Roach Posted February 24, 2017 Share Posted February 24, 2017 Sunday I am going to check out a used '03 flying v. Im curious what pickups did gibson put in the 2003 cherry flying v's? I also wondered if anyone knows what price they were listed for in 2003? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReGuitar Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 I'm not sure, but I think that by 2003 Vs were already equipped with 496R/500T. Not a clue about the price tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roach Posted February 25, 2017 Author Share Posted February 25, 2017 I'm not sure, but I think that by 2003 Vs were already equipped with 496R/500T. Not a clue about the price tho. Those would be nice to have. It seems the V, is hard to find used, i do not find many explorers either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WadeR Posted February 25, 2017 Share Posted February 25, 2017 There's a decent amount of used Gibson Flying V and Explorer guitars listed on reverb.com that span across many years. I never see them in pawn shops but you'll also find them in the better local guitar shops in major cities (not Guitar Center) that buy and sell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roach Posted February 26, 2017 Author Share Posted February 26, 2017 There's a decent amount of used Gibson Flying V and Explorer guitars listed on reverb.com that span across many years. I never see them in pawn shops but you'll also find them in the better local guitar shops in major cities (not Guitar Center) that buy and sell. Yea guitar center swallowed all of those nice little guitar shops in my area, (East Bay Oakland ca, all of those are each 20-30 miles even;. I passed on the flying v because logic kicked in after the initial interest wore off. I decided to keep the money til i find something i will enjoy more. I love the explorer blackout, nobody carries it to try out though. (Secretly im eyeballing a new jackson kelly too) , i will need that money to make that happen. Bottom line i passed on the V and looking at explorers and such.Thx for reminding me of that site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueblooded Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Seems your interest in the Flying V has worn off but will provide some info and thoughts about what has been discussed anyway. Regarding original pricing, what model were you asking about? If the gloss version, I believe they sold for around $1200 bucks new in the early 2000's. The faded models were a bargain and sold in the $600 - $700 range. Plus, the early faded models dated from 2001 through around mid 2003 were built as a special run (along with similar SG's) that had Ebony fretboards with Crescent Moon inlays instead of rosewood with dots. These are highly sought after today. I purchased a new 2002 faded back in 2003 for around that $600 price and foolishly let it go a few years later. A nice used one like it showed up at a local GC store about 2 years ago and I was happy to snag it for $549. About the same I paid for a new one for 12 years earlier. I do believe all the V's come with the 496R/500T pickup combination. Lots of bark and bite and it offers a great tone difference from my other Humbucker equipped Gibson models. The V is a great stand-up guitar. IMO, i'm not sure I can agree with the GC bashing other than if you've had a really bad experience at all of them in your area. Ignoring the occasional new or transient salespeople they have, I find GC is the best source for great deals on high quality used gear. I use their used gear tab at their website to search for items and also get an idea of what pricing for used gear should be. I think if you see something on Reverb, check what a similar item is priced at from GC and you might be surprised. The other thing I see posted all the time is how GC drove out all the small shops. I also don't find that to be true. There are plenty of great mom-and-pop shops here in the Detroit market. The only ones that folded from having five GC's locally accessible were the ones that deserved to fold. And in my travels, I search out and visit many shops and do find a lot of small shops still out there doing well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WadeR Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Yea guitar center swallowed all of those nice little guitar shops in my area, (East Bay Oakland ca, all of those are each 20-30 miles even;. I passed on the flying v because logic kicked in after the initial interest wore off. I decided to keep the money til i find something i will enjoy more. I love the explorer blackout, nobody carries it to try out though. (Secretly im eyeballing a new jackson kelly too) , i will need that money to make that happen. Bottom line i passed on the V and looking at explorers and such.Thx for reminding me of that site. Uh oh, so now we're competitors for Explorers, eh? Good luck! BTW, that Gibson Explorer Blackout was a limited edition, so no one carries them because they all sold a couple of years ago. I missed the boat on this one too and the only ones I see pop-up from time to time have damage that I don't want to deal with or, if it is claimed to be minor, such as finish cracks (not typical weather checking), I can't buy it without inspecting it in-person. All black explorers do not list for long anywhere they are posted for sale, especially if they have particularly dark fretboards (rosewood and especially ebony). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WadeR Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 IMO, i'm not sure I can agree with the GC bashing other than if you've had a really bad experience at all of them in your area. Ignoring the occasional new or transient salespeople they have, I find GC is the best source for great deals on high quality used gear. I use their used gear tab at their website to search for items and also get an idea of what pricing for used gear should be. I think if you see something on Reverb, check what a similar item is priced at from GC and you might be surprised. The other thing I see posted all the time is how GC drove out all the small shops. I also don't find that to be true. There are plenty of great mom-and-pop shops here in the Detroit market. The only ones that folded from having five GC's locally accessible were the ones that deserved to fold. And in my travels, I search out and visit many shops and do find a lot of small shops still out there doing well. Not that I'm a GC basher, but they typically don't work out for me with three in my area (Austin, TX) for used gear locally. What has happened to me in the past couple of years is that I find something on their web site that is listed to be in stock at one or more of my local GCs and when I go there, they have none and I'm told, sorry we haven't had that in stock for months. What?!?!? When picking up a stand, I checked the web site and then called and both said they had it in stock, then I go there within 30 minutes to find that it was not in stock but the guy that checked looked at the wrong product and the web site was wrong again regarding in-stock inventory. That's been my experience. I try to support the local shops too and Austin has some good ones due to the strong music scene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tx-ogre Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 Not that I'm a GC basher, but they typically don't work out for me with three in my area (Austin, TX) for used gear locally. What has happened to me in the past couple of years is that I find something on their web site that is listed to be in stock at one or more of my local GCs and when I go there, they have none and I'm told, sorry we haven't had that in stock for months. What?!?!? When picking up a stand, I checked the web site and then called and both said they had it in stock, then I go there within 30 minutes to find that it was not in stock but the guy that checked looked at the wrong product and the web site was wrong again regarding in-stock inventory. That's been my experience. I try to support the local shops too and Austin has some good ones due to the strong music scene. I have had the same experience at GC here in Austin. The one in south Austin is closest, but I occasionally stop in at the one on Anderson Lane. I end up walking out empty handed because they don't have anything I'm interested in. Any local purchases are usually made at one of the locally owned shops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WadeR Posted February 26, 2017 Share Posted February 26, 2017 I have had the same experience at GC here in Austin. The one in south Austin is closest, but I occasionally stop in at the one on Anderson Lane. I end up walking out empty handed because they don't have anything I'm interested in. Any local purchases are usually made at one of the locally owned shops. Heheheh. For me it happens at the Round Rock and Anderson Lane locations (and once a while back at South Austin when the guy at Anderson Lane called South Austin to check stock, drove down there for nothing). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roach Posted March 2, 2017 Author Share Posted March 2, 2017 the gibson site has a blackout on it as if it is a new 2017, not as a limited edition. And gibsons own site pretty much give ONLY guitar Center as a dealer. The SF bay area by Oakland has absolutely nowhere else to go. I wasnt bashing gc, just saying they are the only place around that i can go and they do not have that guitar. They do not synch up actual inventory with the site that, i know. but they will tell you one thing on the phone and have you drive 30-40 miles then tell you different when you arrive and that does make one a bit angry. Are you sure that it was a limited edition when Gibson is still showing it as a current model? http://www.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/Explorer/Gibson-USA/Explorer-Blackout.aspx The v i was looking at would have been one of those cheaper models and he wanted 650 so im glad i didnt get it. My interest was purely impulsive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WadeR Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 As far as I know, they came out in late 2014 and were produced through early 2015. The web site does mention it as a "Limited Run". In the screen shot below I placed a red box around the text where it mentions it. Believe me, if it was still being produced and sold new, I would have two of them bought new. I found out about them in mid-2015 and the only ones I could find for sale were used with major issues (breaks, scratches, broke off tip, guitar abuse). I have noticed in recent years that, like many web sites, Gibson seems to now leave the info on some past models up and running, likely as a way to get people to their site. This is a known tactic used by thousands of web sites. Or maybe they forgot to deactivate it from their CMS. Who knows... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roach Posted March 4, 2017 Author Share Posted March 4, 2017 What a shame.... Breaks my heart... time to look at non gibsons i guess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WadeR Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 Or build one the way you want... That's a goal of mine (eventually). Besides, I rather have a blacked out explorer with no fretboard inlays and ebony instead of richlite (not trying to start a debate on that topic here). There are some great Explorer builders out there besides Gibson and Ken Lawrence. I went through the phases of GAS deflation when I couldn't find a Gibson Explorer Blackout that wasn't messed up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roach Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 Or build one the way you want... That's a goal of mine (eventually). Besides, I rather have a blacked out explorer with no fretboard inlays and ebony instead of richlite (not trying to start a debate on that topic here). There are some great Explorer builders out there besides Gibson and Ken Lawrence. I went through the phases of GAS deflation when I couldn't find a Gibson Explorer Blackout that wasn't messed up. im loving the stopbar and tailpiece being black... and all the complaints i have heard about these inlays doesnt stop me from liking the different look of them. I think they are cool. I will just look for a lighter guitar that wont hurt so much to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WadeR Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 Yeah, it is a cool looking guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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