July 18, 2023 Corsham, Wiltshire England – UK based auction house,  Gardiner Houlgate will be offering one of the ‘Holy Grail’ Gibson solid body electric guitars, a 1958 Gibson Flying V.

With only 81 shipped in 1958 and 17 in 1959, the first year Gibson Korina Flying V is one of the rarest and most coveted Gibson guitar models. Nearly twenty times rarer than a “Burst” and incredibly futuristic for the time, the model is one of the most instantly recognizable, and copied designs ever. Originally seen in the hands of blues master Albert King, the model ended up crossing many genres and went on to inspire, and be used by many legends and contemporary greats including Jimi Hendrix, Billy Gibbons, Keith Richards, Lonnie Mack, Johnny Winter, Dave Davies, Slash, Lenny Kravitz, Michael Schenker, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, KK Downing, James Hetfield, Kirk Hammet and Nancy Wilson, the list goes on…..

Originally shipped on the 30th April 1958 to the ‘Thomas Piano Co’ of Newport News, Virginia, USA the guitar made the journey to its home in the UK in 1989 where it resides in a private collection and can be seen in various print publications.

The guitar has been refinished and suffered a neck reprofile. However, a first year Korina V is an extremely rare beast in any state and is expected to attract international interest from the global guitar community. The guitar has other minor issues but does benefit from having its original hard case.

In January 2018 the original Kluson tuners had the tulip heads replaced due to the typical disintegration of the originals. The original worn ABR-1 bridge was replaced with a gold Tone Pros Tune-O-Matic bridge. The broken bits of tuner heads and the original ABR-1 were retained and are included in the sale.

In terms of playability, this V is a delight to play, particularly for a guitarist with small hands, with a very slim re-profiled neck and lovely action. It sounds fantastic unamplified with a bright ringing sustain, as all great electric guitars should. Amped up, it has everything from classic blues leads and the soaring full-on rock/metal sound that you would expect, to a lovely warm jazz tone with the treble rolled off.

Gardiner Houlgate is delighted to offer this guitar on behalf of the vendor. This is an extremely rare opportunity to obtain one of the most sought-after guitars in history on the open market.

For a full description please visit: https://www.guitar-auctions.co.uk/news/68/20+times+rarer+than+a+burst%21+-+1958+Gibson+Flying+V+-+In+for+September%21

This guitar will feature as lot 121 in the next guitar sale on 5th September 2023 along with hundreds of other vintage and classic guitars.