Gibson Flying V - Due for a Revival?
by Marc Noel-Johnson, in Guitars,
This iconic guitar, the Gibson Flying V, has now been around for 50 odd years. However, it hasn’t been in continuous production for all that time like the ES-335 or Stratocaster.
In fact it was discontinued by Gibson in 1960 through general lack of interest, but now the consensus is that it was ahead of its time design wise, along with the other two models in the ‘futuristic’ stable at the time, the Explorer and the Moderne. There were sporadic reissues in the 1960s and 1970s, but it was only with the rise of 1980s metal players that it began to gain popularity. Now it’s in continuous production.
The various design changes, custom jobs and different variations of the Flying V are outside the scope of this article, but I have a gut feeling that this guitar will rise again. Maybe not quite to the vertiginous heights attained by the Les Paul, but it surely deserves to be taken a bit more seriously by rock guitar players.
What prompted me to write this was seeing Joe Bonamassa’s Albert Hall concert on DVD, in which he uses a Flying V for his lengthy variations on ZZ Top’s ‘Just Got Paid’. It’s a great image - a top player like Bonamassa on, by his own admission, the best night of his life, wringing solo after awesome solo out of his V. If you haven’t already seen it then I urge you to check it out.
When you first pick up a Flying V, if you’re sitting down, please be careful, otherwise it’s just going to slip off your lap and end up on the floor. At first it seems completely unbalanced and unnatural so get a strap and stand up. Now, it makes sense. Actually there is a little non-slip serrated rubber pad on the underside of the body to prevent accidents, but caution is still advised.
As with any twin humbucker guitar it’s got plenty of power and although it’s not as ‘fat’ as a Les Paul, it has it’s own distinguished tone. Famous players? Lonnie Mack, Albert King, Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash, Michael Schenker and Hendrix. Its pose factor is so way up there, it’s hard to think of anything else apart from the crazy stuff that can out do it.
These guitars were born in Gibson’s and indeed America’s golden age, and it’s hard to imagine now why they weren’t a success at the time. To me, The Flying V is a rock icon and still looks as futuristic today as it was supposed to back then.
