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

[Jonesie]

I'd like to mention that Bob Mould used to play one... but then again the recording quality on those early albums was atrocious.

I mean, that's probably Spot's fault. Was there a worse producer / engineer?

[Embenny]

Also, as long as I'm being a know it all asshole about your new guitar thread, I did look up the Dirty Fingers and your 500T/496R pickups to see which was hotter, and I think that the Dirty Fingers might be.

Your gonna love this number:

Dirty Fingers pickup= Output: 14

500T "Super Ceramic"= Output: 11.4

There is no number for the 496R "Hot Ceramic" pickup.

What the fuck these numbers mean I don't know, except I'll bet they refer to the turns of wire, and Gibson is happily saying that number is thus the "output".

Hah, you're right. I've only got the second hottest Gibson pickup. Yay!

I did find inductance numbers, and the DF is 8.6H while the 500T is 7.8H, so that backs up Gibson's mysterious hotness rating.

I did a bit more digging and it seems the 500T/496R was more widespread than you might think. From the Jimmy Page Les Paul to the "Les Paul Classic 60s", they really did put these crazy hot pickups in a ton of models that had no business housing this style of pickup.

I always liked how light V’s were standing up. I discovered on a buddies that they are also great for playing sitting down…if you put it up on your upper leg like a classical player.

FWIW I have a mid 90’s Les Paul Classic with the 496/500 config. They can sound good, the neck especially, but I have mine set pretty low in the rings to lower the output. I also played with the coil heights to even things out, big improvement.

Yeah, I dropped the heights and spend 90% of my time on the neck pickup. It's so much more useful than the bridge. Will pop out the screws and see what happens, but my gut feeling is that these pickups are not long for this world when you can get such decent pickups for such little money these days. If the ones I have on hand don't suit it, I might give Bootstraps a shot.

I'd have to use pickup rings or get a new guard made for aesthetic reasons, but I'm going to audition my Wilde L500XL and L500R in it. They're certainly not going to push it away from the heavy metal aesthetic, but I'm such a Bill Lawrence fan that I bought a set on holiday special a couple of years ago without even having a home for them yet. They're super high output but clear sounding pickups, and I have his Q-filter that drops inductance and "unwinds" them. With the three-knob setup of the V, I could do a master volume, tone, and Q-filter, which would theoretically be the most versatile setup possible.

They're dual blade humbuckers with black bobbins, black pickup rings, and a red housing around the coils, so basically they're totally metal looking despite being super versatile. Kind of like this V! It'll be a real test of whether I can divorce my ears from my eyes. I know that Johnny Lang uses L500s in his Tele and has for many years - but nobody would guess that based on his tone.

So I guess I should put my money where my mouth is and go with what sounds good instead of worrying about getting a classic looking covered bucker, or tele pickups, or something that otherwise "looks" like it'll sound like my familiar models I like.

Oh, in that sense, I don’t remember them either. I was born in 1987. I just remember watching a bunch of recordings of their live shows back in my college days. I still like watching old live shows. But maybe it’s just me. Anyway, when I think of the Flying Vs and Explorers out of the context of hair metal, my first association is HD.

P.S: Beautiful guitar, congratulations!

Firstly, thanks! Secondly, I hear what you're saying. I do like watching old shows too, these days, but it worked out that my HD phase was in my teenage years in the early 2000s when internet sucked. It was mostly used CDs, Napster and Kazaa that I used to explore 80s and 90s indie and alt rock.

But this is a good reminder that I can now go try to hunt down all sorts of video online of the acts I never got to see as a teenager.

[Larry Mal]

Hah, you're right. I've only got the second hottest Gibson pickup.

Pussy.

[Embenny]

Hah, you're right. I've only got the second hottest Gibson pickup.

Pussy.

If it makes you feel better, the L500XL has an inductance of 9.2H, and I'm seriously thinking of trying it out in this guitar. It's got more high end than a Dirty Fingers, but is legitimately the highest output you can make a passive pickup. Even Bill said that he suggests people buy an active pickup if they need higher output for some reason.

[luau]

Hah, you're right. I've only got the second hottest Gibson pickup.

Pussy.

Congrats on your V, mbene085.

[Fiddy]

His name is now mVene085.

[Flurko]

Those Wilde pickups you mentioned look pretty interesting, I'd love to see their detailing adding some visual fun to this big guard ! Also, they seem very interesting construction-wise.

[Larry Mal]

Dave also played it the more traditional way:



Let's pretend that Dave is playing his V on this song because it's probably the best song ever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keoUYCH ... CEZZIuka58

[Arthon]

I really love my V. I have other Gibson, but it's the one i prefer playing at rehearsal and at gig (before Covid!). It's very light and takes effect better then I thought at first. It have Classic '57 pickups, so it's NOT a metal guitar. Quite confusing for some.

[Embenny]

His name is now mVene085.

I'd be open to it, I've regretted this username for years now but there's no way to change it. This was the semi-randomized auto-generated username from my university library's login system, and I have no idea why I used it here. This was intended to be a lurker account but I just started posting on it and, well, here we are.

Those Wilde pickups you mentioned look pretty interesting, I'd love to see their detailing adding some visual fun to this big guard ! Also, they seem very interesting construction-wise.

Yeah, I really need to put them in something and never buy HH guitars so it should be this one. The only thing is that they're a little narrower than PAFs but come with mounting rings that match PAF rings. This guitar doesn't have rings though, so they'll leave a gap in the current pick guard unless I add the rings on top which would be non-reversible and not so attractive. So, I might just wire them up without the rings to check that I actually like them, and then decide whether to get a new guard made or add on the rings.

Congrats on your V, mbene085.

Thanks!

Dave also played it the more traditional way:

Let's pretend that Dave is playing his V on this song because it's probably the best song ever:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keoUYCH ... CEZZIuka58

Does the traditional way involve that hat? I'm OK with that, just need to find one. Also, I need to go back and listen to more Kinks again. Listened to them a ton in high school but haven't done so in ages.

I really love my V. I have other Gibson, but it's the one i prefer playing at rehearsal and at gig (before Covid!). It's very light and takes effect better then I thought at first. It have Classic '57 pickups, so it's NOT a metal guitar. Quite confusing for some.

That's a good-lookin' V and I'm clearly late to the party. I'd love to hear '57s in mine. I actually noticed one of these 2016 models fairly locally, which apparently come with a '57 neck and Burstbucker 3 bridge pickup, and am intensely jealous of anyone whose V would come stock with decent pickups like those.



I also love the binding but wish it had a '67 style pickguard. That would be awesome.

[Fiddy]

I for the longest time have wanted a V with a short vibrola.

[Arthon]

That's a good-lookin' V and I'm clearly late to the party. I'd love to hear '57s in mine. I actually noticed one of these 2016 models fairly locally, which apparently come with a '57 neck and Burstbucker 3 bridge pickup, and am intensely jealous of anyone whose V would come stock with decent pickups like those.

I bought mine at Long & McQuade, so available everywhere in Canada at some point. It's the "Japan Limited Edition"; made in USA for the Japan market (and apparently for Canada too).

[s_mcsleazy]

ok, i have a shortscale V that honestly is one of my favorite guitars ever. no really

[JVG]

His name is now mVene085.

I'd be open to it, I've regretted this username for years now but there's no way to change it. This was the semi-randomized auto-generated username from my university library's login system, and I have no idea why I used it here. This was intended to be a lurker account but I just started posting on it and, well, here we are.

Worst lurking ever! Oops, accidentally sent 7000 posts.

[Embenny]

Worst lurking ever! Oops, accidentally sent 7000 posts.

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