Epiphone Flying V 70s Maui Blue

This is a lovely guitar. I didn't like the color at first, it reminded me of the Smurfs hahaha! But once I got used to it and also because I have been wanting a 70s Flying V again since I sold mine way back in 1980, I decided to order the Maui Blue because it ticked all the boxes for me in terms of style. The short head stock that matches the body color and with the large truss rod cover, a volute, no binding, the large pick guard, and the price was just unbeatable.

It took 2 days to get here after ordering, it arrived in perfect condition. Not a spot, mark, dent, scratch, nothing. The only thing was the bridge action, it was set a bit too high. But after changing the strings to my usual hybrid slinky's and setting the bridge right, it was perfect. I intonated the strings and it was ready to play.

Next I hooked it up to an EVH 5150 III w/ 2x12 greenbacks cab and boy let me tell you: this guitar RIPS! Definitely! It can easily be compared to my Gibson or inspired by Gibson Custom Flying Vs that cost 2 or 3 times as much, it's that good. The ebony fret board is smooth, the neck is just perfect for me, not too thick, not too thin, the weight of the guitar is exactly 3 kilograms, and it looks absolutely fantabulous in reality. It's a refreshing contrast against my more standard colored guitars. I'll be having a lot of fun with this one, for sure.

There's 2 cons, that don't really bother me personally, but they should be mentioned:
- it does neck dive a bit, I don't feel it because I play it Michael Schenker style, one end of the V between my legs. That way it's secured and going nowhere that I don't want it to go.
- it doesn't fit in a standard Epiphone V case or in a standard Gibson V case (it will go into the Gibson case but it's not snug and not secure imho). I'm guessing it needs one of those old style 70s Flying V cases, but it would be wise to try first before buying. The gig bag is sturdy but knowing the Flying V reputation for broken head stocks, I'd be reluctant to transport it in a gig bag.

That's all folks, hope it wasn't too boring =/

Pros:
- SOUND - I don't know what pickups are these but omg they sound great. Neck is thick and woolly, the bridge is sharp and clear. Even the middle position sounds great, has a unique flavor. I prefer these pickups even over my EMGs. Sustain for days. The guitar is even very loud acoustically, much more than my other guitars, its very resonant;
- LOOKS - its a stunning guitar, no doubt about it. The shape is a classic and the finish is freshhh. Not a single flaw in the finish or wood work;
- COMFORT - its great to play sitting or standing, the fingerboard is flat and big and fast;
- TUNING STABILITY - its very stable and the tuners feel great, nice even turning;
- WEIGHT - its very lightweight
- PLAYIBILTY - having strats and superstrats as my main instruments, this one felt very weird at first, but you get used to it and now I cant put it down. It calls to me and wants to be picked up all the time like its my baby.
- VERSATILITY- it does it all. Albert King? You got it. Electric Wizard? Bring it. Steve Vai? I can't play that, who are we kidding.

CONS:
- NECK DIVE- its a classic V shape problem, but easily fixable with moving the strap pin. I don't understand why they don't come like that from the factory, but instead choose this ridiculous placement. Having the pin on the tip of the upper wing looks bad with the strap hanging from it, it takes away from the cool shape, its just not aesthetic. Moving the pin fixes all that, but leaves you with a little whole in the position of the original pin;
- PICKUP SELECTOR SWITCH POSITION - why oh why would you put it there. I get it that the original Gibsons from that era had it there, but its just bad design. You cant seamlessly switch pickups while playing because the volume and tone knobs get in the way, you have to jump over them to get to the switch. I'm trying to get used to it but it bothers me very much. Also, the selector sometimes doesn't "take", but once I jiggled it a fair bit, I guess the pieces fell into place and now it works.
- GLOSS NECK - not too bad but I would prefer a mat or satin finish, but it is what it is.


NEUTRAL
- SIZE - the guitar is big! I was not expecting that, having never played a V before;
- setup - it came with an awful setup but that's to be expected.

All in all, I love it. Thanks to Thomann for ultra fast delivery.

The guitar look even better in real life!
The pickups are a little bit quite then my other guitars but they sound really good for blues and rock. For metal you need to give some extra boost.
I will probably switch them to emg but it’s just because I always prefer them. But even with this pickups this is the first guitar i pick when I want to play although I have more expensive guitars.
The fret edges are not very smooth but i will not consider them to be sharp. When I play i don’t feel them at all.