the Korina one ASAP, while the iron is still hot, so to speak. I know, I'm an old cynic at heart. Another great video Mr G - we keep wanting more, and you keep delivering!
Great to see the broken Korina V Fly! For me it is a lovely looking guitar, but it looks a little lonely at that price. I half expected you to play something from Sticky Fingers......
Can’t argue with that repair Colin, great job considering how bad it actually was. It’s a beautiful guitar, perfectly balanced and sounds very sweet. Nice work! 🤘
Great job Colin, you have the patience of Job !!! Torture waiting 72 hours for anything. Curious if you made a video coming in and out everyday looking at your Korina beauty, but unable to touch it much less pick it up and play it ! Better looks with Korina maybe, but when you go black you never go back!!! Keep it up bro, you got this!!
I commend you on a job well done, as well as your choice of tone-glue. That is one sweet Flying V. You’ve inspired me to snap off the headstocks of my guitar collection with the hope that the repairs will yield the same sweet tones.
The repair looked surprisingly easy on this break. I would have thought it would be possible to use a pipette or syringe to target the glue deep into the interior of the break, no? Sounds like something I would try, anyway. I agree with you about Epiphone’s strength/price point. I think $1,200 is just too much unless they changed the product significantly. I also don’t see Gibson moving any big G production overseas, it just won’t happen. Too much of the Gibson brand is rooted in USA made guitars. They still make some Epiphone guitars here, even. Just none of the electrics. I thought the two V’s sounded remarkably close. I think if you’d dubbed the sound of the black Standard on top of video of you playing the Korina, you would have fooled us all! Great video. Cheers!
I agree with the cost vs worth argument. In 2018 Epi sold an LP Trad Pro III LE that had US Gibson Classic 57 and Super 57 pickups and I got one on sale for $599. Two years later I got a closeout price on the 2019 GIbson LP Tribute of $836. I spent about $30 on CTS pots and caps and am installing the US '57 pickups in the Tribute using the Jimmy Page wiring diagram for coil split and phasing. I love the Tribute (and especially the maple neck) and I will have the best Les Paul I will ever want for a bargain price. I love the '57 pickups and have never heard a more expensive LP that sounds better IMO. And BTW I will swap the 490R and 490T into the Epi and it will still be a good LP too.
Great job on repairing the guitar. It’s sounds great but so does the cheaper ebony one, in fact there was so little difference between them it’s hard to justify double the price. I remember not too long ago epiphone were doing Korina V’s and Explorers for about £350. Infact about 5-6 years ago I was able to pick up a brand new Gibson V and Gibson Explorer both around £1000, significantly cheap than either of the new Korina Epi’s
I thought the Korina sounded smoother, dare I say 'pedestrian' versus the black standard. But, that is not necessarily a 'bad' thing. For pure rock n roll I would choose the standard model. It had a grittier/dirty quality that I appreciate. Great job on the repair Colin! Cheers everyone! 😊👍🎵🎶🎵🎶❤️
Fantastic job - you always have great tone. I don't know if it's your choice of pedals, the amp or the guitars? Perhaps in a future film you could explain how you seem to achieve this consistently with every guitar .. It seems like alchemy to me ; )
Colin very much enjoy this episode. I was amazed at how with just some wood glue and simple techniques you were able to bring this guitar back to life, great job mate! For me if I was in the market for one of these I would maybe spring for the extra money to get the Korina one as I just think it looks better myself. But I get it, thanks again for a great episode!
cool video man I think it is worth the upcharge - to about €950, it has to be under a grand in my mind. I had signed up with Belgian or Dutch online store for €919 for one, attracted by the price and the promise (on their website) that'd it'd be availalbe within four weeks (this was a couple of months ago, and they still haven't got them). They weren't very nice when I rang them about it, so I cancelled the order, I prefer my €919 in my pocket than theirs for an undefined time period. Their pricetag has been raised to €1069 now, but still a lot cheaper than most other places. I thought it sounded great in the video, and looks beautiful, way nicer than in black.
Years ago when my youngest daughter was learning guitar, she leaned her acoustic, a Jay Turser student model (though with a solid top and quite loud) against the couch. Unfortunately it fell forward onto the carpeted floor, not really that hard but just at the right angle to break the headstock. She got a new guitar and the Turser went downstairs to the basement where it sat for years until I was bored one day and tried to affect a repair. I am by no means a woodworker or handy man at all. I used Gorilla Glue and it worked fine. A few cosmetic touch ups and a beater guitar was born. I was surprised by how easy it seemed.
