Paul has mentioned Albert King's bound Flying V, pictured here, as the inspiration for his LoBue custom V. This Flying V, known as "Lucy", was custom made for King by Dan Erlewine in the early 1970's.
By now it should come as no surprise that Paul liked V-shaped guitars. Part of the reason for this was probably the slight resurgence of the Flying V as a rock and blues guitar in the late 60s. All of the “futuristic” models introduced in 1957 had been discontinued by Gibson in 1959 and it was only after Albert King's use of a 1959 korina Flying V inspired Jimi Hendrix to get one, and an airline lost Dave Davies's Guild custom leading him to buy a 1958 V, that the Flying V really entered the mainstream. Gibson re-issued the Flying V between 1966-1970 but sales were still less than stellar—in those four years Gibson only shipped 175 guitars to dealers. After a brief run of "Medallion" Flying V in 1971, instruments that had an actual medallion on the upper wing to commemorate the 1972 Olympic games, the Flying V again disappeared and only returned in 1975. In a move reminiscent of the Midnight Special, the Flying V was available to purchase but it was not actually listed in the Gibson catalogue. It would only return to the catalogue in 1980.
In the summer of 1975 KISS were still a struggling band. As a live act they were on the rise but album sales simply hadn’t caught up to the hype. In addition, the relationship with Casablanca was strained due to unpaid royalties and this had resulted in an actual lawsuit between KISS and Bill Aucoin on one side and Casablanca and Neil Borgart on the other, which meant that the recording sessions for the planned fourth studio album had been postponed. So, there was nothing left to do but hit the road again and the Alive! Tour began on September 10 to coincide with the release of the album. For the tour Paul showed up with a new friend, a Gibson Flying V. The photo below is generally accepted to be from that first “proper” show on the tour in Chattanooga, Tennessee and it obviously shows a Flying V, albeit of indeterminate make.
My issue is that there are no V-shaped guitars in any of the subsequent September shows. In those photos Paul wielded the modified Epiphone Coronet. Seems a little odd that he would get a new guitar and then not use it, especially when we know in hindsight that he would end up playing this guitar for a long time. It is possible that the photos that we do have from September are simply randomly selective. Paul may have played the Flying V in September, it just wasn’t captured by any cameras. Now, the Flying V that Paul used from October 3 was not entirely stock, more of which in a moment, but the changes made probably wouldn’t have required it to be absent from the stage. Anyway, in early October a 1975 Gibson Flying V joined the ranks in this incarnation.
Once we get a good look at the Flying V it becomes clear that it wasn't a stock instrument. The 1975 had witch hat knobs and lacked pickup rings and as these images show Paul's V had black speed knobs and black pickup rings. (Take another look at the Chattanooga photo above. The V had speed knobs right from the start.) It also had chrome tulip tuners while the standard were nickel tulip tuners. Despite changing the knobs the guitar retained the knob pointers but that was probably because it was more work to remove them. Changing the knobs was straight-forward, removing the knob pointers would have required that the pots be loosened from the pickguard.
Up until this point Paul hadn't really changed pickups in his guitars. Ace had favored DiMarzio Super Distorsion pickups since the fall of 1974 but the only thing Paul had done was to put a Bill Lawrence super humbucker from one of his Midnight Specials in his beloved Gibson Firebird when it was modified in late March or early April 1975. Otherwise he had kept the pickups that were in guitars when he got them. By October 22 Paul chose to follow Ace's lead (pun intended) and put a DiMarzio Super Distorsion in the bridge position of his Gibson Flying V. (We don't now what the neck pickup was.) The tuners were also changed to Schaller M6, a brand and model he would use for a long time.
And that's how the Gibson Flying V—which was Paul's main guitar for this period—looked for the remainder of 1975: Nashville tune-o-matic bridge, DiMarzio Super Distorsion pickup in the bridge position, black speed knobs, and Schaller M6 tuners.
As the tour in support of Alive! continued in 1976 the Gibson Flying V remained Paul's trusted number one. The Gibson Les Paul Custom got some action and the Gibson Marauder made its first appearance, but the majority of each show was all about the Flying V. As seen in the photos below the guitar retained its late 1975 look right up until March 20, 1976.
And then—the very next day, on March 21 in Miami, Florida—all manner of modifications had been made. First of all the neck pickup was gone. In some photos it looks as if the the guitar had gotten a new pickguard but that was not the case. Closeups show that the hole left from the neck pickup had simply been covered by what appears to be a piece of plastic, so even though a lot had changed this was the original pickguard in a new guise. The control layout of the guitar had also changed. Since there was no longer a neck pickup the neck pickup volume knob was removed and with only one pickup the three-way selector switch become obsolete. Looking at the photos below it seems to have been covered by a small white plug.
The 1975 Flying V had a curious knob arrangement. Rather than have the two volume controls closest to the player's hand (like on modern Flying V's) it had the master tone control closest to the bridge and the two volume knobs below it. This made the only move Paul really ever made, adjusting the volume of the bridge pickup, a little cumbersome and that's why the . Lastly, the output jack had been moved to the location of the 3-way switch and the original Nashville tune-o-matic bridge had been changed to a wide-travel tune-o-matic.
That version of the Flying V didn't last long. It was still in use in Springfield, Massachusetts on March 28, but when the band returned to the stage on April 11 things had changed again. This was when Paul's iconic Flying V look made its debut: a single-humbucker with a mirror pickguard. The output jack had returned to its original place which suggests that the experiment with the modified white pickguard wasn't to Paul's liking. What was now the single volume knob was in the "top" volume position closest to the playing position of the right hand while the tone knob has migrated to the position originally occupied by the 3-way switch. I assume this was made to move the tone knob as far out of the way as possible. If you look a little closer on the single-pickup version of the white pickguard the two knobs are still fairly close, Paul could easily adjust the tone by mistake. Better to just move it. Finally, the trussrod cover was changed to a mirror one so that it matched the pickguard.
So why change the control layout in the first place? KISS's music in the live setting has never been about subtle tonal changes. If anything the band tried to beat its early audiences into submission with pure volume, the musical aspect of the live show was about pummeling the senses rather than any kind of intricacy. The control layout on Paul's 1975 Flying V originally had the knob he used the least—if at all—pretty much obstructing his reach for the knob that he did use. It was hardly ideal. Allowing for easy access to the volume knob and maximizing the space between it and the tone knob makes sense. The removal of the neck pickup and the three-way switch served the same purpose, to minimize the number of things that could go wrong. Paul probably never used the neck pickup anyway. Go back and look at the photos from the fall of 1975 or the early part of 1976 above: the three-way switch is always in the down position. He only used the bridge pickup.
This version of the Flying V was the one used throughout the band's first European tour in May and June. The replacement custom-built Gibson Firebird I and the Les Paul Custom were along for the ride but it was the Flying V that remained the clear number one.
With the newfound success of Alive! and a new, hopefully career-altering album to promote, KISS embarked on the Spirit of '76 Tour and for this tour it was all about the Flying V. The main guitar appears to be the same instrument that was seen on the last tour. It has the same specs and, except for a small addition, no distinguishing features that suggests that it is a new instrument.
But there was a new backup Gibson Flying V. They look more or less the same but the backup lacks a pickup ring, has a slightly more square look to the coils, and has very prominent silver sides on the pickup. As far as I've been able to tell the backup never actually made it on stage during this tour though. The last difference between the two were that the main Flying V got a small crack in the pickguard which radiated out from the output jack, and that it also had a small hook attached to the top of the body.
"A small hook?", you ask. Yes. It was a small omega-shaped hook that allowed Paul to hang the Flying V on a matching hook that was attached to his microphone stand. It is visible in some of the photos above but to make it extra apparent I've added a circle to highlight the hook below. For the most part it's hard to spot the hook since Paul had a crotch full of rhinestones for this tour—one shiny thing kind of gets lost among a virtual sea of other shiny things.
The hook was used for one of the more subtle effects ever on a KISS stage: the levitating guitar. It doesn't appear to have been used on too many occasions—at least we have comparatively few photos of it—but we actually have two videos of it being used for two different parts of the show. At Roosevelt Stadium on July 10 Paul used it during "Firehouse". For the final chorus Paul "un-shoulders" the guitar, hangs it on the microphone stand, and plays it while it hangs there. He then steps back while the guitar resonates the open A-string and Gene breathes fire. You can check out the video on YouTube and the photo below captures the same moment. Paul is nowhere near the guitar there.
The second use of the hook, for the same purpose, can be seen during "Black Diamond" from Houston, Texas. Paul walks out with his feathered robe and does his extended intro to the song. Then he hangs the Flying V on the microphone, disrobes and tears the robe into pieces which he then throws to the audience. There is also one lone photo that show Paul about to hang the guitar on the hook on the microphone stand.
In Toledo, Ohio on July 31 there appeared a cinch in the armour, there was a small hairline crack in the pickguard extending from the output jack. Since it's a mirror the crack is most visible when seen at a slight angle, in concert photos that usually means shot from below because of the location of the photo pit, and in head-on shots it is almost impossible to see in most lighting conditions. The consistent placement, orientation and length of this defect, however, eliminates the possibility of it being a reflection of some sort. The collection of images below show the crack at various times over the course of the tour. I've taken the liberty of circling the defect.
For the Summer/Spirit of '76 Tour it was still relatively easy to distinguish between the main Flying V and the backup. Even though the hook was a little hard to spot at times it was still a distinguishing feature. That's why I feel relatively confident saying that the backup Flying V doesn't really show up in the photographic evidence we have. (I will, however, admit that I haven't gone over the pro-shot video bootlegs with a loupe. Yet.) And that's why it's nice to see that when the time came to tape the Paul Lynde Halloween Special the backup Flying V finally got its moment in the sun.
When the band set out on the Winter Tour of 1976-77 the Flying V was still Paul’s first choice. By now it had been joined by a Gibson Explorer in the backup position, there was a brief run with a Gibson doubleneck, and—as we will see shortly—there was still a second Flying V in the ranks. The photo evidence is still potentially deceptive since Paul had a tendency to cover the pickup with his right hand in most photos, but there are a couple of instances where the silvery sides of the pickup on the backup Flying V are visible. For this tour Paul started using a capo to play "Makin' Love" and the backup Flying V sems to have been mostly used for that purpose.
In mid-December Paul began an off-stage hobby of the mind-numbing variety. "When we were on tour in America on the Rock and Roll Over tour, I got bored. I just decided to cover one of my black Gibson Vs with rhinestones." (Metal Edge presents KISS Alive 1996) "What happened was I got bored, and every night after the show I would glue rhinestones on this guitar. I just thought it would be cool to have a rhinestone guitar! That rhinestone guitar was me and a bunch of Dukko's cement!" (Vintage Guitar, March 1997) The last show where the main Flying V appeared without any rhinestones was about a month into the tour in Syracuse, New York on December 16, 1976.
The very next show in New Haven, Connecticut, on December 18 the guitar was already half-covered so evidently Paul was really bored for a day or two there. If we're perfectly honest the photo from Syracuse, New York, that shows a non-bedazzled V fails to distinguish between the main and the backup—the pickup isn't visible—so it's hard to tell when the rhinestone experiment "officially" began. But all the photos we have of the backup Flying V before this point in the tour show it with the capo. All of this to say that the only thing we can say for certain is that some time between December 12 and 18 Paul decided that a crotch full of rhinestones wasn't enough, he needed a guitar to match.
The great rhinestone experiment of '76 was obviously intermittent in nature because the main Flying V was still only half-covered in Roanoke, Virginia on December 28, 1976, and it wouldn’t get completed until December 30. Thus far the only photo available to me of the completed rhinestone Flying V from the December 30 show in Augusta, Maine is from the concert review in the Kennebec Journal and the quality is a little lacking. But it does unmistakably show a Flying V that does not have a black lower wing. And for completist purposes, in a stroke of luck we also have photos of the backup Flying V from this period which shows that it was still the original black.
1977 was off to a great start in Providence, Rhode Island, and we get to see the completed rhinestone Flying V in all its glory. Note that even though the lower part of the body had only just been covered, there were already two stones that have fallen off right below the tailpiece. There would be a couple of other rhinestones that would fall off and be replaced over the course of the winter/spring.
One thing to note about both the half-covered and the fully covered rhinestone Flying Vs was that the area between the stop tailpiece and the pickguard was still the original black. That part was never covered which means that it was never considered important enough to justify removing the tailpiece to finish the job. Considering that the strings were changed on a regular basis one can only conclude that the approach here was the same as, say, the re-finished Firebird I—if it looked good from a few rows out, it was good enough. On a side note, for those who appreciate games of "spot the difference" I suggest comparing the Providence, Rhode Island photo above to the Detroit, Michigan photo below.
The rhinestone Flying V and the backup Flying V were used for the better part of the rest of the tour. Since we cannot possibly get enough photos of these wonderful guitars, here are a handful of examples from January-February 1977. Even though it's not visible in this particular photo from Chicago, Illinois, the backup Flying V appeared with a capo at the 1st fret for "Makin' Love" during all these shows.
Never one to rest on his laurels, come March Paul got himself yet another Gibson Flying V. This one was only partially modified to his previous specifications. Even though the pickguard and the control layout had been "fixed", the stock Nashville tune-o-matic bridge and what appears to be a stock Gibson pickup were still on this guitar. I haven't seen any indication that this white Flying V was used for anything specific—such as the one song featuring a capo—but the photos available aren't very many. But in my collection the black backup Flying V doesn't appear in any photos at all from March, so make of that what you will.
As most fans reading this site would know, in March and April, 1977, KISS embarked on their first tour of Japan. By that trip the guitar lineup had been streamlined a little and only the rhinestone Flying V, the white Flying V, and the Gibson Explorer seems to have made the trip. At this time the white Flying V had been fully "Stanley-ized" with the wide-travel tune-o-matic bridge and Paul's customary DiMarzio humbucker.
The brief tour of Japan would prove the last hurrah for the rhinestone Flying V. For unknown reasons it was retired at the end of the tour and, sadly, it got stolen from the KISS warehouse some time in the late 80s or early 90s. "It was stolen out of our warehouse [...]. One day I saw it, I came back the next time, opened the case and it was gone". (Metal Edge presents KISS Alive, 1996)
Before we continue the story of Paul's many Flying Vs we need to take a quick detour. On December 12, 1976, in Lakeland, Florida, Ace Frehley grabbed the railing to go down the stairs at the start of the show. (For one reason or another he felt a little unsteady.) One of the lights on the railing had shorted out so when Ace put his hand on the railing "he completed an electrical circuit with his guitar and was unable to move. He fell several feet to the stage floor but was miraculously unhurt. He went to his dressing room for about 10 minutes and returned to a standing ovation, as the crowd chanted his name". (Syndicated Rolling Stone piece.) Even though that telling is a little dramatic—Ace simply keeled over at the top of the stairs, he didn't fall "several feet"—the issue was real enough. The choice was made to look into wireless technology to avoid this happening again.
So when KISS were getting ready to tour the U.S. and parts of Canada in support of Love Gun they began using wireless transmitters. Why the delay? Ace had gotten jolted in December 1976, why wait until July 1977 to start using wireless? After all, reports in January 1977 claimed that the band had already purchased $25,000 worth of "radio microphones". Three reasons. First, this was completely new technology and you don't want to experiment with adding unproven elements to the show in the middle of what was the commercially most successful tour to date. Second, the band had played literally hundreds of shows over the previous three years and this had been the first accident of this kind. It was the very definition of a freak accident. Third, in early 1977 there weren't actually any wireless units available because Schaffer-Vega simply hadn't built enough of them yet.
That last point was obviously the vital one. You can't go wireless if you don't have the technology. And KISS weren’t about to do anything half-assed, they needed to have the same setup for all of their guitars/basses and that meant around eight transmitters. They might have been able to get by with 3 to 5 receivers, one per person—excluding Peter—and one or two as backup but, as we’ll get to shortly, they needed almost one transmitter per instrument. Shaffer has mentioned that they actually ordered a dozen. But before we look more closely at the wireless situation, let's look at Paul's stable of the guitars at the start of the CanAm Tour in support of Love Gun. Left-to-right we have a backup Gibson Flying V (note the lack of a pickup ring); Gene's Dan Armstrong; main Gibson Flying V (with black pickup ring); and a Gibson Explorer.
These Gibson Flying V were probably new instruments. Two of the previous ones had, after all, been "rhinestoned". The three guitars above had one thing in common, they had the Schaffer-Vega transmitter built-into the body of the guitar. Whenever Paul appears with these guitars during this period—July to August 1977—they have no cable coming out of the output jack and no visible transmitter anywhere on the guitars straps (which would appear later during this tour for other guitars).
For this tour the backup Flying V seems to have seen a lot more action. At least we have many more photos of it than I have seen for previous tours. In the photos below you'll note the lack of a pickup ring—feel free to compare with the photos above that show the main Flying V—and, in the photos where the output jack is visible, it wasn't plugged in.
The output jack on these guitars was still active and on at least one occasion Paul actually had to plug in a cable. (The same thing happened to Gene and his Spector SB-1 early in the tour.) The photo from Portland, Oregon below is a stark contrast to the Gibson Flying V photos previously shown. I haven't see any photos from this concert that show the output jack of the Gibson Explorer so it's hard to say whether this was a transmitter or receiver issue. We do know that Paul started the show without a cable and that would suggest that it was a receiver problem. If it was only the transmitter in one guitar that had faltered Paul still had two other guitars that could have been used without a cable.
Mid-August would prove to be the swan song of the Gibson Flying V "run" as Paul's main guitar. On August 19 in San Diego, California Paul showed up with his brand-spanking-new signature Ibanez and, as one would expect, it took over as his favorite. In fact, the appearance of the Ibanez PS10 prototypes and the re-structuring of the setlist led to the Gibson Flying Vs and the Gibson Explorer being completely sidelined for the rest of the CanAm Tour.
During the 1977-78 Winter Tour in support of Alive II—which had the wonderful tag line "the Show of Shows"—the reign of the Ibanez PS10 continued but there was one Gibson Flying V that was still part of the lineup. It was used exclusively for "Makin' Love" and the capo at the 1st fret that song required. The instrument lineup photo below show the three guitars that Paul traveled with during this period.
For this tour Paul and Gene moved away from the built-in transmitters and started using a regular setup with a short cable running to a transmitter that was hooked onto the guitar strap. Since the Flying V was only used for one song during the show we have comparatively few photos of it from this tour but there are enough to show that it was in use.
As the year turned to 1978 it was more of the same. The PS10 was the main guitar and the Gibson Flying V was only brought out for its one song. The same instrument lineup made the trip to Japan in March-April.
After this the Gibson Flying V was retired in favor of a whole army of Ibanez PS10 (and other assorted guitars). When they put together the traveling museum during the 1995 Convention Tour there was one Flying V that was on display. It was described as the only remaining Flying V from the Alive! and Destroyer tours. That could very well have been true but personally I think that it's more probable that it was one of the Love Gun and/or Alive II Flying Vs. The descriptions for a lot of the instruments during the Convention Tour—especially in the tourbook—were, quite frankly, ridiculously bad. (The text describing the 1980-83 Hamer double-neck will make your eye twitch.) Overall the band members have generally been fairly bad at dating things and placing them in the correct era so for the most part I tend to put little stock in what they say. Curiously, this Gibson Flying V was not auctioned off in 2001.
