Epiphone Explorer Korina 1958 - EMG Installation + Demo

Epiphone Explorer Korina 1958 - EMG Installation + Demo
This is how i install EMG pickups in my Korina Explorer, there is not alot of space in the cavity on the back of the guitar, the Zakk Wylde set comes with long shaft pots so that makes it not so easy to have the 9 volt battery in there as well, so i had to improvise to get the battery fitted in the guitar... it all works just great now.
Other great guitars like this one is also the Epiphone Explorer Goth, Epiphone Explorer TV, Epiphone Flying V 1958, Gibson Explorer 1958, Gibson Flying V 1958,

[@Modus4]

I had a similar issue with making room for a 9volt battery. I really wanted to avoid routing a new compartment for the battery, so I just basically re-situated the wiring to finally make everything fit. It was like a stressful game of tetris. LOL It also helps that the cover plate on most of these guitars is plastic, and has some flexibility to it.

[@jammyfacefook]

great playing! great riff selection!

[@al6377]

awesome video, thanks a lot! That will help me with the installation of my new EMG HetSet pickups in my Epi Explorer. One question: did you solder the extension cable or just used shrink sleeve on the contact? I am not good at soldering and don't want to mess it up. Many thanks!

[@666GibsonSG666]

When I installed mine I had to do an extra cavity on the back of my sg to put the battery. Sounds great now!!

[@HearGear]

When i buy EMG i buy 81 and 60.. those are not in a kit so they come with short shaft pots, and in explorer that makes it possible to have the battery in the cavity on the back..

[@dylanvogel7124]

I keep missing the part on how to get the toggle switch hooked up to the EMG system

[@LFC-Star]

keep the battery in the oickguard cevity.. don't carve a hole in the body.. it's beautiful guitar..

[@EdNine75]

With the zakk wylde set you get long shaft pots. If you change them for short shaft EMG pots you can fit everything in the control cavity.

[@cradelioTV]

You're right, i installed the K.King set without problem in my Gibson explorer.

[@lukaslinnert2200]

How did You conect everything with the switch ?

[@henrikpalsson3336]

Tight fit. Nice looking guitar!!

[@HearGear]

Yeah.. thanx Brother.. :D

[@RossG88]

Going to put some in my 58' Goth epi

[@HearGear]

I have a Epiphone Explorer Gothic as well.. with EMG´s in it..

[@RossG88]

HearGear how does it sound?

[@HearGear]

I just realise i dont really have a good video clip of that guitar.. maybe i will have to find it and make a video.. :D

[@RossG88]

HearGear sounds good to me, I'll be waiting!

[@ml414skidoo]

Great Balls to the Wall. Hope you leave the battery under the pick guard, maybe add another 9 volt in parallel to gain more life and change them out once a year...

[@barry3045]

are the instructions included ? i have to install it in a flying v, 2 vol , 1 tone, and i have not seen any demos showing how to do this. thanks

[@HearGear]

barry3045 The V is exactly the same as Explorer, two Volume and one Tone. Instructions is included in the kit...

[@barry3045]

Thanks.

[@1976Lloydy]

Great video - I have just managed to get hold of a 2000 Epiphone Korina and will be putting EMG's into it. Did you use any specific type of wire to extend the battery connector?

[@DeadmeatDarkdaylight]

There are one what I hate when I fix/repair guitars: saving old string, it´s always pain in the ass when they are on the way. But I love that EMG solderless set too fun to install. Try ALX boost pot it´s great with 81/60/85 I had that in two on my guitars

[@HearGear]

Yeah.. :D

[@anpleidhceeireannach9498]

You're absolutely nuts if you take a router to that guitar It's working great! Put away your router

[@myhorrorfestevil8292]

wow, so when i buy emg pickups, everything just plugs in and connects? I dont need to use any solder? emgs are great!

[@Cabeza492]

Mmm actually no... you see, this mics are awesome, but in some cases, you may need to do some soldering anyways.

[@Spiderblade666]

I assume the toggle switch is the original but you strip the wire and connect it to the PCB board, is that correct ? I Have the same guitar in BLK and i think i'm gonna do the same but with passive EMG

[@HearGear]

Yes that is correct...

[@rcoveyduc]

Balls to the wall!

[@MachineKnot14]

How did you hook up the pickup selector? About to Throw a 60 and a 81 into my explorer with 1 volume pot.

[@HearGear]

+MachineKnot14 At 14:03 you see the green socket with 3 screws ? BR NK 0 it says, thats where the toggle switch is connected. BR = Bridge, NK = Neck, 0 = IN

[@MachineKnot14]

+HearGear Ahhh right! Thank you. Them I'm guessing the ground coming from the switcher in the the GND?

[@HearGear]

Yes, thats correct, you will find all wiring diagram in the box with the EMG pickups so nothing can go wrong.

[@HearGear]

@@NEO_RKX Hey.. its so simple to connect EMG´s, you get a wiring diagram with the pickups.. or you can use google to find one, its quick connect and very simple to hook up... :D

[@yak6896]

I have the epiphone explorer goth, and am considering putting in new pickups. I know this is a huge debate, but I was thinking of putting in some seymour-duncan nazgouls with (possibly) push pull pots to do coil tapping. That might be a lot more work than I want it to be, but am really thinking about passive over active for more 'organic' tones. I also figure that would sound good as the explorer is a huge hunk of wood. Anyways, great video! any advice would be appreciated.

[@HearGear]

In some cases i really like passive pickups more than active, but for high gain output i think active are the best. Explorers have alot of sustain in the body due to alot of material.

[@simonbaxter8001]

I hope for reliability, those connectors on the pickups are gold plated. I would have soldered the wires onto those pins and put some shrink sleeve on there. Tin plated connectors will corrode and cause all kinds of issues in time!

[@HearGear]

I think you would need to do some reading about what EMG´s are, one of the most selling brands in the world, if there would be some problem over time in this way of installing the pickups, i am use EMG would have changed the components a long long time ago.. as a matter of fact, they went from soldering to solderless about 10 years ago. I have never ever heard about any problems with EMG´s over the past 25 years other than wrong installation and the need of a new 9Volt battery without the guitar owner knowing it (bad sounding guitar caused by no power in the battery)... If you buy EMG`s its gona work... always, just put in a new battery when needed...

[@JCavLP]

Cool video! I was wondering if the long shaft pots from the zw set would fit a normal non lp guitar but it looks good so thanks for making the video!

[@HearGear]

Yes, those pots fits most guitars, i have long shaft pots in strats and les pauls and explorers and there is no problem in any of the guitars...

[@metallicaman774]

The volume and tone pods are long, but is that really a big deal? I'm planning on getting these and I'm just widening if it's an annoyance having the long pods.

[@johnlewis8527]

Great sound

[@tomflake6141]

At 14:00 how did you fit all that in the back cavity? Was it a tight fit? Just wondering.

[@MasonCTYM]

I've put emgs in two of my guitars and yes its a very tight fit

[@davidwprince]

I'm thinking about doing this to my Gibson Explorer as well. Were you able to fit all of the white cables as well as the module in the back compartment? It looked like a really tight fit.

[@HearGear]

+David Prince Yes its all in the back cavity, its tight but it works..

[@Roman_Comrad]

How much time for next replacement the battery? Which batteries you use - alkaline or lithium? I think lithium battery will be better?

[@HearGear]

How long the battery will last depends on how much you are playing the guitar, regular non re-chargable battery is the best.

[@Roman_Comrad]

Ok. Thanks for answer. But i mean non re-chargable Lithium 9V battery. One battery alcaline (china) was, i use with EMG 81X+60X, only 1 week and end 7V only...And yesterday, i bought Energizer Lithium (non re-chargable) battery, i will it try, on the battery i look "10 years save power" and 5X times more than alcaline. I play 2-3 hours in the day.

[@recklessrelentless6723]

Which tone pot should I use?

[@HearGear]

RedDawner333 They are all 25k pots.

[@recklessrelentless6723]

Which tone pot did you use

[@metaljonesy]

Do you get any pick up bleed or grounding issues. For example, put the pick up selector in the neck position, and turn the neck volume all the way down, I get bleed from the bridge pickup and grounding issues.

[@HearGear]

+metaljonesy Active EMG´s dont need any grounding wiring, i dont have any problems with any of my guitars with EMG´s, i think i have about 6-7 guitars with Active EMG´s, no problem at all.

[@nuno7442]

Can I install those pickups on my Jackson King V JS 30 ?

[@metallicaman774]

I would imagine, as long as you can fit the wires through. That's what I'm planning on doing. I had a Jackson JS30KV and I wanna put these in it. :)

[@carloszamora9551]

Yeah. Why not.

[@nickdelise8172]

when you install the pickups where do you connect the toggle switch

[@nathwatson]

+Nick Delise did you ever find this out?

[@BloodyCovers]

On the BUS, that little piece that brings the wiring together

[@brettdeutschendorf2770]

Or you can buy a switch from emg and have a connector sytem plus a better switch then on a stock epiphone

[@ILLRICARDO]

what measurements did you use for the pickup height?? also like passive pickups , do yo have to raise one side of the the pickups so that it is closer to the strings?

[@HearGear]

+snake There is no rule for how high or low the pickup should be from the string, its all about the sound, its just like the knobs on your amp or your distortion pedal, you adjust it until you like it and then just leave it there, BUT the pickup should not touch the string, thats to close.

[@MasonCTYM]

I just always adjust the height until the volume of the bridge pickup and neck pickup are the same.

[@lukash7318]

How did u connect the 9v battery connector all the way to the selector switch area? Seems to short

[@growingup4487]

cut and extended the wire

[@SekChaviraLP]

im having a problem with my 2011 Gibson Explorer. Everything is connected the way its supposed to be, but its not working properly and I don't know why. The only thing I did was tamper the Battery cable because it was too short for the spot I was trying to put it in. I extended it using an extra connector cable that came with the SET. I got the JH Set. It makes noise, and it seems that the pickups are working properly, the only thing is that its not sounding like its supposed to, distortion is barely noticeable. I don't know what else could be. If this helps, my pedal tuner is detecting the string its tuning just sometimes, not always, don't know if this is an issue. thanks.

[@HearGear]

Did you buy the pickups brand new ? Have a look on the output jack so that you have 3 cables on the right place there, also have a look on all the quick connector cables so that they are connected the right way.. and make sure you have a new 9 volt battery, make sure everything is like it should be on the little PCB that you connect the toggle switch to..

[@SekChaviraLP]

HearGear everything is in the right way. The other thing is that my toggle switch has 4 colors. Red, white, yellow and green that are together but not at the same time. This is the output. What is this yellow cable for, do yellow/green have to go in together? Or is the yellow the same but not required to be in the output PCB.

[@HearGear]

The colors does not tell me anything cus colors changes from year to year and model to model.. from the switch you got 3 cables + a ground, one cable is the incomming signal that is soldered in the middle of the switch, and then there is one cable for activating the neck pickup and then another one on the other side of the switch that activates the bridge pickup.. those 3 cables is suppose to go to the little PCB... and how to hook this up can be seen on the schematics for the EMG installation guide papers that come with the pickups. Good luck... Cheers..

[@SekChaviraLP]

HearGear this extra yellow color, was attached to the green wire. It comes with the rest of the cables that go to the PCB. But I don't know what is this for. Should yellow and green, which green is on the output position on the toggle switch. Should they be together into the output or not? This yellow cable went in the middle volume pot, along with a string wire (somewhat harder than the other cables, is supposed to be for the passive pickups) we have tried everything. We soldered the extensions on the battery cable and all. This shouldn't take this log to work since these are solderless emgs and yet this is making me go mad cuz everything is supposed where they need to go and it's still not working this yellow cable, is driving mad cuz I don't know what it's doing. We got red for neck, white for bridge, green output but there's the yellow too, which doesn't have an end on the toggle switch, and finally we have the ground wire (black).

[@SekChaviraLP]

HearGear The only thing that doesn't work is when we put the switch in the middle position, nothing happens. No sound no answer. When we use the neck and bridge switch position, they answer to volume and tone, but the tone makes the sound go almost silence. I don't know why. But the middle switch position, doesn't work at all and when we put our finger close to the switch it makes a sound, like noise. The sound is weak, but battery is new and working because there's sound coming from it. It's just that the sound is so weak and what I said about the middle position of the switch. So I figure output is somewhat causing problems even tho is connected like its supposed to. Can't figure out what's going on.

[@jordanburgett9410]

You didn’t wire up your selector switch but somehow it works still?

[@PacificFlows]

This is also bugging me. Do I just strip the wires for my toggle switch and use the little screws in the control board?

[@jordanburgett9410]

Yes, your supposed to strip the wires coming FROM your selector switch and then screw them into the bus. This wasn’t working for me so I just bought a emg solderless toggle switch and it’s all working well now.

[@shoominati23]

What country are you in? I'm in Australia, and we are STILL waiting for this model to come in! I have called up a few local stores several times and they have rung the distributors several times and they reckon nothing has come their way yet, and no news of when it will finally come out. They said I will be the first to know when they get them in stock. If it gets past July and they still don't have any, I'm just going to order one from Thomann or sweetwater, zzounds etc in the states and just eat the shipping, I'm getting sick of waiting! What were the stock pickups like? As I played a gibson explorer back in the the mid 2000s and really liked the standard pups through a Marshall. But I wanna keep them passive, so if I don't like them, I will get some Duncans. Maybe a custom custom in the bridge and a Jazz or 57 in the Neck. nothing too heavy. My pedals and amp are for that.

[@HearGear]

This is the old Korina, this one is made in 2001 i think, so this is not a new Limited edition. The stock pickups sound decent but i suggest you put in some other ones if you play hardrock or similar style.

[@metamaggot]

be shure to get the screws included you buy second hand emg's from the states if you live in europe,usa pickups have the height ajustment screws in inches when the instruments you get in europe are in metric..

[@briamsalazar5702]

fucking metric system

[@gasbalint]

I have a push/pull knob for the tone. How can I set up these pickups in this case?

[@GrimYak]

These pickups dont have coil split or coil tap. You will have to do away with that tone pot anyway

[@theodorrrrrrrrr]

Does anyone know where i could buy a white pickguard for explorers only... not ON an explorer?

[@HearGear]

eBay

[@Mattatron-kx1qn]

How did you wire the 3 way pickup switch? I’m doing a similar install

[@HearGear]

Go to EMG´s homepage and there you will find the most common schematics... :D

[@Mattatron-kx1qn]

HearGear thank you! I ended up figuring it out:)

[@AndrewStonerock]

The switch wires into the green and black section of the buss.

[@theodorrrrrrrrr]

*buys ZW signature pickups* Plays Metallica. Great vid tho!

[@HearGear]

Yeah.. haha..

[@jeleopard]

The ZW "signatures" are just a standard 81/85, which Kirk has used for years.

[@phantomflame0658]

​@@jeleopard Kirk uses 81/81 or his bonebreaker set afaik, I don't recall seeing the 85's any time

[@ricklepick5134]

Cause there’s nothing worth playing in the ZW catalog lmao

[@RoastPotato-s7x]

Zakk wylde pickups are just 81 85 combo, so the only difference is that hetfield uses a 60 in the neck, which has slightly different voicing

[@triniboiraccoon]

Dude!! Great video!!! damn, that battery routing is a problem... but is it true what you said about the epiphone explorers being better than the gibson ones?? i have 20 years experience with guitars and i've had 3 gibson les paul studios and honesty they have all been crap!! the quality control on them is horrible!!! i've switched to ESP guitars and the LTD line is just as good as the Japanese made ESP's!!!! But they don't have a "real" explorer shape guitar and i've been dying to buy an explorer but i don't want to pay all that money for a Gibson knowing my history with them in the past... Please let me know your insight about the epiphone explorers vs. the gibson explorers!!! Thanks!!! :)

[@ironsack2273]

Order a Chibson Explorer then buy the EMG's you want with the solder-less wiring kit and boom done.

[@triniboiraccoon]

Ironsack are the chibson explorers good? i've never really saw those before,

[@cryshanesk8ntunes144]

Epiphone 1984 EX Explorer looks like the ESP mx-220 and they come with 81s and 85s

[@fredriksvard2603]

Curry Chicken Raccoon the epis ive tried have been hit and miss (warped necks etc), the good ones are nice but weak for metal (maybe not a problem with emgs). A good LP studio is the best thing out there imo, but yes try before buy. Id like a gibson explorer but havent found one that really sings so far.

[@federicocasuriaga8130]

From which year is this guitar?

[@metalhammer72]

How did you get the power buss to fit?

[@HearGear]

What do u mean with power buss ? I mean the 9 volt battery or what ? Isnt that what u can see at 11:43 ?

[@TheShepster80]

9volt under the pick guard?

[@HearGear]

Yes..

[@antma21]

does this guitar have a solid korina body?

[@HearGear]

Yes

[@Spudboy182]

Actually no. It's made of three or more slabs of Oriental 'mahogany' (most likely agathis or lauan) with veneers of Korina on the front and back. Which is not so bad since Gibson Explorers are mahogany now too; the only way you get a solid Korina Explorer these days is if you buy the Gibson VOS models... which aren't cheap.

[@Spudboy182]

...the end grain is a dead giveaway. Korina has a very characteristic end grain pattern which you do not see at all on Epiphone Explorers (or Flying Vs for that matter). ;)

[@antma21]

or you get one of those Reverend guitars which are said to have all solid korina bodies...Thanks for your knowledge!

[@headkills117]

do all emgs have the metallic look or is it just Zakk Wyldes set

[@Grillar]

You can have more than only the metallic look, such as gold, scarped gold, scraped chrome etc

[@AndrewStonerock]

FettSpigiel those are just the standard plastic covers.

[@noname-cl2lc]

Hocam iyi çalıyorsunuz Maşallah.

[@mxpirate]

Isn't that guitar neck heavy? I had one and it was neck heavy!

[@dk70]

People keep saying shit about the sound...IMO it sounds killer.

[@HearGear]

I like active EMG´s alot, i have those in several of my guitars, as well as Seymore Duncan blackouts in a couple of guitars as well.

[@DoomOfConviction]

One of the most desirable Gibsons… what a sacrilege he destroys the factory setting D:

[@Nathandabest08]

I really like explorers. My only issue is against epiphone explorers. The shape of them is too big and not sharp enough on the edges. I like gibson explorers more but I like esp mx series guitars the most due to their build quality and the shape is perfect and looks completely badass. The headstocks also aren't all black they're made to match the color of the guitar. I'm most likely gonna take a chance on the rareelectricguitar copies because they seem to be just like the originals and it'll only cost about $740 with emgs instead of $4000-$5000 for a real esp one.

[@HearGear]

Epiphone Explorer´s and Gibson Explorer´s are the same shape, its only the hardware and the logo on the headstock that are different. I have both Epiphone´s and Gibson Explorer´s..

[@Nathandabest08]

ok then go look at a epiphone 1984 explorer and compare it to the actual 1984 gibson explorer. And compare the korina and gothic explorers from epiphone to the 2016 gibson traditional explorer. The difference in shape is the point on the left side of the epiphone is more angled then the gibson. The guitar's points on the epiphone are also rounder than a gibson. Yes the hardware and the headstock logo are different, but those differences that I mentioned are also present.

[@74Matty]

@@Nathandabest08 its the same shape dawg

[@patriknessboLemoran]

are u swedish ?

[@khimryden1251]

He sounds like he's swedish... xD

[@minouanita4423]

Are you german?

[@runrabbitrun4342]

lol i think after watching what he did i think Polish

[@piotrkochanek3192]

emg to korina? it is profanation

[@HearGear]

The Epiphone Pickups are not very good in my opinion.. just so you know.

[@tyreekmurillo4524]

active pickups are overrated and if u want a guitar that has em u should buy one that already has em instead of installing em in because u never know if it will turn out sounding good

[@maxwellhoffman7436]

They'll sound the same, of course there will be slight differences from pickup to pickup even of the same kind, but they will still sound the same depending on the guitar, scale length will have a small effect on sound but apart from that they should sound the same on each guitar.

[@HearGear]

Maxwell Hoffman You are totally right about that.. active is my style of pickup though :D::D i have EMG´s in all my main guiitars.. there is still some great things about an passive pickup that i like also :D

[@maxwellhoffman7436]

Well, a lot of the stereotype of the active pickups comes from the classic EMG 81/85 set...what people don't realize is that the EMG 57/66 actually reacts and responds much more like a passive pickup, while still retaining the energy and output of an active pickup. Those are great pups. Also, reversing the EMGs makes them way better too. The 85 in the bridge sounds way bigger and louder than the 81, much better for the rhythm chunk, and the 81 in the neck sounds much sharper than the 85 for leads. Jon from Shadows Fall/Anthrax did that until he was endorsed by Fishman

[@HearGear]

You are totally right about that my friend.. i could not say it better my self.. very very true.. +1 :D

[@maxwellhoffman7436]

Yup! Another thing people need to realize is that spending over 1,000 dollars on a guitar isn't going to sound any better...its just going to have more value to it. You can take a 300 dollar LTD Viper, throw EMGs in it, and it'll sound the same as a 3,000 dollar ESP Viper. Without emptying your wallet for a month. If anything, it'll sound better, since bolt on construction, contrary to popular belief, actually gives the most sustain. Its pretty amazing the lies the guitar industry feeds us

[@Ndlanding]

I fell asleep.