Epiphone Flying V

This is a korean-made flying v, i guess from 1995-96. It's the '67 lookalike. 1 volume-, 1 tonecontrol, 3-way switch and jack-input in a line-in configuration, and two epiphone stack humbuckers. 22 frets. It's white with white pickguard. Body is some laminated wood, a mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard. Typical Gibson setup; stop-bar, tune-o-matic bridge, and die-cast tuners. It has a thin, set neck. The v came with an ESP-case.

I play mostly metal, often with melancoly, melodious parts. I really didn't expect much from this guitar, but i was in for a surprise! It's got a really dark, grainy sound, lots of gain, bass and mids. I suspected that the poor body-material would kill the sustain, but it didn't, not enough for me to notice, anyway. The downside is that the pickups feed back like hell when you turn the volume up. I solved this by dipping them in melted beeswax. That removed most of the feedback. I play it with a Peavey Bandit 112 at home, and I really like the sound of it. I actually had to lower the gain on the amp's distortion channel! A 10 after the beeswax-job.

The boys who had this guitar before me had probably tampered with the setup, so I don't know if the factory did it well. I didn't have to adjust the trussrod though, I only set the bridge-height to my liking, and gave it an intonation. The former owners must have taken good care of it, cause it had absolutely no scratches or dings. The electronic parts on epiphone guitars aren't exactly top-quality, which is understandable considering the price. I replaced the pickup-
switch with a DiMarzio Switchmaster.

With the feedback removed, I would gladly use this guitar on stage. The hardware seems ok, (except for a couple of tuners that are loose, but that is probably caused by someone accidentally dropping the guitar tuners first.) Thick finish that probably never will come off. Solid strap buttons. I would depend on it, I think. I probably wouldn't use it without a backup; not because of dependability, but because of my choice of different sounds from different guitars.

Never dealt with Epiphone

I've been playing for 7-8 years, mostly the same kind of music, ranging from pop to metal to hardcore. Aside from the v I own a Gibson SG, a Cort acoustic guitar, a Peavey Bandit 112, and a Zoom fire 7010 ( I hate that digital sound; I hardly ever use it).
I bought the V mostly because I love the shape; the '67 shape, mind, NOT the '58, I think the '58 looks clumsy, somehow. I also bought it because i wanted to tamper with, and learn about, guitar electronics and action/setup. I've made some changes on it; i removed the strap buttons from the ends of the horns and replaced one on the underside of the upper horn (original '67 position.) I also didn't like the control line-up, so I split the master volume to two individual volume controls, and set the controls up in the triangular position resembling the '67. This resulted in me having to carve out some wood from the body to make room for the jack-input. I'm learning from it, and the guitar is looking better, I think.I love this guitar, but i'm still having feelings for my good old SG.

this is a koreanmade v ,1994-model ,unlike the Gibson v the body is alder,not mahogany.neck is maple with a rosewood fretboard .22 frets,two humbuckers,one volume,one treblepot&a threeway switch.mine is black.They must have "drowned" the guitar in the sprayingprocess cause the sound both acoustic and plugged in sounds kinda dead.not that the cheapo pickups does anything better.i`m gonna replace them with Gibson 496r&500t pickups.tuners work ok,so does the tuneomatic and stop bar.one nice thing is the setneck that gives the guitar an longlasting sustain.the guitar was flawless finishwise when i got it.only an allen wrench came with it

As in my epi lp std review , I play everything,but mainly metal.the v do not cut it because of the shitty pickups and the thick paint.maybe this one was assembled out of lower grade woods than the materials most commonly used?the pickups sounds extremely muddy with what i call an hard bass and harsh treble.it sounds best at clean settings,so I mainly use it as a studiotool for the softer moments in my songs.'I guess that the Gibson pickups will improve the sound drastically so...I love this guitar despite its tonal shortcomings,so i`ll do anything to improve it.3 for the clean sound

the only flaws are the tonal qualitys,cause it`s nicely built.changing the pu\s and maybe the pots and switch will help in gettin a better guitar.good setup

I have played a few gigs with it, so it will most likely withstand more live playing.As I have stated above , the finish is so thick ,it will never come off!!hardware is solid,so are the strapbuttons ,Don`t know what`s with all the people complaining about shitty strapbuttons,I`ve never ever had any of my guitars dropped to the floor,or loose buttons.Never bring just one guitar with you to gigs.that`s not smart

never dealt with epiphone,I bring it to my local musicstore whenit needs any tweeking.don`t know about the warranty

I own eight guitars,the v , epi lp std,ibanez studio,cimar-ibanez classical guitar,Gibson nighthawk std,Hondo Strat,washburn lp lookalike ,and a westone bassguitar.been playing for 13 years,love the v but i`d wish i would try it out more before i bought it.I basically bought it because of the shape and not for the sound.I woudn`t do it again.the sound is terrible!!!I guess the epi korina model is better sounding than my Flying v.....

dunno when it was made. it was made in korea though. 22 frets. its not solid wood so that kills the sustain even with full gain on my pod and the new pickup(get to that later) its like layers of wood all stacked up which does have one plus....its light as fuck. its got a volume tone and 3 way toggle.two humbuckers. it had two epi stock pickups(sucked) it now has the epi neck p/u and a seymour duncan ditortion humbucker(kicks major ass!!!!!!). passive. dunno what woods.
it was gloss black with a white pickgaurd, WAS, i refinished it. the top and headstock are now gliter silver and the pickgaurd back and sides are flat black(its so pretty). tune-o-matic/stoptail. tuners are no-name but they stay in tune once the stings have streched. its got the standard gibson 24 3/4 scale. i got it used so it had no accessories. oh an di put on schaler straplocks. i would give it a 5 before but now that ive overhauled it i give it a 9

it suits my style very well(heavy distorted power chords). i use a line 6 pod and whatever amp is around to use to plug the pod into. not noisy(course i never turn the pod's noise gate off so i dont know). i dunno if its rich or full but it suits me till i can afford an esp usa custom eclipse or steven carpenter model.

i tune down to drop d and then a whole step down so its cgcfad. i reset the action to where i like it its fine for me.

itll withstand live playing. hardware-good, finish-redone, strap buttons-schaller straplocks, dependable. id have to use it without a backup cus its my only guitar.

never dealt with it

pretty damn good guitar for 250 plus the 100-150 ive put into it.

OK, here we go: 1996 model, made in Korea, 22 frets (medium, I think), mahagony, one-piece body. Black finish, very good for that price. No scratches at all. Two humbuckers, 1 volume knob and 1 tone knob. The fretboard is rosewood, the fretbuzz at all. I prefer dark wood on my fretboard, and rosewood is the best for my fingers. Has a Tune-O-Matic bridge, no-name tuners, but it was a surprise for me, they keep that axe in tune pretty good. No probs with the tuners so far. No case included.

Well, that axe is great for me. You know, it's no Gibson, but I was really surprised of it. I play mostly metal, sometimes blues, and metal in my opinion means it has to crush you. The noise of the humbuckers is ok, not too loud. It has a rich and full sound, plenty of mids. I raised the bridge pickup, so now I have a very good, crunchy tone with it. I use the following tuning: B-E-A-D-G-B, so you can expect I play downtuned stuff. Very good axe for that stuff.

Very good finish, black with white pickguard. I did look for scratches, and surprise, not one found. I raised the height of both pickups, so I can get a richer tone out of them. The string action was very good, surprise #2. Although I had to change it a little bit, because of the height change of the pickups, but very good. Tuners work good too. One thing that I do not like is that the volume knob is right below the bridge pickup. As you know, I play metal, I jump around with my guitar, and I'm afraid that knob will get damaged when I'm in action. But nevertheless a good axe.

This guitar will stand live playing without any doubts. The hardware is chrome, looks damn good, and I think it's good quality. The finish is good too, even though it now has a few deep scratches, but hey, now it is 4 years old, and that is ok. Strap buttons are solid as hell. Without a doubt, I'd say I can depend on it. Well, no gig without a backup, but that's just because I don't like to play a wet, sweaty guitar all the time.

Never dealt with it, and did not need it in 4 whole years. NOT one problem with that guitar.

Been playing for 6 years now, own a Epiphone G-400 too. The G-400 maybe looks better, but for the sound I prefer my V. If it was stolen, hhmm, think I'd buy it again. Monster guitar. I love it.

I'm guessing this is the earlier '90's model V, because it's not the Korina V which Epi makes now. This has a very thin neck, which I love, 2 open coil humbuckers, one volume and one tone control, stopbar tailpeice and tune-o-matic bridge, Schaller-style tuners, rosewood fretboard, flush mounting input jack on pickguard, 3 strap buttons (one on either horn, and one on the back, right behind the neck joint), set neck, jumbo frets, and a hardshell case (whew!) I think that covers the features properly, all in all it's good for what it does, other V's and V copys all have 3 controls, but other than that, this is a cool guitar. hence the 8.

well, I have a tendency to go out there, and play some things which require some serious distortion, this guitar fills the bill, the guitar can handle distortion better than anything else. Bassy, kinda dark as previously mentioned. very useful. I'm using a Big Muff Pi pedal and my Vox Pathfinder right now, I can get some cool tones, I haven't really thought of what bands the tones resemble (although almost everything has a Black Sabbath-like tone with the big muff.) I like what can be done with the tones, it doesn't get very bright, but I own a Strat and a Rickenbacker to handle that end. Once again, I've given an 8 on this one, because it's that good.

it's a used guitar, I'm sure set up has been altered before I got my hands on it. I first lowered the bridge pickup, than I lowered the action, now the action's extremely low, which means effortless fingering of chords, another plus for me. the finish is in great shape. one little chip in front of the strap button on the upper horn, other than that, the thing's flawless right now. the way I take care of instruments, I doubt much bad will happen to it. I'm giving it a 7 because it looks and plays great right now.

I'm sure it can withstand live playing, I'll probably only use it for a song or two in a set. Everything seems solid to me. any markings would only add character. I care more about hardware than finish when it comes to this guitar. I'm sure it'll get kicked around, it's still a "new guitar" to me, since I've not had it out yet. I'm sure the friends and family who play guitar will want to give it a try. But I'm not worried.

never dealt with epiphone, don't plan on, either.

I've been playing about 5-6 years. I own a Fender Strat, a Rickenbacker 360, a Rickenbacker 4001 bass, a Epiphone 12-string accoustic, and a no-named classical accoustic. I like this guitar, it definately looks wrong strapped to me, but that's the whole idea, a geek playing a Flying V is supposed to look wrong. But if Dave Grohl can get away with playing a Gibson Explorer, I guess I can play a Flying V. If something was to happen to this, I don't know if I'd get another one, let's see how this one works our for me, right now it's fun to have. It's lightweight, and the sound is heavy, but the way the neck droops when your holding it is somehting I need to get used to. The tone is its greatest feature. If I don't get another one of these, I've always had a thing for SG's I definately have to go back to trying them out again.

I dont know what year this baby is, im guessing 98, its got 22 frets and the 3 way selector and the three knobs, its the korina model which is currently in production by epiphone. the neck is really smooth and fast kinda like the sg. the finish is weird, i dunno if its supposed to be the way it is, but it looks like there were flaws in the wood and they did a really bad job, but i dunno. its got the v bridge which is really cool and just the stop tail piece. the tuning keys i found were really crappy and needed to be replaced for sure, theyre supposed to be replica tuners, but I replaced them with some grovers. all this baby came with was the guitar, and i had a hell of a time getting hold of a case for it.

This is where this guitar rocks and falls. the sound is thick chunky and meaty. for anything you could dream of, it can pull off. but, the only gripe about it is that the stock pickups are SO noisy and feed back like mad. i would consider replacing at least the bridge pickup with a emg 81 or a semour duncan something. ill give it a 10 just because the guitar sounds awesome when the pickups are replaced.

the action is great, the pickups are perfect, except the sound, the only thing was that the ground of the output fell out after about a month, and i had to solder it back on, which is minor, but i dont expect that to happen to a new guitar.

ive played it live with a marshall shreadmaster and a boss noise gate(a must with this guitar) through a fender twin reverb and the sound was out of this world. i tune to a Db and it would just blow you away. the wood is quite easily damaged, but if your careful, no problem.

never dealt with em. (yet anyways)

Ive been playing for 6 years, I own a blue voodoo stack and an RP-6 (DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED) and that piece of junk just stays in the corner. the effects i use are either a Boss Metal-Zone or a Marshall Shread-Master and a Boss Noise-Gate. this baby rips. perfect for thrash, death, and punk. If you have any problems or questions you can contact me below. for the price, totally.

This is Epiphone's answer to the Gibson Flying V, and is detail-for-detail pretty much identical. SG-style neck, huge spearhead headstock, narrow V with long horns. 22 frets, two standard Epiphone covered humbuckers, black with white pickguard. I believe the body's poplar or alder, I'm not quite sure -- whatever it is, it's extremely light. Chrome hardware, "ebony" rosewood fretboard. Perfectly typical and acceptable, but unremarkable.

I've never heard a thicker, more watery-syrupy-dark-moody tone in my life. Perfect for dark moody pieces, foreboding chorus or thick distortion, it has a fantastic talent for staying pure while being dark.
I tried playing a variety of pieces on it from Eagles to Sabbath to Metallica to Jesus Christ Superstar to Sex Pistols to Bach, and whatever I played sounded -- well, dark and moody and vaguely sinister. If you want dark, this guitar's for you. Very clean tone, very pure and smooth, and like I said, extremely dark. Think dark chocolate truffles bathed in molasses, then flash-frozen and fed to you on a moonless night in the middle of the woods.
I don't give out 10's lightly, but this guitar deserves one. I couldn't make it sound bad. I also couldn't make it sound bright, so I should note that the rating is strictly for its ability to be dark and moody.

The setup was perfect, right off the shelf. Not a signle complaint there. The tuners were solid, the fretboard smooth, frets well-surfaced, pickups adjusted to the perfect spot. It's a no-brainer to adjust if anything goes wrong, too.

Ah, here's where the Epiphone Flying V loses points with me. I wouldn't trust this guitar, simply because it's much too easy to dent and chip.
While it's very light (with helps balance the guitar), the wood's also very soft, and extremely easy to ding and dent. Unfortunately, since the body is so long, it's very easy to unknowingly smack the horns of the V against something if you're used to a more conventionally-shaped guitar. Combine these two factors, and you have a recipe for disaster. Mine stayed in the case most of its life with me, and yet it received a few frighteningly visible dings simply from very light routine bumps. I have trouble recommending a guitar that bruises this easily, and I know it's not me -- I'm quite careful with my instruments.
The hardware seems acceptable. The finish is thin, though -- while it might be strong enough in itself, the wood beneath it mushes inward when dinged much too easily, destroying the surface and therefore breaking the finish from within. Even little bumps cause diamond-shaped dings with cracked finish edges.
Epiphone is normally a great company in my opinion, and I post this opinion of their Flying V only with great admitted trepidation, since I deeply respect their work. However, their Flying V just isn't a durable piece of equipment. I'd be afraid to play it onstage, and afraid to really cut loose and jam on it -- and if I can't do that, how can I enjoy the guitar?

Gibson has always been good to me, on many occasions. No complaints at all. They're very helpful and considerate. I get the idea they really prefer Gibson customers over Epiphone customers, but I should note that I haven't had a single bad experience with them, and they've been nothing but courteous and patient with me.

I sold this one a few months after buying it, and it broke my heart. While the sound was out of this world, I just didn't feel safe and comfortable playing it, because it was so easy to bruise. I really encourage people to check this guitar out themselves -- it's so exquisitely GOOD in sound, and yet, IMHO so excruciatingly BAD to reliability, that it's a guitar everyone should try and judge for themselves. If you're a self-proclaimed "rock angel" type and like on-stage theatrics, this guitar probably won't last long in your hands. On the other hand, if you're VERY careful, you'll get a sound that's out of this world.

My Flying V is a mid 90's version made in Korea by Epiphone. 22 frets, Master volume, master tone, black with white pick guard. Three way pickup selector switch, two humbuckers heavy Mahogany. Thin neck, mine came with a nice Epiphone retangular case. Cool classic V look, reminisent of early models.

I play blues rythmn and alternica/metal. This is an IDEAl blues rythmn guitar. Clean sounds are so so smooth....and thats with the stock pickups. I use a Fender Tube combo amp, and I get exactly what I want from this beauty. For my heavier stuff, I use it along with a DOD FX51 Juice Box, and can really coax some sweet stuff from my setup. Distortion is nice and full, never lacking, but It would be even better with custom pickups. I tryed it with my buddies DOD amp on his clean setting, i got a really, i mean really, bright sound. Not my cup of tea, but some may like it for jazz. I am sure you could get any type of sound out of this guitar, depending on your choice of pickups and amplifier. Its that versitle.

I love the action. Fast as heck. I'm sure my chording speed picked up by at least 50%, its that fast. Nice smooth neck, a bit like an SG. I bought this guitar used, and there was a little chip on the head stock. But this beast is nice and heavy, gives it a feeling of power. The body will last forever. The factory wiring is a little suspect though. I had trouble with one of the selector switch settings after a while, but it was easily repaired. I guess because I bought it used. I've heard stories about wiring problems so watch out for that.

Finish is beautiful, and I think this guitar has the balls to go the distance. Factory hardware is decent, but if you're a serious musician you will probally want to customize it to meet your specific needs. Strap buttons are solid and nice and big.

Never have dealt with Epiphone, but from what I've heard they know whats going on and are willing to help. Hey these guys have built guitars for over 80 years. Trust me. They know.

I've only been playing a couple of years, but I know this is a keeper. Its got all the style, sound, and raw energy to keep me happy. If stolen I would take it pretty hard. I know it sounds lame, but it just goes to show how much this guitar has gotten into me. I'd definetly buy another (and find the freak who stole it). I compared it to an Explorer and found the Explorer too bulky for my liking. The V takes a little while to get used to holding it, but I found it the most comfortable guitar to maneuver after only a few hours with it. If you are in the market for a sweet looking, sounding, and long lasting guitar, I recommend you check it out.

My Flying V is a '93, made in Korea. It's *NOT* the same as the Korina Vs that Epi makes now; it's more like the Gibson '67 reissue, except with only master volume and master tone controls. The neck is made of mahogany and has 22 frets on a 24.75" scale; it's thinner and more like an SG neck than that of my Epiphone Les Paul Standard. The V body is alder with a gloss black finish and a white pickguard. The guitar has two humbuckers, a Tune-o-matic bridge, and Sperzel-style tuners.

I play progressive and classic rock as well as metal through an RP-12 and a variety of amps, and this guitar is my "#1". It's not at all noisy, although now that I've had it for a couple years the pots are starting to get a little scratchy and need cleaned. I swapped out the pickups for Duncans -- a Distortion in the bridge, and a Jazz in the neck. The sound is pretty thick but definitely has more of an edge than my LP. I *love* the unhindered high fret access that the guitar has. I would like a bit more low end sometimes, though; I wonder what changing the body wood to mahogany would do to the tone.

My V has some (relatively minor) flaws in its finish, mainly along the edges of the neck. They're not hideous, merely irritating. The factory setup was fine, and the fretwork has held up well.

I've had this guitar for over three years now, and it's held up quite well. I have gigged with it a couple times with no backup (other than extra strings).

Never had to deal with 'em.

I've been playing for about 4-5 years now, and this guitar been my "#1" for most of that time. I'd buy another in a heartbeat if it were stolen. I do wish the stock pickups and finish were better, but I love the ease of access to the higher frets. When I was shopping for guitars, I checked out a lot of Epis and Gibsons, but this was the one that called out to me. It's pretty much the ultimate rhythm guitar.