Finally got a sweet deal from Nick Greer from Greer Amps (cost me the other plank) who did the laser cutting of the body and all the cavities. I have to say that I am very impressed with the work, and cut quality! Thanks Nick!

You might recall (if you had the privilege to live in that era), that Gibson had a run of the legendary 1958 Explorer and Flying V, now being among the most coveted guitars. There were only 200 guitars made of each model at that time. Today, if you have the luck of at least seeing a Gibson Korina Flying V or a Korina Explorer Flying V guitar for sale, then sell your possessions and house, and get deep in debt. Who cares if you become homeless with one of these guitars in possession! They might run between the ridiculous $300,000-$600,000.

50th Anniversary Korina Flying V photo: www.Gibson.com

Gibson Explorer photo: www.Gibson.com

Oh well. I guess I’ll stick with my home-made Korina Telecaster guitar. Don’t you think so? At least I’ll keep the roof over my head.

Luthiers are not happy to work with this wood despite its beautiful grain. The African exotic Korina wood (also known as Limba wood) splits very easily in the early stages of processing because of the fast water drainage. Plus it is very hard to get a hold of it and sometimes has stains because of fungus desease. My plank here looks kosher for a Telecaster body that when finished can rival the most coveted Teles.

But with all that downside, a Korina wood body ads a much brighter and sweeter character to the guitar tone and that’s why I decided that a Tele would be the right impersonation. Luthiers call it “mahogany deluxe” since it looks very close to regular mahogany – although lighter in weight.

Next step would be choosing the right neck, and finish. I will go for the natural look – no stain whatsoever. Something close to this:

Korina Wood Telecaster Body

Not sure about the pick-guard. Stay tuned.

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And all this without even replacing the tubes that the amp is shipped with (Sovteks). I suggest replacing the tubes, to a JJ (former Tesla) set. From there things get serious. But at least now for the sake of seeing how much a simple mod like the JP1 can boost your Epiphone Valve Junior tone character.

Snip It!

That’s all it comes down to – snipping a jumper. Technically eliminating the C3 (22uF) electrolytic cathode capacitor from the circuit on the second half of the pre-amp tube (12AX7). Simple as that! The amp will start singing – but not in falsetto.
All the tool you need is a simple wire cutter (preferably a flat one). No soldering iron, no soldering skillz, NOTHING! You can do it! If you can clip your nails, you can snip the JP1 labelled jumper on your Epiphone Valve Junior.

Follow the steps in the video and report back with comments on your impressions. Good luck!

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In this Gabriel V33 Guitar Combo Amp (2×12″) demo he demonstrates the versatility of using the amp plugged direct in as well as with numerous guitar effects.

As the Gabriel V33 guitar amp has plenty headroom, it becomes a tone machine packed to please the most picky guitar player (pun intended). In fact, many users noticed that the amps is so touch sensitive that actually helped them cure their sloppy playing.

Enjoy Justin’s demo of the V33 amp!

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