Gibson 1967 Flying V with Maestro

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After a brief run in 1958/1959, the Flying V was retired.  Upon its reintroduction in 1966, several notable changes were made to the reissued V including a larger pickguard, triangular knob configuration, shorter peghead, and perhaps most importantly, a mahogany body. Many players and collectors feel that the late '60s Flying V represents the peak period of production for this model. This Custom Shop reissue is so precise, only its mint condition makes it distinguishable from the original.

Custom Shop Gibson 1967 Flying V with Maestro Classic White Features:

Body & Hardware

• Solid one piece mahogany body
• Nickel hardware
• ABR-1 bridge with Maestro tailpiece

Neck & Headstock

• One-piece rounded profile neck
• 22 fret rosewood fretboard with pearloid dot inlays
• 24 3/4" scale length, 1 9/16" nut
• Vintage tulip tuners

Electronics & Strings

• Burstbuckes 3 in the bridge and BB 2 in the neck
• 2 volume, 1 tone control, 3-way switch
• Vintage Reissue .010 - .046 strings

My Review

Features

The Custom Shop Gibson 1967 Flying V with Maestro Classic in White is a fairly accurate recreation of the original 1967 Flying V editions albeit white wasn't an option at the time.

Late 90s thru to early 00s was a good period for Gibson with a fair bit a effort in recreating their vintage models. Lately they seem to be mixing and matching a bit now e.g. '67 style flying V's with sparkle finishes and korina bodies!

The Custom Shop and the Made In USA while similar in appearance are considerably different in build. Why? I guess the Made in USA versions are cheaper to manufacture.

Electronics and Hardware

It is supposed to be armed with '57 pickups are amongst my favourites featuring in most of my Gibsons. However, it actually comes with a Burstbucker 2 in the neck and 3 in the bridge position.

I  don't like Giibson's hot pickups either the 500/498 pair on the "Made In USA" '67 reissue or the 490/498s in SG standards. Those pickups just don't clean up.

Most of the hardware is standard gibson stuff so I don't expect ay on-going problems. The short vibrola stays in tune pretty well too, so that's a bonus.

Sound

I don't know if it is the lightweight body or '57 classics or the current .009-.042 strings but this guitar is very articulate. Bright, live with no muddiness and great sustain.

Action, Fit and Finish

Outstanding. My only complaint is that white seems to change to cream over time. Historically this was due to smoked filled rooms. However, I think the yellowing is part of the ageing process i.e. "natural finishes' on '59 335's seem to darken with age or due to chemical inside the guitar case.

At 7.06 lbs. it's the lightest solid body guitar I've ever owned.

Reliability/Durability

Vibrola spring angle

Final Thoughts

In late 66-67 Gibson reissued the Flying V albeit not a replica of the 58-59. While the original Korina body 58-59 guitars had some players Lonny Mack, Albert King and Dave Davies (the Kinks) they weren't that popular. So why did Gibson choose to reissue the Flying V especially when it was the Les Paul that was generating all the excitement? I guess the Firebird sales were waning and they wanted to keep a modern guitar (i.e compete with Fender) on the roster. It does beg the question, was this the first electric guitar reissue?

175 examples of the this model were made 1966-1970. I relatively small number but much greater artist endorsements including Marc Bolan and Jimi Hendrix (who had at least three flying Vs over the period).

The first guitar I bought when getting back into guitars was a "Made In USA" '67 reissue. While I liked the humbucker sound the standard pickups, 500/496 are too hot for me. I tried to tame the sound with the current SG Standard set of 498/490s. Still too hot. I really wanted the custom shop 67 reissue and found it to be a delightful and expressive guitar. It's supposed to have Classic '57 pickups but in fact this guitar has a Burstbucker 2 in the neck an 3 near the bridge. Maybe the 'Made in USA' '67 reissue can be tamed with a pair of '57s?

The sound is pretty much covered by my SG and of course it's difficult to play sitting down. Sold due lack of use.