RudySho
Member
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2014
- Messages
- 41
- Reaction score
- 42
Hi guys,
I like to show off my new guitar. I got it on last Christmas eve. I would like to write my impression after playing it for a month. Basically I like Flying V. My first guitar was FV, and main one is still FV which is not shown in the picture. Anyway, fortunately, I could get an used '70s Flying V'(not real 70s born). I heard that it is a limited edition, produced in 2013 for Japan market, previous owner brought it from Japan. Oh, I live in Korea.
Body
Total weight is 2.7 kg. Very light. Also the main difference compared to '67 RI Flying V is the thin dimension & high neck joint. The thickness of body is around 33.5mm while '67 RI FV seems 38mm. Sorry I don't have '67 RI FV in my hand now. I just measured Dean Michael Schenker V which is almost same as RI FV. I read it somewhere that original FV in 60 & 70, has thinner body than current reissued version.
BTW, in last year, I had a chance to play Gibson Flying V History which was another limited edition, released in 2014. I think it shares the same body profile with my 70s FV, except the neck thickness. FV History has typical Flying V neck profile in my memory.
Neck
Neck has volute back. According to Gibson, it is 3 piece mahogany with 0.78 / 0.958 profile which is tapered but not slim. At 12th fret, the thickness is almost same as LP Custom, definitely thicker than typical Vs today. And of course, head shape is rounded, fret is rosewood.
Controls
Typical Flying V. 2 Vol 1 Tone. I haven't taken off the pickguard yet, but my guess is that volume pots have B curve. Not sure though. The knobs are witch hats.
Tone
First off, I am a fan of Duncan Antiquities. I loved them using on LP, but was not satisfied on V. Ants don't match with dark guitars, and Vs are usually dark. I tried several other PUs, and the results I got were, Flying V sounds better with balanced coils or high output. (This is my personal taste. Please don't complain.) So I was curious about Super 74 Humbuckers which are known as vintage style.
Thanks to light weighted thinner body and 3 piece neck, the guitar itself does not seem to be dark. Therefore along with S74 HB, 70s FV makes glassy clear tone. At EQ perspective, treble is high, mid is middle, and bass is low.
But please be advised that it has low output, so it sounds mild and gentle. Of course, vintage tone. I don't think I will replace with Ants because I am happy with the unique crystal sounds that S74HB makes.
As a Flying V guy, I could not be happier. It definitely will be my main guitar. I can play Red Hot Chili Peppers without any tone resistance
Good for blues & classic rock, too.
