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King Loudness « A total rock machine »
Published on 08/14/11 at 08:21The Gibson Flying V '67 Reissue is made to recreate the famous Flying V that was used by guitar legends like Jimi Hendrix, Albert King and Michael Schenker. It's made in the good ol' USA and is a great value version of the original ax. It features a mahogany body and neck with a rosewood fretboard and 22 frets. It has Kluson tuners as stock and the bridge is a typical tune-o-matic/stopbar tailpiece setup. The pickups are open cover Gibson ceramic 'buckers (490R and 498T) and it is topped off with a volume control for each pickup, a master tone control and a 3 way toggle switch to select the pickups. It's pretty simple overall, but in many cases simple is the most effective!
UTILIZATION
The Flying V has always been a guitar that I've considered to be a good ergonomic design. The shape is a bit large, sure, but the weight is extremely light for a Gibson guitar, and it balances on a strap quite well. It's not great for sitting down but there are tricks and things that make it more managable to do. The weight of this particular example is light yet it still maintains an excellent resonance that apparent both unplugged and plugged in. The upper fret access is pretty solid on this instrument as there are no cutaways or anything to really get between your hand and the highest registers of the fretboard, making it a great classic lead guitar.
SOUNDS
The guitar is definitely geared towards rock and metal stylings as opposed to... tamer sounds. This is just as apparent in the sounds as it is in the look. The ceramic Gibson humbuckers offer a high output dose of rock n' roll fury that works very well for overdriven rock or metal from Judas Priest to Yngwie J. Malmsteen. I don't find the cleans/mid gain tones to be all that remarkable, though I can imagine that with some lower output PAF style pickups this guitar might suit that vibe better. The guitar has a lot of sustain when plugged in and that resonance from the body translates quite well to the high gain monster that this thing is when plugged into a good amplifier. For rock or metal players who want a guitar that sounds like a Les Paul or SG but that feels a bit different and looks more stated and just all around cool, the V is a natural choice.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think the Gibson '67 Reissue Flying V is a great guitar for someone looking for meaty Gibson rock tones in a unique looking and affordable package. These guitars are about $1,150 new with a nice Gibson hardshell case and they can be had for around $700 to $800 used, which is a no brainer for the quality and tone you're getting. It may not be as fancy/elegant as some of those flamed top Les Pauls, but it's got the cajones to take your amp and pumel it into some serious hard rock attitude!
UTILIZATION
The Flying V has always been a guitar that I've considered to be a good ergonomic design. The shape is a bit large, sure, but the weight is extremely light for a Gibson guitar, and it balances on a strap quite well. It's not great for sitting down but there are tricks and things that make it more managable to do. The weight of this particular example is light yet it still maintains an excellent resonance that apparent both unplugged and plugged in. The upper fret access is pretty solid on this instrument as there are no cutaways or anything to really get between your hand and the highest registers of the fretboard, making it a great classic lead guitar.
SOUNDS
The guitar is definitely geared towards rock and metal stylings as opposed to... tamer sounds. This is just as apparent in the sounds as it is in the look. The ceramic Gibson humbuckers offer a high output dose of rock n' roll fury that works very well for overdriven rock or metal from Judas Priest to Yngwie J. Malmsteen. I don't find the cleans/mid gain tones to be all that remarkable, though I can imagine that with some lower output PAF style pickups this guitar might suit that vibe better. The guitar has a lot of sustain when plugged in and that resonance from the body translates quite well to the high gain monster that this thing is when plugged into a good amplifier. For rock or metal players who want a guitar that sounds like a Les Paul or SG but that feels a bit different and looks more stated and just all around cool, the V is a natural choice.
OVERALL OPINION
All in all I think the Gibson '67 Reissue Flying V is a great guitar for someone looking for meaty Gibson rock tones in a unique looking and affordable package. These guitars are about $1,150 new with a nice Gibson hardshell case and they can be had for around $700 to $800 used, which is a no brainer for the quality and tone you're getting. It may not be as fancy/elegant as some of those flamed top Les Pauls, but it's got the cajones to take your amp and pumel it into some serious hard rock attitude!