NGD, what have I done?!? I'm a Flying V man now, apparently.

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
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Embenny
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NGD, what have I done?!? I'm a Flying V man now, apparently.

Post by Embenny » Mon Sep 27, 2021 2:55 pm

Take a crack at guessing what guitar I have welcomed into my home, more or less on impulse, that makes absolutely no sense. Like, why did I get this? And why do I like it so much?

This might be equal parts celebratory post and cry for help. Come share in my descent into madness.
Last edited by Embenny on Mon Sep 27, 2021 7:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: NGD, what have I done?!?

Post by noisepunk » Mon Sep 27, 2021 3:00 pm

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=117398

*shrug*

checks all the boxes... :-/

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Re: NGD, what have I done?!?

Post by tammyw » Mon Sep 27, 2021 3:55 pm

Gretsch sparkle jet, or maybe a Duesenberg.
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Re: NGD, what have I done?!?

Post by Embenny » Mon Sep 27, 2021 4:08 pm

noisepunk wrote:
Mon Sep 27, 2021 3:00 pm
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=117398

*shrug*

checks all the boxes... :-/
Uh...less money. Much, much less money. :D
tammyw wrote:
Mon Sep 27, 2021 3:55 pm
Gretsch sparkle jet, or maybe a Duesenberg.
It'd be much less of a shock for me to end up liking either of those. This has none of that sparkly goodness.
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Re: NGD, what have I done?!?

Post by HarlowTheFish » Mon Sep 27, 2021 4:44 pm

Mike, did you buy a flat black Ibby with a Floyd and a set of Fluence Moderns?

If so, jolly good -- those things look lame as donkey's nuts but they tend to play like butter, my Prestige is probably still the most effortless player I have.

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Re: NGD, what have I done?!?

Post by windmill » Mon Sep 27, 2021 5:34 pm

Gibson SG Jr. In polaris white

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Re: NGD, what have I done?!?

Post by Larry Mal » Mon Sep 27, 2021 6:25 pm

Nah, he's got an SG, he's sold on that.

He got a Les Paul.
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Re: NGD, what have I done?!?

Post by Embenny » Mon Sep 27, 2021 6:31 pm

HarlowTheFish wrote:
Mon Sep 27, 2021 4:44 pm
Mike, did you buy a flat black Ibby with a Floyd and a set of Fluence Moderns?

If so, jolly good -- those things look lame as donkey's nuts but they tend to play like butter, my Prestige is probably still the most effortless player I have.
Haven't fallen that far off the wagon, but at this rate, it's probably coming.
windmill wrote:
Mon Sep 27, 2021 5:34 pm
Gibson SG Jr. In polaris white
Larry Mal wrote:
Mon Sep 27, 2021 6:25 pm
Nah, he's got an SG, he's sold on that.

He got a Les Paul.
Larry's right, I'm sold on SGs but haven't felt the need to double up (yet?).

This is, in fact, a Gibson, but it ain't your granpappy's Lester.
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Re: NGD, what have I done?!?

Post by Larry Mal » Mon Sep 27, 2021 6:38 pm

Maybe it's my uncle's Victory?
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Re: NGD, what have I done?!?

Post by Embenny » Mon Sep 27, 2021 6:47 pm

I'd love to declare Victory, but I feel like I missed the boat on them, price-wise. They're going nuts, like everything else.

This one is from 2012.
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Re: NGD, what have I done?!?

Post by Larry Mal » Mon Sep 27, 2021 6:55 pm

Shit, I can't think of what... maybe that ES-339 you've been chasing around?
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Re: NGD, what have I done?!?

Post by Embenny » Mon Sep 27, 2021 7:12 pm

Ooh, I'd have loved that, but this is much more off-brand for me. I've practically had a vendetta against this model in the past, and can think of just one single guitarist I actually enjoy listening to who was known to play it.
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Re: NGD, what have I done?!?

Post by Larry Mal » Mon Sep 27, 2021 7:24 pm

They weren't going crazy then... Flying V?
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Re: NGD, what have I done?!?

Post by Embenny » Mon Sep 27, 2021 7:53 pm

Image

I love it. I didn't expect to love it. But I love it.

It's light. It balances perfectly on a strap. The neck profile is lovely. It's got that feel to it that only nitro has. It was cheaper than a new MIM Fender. And I even love playing it sitting - if you put it on your right leg with the wing between your legs, it's stable and holds itself in pretty much a perfect 45 degree classical guitar position, which feels instantly familiar and completely ergonomic.

It's also vibrant and warm acoustically. Just a really, really well made guitar.

And it looks ridiculous. Other than listening to Albert King a ton during my pre-teen blues phase, I've never admired anyone who played a V. They make me think of hair metal, or slightly-less-hair metal. Music that generally repulses me. And the only people who seem to play these guitars that don't fall into that camp seem to fall into the "tired blues wankery" crowd. Equally repulsive.

Oh, and the 496R/500T pickups are a hot mess that pretty much only want to sound like Scorpions or Metallica. But that's very easily remedied.

I had no idea I'd love this shape though. Just from an ergonomic and practical point of view, it's shockingly well-suited to how I play.

So I'm a Flying V guy now, apparently. And the steady march into Gibson's catalogue continues, I guess.

I have to avoid my reflection though, like the Medusa. On some level, it's amusing, because nothing I will ever play on it would ever be guessed to be played on a flying V by anybody who might hear it. It's just utterly ridiculous.

But fundamentally, it's just a set-neck mahogany Gibson with ergonomics I like, and it's not like I've hated all the music played on those. Basically half of everything I or anyone else likes was made on a 24.75" scale mahogany set-neck guitar, so I'm just gonna plunk whatever pickups I feel like into it and move on with my life.

I'm debating everything from low wind PAFs to noiseless P90s, to some noiseless Telecaster pickups with humbucker adapter rings (or a new pickguard). I could pop in my PAF-sized "Big Bird" Firebird pickups, or my Fralin Twangmasters.

The point is, the world is my oyster, and I'm a Flying V man now.

Apparently.

Now, where did I put my tiger-striped spandex?
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Re: NGD, what have I done?!? I'm a Flying V man now, apparently.

Post by countertext » Mon Sep 27, 2021 8:02 pm

Fuck yeah, man. HELL yeah.

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