exhaust_49 Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 Why did Gibson stop making les pauls out of limba (korina)? Just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 Are you sure they ever made ANY LP's out of Korina? I've never heard that one before. Only the very short-lived V's. And they probably got a deal on a humpload of Korina somewhere, big companies care about the bottom line and profit, not achieving some sort of 'ultimate' tone machine. Where did you see it said they made LP's out of Korina? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exhaust_49 Posted March 17, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 My mistake, I mean the moderns and the v. Anyways did the change have to do with Korina's tone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 Korina is much harder to get an more expensive....I guess thats the reason they don't use it anymore.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted March 17, 2004 Report Share Posted March 17, 2004 Gibson is a big company trying to make usable, playable, sellable instruments for players and also trying to keep their stockholders happy and keep their employees paid. It's just a product. No one buys product, stockholders very unhappy. Gibson turns little profit by using high dollar woods, stockholders unhappy. Korina was never the 'standard' wood used, it was brought in just for these models for a very short time. It was an exception to the norm, not the norm. The answer to your question lies way more in economics than it does in the 'mo betteh tone' dept. Back then those shapes were very radical and not a guaranteed seller (which is true, they totally flopped commercially) so I figure they got a good deal on a load of Korina ...just enough to produce a limited run of these experimental models. Probably just a case where design met deal. A bargain load of Korina comes in, enough to do a short run of a new experimental design some R&D whacko came up with. Don't shroud history with mystery, these were very cut and dry business decisions, that's about it. If it sold, then get more. If it didn't sell, drop it quick, which is exactly what they did, cuz the guitars didn't sell, they flopped. That's why they're so rare, cuz they got kicked to the curb right quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 Korina with Oak top. Gibson has done custom shop stuff with korina, but to my knowledge, no production LP with korina. However, Heritage's Class of 59 is a korina and maple LP style guitar, made by ex gibson employees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exhaust_49 Posted March 18, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 what is heritage's website address? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noviceluthier Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 from what i hear korina is also can cause an allergic reaction in many people. Im not sure if thats the reason gibson doesnt produce as many as they used to in korina, but thats just a guess. I've never worked with it before so im not 100%sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars Posted March 18, 2004 Report Share Posted March 18, 2004 If I recall correctly, Heritage went under rather recently. Thanx a bunch Henery . Bastard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 from what i hear korina is also can cause an allergic reaction in many people. When cutting my Korina body the dust was giving me sneezes. ;-) Nothing serious though. And darn do I love those Korina LPs. Yam,yam,yam... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 I love the smell of Korina! No allergic reaction with me. The tone is another thing. I guess I am back to Alder.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anekretia Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 while it is true....nearly ALL companies cut corners....they do everything they can to save a buck, truthfully there are only a select few that do not. over the years Gibson, (not epiphone of course) has done pretty well for themselves, after all the things I have learned about the companies on the market, they are one of the two or three companies I would still buy from IF I wanted another company's guitar, but....I dont. When it all comes down to it, up until some point....Samick made 68% percent of the world guitars....Epiphone is made Entirely by them, Ibanez was mode by four or five different companies....this is all information ANYONE can find out if they dig enough in the right directions....alot of people have been misled over the years, this includes subjects of tonewoods, pickups, quality....the companies would have us believe strongly in one thing but whne you dig deeper you find its another case, I find this very troubling and its one of the reasons I do things the way that I do them. Other custom makers told me..."you cant run a business that way, it costs too much, they also said I cant sell guitars the way I build them for 1000.00, but I am, for christmas even, most companies tell you a 6 month mandatory waiting period for your custom....c'mon lets get real here. A big part of the industry is depressing to me, and there are few companies I am not dissapointed with as a guitarist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneft Posted October 10, 2004 Report Share Posted October 10, 2004 just out of curiousity, is korina(terminalia) a good tone wood? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 just out of curiousity, is korina(terminalia) a good tone wood? Depends on where you come from. Korina is considered one of the best tone woods available by many builders and pros. I myself built a 7-string guitar out of the most beautiful figured Korina. While I love it's look and weight I am not 100% happy with the tone. Coming from Alder body shred-modded Strat's the Korina is a little too dark sounding for my taste. I never liked the sound of mahagony instruments much and Korina goes very much in that direction. Don't get me wrong: The Korina guitar sounds better than all my other guitars, has endless sustain and a very complex deep and multi-layered tone, but it's simply a tad to dark sounding for my taste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 Marcel, what pups did you use in the Korina body??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 All Dimarzio: Neck: Air Norton 7 Middle: Blaze 7 singlecoil Bridge: ToneZone 7 I know it could be the PU's but I doubt it. The 6-string ToneZone is my favorite bridge PU and I doubt that the 7-string version would sound THAT different. Additionally the neck and middle PU's sound so warm and bassy that I nearly not use them at all, because they do not have enbough bite for my taste. As all three PU's sound way more bassy and dark then there 6-string countrerparts I am quite sure that it is the Korina causing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javacody Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 Weren't those pickups designed for basswood bodied guitars? Personally, I would look at Korina for more of a vintage type tone, but that's just me, and I'm not an expert by any means. Korina + Walnut Top + p90's = delicious tone. Plug it into a vintage Fender amp, and you are as close to heaven as you're going to get. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 Weren't those pickups designed for basswood bodied guitars? Dimarzio is a independent PU maker no guitar company. Additionally no Ibanez guitar or commercially available basswood guitar uses a ToneZone7. What leads you to this idea???? Korina + Walnut Top + p90's = delicious tone. For you maybe....As I said the guitar sounds fantastic it's just darker sounding then Alder guitars thats all. It's all a matter of taste. I doubt I would ever want to use a p90.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 (edited) You can have this "best" tone discussion forever. What one thinks is bassy, the other decribes as warm.....and then I haven't even mentioned the whole pups discussion. ;-) As all three PU's sound way more bassy and dark then there 6-string countrerparts I am quite sure that it is the Korina causing that. I think you're right on the money there. From your story I get you were looking for an Alder type tone from you Korina. You got a more Mahogany tone. That doesn't surprise me. Have you tried the K7 before you started building your Korina 7. Cause I suspect your sound to be close to this K7 sound. K7 also has Tone Zone 7, Air Norton 7 combo. I'm very curious how my Korina JS-7 will turn out. As I'm planning a Air Norton 7 neck and Blaze7 bridge pick-up, I think my JS will sound close to yours Marcel. Can't wait to hear mine. Would love to hear this extended range with nice warm, low, bassy sound. I mean that's why you play a 7 to begin with, right??? Some combinations of wood, also give some great tone. On the lespaulforum, I read a nice discussion about the all mahogany LP vs. the maple top mahogany LPs. The all mahogany seem to be darker, warmer, more bassy sounding. The maple on the regular LPs seem to bring out the brightness bit more. Korina seem to have tid brighther mahogany type sound. I heard some Korina V's and was very impressed with their sound. Almost like an LP on steriods. This guitar building is a one big journey to finding that great sound. And isn't the journey more important then the destination. What fun would it be, if some one handed you YOUR perfect guitar, with perfect tone. No more questions, no more what if, no more maybees...... I rather keep on searching, cause the hunt is much nicer than the catch. ;-) Edited October 11, 2004 by RGGR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 I think you're right on the money there. From your story I get you were looking for an Alder type tone from you Korina. You got a more Mahogany tone. That doesn't surprise me. No really true. Korina is supposed to sound a little brighter than mahagony. Additionally I added the 5mm Maple Top in order to give the guitar even more highs. Why it still sounds rather dark is beyond me. Have you tried the K7 before you started building your Korina 7. Cause I suspect your sound to be close to this K7 sound. K7 also has Tone Zone 7, Air Norton 7 combo. Did not try it....I did not even know that it has Dimarzio Pups.... Would love to hear this extended range with nice warm, low, bassy sound. I mean that's why you play a 7 to begin with, right??? True....but it also depends on the music you play. I play everything from Jazz to Death Metal and have studied amost styles at the German version of GIT, so my style is very diverse. For Jazzy/Bluesy sounds the guitar is perfect. It's for churning out death-metal riffs on the low B string when I miss a little more bite....Nothing that couldn't be compensated with the EQ of the Amp though. Don't get me wrong: the guitar is the most fantastic sounding instrument I ever played. But it's simply not as versatile as an Alder body guitar.... What fun would it be, if some one handed you YOUR perfect guitar, with perfect tone. No more questions, no more what if, no more maybees...... Yeah....lol.....but this attitude is better for the builder than the player.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sneft Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 the reason i ask is because there are quite a few korina trees where i live which are truly horrible to look at.Its nice to know that they arent totally useless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javacody Posted October 12, 2004 Report Share Posted October 12, 2004 I read somewhere that alder is the "tastes like chicken" of tone wood. My point about the basswood, is that it seems like most often Dimarzio's get paired up with Ibanez made, basswood bodies with Floyd Roses. I'm willing to bet that is the combo that Dimarzio is voicing their pickups for. I could be and probably am wrong. Dimarzio PAF's are known as "muddy" by some folks (Les Paul players to be exact), and it may be because Dimarzio does voice them for guitars not made out of Mahagony/Korina. From what I understand about Korina, is that tonally, it is very similar to Mahagony, but with sweeter highs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted October 12, 2004 Report Share Posted October 12, 2004 Ok....now I undertsand what you meant. But I still don't think DiMarzio voices the pups for basswood guitars. After all Ibanez guitars are only a very small chunk of their business. Most Ibanez Models have Ibanez pickups and only some are equipped with DiMarzio PU's. Additionally DiMarzio sells some hundreds of different pickups. Only a few of them were designed for Ibanez guitars at all. Maybe these are voiced for basswood bodies, but for the majority of their catalogue this does not hold true. DiMarzio sells everything from dull to sharp sounding Pu's in order to be able to match demand of all player types and build pu's usable for all guitar types. They are simply one of the biggest PU companies trying to supply as much different pu's as possible for all applications. So your theory is quite pulled out of air in my opinion....The ToneZone PU for example is designed to closeley resemble the DiMarzio Custom Custom which is a PU designed for Van Halen's Alder Strats.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGGR Posted October 12, 2004 Report Share Posted October 12, 2004 (edited) Not really true. Korina is supposed to sound a little brighter than mahagony. Additionally I added the 5mm Maple Top in order to give the guitar even more highs. Why it still sounds rather dark is beyond me. You're right. Korina itself should have been tid bit brighter than regular mahogany. Adding maple top should have brought out some more brightness. The reasoning behind your choices, I could agree with. What I noticed, reading tons of material about Korina......that there is some difference in weight from one piece of Korina to the next. I hear people refer to it as being light, and some people referring to it as being heavy. I have seen similar stories with mahogany. Different LPs....all weigh differently. (And I know some are true solid bodies, some are hollow bodies, and some have weight relief holes) Comparing apples with apples, there seems to be difference in weight of LP guitars, and only can be explained by the difference in density (read: weight) of the actual mahogany wood blank. I suspect more dense, heavier wood will give darker tone. It could be that your Korina was of the more denser, heavier type, resulting in a warmer tone. What fun would it be, if some one handed you YOUR perfect guitar, with perfect tone. No more questions, no more what if, no more maybees...... Yeah....lol.....but this attitude is better for the builder than the player.... But aren't those 'players' not constantly in search of 'the' perfect sound and the builders just mearly accomodating them??? And then you have those basket cases who play AND build. Well that's the perfect recipe for disaster. ;-) Cause if Korina/Maple isn't giving you your fix, what would just regular Alder do. And would Alder/Maple not even be better. Then someone else suggests Alder/Maple with small layer of Korina. ;-) Darn 58 guitars later we are still building and playing and as we go along, our music taste goes from death metal, to classical Opera. ;-) The ToneZone PU for example is designed to closeley resemble the DiMarzio Custom Custom which is a PU designed for Van Halen's Alder Strats.... Seymore Duncan Custom Custom you mean. And I was wrong with the K7, it has PAF7's. The RG8670 has the mahogany, Tone Zone, Air Norton combo. Edited October 12, 2004 by RGGR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuitarMaestro Posted October 12, 2004 Report Share Posted October 12, 2004 It could be that your Korina was of the more denser, heavier type, resulting in a warmer tone. Could be. But it is definately light than the Alder bodies I have here. It was quite the light and not very dense wood. But I had another idea. I never thought about the neck. Maybe it is the culprit? I built it from curly soft maple with bubinga stripes. Soft maple is supposed to give a warmer tone if used for necks. Maybe I'll build another neck to check that out.... But aren't those 'players' not constantly in search of 'the' perfect sound and the builders just mearly accomodating them??? And then you have those basket cases who play AND build. Well that's the perfect recipe for disaster. ;-) Cause if Korina/Maple isn't giving you your fix, what would just regular Alder do. And would Alder/Maple not even be better. Then someone else suggests Alder/Maple with small layer of Korina. ;-) Darn 58 guitars later we are still building and playing and as we go along, our music taste goes from death metal, to classical Opera. ;-) Hehe....true words!!!! Seymore Duncan Custom Custom you mean. Yes exactly. I mixed it up. EVH played the ToneZone in some of his guitars, but the Custom Custom was the PU he designed.... The RG8670 has the mahogany, Tone Zone, Air Norton combo. I will play that one next time I come in a music shop. NOTE: All my critique against Korina or the sound of that axe should not be taken too serious. With my original statement I just wanted to say that I'll use Alder next time. The guitar as it is sounds fantastic and is a joy every day. It's just that if I could change a minor detail I would give it a tad more biting highs. Thats the reason I wrote I am back to Alder, because this may give me these highs.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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