Gibson's competitors had long accused the company of being conservative. In 1958, the company answered with what had to be the least conservative guitar designs in history - at least up until that point. Gibson introduced three "futuristic" guitar models that year, the Flying V, the Explorer and the Moderne. The first two went into limited production and while there have long been rumors of a production version of the Moderne, most doubt it went beyond the prototype stage. But Gibson certainly showed the critics that it was capable of and quite willing to break the conservative mold with these instruments, which actually owe an awful lot to late '50s automobile design. While there weren't many Flying Vs sold in 1958, the guitar has been reincarnated several times in the last four decades. The guitar here is a slightly more modern take on the 1958 design, though it still keeps the vintage vibe alive.
Features
- Mahogany body with Cherry finish and chrome hardware
- Rounded mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard and pearloid dots
- Two hot humbucking pickups with no covers
No matter what, the V-Factor X - better known as the newest incarnation of the Flying V - will always look like a vintage guitar. That's because it's so strongly associated with those original 1958 designs. If anything, Gibson made minor tweaks to what was already a pretty perfect guitar, though (not surprisingly) it's hard to play sitting down. Go ahead and strap one on. It's like climbing in a time machine. Hey, Jimi Hendrix used a Flying V both live and on many classic recordings. If it was good enough for Jimi, you might want to give this guitar a test flight! All the V-Factor X models come with a mahogany body and this one features a Cherry finish with chrome hardware.
Some Gibsons had huge mahogany necks, but by 1960 the company made a number of modifications until those early '60s necks became among the fastest available. The special rounded neck profile of the V-Factor is one favored by many of today's top players. You can move up and down the neck at blazing speeds, but the rosewood fingerboard still has that warm, classic Gibson feel, allowing easy access to the upper frets so you can really dig into your solos. It also sounds great when grabbing big fat power chords. The pearloid dots complete the vintage look.
Historically, Gibson has long been associated with the dark, punchy tone of the humbucking pickup with its fat low end and crunchy, complex midrange. The V-factor X carries on that tradition with two scorching hot humbuckers with ceramic magnets (a 496R in the neck position and a 500T in the bridge position). Some players (Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page to name a few) felt that by removing the covers, humbuckers were louder and had more top end. The V-Factor comes standard with coverless pickups.
Gibson V Factor X Features:
- Color: Cherry
- Body: Mahogany
- Neck: Mahogany with special rounded profile
- Fingerboard: Rosewood with pearloid dot inlays
- Number of frets: 22
- Pickups: Two Humbucking pickups (496R and 500T) with ceramic magnets
- Controls: Two volume, one tone with three-way pickup selector switch
- Machine heads: Grover Kidney
- Hardware: Chrome plated
- Case: Black reptile pattern hardshell
Gibson guitars have been around for well over a century. When guitarists are looking for an outstanding combination of superb tone and playability along with great looks and gorgeous finishes, the choice for most of those 100 plus years has been Gibson. From their amazing collection of fine acoustics to the electric guitars that literally rewrote music history, Gibson guitars have been on almost every chart-topping album from artists like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Cream and Led Zeppelin. These "first call" instruments also cross an enormous array of diverse styles, from folk and country to blues and hard rock. With that resume, it's not surprising that so many of Gibson's best-selling instruments have changed little over the decades. Because there's just no sense in messing with a good thing!
