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

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
User avatar
Larry Mal
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 19673
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 4:25 pm
Location: Saint Louis, MO

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

Post by Larry Mal » Mon Sep 27, 2021 8:08 pm

Congratulations!

You want to look to Dave Davies on this one...
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

User avatar
HNB
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 13513
Joined: Tue May 10, 2011 7:55 am
Location: Puyallup, Washington
Contact:

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

Post by HNB » Mon Sep 27, 2021 8:24 pm

Standing, do you play arm through the legs or above them? ;) I am an arm above them guy personally.
Christopher
Lilith Guitars

User avatar
Embenny
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 10363
Joined: Tue May 24, 2016 5:07 am

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

Post by Embenny » Mon Sep 27, 2021 8:49 pm

Larry Mal wrote:
Mon Sep 27, 2021 8:08 pm
Congratulations!

You want to look to Dave Davies on this one...
HNB wrote:
Mon Sep 27, 2021 8:24 pm
Standing, do you play arm through the legs or above them? ;) I am an arm above them guy personally.
Ok, so I gotta admit, I listened to the Kinks a bunch in high school but never actually saw them much, so these two statements didn't make much sense until I did some googling.

Image

It didn't even occur to me that that was an option! It looks like he's aiming a campy retro-futuristic raygun at his bandmates.

Also, never knew he played a V, which goes to show you that it just sounds like any other Gibson, given appropriate, non-500T pickups.

But truly, in all my years playing guitar, I thought flying Vs were just Gibsons that looked ridiculous for the sake of looking ridiculous. I had no idea that they were, paradoxically, practical.

But this thing is like 2 full pounds lighter than the 335, balances perfectly on a strap, and is the only guitar I can hold in classical position without having to prop my leg up on something or cross them.

It's just so new to me and makes so much sense that I'm having a hell of a honeymoon phase. It's also a hilarious departure from all my curvy Offsets. The only guitar I've ever had with more straight lines was my rectangular Bo Diddley.

I can't wait to hear how this sounds with some clearer, lower output pickups in it.
The artist formerly known as mbene085.

User avatar
Fiddy
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 12391
Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:38 am
Location: Canada Dry

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

Post by Fiddy » Mon Sep 27, 2021 9:47 pm

I love flying Vs. The very first electric guitar my 13 year old hands touched was a green Flying V (Same shade of green the band Poison used in their name/font)

User avatar
Veitchy
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 1525
Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2011 7:12 am
Location: Robe, South Australia

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

Post by Veitchy » Mon Sep 27, 2021 10:13 pm

Fantastic stuff. I've always admired Vs (and explorers) from afar as I love the idea of playing what are popularly (and often justifiably) perceived as metal guitars in 'regular' music. Sort of a Jim James, The Edge kind of vibe. I'd never considered how much lighter they'd be and yours looks positively classy with that tuxedo sort of look.

Nice one.

User avatar
HedonismBot
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 262
Joined: Tue Dec 29, 2020 10:14 am
Location: Northern California

Re: NGD, what have I done?!?

Post by HedonismBot » Mon Sep 27, 2021 10:40 pm

mbene085 wrote:
Mon Sep 27, 2021 7:53 pm
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.
Remember Bob Mould with his Flying V?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5tcr2k1FrQ

User avatar
noisepunk
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 16807
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 5:55 pm
Location: glasgow, scotland
Contact:

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

Post by noisepunk » Mon Sep 27, 2021 11:12 pm

i've wanted a V for ages–never had any particular inspiration for why, maybe hendrix, but i never really listened to the music most people play on these. to me, they're a retro-futurist shape, like jazzmasters and jaguars– it would make much more sense to me seeing a band like broadcast or stereolab use a V than the crowd that ultimately finally appreciated them (which, no shade, i'm glad v's stuck around because of them).

there was a transparent cherry one–actual gibson if i remember properly–at the pawnshop where i got my first guitar, and it was a bit of a let down winding up with the strat with shrill pickups.

...

i'm also realizing now you wrote celebratory and not celebrity in the first post :fp: so not only did the Ian Curtis guitar look absurd (my goal) it also didn't make any sense...

User avatar
windmill
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 4404
Joined: Fri Dec 21, 2007 4:31 am
Location: South Eastern Australia

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

Post by windmill » Mon Sep 27, 2021 11:30 pm

Well, wasn't expecting that !
:)

User avatar
Flurko
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 996
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2008 8:05 am
Location: Stroßbùrri
Contact:

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

Post by Flurko » Mon Sep 27, 2021 11:33 pm

Nice! I used to pass by a friend's friend in college who used to walk around campus with a V in it's gigbag, completely unmistakable :D

I just realized why I like '58 style Vs slightly more than the one you have, same kind of pickguard-to-body ratio than on '61 vs 'batwing' SGs.

Does your V come with the piece of rubber/tape where it can sorta not slide if you want to put it on the right leg?

User avatar
Lost In Autumn
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 886
Joined: Sun Jul 05, 2020 3:01 am
Location: Philadelphia
Contact:

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

Post by Lost In Autumn » Tue Sep 28, 2021 2:34 am

Sweet! I just started working very part time at DiPinto Guitars in Philadelphia, (I also paint guitars for them), they've got a 70's Fujigen or Matsumoku flying v that I'm very tempted to pick up... I can sneak a new jazzmaster or even a hollow body into the house, but there's no way I could get away with this one... Still, with the right pickups... :P :?

I had a blast playing it in the store last weekend, confusing the hell out of customers, playing Johnny Marr/Smiths riffs on it.

User avatar
Jonesie
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 4048
Joined: Sat Aug 09, 2008 7:00 am
Location: Massachusetts

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

Post by Jonesie » Tue Sep 28, 2021 5:35 am

Fuck yeah! V's fucking rule, rock that shit.

My personal dream is for an Explorer, which is almost as ridiculous looking.

Also, for lower output pickups, check out the DiMarzio 36th anniversary PAF's. Incredible sounding and the price is definitely right.

User avatar
Flurko
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 996
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2008 8:05 am
Location: Stroßbùrri
Contact:

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

Post by Flurko » Tue Sep 28, 2021 6:05 am

I'm always blown away when considering that Flying Vs and Explorers came out in 1958. It's just ten years after the very first solid body electric guitars, Gibson is making guitar-shaped instruments but they also somehow design something as weird as that. I can't imagine what they were on about at that time, when you mostly had serious players wearing their suits and ties onstage..

User avatar
HNB
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 13513
Joined: Tue May 10, 2011 7:55 am
Location: Puyallup, Washington
Contact:

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

Post by HNB » Tue Sep 28, 2021 6:06 am

Nice. :D My V is a Schecter V1. I agree that it actually is way more comfortable than you would guess from the shape. I picked the Schecter because of how the strings pass over the nut. I love the LOOK of Gibson V's headstock, but I am not a fan of how the strings spread past the nut to the tuners. I also wanted a maple neck and volute at the headstock. (This has a three piece set maple neck and ebony fretboard.) They are under $600 usually. The EMG's are actually really nice. It scratched my V desires well. :D

ImageIMG_20200416_135615 by Christopher Louck, on Flickr
Christopher
Lilith Guitars

User avatar
Larry Mal
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 19673
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 4:25 pm
Location: Saint Louis, MO

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

Post by Larry Mal » Tue Sep 28, 2021 6:24 am

mbene085 wrote:
Mon Sep 27, 2021 8:49 pm


Also, never knew he played a V, which goes to show you that it just sounds like any other Gibson, given appropriate, non-500T pickups.


I can't wait to hear how this sounds with some clearer, lower output pickups in it.
There is that... over the years Gibson has concluded that the Flying V is a heavy metal/hard rock guitar and has loaded it up with pickups appropriate to that often, although I see that the current model has BurstBuckers in there. I think the move is towards low wind pickups now and Gibson is aware of this (although the BurstBuckers aren't particularly low wind).

Kind of like how Gibson figured the Firebird was a blooze guitar and put those ceramic pickups in there.

And while Gibsons with hum buckers can vary based on body type and so on, put a good set of PAF pickups that are designed to be versatile and then no shit, you have a versatile guitar.

I never had a Flying V, but I would certainly make a trade for one and have tried in the past. I guess I figure that I'm one Flying V away from being this cool:

Image
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

User avatar
Larry Mal
PAT. # 2.972.923
PAT. # 2.972.923
Posts: 19673
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 4:25 pm
Location: Saint Louis, MO

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

Post by Larry Mal » Tue Sep 28, 2021 6:33 am

Oh, but we've talked about them before, but I very much recommend Lollar El Rayos if you are looking for a great PAF format experience.
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

Post Reply