I bought this incredible mint '79 Block Inlay Flying V in July of 2013. It is the cleanest one I have ever seen and probably the cleanest one on the planet. 1 of only 25. Most were built in December 1979 with a few in January 1980. Even the case is mint. All 25 of the Block Inlay Flying Vs came through Mayfield Music, in Cleveland Ohio. 5 more were built "by request" by Gibson throughout 1980.
1979 Gibson Flying V, Pearl Block Inlay. SN#: 73379067. My latest addition.....another super clean Pearl Block Inlay V (bottom of the two shown below). Posted May, 2020.
1979 Gibson Flying V, Pearl Block Inlay. SN#: 73459028
I bought this Block Inlay V in September of 2017. As you can see, this one's had the crap played out of it. Lots of scratches and player wear. It also had Schallers at one time but no breaks and no cracks. The price was right so I bought it. Killer tone !
Pictured below: 1979 Gibson Flying V, Pearl Block Inlay. SN# 73379062. I bought it new in 1980. I sold it back in 2013 to buy the mint one shown above. This guitar is now owned by Richie Faulkner of Judas Priest.
History: I bought the guitar shown below as brand new in 1980 at Mayfield Music, in Cleveland Ohio. Gibson built 25 of these guitars in late 1979 and a few in early 1980. They were all sold by Mayfield Music in Cleveland, Ohio. The store had three left at the time. I should have bought the other two. At that time, the owner of Mayfield Music told his Gibson Rep that he would like 25 white Flying Vs, but with a twist....... He wanted them built with the SG/ES-335 block inlay rosewood fretboard from that same era. The result, a super rare, highly desired, killer Flying V. Michael Schenker had two of these beauties "back-in-the-day".
___________________________________________________________________________ The Class of '75
Group picture of my four 1975 Gibson Flying Vs. "The Class of 75". I have had these four 1975 Flying Vs for years. They are all 100% original and totally unmolested.
1975 Gibson Flying V, Sunburst, Near Mint. I got this one in 2007.
1975 Gibson Flying V, White, Mint. I purchased this guitar back in 2000. The original owner had passed away and the family was selling off his estate. What a beauty !!!
1975 Gibson Flying V, Natural, Near Mint. I have the original receipt for this one. I got it in 2006.
1975 Gibson Flying V, Black, Clean. You just don't see many black ones from 1975 that are all original and totally unmolested as this one is. I bought this V from a friend of the family of the original owner. The original owner was a deceased Vietnam Veteran. I got this one in 2002.
1979 Gibson Flying V, Silverburst, Near Mint. Purchased in 2001.