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tjon901 « Everyday Flying V »
Published on 07/26/11 at 14:10In the 50s Gibson was trying to change their image. With the sucess of the stratocaster Gibson was looking more and more like an antiquated guitar company. The company came out with more modern designs to help change up the image. A few of these designs caught on and a few didnt. The Flying V and Explorer were the only radical designs that were popular but they were still discontinued shortly after. The Flying V was reissued in 1967 with a slightly modified design. The 67 design is more streamlined and easier to produce and overall is a stronger design. The guitar is made from solid mahogany with a mahogany set neck. The neck is 22 frets with a rosewood fretboard. The neck is not bound. It has two volume knobs and one tone knob and a 3 way pickup selector. It has 496R and 500T ceramic magnet pickups in the neck and bridge respectively. These pickups are Gibsons own design. It has a traditional Les Paul style tune-o-matic bridge and stop tailpiece.
UTILIZATION
The upper fret access on the 67 design is not as good as the 58 design but the 67 design has a strong neck joint design overall. Early Flying V's had the same problem that eary SG guitars had with having a weak neck joint that would easily put the guitar out of tune or even break. With the stronger design the neck joint joins at about the 17th fret so you will have to reach around some wood to get to the upper frets but it is not impossible. Some people have problems playing these sitting down so you may have to sit in a classical position to play these sitting down.
SOUNDS
The mahogany wood give the guitar a really deep sound even though the body is not that big. If you want to play heavier music you may want to change out the pickups. The Gibson pickups are medium output and are voiced more for classic rock. The 496R is voiced for the neck and some people say it is a little bright. If its in the neck position in the right guitar it will balance out the neck position sound perfectly. I would recommend a pickup swap on this guitar. A set of Seymour Duncans are great if you want to play classic rock or some heavy metal. A set of EMG would probably give you the best results if you are just looking for the heaviest metal sound.
OVERALL OPINION
This guitar is alright but if you just want a flying V you could probably save a couple hundred dollars and get a faded version. They are pretty much the same apart from the finish on the Faded model. One think I wish they would do is go back to the late 70s color layout where the headstock matched the body colors. Having every model with a black headstock just seems like needless cost cutting for me. If you are looking for just a simple Flying V with a normal poly finish this is it when it comes to Gibson.
UTILIZATION
The upper fret access on the 67 design is not as good as the 58 design but the 67 design has a strong neck joint design overall. Early Flying V's had the same problem that eary SG guitars had with having a weak neck joint that would easily put the guitar out of tune or even break. With the stronger design the neck joint joins at about the 17th fret so you will have to reach around some wood to get to the upper frets but it is not impossible. Some people have problems playing these sitting down so you may have to sit in a classical position to play these sitting down.
SOUNDS
The mahogany wood give the guitar a really deep sound even though the body is not that big. If you want to play heavier music you may want to change out the pickups. The Gibson pickups are medium output and are voiced more for classic rock. The 496R is voiced for the neck and some people say it is a little bright. If its in the neck position in the right guitar it will balance out the neck position sound perfectly. I would recommend a pickup swap on this guitar. A set of Seymour Duncans are great if you want to play classic rock or some heavy metal. A set of EMG would probably give you the best results if you are just looking for the heaviest metal sound.
OVERALL OPINION
This guitar is alright but if you just want a flying V you could probably save a couple hundred dollars and get a faded version. They are pretty much the same apart from the finish on the Faded model. One think I wish they would do is go back to the late 70s color layout where the headstock matched the body colors. Having every model with a black headstock just seems like needless cost cutting for me. If you are looking for just a simple Flying V with a normal poly finish this is it when it comes to Gibson.