Flying V Turns 50

[clankenstein]

benjamin orr?

[Blazer]

What? All this flying V talk and nobody mentions the guy who was the very first Flying V master?

Bow to the King!

Albert King could smoke all of those guys with his amp on stand by.

And to show you guys that he could back up that thing I just said...

[uwe]

NAMM 2008 pic from the Dean booth, double neck with 12 string (more a Flying "W" now!)  and Schenker model ...

[Barklessdog]

I'm not a big fan of the Dean Headstock. I like Gibsons Devil tail better

[uwe]

True, I guess they wanted to do something different. And in theory, the smaller mirror image of the body as a headstock is a nice design idea, but the end result lacks elegance.

[Barklessdog]

Where it  really works is with the new reverse V, which I see they borrowed from the Dean girls

http://www.gibson.com/promotions/reverseflyingv/features.html


I still like the reverse V, I know some find it hideous but it reminds me of this stolen/borrowed German WWII idea-

[uwe]

Good point, Gibson got back at Dean and swiped their headstock!

But do you really think the, errrm, "legwork" of the female Dean PR employees was the design inspiration behind all this?

John Fertig, you truly have a one track mind. 

[uwe]

What? All this flying V talk and nobody mentions the guy who was the very first Flying V master?

Bow to the King!

Albert King could smoke all of those guys with his amp on stand by.

And to show you guys that he could back up that thing I just said...

Nice brittle tone with a bit of a Tele twang to it. I've read from V players again and again that they prefer it over a Les Paul because an LP sounds just too phat and clutters everything, especially rhythm work and where there are two guitars playing constantly.

Why did no one ever teach Gary Moore that he could use his pinky too? He does fret  a note with it once in a while, but more as an afterthought. Speaking of guitar heroes, I think the all fingers fret technique of, say, Messrs Blackmore and Schenker looks so much more elegant.

Uwe

[eb2]

I believe Albert's brittle tone had a lot to do with his choices in amps, which were typically the antithesis of BLOOZE lock-step.  He used to gig with acoustic bass amps, and almost always used solid state rigs.

[Blazer]

Where it  really works is with the new reverse V, which I see they borrowed from the Dean girls

http://www.gibson.com/promotions/reverseflyingv/features.html


I still like the reverse V, I know some find it hideous but it reminds me of this stolen/borrowed German WWII idea-

Let's seen the Americans hired the best german engineers after the war so it's neither borrowed nor stolen.

[Blazer]

I believe Albert's brittle tone had a lot to do with his choices in amps, which were typically the antithesis of BLOOZE lock-step.  He used to gig with acoustic bass amps, and almost always used solid state rigs.

Yeah but check him out on THIS occasion...


Now there's some SERIOUS searing tone he got from a Roland Jazz Chorus.

[uwe]

Still sounds pretty twangy for a Gibson, IMHO. Not bad, just surprisingly twangy.

[uwe]

Speaking of budding Flying V guitarists: This young man here is my son, not bad for half a year, huh?

[Dave W]

Pretty impressive. I just wonder why Dad got him a Gibson instead of a Fender. 

[Dave W]

And here's a blast from the past:

Some of you may remember that I posted this at DP3 because of Carson Van Osten's EB-0 -- and because I always liked the song. But let's not forget Todd Rundgren's Flying V.