The Gibson Holy V Guitar - Only 1000 Being Made
July 26, 2008 by Chazders · Leave a Comment
Having come up with such guitars as the Les Paul and Flying V, among others, Gibson is known for innovation, creativity and spirit. The Gibson Holy-V is a representation of this continuing ingenuity, with its unique body and headstock. Like most Gibson guitars of the month, January 2009—is Gibson’s latest testament to their imagination. Production is quite limited—just 1,000 of these are being made, making it both a collector’s item and a good guitar for both the amateur and the pro guitarist.
The Main Features
One of the most noticeable things about the Holy V is the holes (vented openings) that are found in the V-shaped body and headstock of the guitar. These holes are carefully carved into the body and the headstock, so as to make the guitar the lightest Gibson to date and gives an intense aesthetic effect. Indeed, the guitar has the same tonal sound quality of a traditional Gibson Flying V, while it’s said that the vented cavities provide for more sustain, we should all agree that the light weight creativity is a unique feature in itself.
Another thing people will notice about the guitar is the gearless tuners. There are no tuning pegs on the headstock, which gives the headstock a very distinctive look. Every Holy V is fitted with Steinberger Gearless Tuners which are noted for their smooth tuning action and accuracy and are said to prevent string slippage.
The Gibson Holy V also features a 24-fret ebony fingerboard, making it ideal for guitarists who need the extra two frets for soloing. While the Flying V is usually considered to be a guitar appropriate for metal/hard rock guitarists, the Holy V can handle many types of music. So if you’re a classic rock or modern rock guitarist, you’ll still find something to like about this guitar.
Among the Holy V’s other features are the beautiful split diamond inlays, a mahogany set-neck construction (for better sustain), solid mahogany body with a Tune-O-Matic bridge and a ‘57 classic pickup, supplying the classic Gibson PAF crunch and power.
While the Holy-V is an expensive guitar, for all that it features and uniqueness; is worth it?
MSRP $2799 but can be found as low as $1839. The Gibson Holy-V will not be available until January 2009. However some music stores will allow you to pre-order.
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DEAN ZELINSKY: I Can No Longer Attach My Name To Quality And Direction Of DEAN GUITARS
July 23, 2008 by Chazders · 17 Comments
Today Gear-Vault received information that Dean Zelinsky, founder of Dean Guitars, announced that he has parted ways with Dean Guitars, the company that he founded in 1977. Read more
Gibson ES-135 Limited Edition Guitar Review
July 22, 2008 by Chazders · Leave a Comment
With its single cutaway and slightly deeper body (2.125 inches at the edge), the ES-135 comes a little closer to a jazz axe than its 335-based brothers. Read more
What’s Tremolo and how does it work?
July 22, 2008 by Chazders · Leave a Comment
Tremolo suffers from an acute identity crisis. Thanks to various descriptive errors made in the Fifties, tremolo is frequently mistaken for vibrato. For the record, tremolo is a rhythmic pulse produced by a change in volume over a set clock rate; Read more
Vaccaro Groove Jet & X-Ray Guitar Review
July 7, 2008 by Chazders · Leave a Comment
If you’ve seen advertisements for Vaccaro’s guitars on the internet or magazines, you may have noted their slightly confrontational slogan: “They’re not for everybody.” This statement, it seems, is absolutely true. The reactions I’ve seen when whipping one of these unorthodox instruments out of my gig bag have ranged from shock (“Where di you get that?”) to covetous (“Awesome! Where can I get one?”).
Brought to you buy the people who created Kramer’s distinctive aluminum and wood-necked guitars in the late Seventies and early Eighties, Vaccaro’s guitars feature daringly designed popular bodies, bold finishes and unique aluminum, maple and ebanol composite necks. The Groove Jet evokes the unholy alliance of a Gibson SG and a satanic dung beetle, and features two Seymour Duncan Custom ’59 humbuckers, a three-way switch pickup selector located on the top horn of the guitar, two volume controls and a master tone control. Our review model was flawlessly finished in a stunning see-through emerald green. The X-Ray, whose sleek, orange sparkle body has a space-age Rickenbacker vibe, boasts two Rio Grande Muy Grande pickups: a humbucker in the bridge and a single coil in the neck position. Both pickups are topped off with the same mother-of-toilet-seat plastic as the pickguard, adding to the instrument’s undeniable ie ne sais quoi. The X-Ray’s control layout is simple yet versatile: a three-way pickup selector, coil-tap switch for the humbucker and single volume and tone controls. The hardware on both guitars (Sperzel locking tuning machines, super-sleek Tune-O-Matic-style bridges and top-notch components) is bullet-proof. The phenolic “I can’t believe it’s not ebony!” fingerboard are smooth and natural feeling, and the well-finished frets provide a sleek, effortless playing surface.
Run through a Bogner Ecstacy head powering a vintage Marshall 4×12 cabinet, both guitars performed admirably well. The Groove Jet’s Duncans are not obnoxiously hot, yet they provide full, articulate, distorted sounds that are both aggressive and musical. Backing off the volume controls allow for dead-on bluesy “in between sounds,” and on clean settings the instrument responds exactly as a two-humbucker contender should. The X-Ray’s Muy Grande pickups (as the name so subtly indicates) have a zingy, refried Texas tone, and when the single coil is combined with the humbuckers in single-coil configuration, they produce extremely hot ‘n’ tasty Fender-like tones. These guitars may look wild and crazy, but their sound and feel are full and old-fashioned goodness.
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