The Virginia V - 1958 Gibson Flying V electric guitar, made ...

Hammer

£65,000

The Virginia V - 1958 Gibson Flying V electric guitar, made in USA; Body: natural korina, refinished, green paint remnants in cavities, old Bigsby holes filled, small plugged hole to top on bass side point near to end (probably an old strap button positioning), light buckle marks and other minor imperfections, vacant strap button hole to neck heel; Neck: re-profiled, bass side wing of head repaired with dowels, refinished, head face appears refinished, serial number font incorrect and likely reapplied following neck reprofile and finish; Fretboard: rosewood; Frets: mild wear, appear original; Electrics: working, original PAF pickups, pickup covers previously removed (during current vendor's initial inspection of the guitar), unusual phonebook capacitor (appears original with solder untouched), original potentiometers, some rewiring / solder work evident; Hardware: original tuners with replaced buttons (original perished button dust included), replaced nut, later bridge and posts installed, original bridge included, original treble side bridge post has slightly sheared with remnants believed to still be present in hole (new post sits proud), small hole to original pickguard left over from previously installed Bigsby; Case: original Gibson trapezoidal hard case in good condition, with brown leather exterior and plush oxblood interior; Weight: 3.46kg

* Sold with non transferable CITES A10 certificate no. 23GBA10GXATSC

Provenance update: An update regarding the provenance of the 1958 Gibson Flying V!

Up until now, we could only trace the history of this exceptionally rare guitar back to 1989, when it was assumed that it was the original owner that traded it to John Sprung of the American Guitar Center in Washington, USA. On 31st August, we received an email from a Jamie Jones of Norfolk, Virginia, USA, stating that he was a previous owner. He can confirm that it is the same guitar by the serial number and the stated modifications that were carried out by himself. He has stated the following:

-          He purchased the guitar in 1967, from a pawn shop in Newport News, Virginia for $125. Newport News is where the guitar was initial shipped to by Gibson in 1958.

-          He has supplied two images of the guitar. One where he is playing the guitar in 1968/9 at the age of 16 at a summer jam session in Deer Park, Newport News. The other image is from 1974 in Huntington Park, Newport News and is a "proof" picture that this is the same Flying V, showing the drill hole in the pickguard for the Bigsby tailpiece that he had installed a few years earlier, but had removed by this time. 

-          When purchased in 1967, this guitar was in its “virgin” unmodified condition. All stated modifications in the catalogue description were carried out by Jamie between approximately 1969 – 1972, in his parent’s garage workshop.

-          The guitar has travelled on Military Aircraft along with Jamie and other band members to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, and Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in Puerto Rico. There are many other fun stories associated with the guitar.

-          In 1988, Jamie found himself in a position where he needed to raise funds and sold the guitar to Tom Hudgens of "Three Guys Music" in Newport News, VA.  Tom was a high school friend of Jamies that got into instrument sales.

-          It is assumed that it was Tom that then traded the guitar to John Sprung of the American Guitar Center.

Jamie has stated that he will happily converse with the successful bidder and tell many stories about this guitar including its “green phase”. We would like to thank Jamie Jones for coming forward and supplying this information.

*With only eighty-one shipped in 1958 and seventeen in 1959, the first year Gibson Korina Flying V is one of the rarest and most coveted Gibson guitar models. Nearly twenty times rarer than a "Burst" and incredibly futuristic for the time, the model is one of the most instantly recognisable, and copied, designs ever. Originally seen in the hands of blues master Albert King, the model ended up crossing many genres and went on to inspire, and be used by, many legends and contemporary greats including Jimi Hendrix, Billy Gibbons, Keith Richards, Lonnie Mack, Johnny Winter, Dave Davies, Slash, Lenny Kravitz, Michael Schenker, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, KK Downing, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammet and Nancy Wilson, the list goes on.....

In 2001 Flying Vintage published the reference book ‘Flying ‘V', The Illustrated History of this Modernistic Guitar’ by Larry Meiners; page 9 of this book shows a list of 'Initial Flying V Shipments'. This guitar’s serial number is fifteenth on the list, showing it was shipped on the 30th April 1958 to the ‘Thomas Piano Co’ of Newport News, Virginia, USA. There are no Flying V ledger records after 25th June 1958

The original owner, thought to be from Newport News, Virginia, USA, sold it to John Sprung of the American Guitar Centre, Washington in 1989. In July 2008 John, now at ‘Parts is Parts’ East Dover, Vermont, USA, commented ‘I remember the guitar. Can’t remember where I got it. I do remember that I paid $1500.00
for it. Those were the days!!!’

In 1989, UK based guitar collector Julian Marsh purchased the guitar from John Sprung for around $3000, when it was then imported into the UK. Julian Marsh comments: ‘Hi, how very interesting. Yes this guitar did belong to me. I was in the American Guitar Centre packing up a shipment of guitars and amps I had bought from around the States and from a swap with John Sprung (I used to swap Marshall and Vox gear with him in exchange for American Gear and go over for a few days each year. He let me use the shop as a base to collect everything together and ship it from). When it arrived from one of his clients, he gave me first option on it as it had had the neck skinned down and knew I was into playing the guitars as much as collecting. I bit his hand off as they are so rare in any state. I never knew the name of the guy who was selling it.’

Shortly after Julian imported the guitar into the UK, he sold it to Newcastle based collector Jed Johnson who, in turn, sold it to the vendor

Having known each other through previous guitar trades, Jed offered the vendor a choice of two Korina flying Vs, one from '58, the other a '59, sending him a letter and photographs of both on 24th September 1990. A scan from the vendor's guitar scrapbook show this original letter, along with the original photos of both guitars that were sent to him. The vendor decided to take it further and view the guitars in person. During an examination, the vendor had the opportunity to take the guitar apart to inspect the internals. The vendor's notes in the scrapbook show that he had removed the pickup covers to look at the colour of the pickup bobbins, noting that they were both black. Preferring the feel of the re-profiled neck, the sound of the pickups and the fact that this one had its original case, he chose the '58

Following this meet, a deposit was sent, with a receipt returned from Jed dated 20th October 1990. The balance was later sent, with a receipt from Jed dated 17th November 1990. These original receipts are included in the sale, along with a copy of the deposit letter that was sent by the vendor to Jed. The sale was complete and with the guitar now in the current owner's possession, it is named 'The Virginia V', having originally been shipped to Newport News, Virginia

Doug Chandler of Chandler Guitars inspected the guitar in 1990 shortly after purchase for insurance purposes, confirming it to be a genuine 1958 Gibson Flying V with the original case. The vendor had updated insurance valuations carried out by Doug Chandler in 1995 and by Charlie Chandler in 1998, valuing the guitar at £30,000 and £50,000 respectively. Copies of these insurance valuations are included in the sale

In 1991, Dorling Kindersley published ‘The Ultimate Guitar Book’ by Tony Bacon. This guitar was photographed for ‘The Ultimate Guitar Book’ while in the care of Jed Johnson in Newcastle, who is referenced in the credits. It is shown in a small photograph on the inside back cover and in a small back and front view and large double page spread across pages 86-87. This is a very good picture and can be easily identified as being this guitar by the grain of the korina wood and the plugged Bigsby holes. The present owner was invited to attend the book launch on 20th October 1991 at Chandler Guitars in Kew, Richmond, Surrey. Tony Bacon kindly signed his copy of the book ‘Hope you enjoy a V good book. Tony Bacon 20/10/91.’ This copy, along with the original book launch invitation, are included in the sale 

In January 2018, the original Kluson tuners had the tulip heads replaced due to the typical disintegration of the originals. The original worn ABR-1 bridge was replaced with a gold Tone Pros Tune-O-Matic bridge. The broken bits of tuner heads and the original ABR-1 were retained and are included in the sale

In terms of playability, this V is a delight to play, particularly for a guitarist with small hands, with a very slim re-profiled neck and lovely action. It sounds fantastic unamplified with a bright ringing sustain, as all great electric guitars should. Amped up, it has everything from classic blues leads and the soaring full-on rock/metal sound that you would expect, to a lovely warm jazz tone with the treble rolled off

Gardiner Houlgate is delighted to offer this guitar on behalf of the vendor. This is an extremely rare opportunity to obtain one of the most sought-after guitars in history on the open market

Estimate: Contact department