Epiphone '67 Flying V Reissue

Purchased in December '05 for AU$750.
Guitar is White with white pickguard, 22 Frets, 2 Humbuckers, Indonesian built, 2 volume, 1 tone and 3 way pickup selector. It has recently had a new Graphtech TUSQ nut put on.

Has some problems.

I mostly play this guitar unplugged, but when i do use an amp i use a marshall MG series combo. I mostly play Metal and Hard rock(Metallica, Megadeth, GNR etc...) I also play some blues and funky stuff as well. It sounds good for these styles and I'm sure it would be able to do anything you wanted.

However I must say it sounds better for the heavier music than the lighter stuff.

A better amp would surely improve the sound too.

This is unfortunately where this guitar falls WAY short.

When I first received the guitar the action was very high, it had a high fret and it had a very bad buzz from the 8th fret on the low E, down to the 3rd. The paint along the fretboard is uneven and the little markers on the side are not in line. There was damage to the paint around the nut area as well. Also the nut was incorrectly cut on the high strings so that they did not slot in properly. Also has tuning issues.

Naturally I took it to a tech and they were able to fix the high fret and dress the frets. However the buzz remained.

It has now been to another tech who installed a new nut, dressed the frets, set it up and once again failed to fix the buzz. He also informed me that the truss rod had been glued in position.

Please note it still has the buzz on the Low E from the 8th fret down to the 3rd. I play it with a medium/High action which helps reduce the severity of the buzz.

Deeply disappointed with this guitar.

If I could get the buzz fixed I'm sure you could gig with this guitar. The finish is pretty tough but is just poorly done on the neck.

Have not dealt with Epiphone only the shop i bought it from.

I have been playing for nearly 4 years. I also own an LTD guitar from ESP and a nylon acoustic. The LTD is much better constructed than the flying V and is consequently my main guitar.

There are good guitars and there are bad guitars. It is unfortunate that i happened to purchase a bad one. It just goes to show that you should always try the guitar before you hand over cash.

I really wanted to like this guitar but it just has too many problems. Thanx.

The The V shape isn't the ideal shape to play sitting down but i have a Les Paul for that. This is mainly my gigging guitar and the shape is deffinatly comfotable to play and the shape allows easy access to the higher frets for exellent solo's. The passive pick-ups have a heavy sound and the dual volume knobs are great for metal.

I play Metal / thrash so the pick-ups easily do the job but being a dimebag fan naturally i'm going to get a Seymour Duncan SH-13 Dimebucker and flip it. At the moment it has a heavy rich sound that suits the metal sound. I don't like the fact that the neck pick-up is dominant over the bridge

The factory set up was a complete mess. the bridge was way to high and couldn't be lowered without resulting in fret buzz. I finished the frets and changed the RUSTY strings and then lowered the bridge and the result is FANTASTIC. now the neck is super fast and takes no effort to play at all. The body itself was in excellent condition but it had one little mark on it from someone playing it with a belt on, but because it's on the back it doesn't matter because i won't be selling this guitar.

I have never used it for a big gig just for jamming at the moment but i have no doubt at all that it would pull off a huge gig without problems. the hardware is fantastic and the only thing i have had a problem with is the frets which i've resovled.

I have had no need to get this guitar repaired and i don't think i ever will have to.

i have been playing just over a year and 2 months so if i had been playing longer i would have gotten a more expensive guitar but i no longer need to. I also own an Epiphone Les Paul and i run both guitars through a Marshall MG DFX 50 watt combo which sounds great, i also used to use a Digitech Death Metal Distortion Pedal but i no longer use that. I wish that it had Setmour Duncan pick-ups as standard but i don't think thats going to happen but due to the price it's not going to set you back to much for a set of duncans.

Awsome paint job on this cheap gutiar. Black with white pickguard looks great, I also added a Gibson truss rod cover and replaced all chrome screws with black ones..looks great. Light as a feaather, stop tail piece, grover tuners, dual humbuckers, three way switch..I have no idea where or when it was made but within the past year or two in prolly Korea.

This axe nails EARLY 80's metal to the note. Great guitar to reproduce early Metallica and Randy Rhodes...Crazy Train right on. Also get that Scorpions Rock you like a Hurricane sound. I added a Duncan Distortion SH-6 in the bridge and it really spiced it up nice...bigger, fuller, more open sound and more of an edge on the gain, addes teeth !!! I play it thru a Marshall AVT50 with a Boss SD-1 Overdrive. I bought this guitar to to say I have a V. These are NOT versatile guitars...80's metal, nothing else. Maybe roll back on the gain and get some ZZTop. The stock p/us are decent and much better than most on a guitar in this price range, but with the Duncan Distortion in the bridge, this guitar cooks!! 8 with factory P/Us and 9 with the upgraded bridge pickup.

I think they made a mistake on this one and made it TOO GOOD ! This neck is killer fast and super low action with very little buzz. Plays like a more expensive guitar. The only flaw mine had was the nut was not filed deep enough on the little E and the string would slip out, but I fixed that in 30 seconds. Came set up in the box from an online music store on ebay...he did a good job.

Its new, so I have no idea about this section.

Again, no experience yet, its new

Ive been playing rock and metal for 20 years and have owned numerous guitars. I bought this one only to say I have a "V"..turned out to be a great rig..fast neck, low action and nails 80's metal dead on the nose. Get one, they are inexpensive and fun to play. Stock pick ups are decent but drop $50 bucks on a used Seymour Duncan Distortion SH-6 and it will really bring it to life.

I believe that this guitar is a 2005, and made in Indonesia, as that (not so) pretty sticker on the back of my headstock says. It comes with 2 volume knobs, one tone knob, 3-way pickup switch, 2 pickups, and a standard bridge. The finish is a beautiful black, with a white pickguard(think of Toki Wartooth of Dethklok.)

...oh yeah, and she's fucking BEAUTIFUL!

When I play alone, a lot of the time, I'll play more of an Epic style of music(later Bathory, Amon Amarth, etc..), and the tone she gets for that style is wonderful. Arpeggios on the neck pickup are decent for that style, and the bridge pickup gets a decent sound for the rythm bits.

Outside of that, I play a lot of death metal. I run this axe through a Randall RH200 w/ Behringer Ultrastack 4x12(I know, I'm poor) or a Marshall MG100HDFX half stack. I like to keep my gain WAAAY up, and the pickups can't really deal with that so well. It's nothing that buying a noise gate didn't help, but it was still pretty bad there for a few shows....

I also think that someone sort of messed up with the wiring in it. It's really weird. When I turn the guitar down, I still get some pretty bad hum and whatnot, whereas, if I turn both my volume and tone knobs all the way down, there is silence.

The pickups are beautiful epiphone pickups, however, I think that I might replace my bridge with an EMG-81 here pretty soon, and figure out what I would like to do with the neck pickup.

The guitar was basically ready to go when I purchased it. The intonation was (and still is) a little off, but not too bad. There's also a slight bend in the pickguard. You only notice it when you're really close to it, but there's a hump in the pickguard at the neck pickup.

This guitar is gig-ready. I've proved that through a few shows just yet. It's a very dependable guitar, as long as you've got that noise gate. The g-string will slide out of tune a little bit if you decide to bend like an SOB, but other-wise, you're pretty good. I would never recommend playing a show without a backup guitar, but if I absolutely had to, I'm confident in this axe.

P.S....Make sure to get straplocks....ALWAYS!

I've never had to deal with them.

Overall, this is a great guitar. This is my main gig guitar at the moment, and I'm loving it. The only things that I would ever want to see different are having different pickups, and maybe a floyd rose.

=)

Made 2004 or 5, not sure which, in china
22 frets
Solid top
2 volume and 1 tone
2 gibson humbuckers
grover tuners

I play a lot of metal, and this guitar just takes it all and keeps running on. I use it inot a marshall mg through my poor mans FX unit (zoom gfx1). It has one of the best differences between pikups i have ever heard, and can even make a crap marshall distortion sound like death metal. So increibly versatile

It was set up like a dream from the factory. That all went down the drain a few days later when i changed the strings, but hey, it was easy enough to return to how it was. No problems at all with the finish, but the pickup selector had some crap an it and kep cutting out the bridge pickup, but a few rapid flicks back and forth later, it was perfect

Is built really solidly, and could widthstand almost anything. The only problem is that the neck swings towards the ground if you let go of it. The strap buttons are really good, and keep it on really well. I would gig on it without a backup.

N/A, never dealt with them

I've only been playing for a couple of years, and this was my first new guitar, my other being a squier strat, and i found it amazing
If it was stolen, i would find the guy who dunnit and decapitate him with it. Great guitar, BUY IT NOW!!

Made in 2004. I checked this on the Epiphone website using the serial number on the rear of the headstock. 22 frets. 2 volume controls, 1 tone control, 3 way toggle switch. Fixed bridge. 2 open humbucker pickups. Mahogany through neck, Alder body. The finish is Alpine white with an off white pick guard. Stunning classic Flying V shape with V shape headstock. Grover tuners. The neck is quite wide but has a lovely feel although the rear is painted which I like but not everyone like painted necks.

I play classic '80s,'90s and new metal and this guitar not only looks the part but sounds amazing. I cannot see a reason to change the stock Epiphone pickups as they sound great with stacks of sustain and they are loud! Im running the guitar through a Line 6 75w amp and the guitar screams. I have no noise what so ever. OK the amp has a built in noise gate, but Ithe guitar is literally silent when not being played, no hiss or hum at all. I would say that this guitar is perfect for heavy rock but does not offer the full range of clean sounds that are needed for other types of music.But is this guitar built for anything other than heavy rock? I dont think so, so who cares. I just love the sound of this guitar, it is really lod, powerful and totally heavy metal.

I like a really low action and this guitar can go as low as you want. The neck is made so well that you can achieve the perfect set up, and this is the best neck I have played so far. The hardware is all chrome and looks and feels solid with no sign of fading or blemeshing. The tuners have a nice, stiff, quality feel to them and I have no problems with tuning the guitar at all. In fact, if this guitar came with a Floyd it would ruin it for me. The paint is very thick, as when I got it there was a chip on the body which Ive now filled nicely with the same colour nail varnish.

Will this guitar stand live playing? You bet it will, its built like nothing else and is so simple. Everything is solid on it, the strap buttons, hardware, tuners and controls. The body shape disctates that it well get knocked from time to time, so unless you are really carefull you will get chips and scraches but that will not effect the guitar stunning looks and presents in any way. I dont play live, but if I did I would always take a back up, however I dont see any reason to worry about this guitar letting you down.

I have not used customer support at all, nor do I think I will need to. However, Epiphone have a very good website with a decent forum on there too. http://www.epiphone.com

I also have a Westfield Les Paul copy and a 1984 Aria Pro 11 ZZ Custom and run all these through a new Line 6 amp. When I bought this guitar all I asked was for a low set up and new Ernie Ball 10's to be fitted. I would definately buy another one of these if I broke it or had it stolen. It is the first guitar that I pick up to play out of the three I own. I love its looks, sound, action, neck and most of all how simple everything is without complicated Floyds. The only minor thing I would change would be the position of the jack socket, and instead of having in on the front of the guitar, I would place it on the edge.When I first got this guiat I thought it was too light and found that when standing up, it tends to hang forward. But as I got used to it, I began to enjoy everything about it and now will not be parted with it for anything else. Great guitar, great price, awsome sound and build quality. Go try one now!

I believe that this was made in 2004 in China since Epiphone now has a plant there and I bought it brand new from American Music supply. It says on the guitar itself that it is inspected and set up in the USA but this is a rather clever market gimic to basically get American quality control involved. The next step would be for me to say that I (an American) did it when I pulled it out of the box, looked it over, and tuned the strings, technically, this is the same thing. However, this is a great guitar, no matter who tuned the strings. It has dual humbuckers, 3 position selector switch, 2 vol one tone. Now the pickups sound great and I assume that they are copies of the 496R 500T Gibson models that are on the identical Gibson model. The guitar is supposedly mohagany neck and wood, though I can't confirm because it has a really thick red paint job. It is Porsche red, with a blazing sheen, and I could only find 2 flaws, where the neck joined the body was unbuffed, yet some paint was buffed into the rosewood of the fretboard to make a small smudge. I guess the American inspector didn't think it was worth bothering, and I agree. It has the standard Gibson style tuneomatic bridge and 22 frets. The neck is set, and yes, the sustain is great. It has actual GROVER machineheads that have stayed in tune after 3 hours of continual play. It came with a cord and a hex (allen key) wrench.

This thing was bought for one thing, HEAVY METAL. My son and I play Ozzy, Led, Alice Cooper, ACDC, BOC, and the like, and this fits the bill perfectly. The pickups are HOT and I can't tell the difference between them and the Gibson models. The polepieces are adjustable as well. Surprisingly, the pickups don't wash out at higher overdrive settings and provide a great Eddie Van Halen style scream. They are well potted. I wonder if I just got a good set or they are all this way because they sound 10 times better than my Epiphone Les Paul custom. I have played it though a number of amps and it sounds good on all of them. In non-overdrive, both pickups provide a clean sound not unlike surf music from the 60's. Very versatile pickups. There is NO HUM, even at max volumes on guitar or amp. Great sound. There is one samll thing that I don't like, and that is the woodgrain on the fretbaord is interupted by a knot, but the knot is not there, just strange grain. I guess it adds "character".

Here is where the guitar shines, literally. The finish was astounding, and when I took it out of the box, I was in love. The white pickguard, black peg head, and red body just look unbelieveable. The neck was warped about 20 thou, and the action was high. I tuned the neck over a period of days, yet I didn't recut the nut. I left it high and lowered the bridge. It is still a little high because of the nut, but it is close enough. THe intonation was EXACT for the factory settings, but after changing the action, I had to readjust it. This was the best guitar purchase I have ever made, and the quality would really surprise you.

I doubt that this guitar would ever have problems with reliability anywhere near the magnitude of the millions of other Asian copies on the market today. I am sure the finish will last since it is thick. This is a proven and tested design. I would never gig without a backup because this is asking for trouble, but I am sure that this wouldn't be a bad choice if you had to.

I have never had a problem with Epiphone, and I have owned 3 of them. The warrenty on this is for 1 year, and it doesn't cover much besides manufacturer defects. I read it through and they really consider any failure beyond 1 year to be "normal wear and tear". I guess if you want a real waranty, you have to buy a Gibson, but the Epiphone is marketed by Gibson. Since I don't know, I will give them a non opinion.

I have been playing since 1967, the same year this model was introduced. Actually, this guitar is for my son, 13, and he requested this model for Christmas. It fits the bill for everything that we anticipated. I would definately buy this over any guitar of equal or lesser cost. I would have bought the Gibson before I would have bought any other model besides this. The only difference was the $350. I am sure it is a better guitar and will last longer, but this one will get my son through the next few years and hen we can move up to a Gibson.

This is a 22fret reissue of the '67 Flying-V. Bought her about two years ago. I think the body is of alder, the neck is mahogany. She's equipped with two open-coil hb's, but 'though I dunno of which company they are, I never felt like I would have to change them. Her controls are rather simple: 3-way-switch, volume and tone poti. That's it. She's ebony finished, with chrome hardware (hardware is standart for a typical epi-model). All the way through she's very good designed. I like the simple controls, as on stage I don't need to change a lot as i just use her for raw stuff.

Although I play almost anything, this guitar got to be my Heavy-Metal-Axe ... at least for the rythm-stuff, 'cause that's where here problem is. She has the far the best rythm-sound I know, but for soloing she's a bit to far in the deep tones. No way to really change that, as that's her natural sound. So I use her for raw songs with few soloing. And I couldn't imagine a better one for that.
One big - : Fuck her off if you want to use her for ballads or stuff like that. She will start to crunch the sound already at low gains (on almost any amp I tried with her)
One big + : She doesn't make any noises if she's not allowed to. I could stand right in front of my computer where other guitars I use (even HB-Equipped) already start to hum, but she doesn't.
Another big + : She doesn't get out of tune. I plug on new strings, tune 'em, and play with 'em... the only points I have to retune her are when I get to different bands, as I play with different tunings in most bands.

The guitar came to me in perfect condition. I ordered it via my local dealer, and so I got it right from the shipping. Everything perfect. It was even almost in tune.

This guitar had to stand almost everything except from getting burned - and she plays, and plays, and plays... I think it's almost impossible to break her.

Never had to deal with 'em

As I said before I am playing her now for about 2 or 3 years, don't remember exactly... and if she would be stolen or I would loose her, I would definitely buy another one - or maybe a Gibson one, don't know. But I can't imagine a better Metal-Axe...
about features and stuff I think everything was said...
I compared to her several Gibsons and the Epi Korina in the process of buying, and it was the choice of the price - as her sound is not very far away from the 3 times as expensive Gibson one's. There's maybe one thing that would make her better: a SC-pu in the neck-position to a get a cleaner ballad-sound and maybe a floyd-rose-trem... well, at least the first one i could add without way to much work - if i wouldn't be so damn lazy ;)