Saginaw, Michigan November 10, 1974. Photo by Terrance Bert.
Headstock inlay detail
The Dan Armstrong soon wore out its limited welcome and in its stead Paul got a white Flying V with a black pickguard and, lo and behold, a bolt-on neck. Now, I have to admit I'm not 100% sure of what this guitar is and the possibility that it was made by Phil "Doc" Petillo was suggested by Kenny Rardin who eventually ended up with it. (Read that story here.) I've yet to find any other guitars that has this headstock inlay—presumably a combination of the letter 'O' and 'P'—and none of the instruments shown on Lucille Petillo's Pinterest (Lucille was Phil's wife) has anything like it. But lacking any other clues to its maker I've chosen to keep the moniker here.
Apart from being a bolt-on, the Petillo Flying V looks like a fairly standard Flying V-type guitar. The only thing that distinguishes it are the star fretmarker inlays. As for the materials used I have no idea. Rardin thought that the pickups in this guitar might have been re-wired Guild pickups but that's about all the information we have. The Petillo Flying V first showed up on September 28 and was Paul's number one until he found his Gibson Firebird I. The last known appearance was on December 12 in Flint, Michigan. The photos below show the guitar throughout the fall of 1974.
