My other Gibsons...

[MeZadude]

Here's my V2. Sounds like a Tele:

 

...and my mid-'80's Explorer:

 

MeZadude 8)

[Flagsmasher]

Beauties!

 

Thanks for sharing

[Simian]

Here's my V2. Sounds like a Tele:

 

...and my mid-'80's Explorer:

 

MeZadude 8)

 

I like that explorer.

[NHTom]

wow, never saw a V2 before

 

Are those single coil or humbucker?

 

NHTom

[Danos]

Wow, that Explorer looks awesome. The stripes work well.

[MeZadude]

wow, never saw a V2 before

 

Are those single coil or humbucker?

 

NHTom

 

They are single coil, wrapped around a heart-shaped bobbin. That's why this guitar sounds so much like a Telecaster. They are fairly rare. Only made for a brief run of a couple of years or so. Here's a bio from Wikipedia:

"When Tim Shaw arrived at Gibson in 1978, one of his first assignments was to help with designing a companion Guitar to the newly designed E2 Explorer Guitar. This companion guitar would be the new Gibson V2. The general shape of previous Flying V's was retained by Gibson, but the new V2 would sport a new 5-layered sculptured walnut and maple body. Initially these guitars came in a natural finish to accentuate the layered effect, with either Maple or Walnut for the top & bottom layer. This layering was known at Gibson as the "Sandwich" and the sculpted body gave the layering a 3D effect. Knobs were moved off the pickguard, and a Pearl Gibson logo was inlayed into the black headstock, along with gold Gibson Tuners. Two solid brass 5/8 studs known as the "Sustain Sisters" were fitted into the body to anchor the "Tune-o-matic" Bridge along with a brass nut and brass "V" shaped tailpiece. Gibson felt this would provide the sustain and brilliance they wanted for the new V2.

 

The 1979 through 1981 models used the "boomerang" humbucker pickups that were designed to sound like single coils with lower noise. Beginning in 1982, the pickups were changed to the "Dirty finger" pickups that were available on just a select few models in the early 1980s including the Explorer, ES-347, ES-335S and the Flying V. The V2 with case retailed for $1199 in 1979, Gibson's 3rd most expensive guitar. Only 157 V2's were shipped in 1979. Besides the high price, some players complained about the non-traditional sounding humbucker pickups and the weight of the guitar. Sales were poor for the first 2 years of the V2's availability, and Gibson was scrambling to find ways to increase demand for these guitars from the dealers. It became apparent by the early 1980s that the maple top version wasn't selling as well as the walnut top guitars. To move the maple-top inventory, Gibson began to offer fancy colors to supplement the initial offering of natural finishes. Custom colors included: Pearl white, Blue sparkle, Blue sparkle metallic, Candy apple Red, Sunburst, Goldburst, Silverburst, Black, and Black Sparkle. The Majority of these finishes were applied to maple-top inventory between September 1980 and April 1981.

 

It soon also became apparent to Gibson that the V2 was not meeting sale expectations and production would soon have to be discontinued. In 1982, several hardware changes were made to reduce the cost of producing the guitar and to use up the remaining available inventory. The most important change was replacing the relatively unpopular "boomerang" pickup and pickguard, with the more conventional "Dirty Fingers" Pickup found on many E2 Explorers. The boomerang pickups were more expensive to produce and required more costly routing to the guitar body and a "V" groove to the fretboard. More importantly, boomerang pickups with their single coil-like sound (despite being humbuckers) never really "caught on" with the public. Also, the standard conventional humbucker rout allowed players to swap out pickups easily. Gibson covered the laminated bodies (usually Maple top) of the second variant V2 "Dirty Finger" humbucker versions with Candy Apple Red or White finishes.

 

A final cost-cutting variation eliminated the inlayed Pearl Gibson headstock logo with a gold decal. Once the majority of the remaining inventory stockpile was used up, Gibson officially discontinued the V2 model in 1982. The Explorer version E2 lasted a year longer, but it too was discontinued by 1983."

 

Hope this helps. Very cool guitar. When I first saw one in an ad in the late '70's, I knew that I had to have one. I just love this guitar's looks. Very sexy!

 

MeZadude 8)

[Bender 4 Life]

They are single coil, wrapped around a heart-shaped bobbin. That's why this guitar sounds so much like a Telecaster. They are fairly rare. Only made for a brief run of a couple of years or so. Here's a bio from Wikipedia:

"When Tim Shaw arrived at Gibson in 1978, one of his first assignments was to help with designing a companion Guitar to the newly designed E2 Explorer Guitar. This companion guitar would be the new Gibson V2. The general shape of previous Flying V's was retained by Gibson, but the new V2 would sport a new 5-layered sculptured walnut and maple body. Initially these guitars came in a natural finish to accentuate the layered effect, with either Maple or Walnut for the top & bottom layer. This layering was known at Gibson as the "Sandwich" and the sculpted body gave the layering a 3D effect. Knobs were moved off the pickguard, and a Pearl Gibson logo was inlayed into the black headstock, along with gold Gibson Tuners. Two solid brass 5/8 studs known as the "Sustain Sisters" were fitted into the body to anchor the "Tune-o-matic" Bridge along with a brass nut and brass "V" shaped tailpiece. Gibson felt this would provide the sustain and brilliance they wanted for the new V2.

 

The 1979 through 1981 models used the "boomerang" humbucker pickups that were designed to sound like single coils with lower noise. Beginning in 1982, the pickups were changed to the "Dirty finger" pickups that were available on just a select few models in the early 1980s including the Explorer, ES-347, ES-335S and the Flying V. The V2 with case retailed for $1199 in 1979, Gibson's 3rd most expensive guitar. Only 157 V2's were shipped in 1979. Besides the high price, some players complained about the non-traditional sounding humbucker pickups and the weight of the guitar. Sales were poor for the first 2 years of the V2's availability, and Gibson was scrambling to find ways to increase demand for these guitars from the dealers. It became apparent by the early 1980s that the maple top version wasn't selling as well as the walnut top guitars. To move the maple-top inventory, Gibson began to offer fancy colors to supplement the initial offering of natural finishes. Custom colors included: Pearl white, Blue sparkle, Blue sparkle metallic, Candy apple Red, Sunburst, Goldburst, Silverburst, Black, and Black Sparkle. The Majority of these finishes were applied to maple-top inventory between September 1980 and April 1981.

 

It soon also became apparent to Gibson that the V2 was not meeting sale expectations and production would soon have to be discontinued. In 1982, several hardware changes were made to reduce the cost of producing the guitar and to use up the remaining available inventory. The most important change was replacing the relatively unpopular "boomerang" pickup and pickguard, with the more conventional "Dirty Fingers" Pickup found on many E2 Explorers. The boomerang pickups were more expensive to produce and required more costly routing to the guitar body and a "V" groove to the fretboard. More importantly, boomerang pickups with their single coil-like sound (despite being humbuckers) never really "caught on" with the public. Also, the standard conventional humbucker rout allowed players to swap out pickups easily. Gibson covered the laminated bodies (usually Maple top) of the second variant V2 "Dirty Finger" humbucker versions with Candy Apple Red or White finishes.

 

A final cost-cutting variation eliminated the inlayed Pearl Gibson headstock logo with a gold decal. Once the majority of the remaining inventory stockpile was used up, Gibson officially discontinued the V2 model in 1982. The Explorer version E2 lasted a year longer, but it too was discontinued by 1983."

 

Hope this helps. Very cool guitar. When I first saw one in an ad in the late '70's, I knew that I had to have one. I just love this guitar's looks. Very sexy!

 

MeZadude 8)

 

thank you x 10 for that info and those pics of the V2.......i'm now in unbridled lust and MUST find an early model w/the "boomerang" p'ups.

that is without a doubt the coolest solidbody i've seen in a long long time !!

I can get "twang" from my (standard) V because I run the bridge p'up high and covered, plus i've installed a Russian NOS '61 PIO cap.

it's a Blues Monster !!

I bet the V2 is also......

[buliwyf]

I've always liked the way those V2,s looked but this is the first time I have read some history on them (thank you)and that the boomerang pickups sound like single coils.Hey MeZadude first of all welcome to the forum,looks like you recently arrived,Do you still own the V2 and do you like the single coil sound.Just a thought but I am not a big fan of the single coil sound I prefer the fuller sound of humbuckers so I was wondering there seems no way to find replacement pickups from Semour duncan,Dimarizo,even Gibson for that matter.If I owned it I would send them out to be rewound and I think you could get them to sound a lot fuller/heavier than they are.(Sorry if I seem to be butting in it really isnt my business).I recently remembered the company (one guy)that rewound the P90's I had in my Dillion guitar.Now it just makes sense to me why buy new when for less cash I could have my same pickups rewound to the sound I want.Again I really dig your V2 and your Explorer I love the strypes,see ya round the forum oh BTW here's the site of the co.that rewound my pickups.

http://www.skguitar.com/SKGS/sk/Index.htm

[MeZadude]

I've always liked the way those V2,s looked but this is the first time I have read some history on them (thank you)and that the boomerang pickups sound like single coils.Hey MeZadude first of all welcome to the forum,looks like you recently arrived,Do you still own the V2 and do you like the single coil sound.Just a thought but I am not a big fan of the single coil sound I prefer the fuller sound of humbuckers so I was wondering there seems no way to find replacement pickups from Semour duncan,Dimarizo,even Gibson for that matter.If I owned it I would send them out to be rewound and I think you could get them to sound a lot fuller/heavier than they are.

 

Hey, thanks for the welcome buliwyf. Since around 2007, I've really been grooving on single-coil sound, even for shredding, etc. I've come to find that it cuts through just a bit better for both chording & lead work. My main axes these days are Carvins, but I still have a boatload of Gibsons & Fenders, plus a couple Ibanez, a Washburn, a Burns, a Rickenbacker, a couple of Gretschs, an Ovation, Taylor, etc.

I'm still gigging almost weekly, and bring a workhorse Carvin as the default guitar, but I'll also bring a Gibson and a Gretsch, or whatever extra guitar suits my mood that particular day.

My point here is, that after experimenting with a number of different guitars, I've found that a single-coil (really, usually a split-coil) sound is what seems to work best for me these days. All my Carvin guitars are setup for splitting the coils. That's where I got used to it. My new SG Captain Kirk also has split coils, and I've been using that mode with that guitar. Maybe it's because I've been playing for 50 years and my ears need the clarity after all the loud abuse? Ha! Most likely!

 

The V2 has a thinner-sounding, kind of smoky, single coil tone to it. The P90's to me have a fatter tone. The V2 is useable for funk tunes, or country tunes, where one can use that spanky clarity. In essence it's just a beautiful instrument to have hanging on a stand at a gig, if nothing else. I do bring it to gigs from time to time and use it when the mood strikes.

 

As far as I know, one would probably have to have some pickup manufacturer rewind these pickups. The only place I've seen any replacements available has been on Ebay. And who knows what you'd be getting there. Don't know if Gibson has any OEM stock, but would doubt it.

 

The V2 is a unique instrument, by all accounts.

MeZadude 8)

[SteveFord]

I saw a mint one at the Philadelphia Guitar Show a month or so back and it was really striking. It said Buy Me, Buy Me! but my wallet said forget it.

 

The article says that weight was an issue with sales so how much does it actually weigh?

The Flying Vees always felt too light to me so maybe this is the one I want.

 

P.S.

Pictures do not do justice to just how handsome this model really is.

[MeZadude]

Not sure how much it weighs. I will check it later today. It is solid maple & walnut.

 

Just checked it on the bathroom scale. Reads about 8lbs.

MeZa