Gibson Double Flying V

[IconsNhistorY]

Ok Experts, I NEED HELP!!!! I buy storage units when they are overdue on payments and I bought one last month and it had this Guitar in it. I dont know ANYTHING about guitars...... ive taken it to a few friends and shops in the area and no one can tell me anything about it........ It looks as if it was once all together and someone played it to death, then removed all the hardware...... but the thing that seems to stump everyone about this guitar is it has 4 points on the bottom instead of the standard 3 points on the bottom like 2 V's overlapping eachother.... It is a 12 string and has a red sunburst stain to it...... this is all i know........ could this maybe be a prototype that was never put into production or something of that sort? Please advise if you guys know anything...... I know its hard without numbers but my avatar is a picture of it......... but i'll take anything at this point? Thanks

[Dub-T-123]

That doesn't seem to have any affiliation with Gibson whatsoever other than the fact that Gibson invented the V.

[IconsNhistorY]

The only reason I believe it was a gibson is because the unit I bought was in memphis and the whole unit had Gibson stuff in it and car parts....... I wanted the car parts but the Gibson stuff came with it........ all the music stuff in the unit was gibson nothing else....... so from what I believe is this one is too.... but like I said i know nothing about it and I am curious if anyone knows if Gibson ever made a line of Double Neck Flying V's with 4 Points on the bottom not just 3? So that I may better identify it as to years produced and things of that sort? Please advise? Thanks

[tvguit]

Sorry man, nothing about that looks Gibson. I would suggest posting more pictures to be sure though. While I am not a Gibson electric expert, it seems to me that the V's look too skinny. And the headstock- no way. Looks like a home-made project to me.

[V-man]

There are quite a few guitar scholars that would put my knowledge to shame who would be far more authoritative sources on the subject, but having dispensed with that disclaimer, I do make an effort to keep abreast of all the V models of interest, most of those being Gibsons. I have never seen any such animal before. As for it looking too skinny, anybody who photographs Vs understands some of the optical illusions cast by photographing them from different angles. The body could be similar to standard profile.

 

That said, there is no way for us to tell (absent some knowledgable person who has knowledge or experience confiirming this is a Gibson) given the small photo and the scant information I think the best case scenario is that enough information may appear to all but definitely rule it out as a gibson. The best way of ruling it out IMO is to see how the artifacts line up. For example, if the hardware is drilled for metric instead of standard components, odds are it's Not a Gibson. Pickup and cavity routes are also indicative as would any pickguard or truss rod cover screw holes or silhouettes over the finish. The finish itself is another indicator, as a poly finish would almost certainly rule it out as a Gibson. The neck angle, neck joint and woods used would also be clues.

 

Off the bat I would confidently wager that is not a Gibson. The headstock design doesn't appear anything like something Gibson would do, and while one can't always rely on that, in this case the headstock does indeed look terribly clumsy and amateurish... not something likely from the Gibson Custom Shop. Also, a unit containg a stripped guitar body and bunch of Gibson parts should hardly convince you the guitar is a Gibson People add Gibson parts to non Gibsons (and non-Gibson parts to Gibsons) all the time.

 

Either way, better pics would be a must to be more helpful, but I am quite certain you have your answer.

[Kyle W]

I don't think it looks Gibson related either, but it certainly is unusual. The headstocks look similar to the headstock on Randy Rhoad's (RIP) custom Jackson polka dot flying V, which was built by luthier Karl Sandoval.