Thoughts on Epiphone Korina V from ‘98?

[GCPENG]

At a pawn shop yesterday, I saw an Epiphone Flying V bass with a U98 serial number. Numerous dings and chips in it. Filthy as hell. Missing a screw in a pickup and most notably, the three-point bridge bushings had pulled out so far that I thought it was going to come apart if I tried to tune the filthy, rusty strings.

The price on the thing was a ridiculous $595 (CAD), considering the condition. I offered the guy $200, and he came back with a lower limit of $400, saying that he had too much into it. We were not anywhere close. The bass has been there since August, according to the tag, so maybe I will let it stew there a while.

Any thoughts or experiences with this bass out there? It’s a natural finish, Korina-looking, but it looks like it might be veneer rather than solid? Are the electronics decent? Is it worth taking on as a bit of a project? It would be a nice companion to my 2016 Epi Explorer.

 

[Mark76]

Can you go back and scrawl "Clean me" in the patina of dust it's probably collected?

I suggest using a stylus rather than your finger

 

[shoulderpet]

I used to own one, nice bass, really nice neck, sounded good.....but my god it was an ergonomic nightmare, the lower part of the body felt huge, terrible neck dive (and I am not usually bothered by neck dive)practicing at home sitting down was near impossible, I kept the bass for all of about 2 weeks before I moved it on.
I realise this was my fault for not taking these things into consideration when buying the bass.

 

[Jim C]

Overpriced IMO but also hard to find.

 

[GCPENG]

Can you go back and scrawl "Clean me" in the patina of dust it's probably collected?

I suggest using a stylus rather than your finger

I wanted to use gloves just to handle the thing as it was.

 

[Proud To Pick]

I've always been curious about these too... come to find out a co-worker had one buried in his closet in a beautiful coffin case and hadn't touched it in years... he was nice enough to let me take it home yesterday & let's just say, I haven't slept yet... played it literally all night long. I couldn't put it down. It's very awkward to play, the neck dive is ridiculously bad & I loved every minute of it. I gave it a quick setup, lowered the action, and put on some strap locks (don't even try to play it without them, it'll hit the floor seconds after u strap it on) ... everything on the surface would tell u to steer clear, but man is it a fun bass to play. I'm not sure if I'm just intrigued by all the challenges it presents to play it, but I absolutely love it and I'm debating on just letting the owner name his price for it. I need that bass in my life.