Over the weekend Gibson officially unveiled the latest addition to their 2008 Guitar Of The Month series––the 50-Year Commemorative Flying V.
Marking a full half-century since the first batch of Flying V’s left Gibson’s Kalamazoo, Michigan facilities in 1958 (and immediately tanked in the marketplace,) this 50th Anniversary Flying V is fully decked out in a custom ‘Brimstone Burst’ finish, gold hardware, and mother-of-pearl split block inlays.
The guitar eschews its early predecessor’s Korina wood body for solid mahogany, and is topped-off with a beveled-edge AA maple top. A new art deco-styled Gibson logo graces the headstock (apparently culled from the drawings of Ted McCarty,) and the 22-fret ebony fretboard is dressed with gold fretwire.
Other standout features include a set of Steinberger Gearless Tuners––with a 40:1 tuning ratio––a ‘57 Classic humbucker at the neck, ‘57 Classic Plus humbucker at the bridge, single Volume & Tone controls, and a “50-Year Commemorative neck profile”––basically a hybrid of Gibson’s ’60s Slim-Taper and ’50s Rounded Contour profiles.
The guitar will ship with a custom Guitar of the Month case, and will be produced in a limited run of just 1,000 instruments.
- Gibson Announces Guitar Of The Week #29 :: Reverse Flying V
- Fender To Produce American Vintage ‘57 Commemorative Stratocaster
- It’s Official: Gibson Announces Robot Flying V & Robot X-Plorer
- It’s Back! Gibson Re-Releases Limited Edition Custom Shop Reverse Flying V
- EGR’s Gibson Guitar Of The Week Index
- Gibson Announces Guitar Of The Week #31 :: Flying V New Century
- Gibson Announces Guitar Of The Month #1 :: SG Diablo
- SG Meets Flying V: Gibson Producing Zakk Wylde ZV
- Gibson Unveils Custom Shop Zakk Wylde Flying V… Sort Of
- Gibson Releases Limited Run Of Just 50 Zakk Wylde ZV Buzzsaws
- Summer Of Love: Gibson Introduces Jimi Hendrix Psychedelic Flying V
- Fender Announces Diamond Anniversary Guitars
March 10th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
When is Gibson going to get mitigate this obsession they have with producing museum pieces, man?
We all know this guitar is going to cost quite a bit of dough. And the most of the people who could afford would essentially be keeping the thing in a glass case in their home and not playing it.
To me that is a waste of a good instrument. And I can think of better ways to invest my money that would be far more lucrative in the long run.
Eddie
March 10th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
I think it’s going to have a street price around that of a new Standard LP.
That being said, I think it’s really pretty, but people SHOULD play their guitars. It’s a shame not to.. I know some fellow watch collectors that do not wear some of their watches, and I don’t get it.
March 10th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
:) Yeah, while I can understand why a person would WANT to collect guitars, I hate the idea of a really nice instrument just sitting in a climate-controlled case collecting dust… uggh!
March 10th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
I’m with you guys. I own more guitars than I’ll ever need, but I play them all. In fact, I’ll deliberately rotate through all of them to make sure none spends too much time in the case. If (when?) I own a really high-end vintage guitar, I would do everything I could to protect it, but I would still PLAY it!
March 10th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I forgot to mention that I think this month’s flying V is a very hot-looking guitar. Love the logo, the finish, everything about it.
March 10th, 2008 at 4:16 pm
With a big anniversary like this… 50 years, the half-century… and that’s all they could come up with? A stop bar and some locking tuners? Companies like Dean, Hamer and ESP kick out cooler stuff than this every day.
Sorry, as much as I cherish my Gibson 58 reissue, I think this is weak. Maybe Gibson should hire a new “design” staff.
March 10th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
yeah, that would be such a waste if those who can afford one would just put it inside a glass case.
March 11th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Umm… that kinda looks like the Albert King Flying V, doesn’t it? Correct me if I am wrong.
March 13th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Why bother announcing them when Musicians Friend has already let the cat out of the bag for the entire year.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/gibsongow
March 13th, 2008 at 8:35 am
Because I enjoy talking about guitars, and lots of people here enjoy discussing them. :)
March 15th, 2008 at 1:48 am
Ugh! A guitar that is so cool, but so hard to get. Gibson always does this! They make a sweet guitar and then make it either expensive or limit the production, or BOTH!!