Guitar of the Week

  Gibson Flying V Electric Solidbody


I can still vividly remember the first time I saw a Flying V at a nearby music store in my hometown of Hudson, New Hampshire. It was love at first sight. My affinity for it was not for its playability but for the visual pleasure it conveyed to me. It was cool, hardcore, and my favorite artists like Jimmy Hendrix, Albert King, Kirk Hammett, Kim Simmonds, and Rick Nielsen all played the "V" at some point in their careers.

First introduced in 1958, the Flying V had a Korina (African Limba wood) body with a natural finish, two P.A.F. humbucker pickups, with strings anchored through the body (V-shaped plate guides the strings), with a white or black pickguard, triangular peghead with a rounded top, and finished with gold plated parts. It's reported that only two batches of forty instruments (80 total) were made in 1958.

Unfortunately, in 1963 the Flying V was discontinued, but was later re-introduced in a different form in 1966. Then in 1981 to 1984 the 1958 model was reissued as the Heritage (I first saw it in 1982). The success of the "V" still continues today as guitarists worldwide are attracted to it's many qualities.