Music blog

The Amazing History of the Gibson Flying V Guitar

2008-06-05T08:18:00.001-07:00

The first prototypes of the Gibson Flying V Guitar were made in 1957 to compete with the Fender Stratocaster, which was very popular at the time. Gibson wanted to create a guitar that had a design that looked great and something that would look like it came from the future. They did exactly that by designing a guitar that looks like something that would be in a Jetson's cartoon. Another futuristic model that they created at the same time was the Gibson Explorer.
1958 was the year that the Flying V hit the stores but with a few changes that made them different from the prototypes. The prototypes were made of mahogany, which made them too heavy for Gibson's liking. They changed the wood to korina wood, which was similar to mahogany but lighter.
These new models didn't fly off the shelf like Gibson had hoped they would and dealers in all of 1958 and 1959 ordered less than 100 of them. This led to the Flying V being discontinued and left out of the Gibson catalog in 1960.
As we all know, even though it was discontinued, this was not the last we would see of the Flying V. So what happened? Well a couple of amazing guitarists, Albert King and Lonnie Mack, really loved the sound and the looks of the guitar and continued to use them as their main instruments. These guitarists influenced a lot of the up and coming guitar players and the Flying V caught their eye as well. Interest was really starting to grow so Gibson decided to bring it back.
Gibson returned the Flying V into production in 1966 and went back to using mahogany wood, added a bigger pick guard and changed to a Vibrola tailpiece. Some records show that only 175 Flying V's were made between 1966 and 1970.
In the late 60's, Jimi Hendrix began using Flying V's and one of his most popular guitars was the first one he got where he hand painted some psychedelic artwork on it. Jimi is also known for his sunburst and left-handed models.
In 1971, Gibson release a limited run of 350 Medallion Flying V's. These featured a two-piece body, a three-piece neck, a shorter headstock and a stop bar tailpiece instead of the Vibrola. These guitars were so popular that they sold out in their first year.
In the mid 70's, thanks to heavy metal bands like UFO and the Scorpions, the Flying V was producing massive sales with the Flying V Mahogany.
Gibson came out with the famous Flying V2 in 1979 which featured "boomerang" style pickups and brass hardware to improve sustain. Only 157 of these guitars were shipped the first year and they were more expensive than the earlier versions.
Other guitar companies like Dean, Hamer and Ibanez were selling cheaper versions similar to the Flying V design, so Gibson released the Flying V CMT in 1981.
In the 1990's, Gibson released a series of artist signature models for Jimi Hendrix, Lonnie Mack and Rudolf Schenker. In 2002, they came out with a Lenny Kravitz Signature 67 Flying V.
Even though the Gibson Flying V guitar had a rough start earlier on, today the guitar is one of the most sought after models ever. Some of the guitarists that have made the Flying V famous are Albert King, Lonnie Mack, Jimi Hendrix, Billy Gibbons, Rudolph and Michael Schenker, Kirk Hammett, Pete Townshend, Lenny Kravitz, Yngwie Malmsteen, K.K. Downing, Rick Nielsen and Eddie Van Halen.
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Achieve Guitar Brilliance

2008-06-05T08:16:00.002-07:00

A great deal of people realize sooner or later that music is simply something great. It's not competitive, it's not stressful - it's a pure joy and it help you relax and find yourself in times of trouble, as the Beatles say.
Everything becomes even better when we don't just passively listen to the music, but put our heart and our soul into actively creating it. That is the reason why we find a great number of various musicians out there - once you start playing an instrument and getting some fine tunes out of it, there is no turning back, believe me.
Maybe the most appropriate instrument to begin with is the guitar. It's not that difficult to learn - as the matter of fact, you can play something that sounds decent in a month or even less - and it covers a wide range of different genres. Another advantage is that you can get a guitar for a hundred dollars or so, so if you figure out that this instrument is not for you, it's not a big deal.
So, you are probably wondering where am I getting by now, right? Well, I would really like to show people what a great thing music is - and encourage them to start playing the guitar. And because of that, I am willing to give you some starting tips that will help you get to the point where you can just strum along and become better and better.
First you need to choose an appropriate guitar. I recommend starting with an acoustic guitar - there will be plenty of time to go for the electric one. Acoustic guitars have a bit wider neck which makes it a bit more difficult to play. The solution that worked best for me was an acoustic guitar with nylon strings - it has a great neck, rich and soft sound and it won't wear off your fingers.
I then recommend (really recommend) that you find yourself someone who has a lot of guitar-mileage behind him, so he can show you the basics. You really need to be taught the basics properly, otherwise it gets difficult to do any progress beneath a certain point. Ask your friends who taught them how to begin and pay for a couple of lessons, it shouldn't be that big of a deal.
When you cover the basics, it's time for you to lock yourself into a room, get a bunch of chords and tabs for the songs you love and simply play the guitar until your fingers bleed. Well, be careful - that might really happen, so keep that in mind. In the beginning you should probably limit your playing to 2 or 3 hours a day, just because of the fingers. They need a month or so to adjust, you'll see.
Once you master a guitar to the level that you can play a steady rhythm, invite some friends over. Believe me, those might just be some of the greatest times of my life - playing the guitar with a bunch of friends. This way you'll learn incredibly fast and have a great time - you'll share laughs and guitar-wisdom.
I hope I have encouraged you enough and you are ready to begin exploring the wonderful world of music. So come on, get yourself a guitar and join all the other guitarists out there - you'll see why we love it so much, I promise.
Anze Sustar is a guitar enthusiast and a web developer. He has found a great guitar website, called YourChords.com. It is a great resource for guitar chords and tabs for everyone - from beginners to experts.

Vintage Guitar News and Views

2008-06-05T08:16:00.001-07:00

Ah, the 1960's...the rise of surf music, the loss of 1950's rock icons and across the Big Pond an interest in and resurgence of American blues music will soon give rise to the British Invasion and some of our future guitar legends.
The guitar manufacturers were also undergoing some changes themselves and as research and development plodded forward, These changes were reflected in the guitars themselves. Over at Fender, Leo and the gang brought us the Telecaster, and although not its replacement, but by Leo's standards an improvement in design, he then brought us the Stratocaster in the early 1960's. The pre-CBS Stratocasters (1959 to 1964)underwent some significant changes within its own design. Essentially, the Stratocaster was still the same guitar as always, with some (as enthusiasts contend) cosmetic changes, some of which were esthetically pleasing, minute at the time, but all eventually changed the 50's 'Strat. Some say it changed for the better, some argue it changed for the worse, but we will let that dog chase its tail on its own.
So what were some of the changes? Well, first to come to mind was the fretboard - Fender went from a maple fretboard to a rosewood fretboard ,with the maple as an option, the Rosewood which throughout the 1960's got progressively thinner, and in late 1962 even had a bottom radius to match the arch of the neck's top radius. The black fret position markers were also changed to clay dot markers on the fretboard face. Also, the trussrod which was placed through the backside of the neck, and gave us the skunk stripe inlay was placed via under of the rosewood fretboard, thus eliminating the skunk stripe itself and doing away with the pegheads plug inlay. As a result, I am probably correct to assume that it also facilitated speed in production and less articulation on the builder's part - remember, Leo was a "bottom line" kind of guy. But being cost conscious why go from an 8 screw to an 11 screw pickguard cover that was now introduced ? ( obviously for better coupling) and Fender replaced the thinner one-ply pickguard with a triple-laminated (the mint green coloration, according to Fender, was a mistake) and often a shielded one. Yes Leo was known to shave a dollar here and spend a dime there all the while listening to his field of test players in the trenches, the raves and the complaints were all a grand part in Leo's quest for perfecting his "girl" the Stratocaster.
The 3 color "bursts" were phased in over the standard 2 color s( although some 3 color one do appear as early as the later half of 1958) Some of the production models in the earlier 60's had a strange combo of older and newer parts (again Leo saving a dime) until all the old inventory was used up and production was ramping up. Also we see on dealers charts of the day an array of colors appearing and disappearing, choices such as Lake Placid Blue , Sonic Blue, Sherwood Green , Foam Green, Shoreline Gold Metalic , Olympic White , Surf Green , Burgandy mist , Black,Blonde , and The Sunburst were some of the custom color choices as a customer you would have had. Interestingly enough Shell Pink was one that was discontinued and Candy Apple Red was introduced.
Because of undercoat "primer" changes from silver to gold in 1965 / 1965 we can also see a wide array of coloration discrepancies all within the same known colors of a particular guitar.(especially within the reds) At times due to a lack of guitar for a customers color order, a desert sand or sunburst that didn't quite take well was over sprayed the custom color , again to save inventory and probably speed thing up a notch ,we will never really know. So by 1964 Leo and the gang was kicking out some mighty fine guitars, progress was being made, expansion was constant and changes were taking place. Then another turn in the house of cards was to take place. In 1965 the sale of Fender to CBS, making what some argue the most highly desirable (PRE CBS) and prized guitars in the market as we know it today.
But , That is just another piece to the puzzle and another story for another day and as always this is just my opinion her at Vintage Guitar News and Views, all brought to you courtesy of Greg at http://www.gregsguitars.net/ So may all your days be fair all youir friends be true and all your riffs be killer, Thanks and I will see ya next month .Greg. Gregsguitars.net

Madonna Set to Light Up Los Angeles - Tickets Still Available

2008-06-05T08:03:00.000-07:00

Madonna's 2008 Sticky and Sweet tour is packing out stadiums across Europe, in readiness for her tour that will be unleashed here in October. Her shows have been selling well, and many shows are near sell-outs. In Los Angeles, her only show is scheduled for 6 November 2008 and will be held at Dodger Stadium, and if you act quickly you can snare some tickets at reasonable prices.
Her latest album, Hard Candy, debuted at number one across the globe, has been dominating the charts since it's release on April 25, 2008. The Queen of Pop's album features vocal appearances by today's hottest pop artists such as Justin Timberlake and Kanye West. The producers of the album are the highly respected Timbaland and Pharrell Williams who receive both performance and production credits on the album.
And what are we to expect in LA? It will be the usual stunning array of music, stage antics, dancing and a song list that goes back to 1984!! During her Paris show, always the one to stir up a bit of controversy, Madonna tried a bit of push-it-to-the-edge sexual antics by kissing one of the female dancers, or one of the female audience members. Swigging champagne bottle she yelled at the crowd "Who do you love more, me or the Rolling Stones?"
The Material Girl always puts on an amazing concert, and this is one show not to be missed. Her current single with Justin Timberlake has hit the top of the charts all around the world. It seems the world can't get enough of this amazing lady, half way through her third decade of constantly reinventing herself and of being a superstar. And her catalog of songs is awesome including "Like a Prayer", "Vogue", "Get into the Groove" and "Holiday".
You can still obtain those tickets for Madonna in LA if you follow the link below.
M Paul is a mad Madonna fan and runs the ticket selling site http://www.concert-ticketdeals.com To get those hard-to-get tickets to see Madonna in Los Angeles, follow the link above.