In 2000 I purchased the below 1967 Gibson Flying V. I bought it from a pawn shop that thought it was a 1990's '67 Reissue Flying V. What gave it away as the "real deal" was the oversize pickguard and nut width. It had a Stop Bar Tailpiece added towards the back of the body as shown below. Also, one of the Stop Bar studs went through one side of the pickguard which is typical for this mod due to the oversize pickguard. The oversize pickguard used on the late 1960's Vs is larger than the ones from 1970's or early 1980's Vs. There is about 5/8" more plastic just above the control knobs on the 1960's pickguards. It also had the three filled in screw holes from where the Vibrola bar was removed. Before I bought it, I had someone at the pawnshop measure the nut width and it was 1 9/16". I knew then it had to be a real 1967 Flying V. I bought it as it appears below for $300. It had one pickup and one pot. The serial number was missing due to a headstock repair. It also had the short neck shelf indicating it was from Batch #1.
I removed the non-vintage parts and here is what was left. See pics below. It had been refinished at least twice.......one time black, the other time some sort of white with a pinkish hue.
Notice that the pickup wiring channel had been hand-routed at the factory, just like all the other 1960's Flying Vs.
Notice the short neck shelf indicating a Batch #1 Flying V.
I purchased all of the correct era vintage parts and installed them. It turned out pretty nice as shown below.
I decided to have it restored to its "original" cherry finish by Mark Kiser of Franklin, Ohio. Wow !!!!! It turned out really nice. The quality refin took it to a whole new level. I also had a stinger added since it had a headstock repair and no serial number. Check out the pics below. I sold it back in 2009 to a dealer in Japan. While I was creating this web "Restoration" page, I realized I should have kept it. But, I made a huge chunk of money on it. No complaints.
You can still see the remnants of the Stop Bar Tailpiece that was previously installed when I bought it (notice the filled-in circular hole by the rear of the Vibrola plate). Most late 1960's Gibson Flying V's have the same dreaded Stop Bar Tailpiece mod.
I had a 000xxx serial number added.
More remnants of the dreaded Stop Bar Tailpiece mod that has befallen countless 1967-69 Gibson Flying Vs.
I even added a brass shielding cage and correct era PAT sticker pickups. Notice the pickup wiring channel route.
Christoph's 1967 Flying V Restoration Project
This is an early Batch #3 Sparkling Burgundy Flying V that Christoph is currently restoring. Take a look at the before and after pics. Although it is not done yet, he has made amazing progress. He bought this guitar off ebay in late 2011.
Notice the longer U shaped neck shelf that was typical of the early Batch #3 Sparkling Burgundy and Sunburst Vs. It looks like the neck was painted black. However, he and his luthier are pretty convinced the black finish on the neck is original. With a few exceptions, all of the Sparkling Burgundy Vs have the Natural finish neck with black headstock stinger combination.
Notice the restored wings. Very Nice !!!!!! I can't wait to see the next phase of restoration.
The below web link redirects you to my personal vintage guitar collection (mostly Gibson Flying Vs):