Edwards Flying V Flametop

2005 Edwards E-FV-100 STD. This is a replica of a Gibson Custom Shop Flying V Standard. Just like that guitar, it has a '58 Flying V body style but a little thicker. It has the Les Paul body materials, mahogany body and a maple top. The maple top is 1/8 thick, less than a Gibson. The guitar weighs 6.61 lbs. It has a fancy looking flamed top, but it's probably a thin veneer, or photo flame. It has the standard Gibson control set-up,2 volume pots and 2 tone pots with a 3 way switch. The pots were marked 'Noble', but were smaller than traditional American controls. So were the caps. Tone Pros Locking Bridge and Stud tailpiece and Sperzel Locking Tuners come standard(this thing does not go out of tune....PERIOD!!!) Fat '59 style neck, but low, low action. Ebony Fingerboard. Pickups are Seymour Duncans, an SH-14 Custom 5 at the bridge and a SH-1 '59 at the neck. Both with alnico 5 magnets, brighter than alnico 2 magnets. The Gibson model has different details, go to the gibson website, look for
the Custom Shop and check the Designer area to find the $4000 Gibson version. The Edwards model came with a gig bag and a wrench for the truss rod. It has a 24 3/4 scale length.

Let me explain something:all Flying V's have a problem. The most important part of a guitar's sound comes from a spot just below the bridge and tailpiece. That's where most of the sustain and tone come from(about 2 or 3 inches below the tailpiece on a Les Paul). The more wood you have there, the better the sound is. But Flying V's have a big chunk of wood missing from that spot, so V's tend to be a little whiny, especially '58 style V's because they're skinny as well. '67 V's and 80's V's are thicker, and make up for the wood missing elsewhere. This guitar is like that. It also has a maple top which adds more treble. It also has the bright alnico 5 pickups. So the guitar is bright, bright, bright. No bass at all. Even if you turn your amp treble control off and turn down your tone control, I found it to be too much. Some folks might like this, not me. I changed the bridge pickup to a Gibson '57 Classic(alnico 2 magnet, less treble), and I changed the pots and caps. I thought their small size might make things brighter. Well, I still have to turn the amp treble and the tone pot way down, but things are better. PS I had to widen the hole for the pots to get the american pots in there, but not too much. It now has Gibson pots and .047 Sprague Bumblee bee caps.

The action was low, low, low. Easy to play, shred, burn, whatever. The Sperzels and the Tone Pros system, means it stays in tune!!!!The instrument traveled from Japan to New York and looked great and still does. The frets however were scratched and pitted on arrival and had to be polished before heavy use(please cover the fretboard with heavy cardboard before shipping your instrument, I will!!) Wiring was and is top notch. This instrument makes no noise. This instrument was made by ESP guitars in Japan, and they do take care of many of the details on a guitar. But it did have some cost saving measures; the pots, the fact the guitar is only 6.6 lbs(it should be 1 pound heavier for sound and durablility). In Japan, this guitar is considered an Epiphone, a cheaper, utility guitar, even if it does look real good. ESP has a brand called Navigator which is supposed to be the best. The only problem on this guitar was sound.

This guitar seems to be ready to go. The finish is nitro. It seems dependable to me.(I've been gigging for.....(wow)21 years!!! Hardware is gig tested. It's a little light, that's why a give it that score. But you're back will thank you.

The company website is espguitars.co.jp/edwards/index.html. This was a Japan only guitar I bought on Ebay. Haven't dealt with the company, though I hear and read they're actually pretty good.

I like this guitar. That's why I made the changes I made, so I can use this instrument live. ESP Japan tried to make a fancy Gibson Flying V with Les Paul parts. It may not be possible. If you can, play the Gibson version of this(again that's $4000). Or take your ESP Eclipse or EC 400 and change the pots and caps. Listen to the differences. Again I changed the bridge pickup and the volume and tone controls. Without making that change this guitar is a 4. Make the changes and it's a 8. And it will stay in tune.

Japan made, mahogany neck and body with bookmatched flame maple top and rosewood fingerboard. Double humbuckers, Seymour Duncan JB and Jazz. Bound neck and body. Outstanding fit & finish. Tone Pros locking hardware, Sperzel Trim Lok machines.

Totally awesome sound. Hot pickups but no noise. Perhaps the taper on the volume pots could have been more gradual.......

Excellent set up. Everything is done to perfection here. No flaws in any areas.

Best possible quality woods and hardware, and best possible quality fit & finish = best possible guitar! I'd gladly gig with this forever.

Japan only service - sorry!

I've owned a few Gibson V's, this one makes them look very impoverished indeed. I couldn't begin to think of living without this amazing guitar. It stands head & shoulders above any other V I have ever touched.