Few guitars command the attention quite like the Gibson Flying V. As a young, aspiring guitarist, I remember that I was totally mesmerized by how aggressive it looked, only to realize that playing one sitting down was a total mess; it kept sliding right off my lap.
It’s a weird design that you have to adjust to, but that fine line between a trainwreck and a stroke of genius is exactly what Ted McCarty tapped into during Gibson’s ‘modernist’ push in 1957.
Crafted from African korina wood, featuring a split headstock and a body that cut away into a dramatic, sweeping arrowhead, the original Flying V was unlike anything else on the market. Released in 1958, the futuristic design was way too radical for the conservative jazz and country players of the era.
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Gibson had quietly pulled it by 1960 after only shipping about 100 units. It reemerged in 1967, when Gibson brought it back with some crucial changes, trading the original korina wood for a mahogany body, adding a larger pickguard, and updating it with a stopbar or Vibrola tailpiece. This forgotten failure somehow clawed its way back to define everything from raw Delta blues to thrash metal.
Blues guitarists played a significant role in popularizing the Flying V. Lonnie Mack favored a ’58 model throughout his career. Albert King was famously a lefty who flipped a right-handed ’58 korina V upside down: the way he grabbed those massive, string bends out of his V proved the design had plenty of tone to back up its wild looks.
In the late ’60s, Jimi Hendrix dragged the V straight into the psychedelic stratosphere, hand-painting his ’67 Flying V and completely blurring the lines of what a rock guitar was supposed to look like.
By the time the ’70s rolled around, Rudolf Schenker had turned the V into a visual trademark for the Scorpions, while his brother Michael took it into absolute guitar shred territory.
The look was so radical that Grover Jackson slapped his own last name on the headstock instead of his established Charvel logo
Michael’s legendary half-black/half-white Gibson Vs became the ultimate symbol for blistering, lightning-fast solos, proving that this crazy V shape was more than worthy. By the late ’70s, Dean Guitars put its own stamp on the iconic shape with the Dean V. Boasting an oversized wing-shaped headstock and a massive string-through V-plate tailpiece, it was quickly adopted by heavyweight players such as ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons.
By the 1980s, music got harder and faster, and the V shape evolved and underwent its wildest mutation yet. Virtuoso Randy Rhoads teamed with Grover Jackson to develop an offset V-shaped guitar named ‘The Concorde’.
The look was so radical that Grover Jackson slapped his own last name on the headstock instead of his established Charvel logo. He did it purely to protect the Charvel name and avoid alienating his traditional customers if the guitar flopped, accidentally launching one of the most renowned guitar brands on Earth in the process: Jackson Guitars.
The sharp evolution of the Jackson models weaponized the V for the metal era, and the Concorde evolved into the iconic Randy Rhoads model that the metal community has fully embraced for the past four decades. Dave Mustaine of Megadeth made the Jackson King V his signature guitar for much of his career.
Even boutique brands are putting their own spin on the V, like the radical, custom-built Dirty Boy ‘Dirty V’ that completely twists the traditional shape. And, today, Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram is carrying the torch for modern Delta blues, tearing up stages with a killer, custom-built V-shape from Banker Guitars.
C’est La V
To fully grasp why the Flying V remains an iconic tone monster, you have to look closely at how they’re constructed. Luthier Matt Hughes of Banker Guitars highlights the tonality and build variations separating generations of the V.
“The 1958 original Flying Vs were carved from a beefier 1 1/2-inch slab of korina, whereas the 1967 mahogany reissues were cut thinner at 1 3/8 inches,” he says. “The construction approach shifted completely. On the ’67 models, Gibson routed a massive electronics cavity right through the center to mount a giant pickguard, fundamentally hollowing out the footprint compared with a solid string-through ’58 korina body.
“Recreating those original specs requires rare, thick slabs of korina wood, but when it’s done right, that solid construction generates a distinctly snappier midrange and a unique resonance that you simply cannot achieve with thin mahogany.”
What fascinates me most as a player is how the V’s shape changes the physics of how you play, requiring you to wear it differently. Blues-rock powerhouse Jared James Nichols describes how plugging into a Flying V shatters conventional playing habits.
“When you first strap on a V, you realize it’s completely unlike any traditional guitar shape,” he tells us. “It feels less like a guitar and more like a sword. Standard instruments just rest on your leg or hug your hip, but a Flying V demands a different kind of choreography. If you try to position it traditionally, it simply doesn’t feel right.
“You have to pull the body directly into your frame, almost like you’re giving the instrument a physical hug. It forces you into a more personal, aggressive stance where you’re actively shaping the guitar to the contours of your own body. It’s deeply expressive, and commands you to play it with authority.”
The Gibson Flying V was never a failure; it was just waiting for the rest of us to catch up. Today, the value of those rare, pristine, 1958 original korina wood Flying Vs has skyrocketed.
They aren’t just vintage guitars any more, they’re pieces of six-string fine art that easily command jaw-dropping price tags into the hundreds of thousands.
Take Joe Bonamassa’s 1958 korina Flying V, affectionately known as ‘Donny J’, which he bought for over $400,000 – going down in JoBo history as the most he’d ever paid for a guitar when he bought it in 2019. Decades after it originally crashed and burned, the Flying V stands as a masterclass in why we shouldn’t judge a design by its first act.
Three to get ready: Descendants of the V
Epiphone Futura Flying V Custom – $899/£849
If you’re ready to steal the spotlight, the Epiphone Futura Flying V Custom is begging to cause a scene. This modern machine pays homage to the classic Flying V soul with a solid mahogany body, compound-radius ebony fretboard, string-through-body bridge, and stainless-steel frets. At a price that feels almost suspiciously good, it delivers boutique-grade performance without the boutique sticker shock.
Dirty Boy ‘Dirty V’ – $3,500
If you think traditional Vs are too polite, the custom Dirty Boy ‘Dirty V’ is here to pick a fight. This boutique monster gives the classic design a radical offset twist, matching its dangerous attitude with a mahogany body, heavily checked road-worn finish, and premium gold hardware.
Outfitted with dual humbuckers for maximum muscle, it’s a high-end, modern-day evolution of the V shape with built-in attitude.
Jackson RRT-5 Pro Series Rhoads – $1,099/£849
Pushing the boundaries of the original Flying V design, Grover Jackson and Randy Rhoads somehow made one of rock’s craziest shapes even more outrageous.
The Jackson Pro Series RRT-5 Rhoads sharpens the V’s silhouette with offset wings, a flat neck, high-output pickups, and 24 jumbo frets. This iconic heavy metal shred machine remains one of the most extreme and instantly recognizable V variants ever created.
