The Epiphone 58 Korina Flying V Encounter

In 2023 I came across a youtube video where Joe Bonamassa explains the history behind his 1958 Gibson korina flying v, aka Amos. The guitar originally shipped from Gibson to Arthur's Music in Indianapolis, thus Joe named it after the owner of the music store, Amos Arthur. Myself being from Indiana, and having been to Arthur's Music, I felt a sense of Hoosier pride, and an intangible bond between myself and the 58 korina flying v, in general, was formed. I already have my Greeny clone, I have my Peavey JF-1 to cover all of my semi-hollow blues, all that was missing would be a 58 korina flying v to round out the blues collection.

I started researching my options, but a lot of them aren't anywhere near my budget. Obviously a genuine 1958 Gibson would cost far more than I could ever afford, and a modern Gibson copy is five figures. The cheaper alternatives were plentiful, but for me accuracy is an issue. Dillion made really nice copies that are inexpensive, but they're hard to find, and the neck is maple instead of korina. Epiphone has made quite a few different attempts at copying the 58 korina flying v, but they too seem to be a pig in a poke. The first run from 1998-2013 all supposedly have mahogany necks instead of korina, and the neck heel is a Les Paul style instead of a 58 flying v. In 2017 Epiphone tried again, this time with slightly more accurate specs, and while they're affordable things still didn't seem 100% accurate. In 2018 Joe Bonamassa himself offered a copy of Amos as his annual limited edition Epiphone, it being the most accurate of all, yet they've become a collector's item often with a price tag to match. The Inspired by Gibson series recently surfaced, which are as accurate as Epiphone as ever made them, apart from Amos, and they also come with a price tag to match.

As I do when I'm looking for a guitar, I turned to my brother, as he sees more used guitars in a day than most people. I told him what I was looking for and asked him to keep an eye out, which he did. While I was still researching I saw two 98s sell for $500 each on local FB market place, which set up my budget scale. Even with a supposed mahogany neck I wouldn't scoff at one of the 98-13 korina v guitars for about $500. If one of the Amos or Inspired by series ever showed up below $800 I wouldn't pass it up. If the 2017 to ?? series ever showed up for $600ish I would prefer it over the 98-13, simply for it's slightly more accurate build.

After a few years of waiting, the day finally came when my brother told me he wanted to show me his new guitar. As he walked to the door I saw the unmistakable flying v shaped case with a gold Epiphone emblazoned upon it. But what was actually inside? When I opened the case I was gobsmacked. It was an 04 Epiphone in really good shape. Oddly enough, even though they made them from 98-13, I had never touched one of these before, well maybe to move it out of my way of another guitar, but I never purposely sat down with a 58 style flying v to see what it felt like. Immediately I noticed how light it was and comfortable it was to sit with. The neck was chunky, which I love, and it's maple, instead of mahogany (I still wish it was korina). It has a warm tone, it's fairly resonant, sustain is decent, and it plays ok. When I plugged it in I was surprised by the Epiphone pickups. They're not great, but they're not the worst. They try to do a thing that other pickups do better, but their efforts aren't completely in vain.

Overall I'm impressed with what this guitar brings to the table. Being completely honest my goal is to have a 58 style korina flying v that I can take up to Arthur's Music and let her sit beside their Epiphone Amos and soak up all the mojo that guitar and the store have to offer. I really want accuracy in the one I will eventually own. I want the black pickguard, which this one has white, and I want Kluson style tuners, which this has Grovers, and I want the accurate neck heel, which this is an LP style. After playing this guitar I feel the neck heel isn't a bad thing, it's just my personal preference to want the accurate one. I did notice this was made in the Saein factory which most 04s I see are from the Unsung factory.

While I enjoy this guitar, something in my guts still steer me toward a 2017 or newer. Don't get me wrong, this 04 is an amazing little guitar for what it is! If you want the look and vibe of the 58, on a budget, this is a 100% all day buy. I am super happy that I was given the chance to try it out because now I know what to expect and what I truly need from the 58 korina flying v I will eventually own. Who knows maybe down the road I'll have both this 04 and one of the more accurate ones. For now though, I'll weigh my options as I continue to guitarsit this one for my brother.

It bears repeating..

Today I will start off by saying I am not a genius, no matter how much I truly wish I were. But when it comes to the Goodwill outlet store and finding the things I want to find, I seem to rank highest. Anything that has to do with video games or guitar, it seems, I know far more than anyone else there.

I repeat myself on this blog in what may seem to be a boasting, overconfident tone, which couldn't be further from reality. I simply enjoy writing here and showcasing the finds that somehow slip the grasps of the casual and hardcore outlet shoppers alike and make their way into my bedroom. I've honestly never expected to ever see half the things I've found at the outlet store, but somehow I always end up finding something that blows my mind and causes me to dig deeper, stay longer and go more often, such as what I am about to show you.

Again, my ability to identify things much quicker than others is restricted solely to items I'm interested in, I couldn't tell you what a good Hi-Fi system or stuffed animal was if it slapped me in the face. But when it comes to obscure video game items, while everyone is scrambling about for anything with a brand on it, I can almost certainly tell what an item is by its shape or whether I've seen it before online or not. Same with the very rare occasions when a guitar or amp shows up in the bins, which happened just the other day, the outcome was greatly in my favor.

What I saw appeared to be a small practice combo from the 70's, but someone had already pulled it from the bin and placed it in their cart. Carrying on about my hunting I circled back to check some other bins and noticed it sitting alone in a clothes bin, so I gave it a little closer inspection. Right on the face I saw Kalamazoo and Model 1, the name Kalamazoo made me think of Gibson as I knew they were affiliated with Gibson at one point, but my knowledge on the name brand and this amp in particular is extremely weak.

I flipped the amp over and checked the speaker paper, if the speaker was damaged it really wouldn't even be worth buying, but not only did the speaker look to be in great shape, the little Kalamazoo Model 1 is a TUBE amp! Being a solid state person I've never had the chance to try out a tube amp, let alone own one. Given the fact that this was being sold by weight there was a good chance I would be taking it home.

What limited resources there are online about this amp indicate it was built in either 1965, 66 or 67, exciting! Its a fairly simple amp with a decent tube amp tone, really exciting! But the decades of technological changes have really made this amp kind of dangerous to play and costly to repair, bummer!

With a little bit of elbow grease this amp could look great in no time, as I assume from the looks it came straight from someone's attic to the outlet store. I only paid a little over $8 for the amp and a handful of other stuff from the outlet store, so it was super cheap. Sadly for now this thing has to sit beside its big brother -Line 6 Flextone HD and Mesa 4x12- and await the day I can safely test it to see what all repairs it needs.

About 75% of the images I've found of the Kalamazoo Model 1 amps are blackface models, and only a handful of them are the wood grain. I'm really wondering if I've stumbled on to a nice pile of gold, or a stinky pile of shit. If this thing works well as-is, or with minimal upgrades, and sounds as good as the demos I've watched on youtube, this thing is surely a slice of fried gold!