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'67 Flying V's

lanman

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Mar 17, 2005
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Here's what my friend has to say about a few of the questions in this thread. This thread will be a nice future reference for anyone interested in early Vs.

In regards to George Gruhn's Book:

Obviously the George Gruhn book is wrong. I have spoken to Larry and he has copies of the Gibson shipping ledgers for all of the 67 Flying Vs that shipped. He acquired them from Gibson when he wrote his book. The first two shipped in late 66, not 65. The totals appear right for the first two groups, but the years for the first two groups are wrong.

In regards to '67 Flying V pot codes:

All of the pot codes are from 66. The pot codes from my sunburst and spark are 1376630. All of the pot codes I have ever seen on Vs from the first four batches are from 1966. I have seen 1376630 on several other batch 1 - 4 Vs. All of the dare codes on my 69 walnut are covered with solder and I cant see the date, but they are also probably from 66. I agree that all of the harnesses were made "early." This is why all 175 of the bodies have the hand-routed and widened pickup wire channel.

My old Tobacco also had the 6630 code.

In regards to pre-Medallion V's:

I have seen a natural V and a white V that had medallion characteristics but did not have Medallions. There are subtle differences between the Medallions and the 75 Vs. There is also a cherry V that has Medallion characteristics and no volute that is probably "the" Medallion prototype from 1970 or something an employee threw together after-hours. You have probably seen pics of that guitar.

In regards to the wood added to my control cavity:

I am sure the wood was added later. I have never seen this done before. The pickguard screw holes in the area of the cavity are very close to the edge on all of the 67 style Vs. After 1 or 2 pickguard removals the sides of the holes are completely compromised.

I have seen another with this done.....but perhaps he is right, maybe this was done after the fact out of general necessity.
 

johnny73

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Oct 8, 2007
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Tssk tssk...too much nit picking. :lol They all look great in my eyes. :wow I'm sure that they sound great plugged directly into a 50-watt plexi too.:dude:
 

tdiddey

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May 18, 2005
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Hey:

So is Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash's V a 67?
Thanks

TonyF



Loves me some '67 Flying V.

ANDY-POWELL.jpg


As close as I've gotten.

knobvsm.jpg


Bob
 

Bob Womack

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Apr 8, 2002
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2,191
Yep. He bought it new from the Orange shop in '69 and toured it for over thirty years. He modded it with original PAFs and had it rebuilt a couple of times until it became a little fragile. He now has three duplicates built by Royale Guitars and another company. He is mentioned in this Gibson write up. By the way, he also owned a couple of '58s and a couple of other '67s along the way.

Bob
 

lanman

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Mar 17, 2005
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To round things out, here are some pics of the cleanest Cherry '67 I have come across over the years. This guy went on an old Flying V site saying he had "an old V" and was wondering what it might be worth! My goodness......how about 4k?

MVC-001F.jpg


MVC-003F.jpg


MVC-010F.jpg


MVC-009F.jpg


full_case_back_lp.jpg


Check out this cool "Brazish" board:

MVC-004F.jpg


MVC-005F.jpg
 

Cody

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Jul 23, 2002
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Beauty! :wow

I have to say, cherry is my favorite color on these.

Realistically, what could I expect to pay for one - from EXF, like above, to headstock repair?

:salude
 

Wally

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Feb 27, 2003
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$4K??? What's wrong with it? The current VG on it in exc cond is $13-16K.
I sold a '73 for $2700 about a year ago....very clean. IF that one is exc cond origiinal and walked in here for $4K.....I would have to consider it, right?
 

lanman

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I have seen one of these sell for 40k+ in excellent condition at the top of the Market through a dealer. Jeff Says he has witnessed one over 50k. I know that this cherry one eventually sold for 20k. I did not ask what Jeff paid for his Burgundy but I am guessing it was in that range as well. The fact that they are so rare and the number of interested buyers are scarce....it's kind of like depends on the timing and who's looking kind of thing.

I sold my tobacco with a headstock break and repaired added third pickup for 11k 2-3 years ago. There was a semi clean stop tail conversion one on ebay last year and it disappeared off ebay in the 10k range. I would say I'd be lucky to get 5-6k for my refin natural with plugged stop tail holes and non-original guard.
 

lanman

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$4K??? What's wrong with it? The current VG on it in exc cond is $13-16K.
I sold a '73 for $2700 about a year ago....very clean. IF that one is exc cond origiinal and walked in here for $4K.....I would have to consider it, right?

I was just joking Wally! That one went for 20k a few years back.
 

Cody

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Thanks for the info and pics, lanman - I appreciate it!

:salude
 

Wally

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Okay......jokes are intended to be funny....I guess I missed the basis for the humor, right? IMHO, $4k is way too low and $20K in today's market is high.....but I sure would take $20K if the guitar was mine and someone wanted to part with that kind of money for it. Out of curiousity, when did this guitar bring $20K?
 

lanman

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Okay......jokes are intended to be funny....I guess I missed the basis for the humor, right? IMHO, $4k is way too low and $20K in today's market is high.....but I sure would take $20K if the guitar was mine and someone wanted to part with that kind of money for it. Out of curiousity, when did this guitar bring $20K?

I don't know Wally. I know it was not my best material....but I really was really hoping to at least get a chuckle out of my effort!

That guitar sold about 3 years ago I would say. As stated earlier, these are not 50's PAF guitars with a wide nut. Late 60's guitars loose alot of high dollar respect from the collector community. There are a relative handful, in comparison, of people willing to lay out big bucks for these. Even with the decline in prices the last few years, I'd bet anyone that a clean '67 will get $20k for one if they were to wait for the right person to come along....and I seriously don't think it would be that difficult.

If you had a real '67 pickguard.....$1500....easy. How about a real case? $3000 to the right buyer. It's one of those "try to find another one" situations.

If you think about it, these are the "First" Flying V's as we know them today. There are only 175 of them (111 of the '67's) and most have been modified and/or broken. A lot of famous players. It's all there!
 

lanman

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Mar 17, 2005
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That's under 30 kind of thin right there for sure!

It's Allen Collins circa 1970. Looks like he was partial to unusual/rare Gibsons.
 

JRW8214@AOL.COM

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Aug 10, 2003
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Ah, i didnt recognise him. Never seen him with a V back then. Earliest pic i ever saw him he had a Les Paul Special and another with a Goldtop Deluxe.
 
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