EPIPHONE 1958 KORINA EXPLORER

Epiphone and the Gibson Custom Shop recreate the brand’s rarest guitar of all time

- Matt Owen

£1,199

Gibson’s 1958 Korina Explorer is perhaps the brand’s rarest guitar ever. Not only do you have to contend with astronomical auction prices, you’ll have to find one first: only  a handful were made in the initial run. Reissues haven’t made it any more accessible, either. Nowadays, models list for nearly £10,000.

In a bid to make this Holy Grail available to the masses, Epiphone released its own ’58 Korina Explorer. At £1,199, it’s not a budget offering, but in  comparison to its Gibson counterparts, it’s basically a steal. Plus, it’s a really great guitar. Made in collaboration with the Gibson Custom Shop, this Explorer pays homage to the original – with a few cost-cutting measures, naturally – but with the result being a guitar that looks and feels like the real deal.