About Me
Here it is.
The crazy prank of two british journalists turned into reality thanks to the effort of US collector / dealer David Kenney, who had the guitar assembled by luthier C. Lukasik from "old korina Gibson parts" which he had purchased from the old Gibson Kalamazoo plant.
This oddbird is also known by the name "Flying Z" (makes some sense), or "reverse Vee" (ho hum...).
The rubber stamped serialized neck appears to be from an original 59 Flying Vee; the rear of the headstock was chipped, so probably that's the reason it was never built into a Vee, but probably headed directly to the b-stock shelves.
The body itself is made of 2 pieces of what appears to be korina joined down the middle; it is unlikely that is was a Vee blank, as the veins do not run parallel to what would have been the sides of a v-shape body, like the 50s-60s models.
The brass bolt decoration obviously is "original" but obviously it is not a Gibson part ;-)
The guitar features a quite un-ergonomic design but it is also very light (about 7.5 lbs); the way it falls from the strap, coupled with the relatively stiff string tension makes it more ideal to rythm than lead playing, which is not impossible, just less easy.
The guitar stays in tune perfectly, despite the old Kluson tuners and the relatively slim neck profile. The 60s "sticker PAF" pickups deliver an unreal tone to this unique oddbird; the mass of the top "winglet" makes for a very warm and silky-throaty sound.
No distortion pedals are needed on this beauty, that's for sure, and it's clean sounds are equally as sexy and compelling....Story has it that the guitar was loaned to Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielsen who used it in studio and had at least two copies made, one or two from Hamer and one from Fernandes (or from a defunct japanese shop called KIDS).
Rumours have it that Gibson itself built 5 or 6 copies based on demand from certain shops and collectors. As per answers on the Gibson Forums, part of the run was done in mahogany, 2 in korina.
Apparently the Gibson copies suffered from headstock breakage due to the fact that the headstock tilt was eccessive, or incorrect.
I have located pictures (bottom page) of one of the Gibson "copies"(now, that is what I call sense of humor!), which were taken by the folks at Island Guitars in Hawaii.
I have heard that one store actually has one for sale (as of november '04) - but it might not be the Gibson copy, rather a luthiery job.
All pictures (except for the one in the magazine, the 2 Nielsen pics at the top, and the Gibsons at the bottom of the page): copyright 2004 Paul C. Weber. Please drop me a line if you wish some more photos for commercial use. The guitar may be rented for films,videos or recording.Special thanks...
Chris Lukasic, 2005, r.i.p.
!! Almost forgot - so here we go: David Kenney (of course), David Burrluck and Richard Chapman (ddd - Dangerously Demented Dreamers), Jim Swanson for "being there" when it counted most, Pete for all the support and extra info, Ivar Arnesen for having found the guitar mag in about two seconds flat and for having sent it to Switzerland in about two days, last but not least to the various people who are quietly working to have some guitar company issue a limited (!) amount of korina 'Bolts (!!)...will keep you posted if it all works according to plans(!!!)...
From Hamerfanclub.com (HFC): Bruce919, BTMN, Cmatthes, and all the other "pointy enthusiasts" who I might have inadvertently forgotten...This pages has been viewed: - a shitload of times, but since I've changed hosting services I have irretrievably lost all the historical data. Thank you all for your interest!
