Which cheap V for me?

gooberizer · Aug 1, 2007

I recently joined an 80s throwback metal band in the vein of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Accept, etc. :lol: The other guitarist uses real vintage Gibson Explorers that are battle worn but still awesome. It's been suggested to me that my Parkers aren't exactly METAL and to fit the band's theme I should play Gibson Vs. :roll:

Anyway, we're doing some decent sized gigs and we seem to be drawing a fairly rowdy, biker type crowd so I don't want to spend a ton of money on Gibsons, since these things will likely get banged around a bit. I'm thinking either the mid-level Deans or even Epiphones. I'm NOT looking for ultimate tone and playability. These would be purely for on-stage rockstar antics! :twisted:

I'll end up ordering them online since the dealers around me don't carry them at all. And the newer styles like the BC Rich or ESP/LTDs wouldn't fit the early 80s vibe I'm going for. So anyone got advise/suggestions/experience to help me choose between the Deans or Epiphones?

cliff hetfield · Aug 1, 2007

thr flying v faded is a really good value. its a gibby, and its got the hot 496r/500t pickups.

Rampage · Aug 1, 2007

I would suggest getting a used Dean '79 series V. They can go pretty cheap on ebay, they are good quality, they have good tone, and they have very nice tops for the price.

jtb226 · Aug 2, 2007

+1 on the gibson faded. those look really nice. what are the other differences between that and the regular v?

also, the epiphones are really nice. if you wanted to make it a fake gibson, you could just remove the epiphone logo and find a gibson one on ebay (i've seen tons of them). that'd be cool and no one would know the difference from far away

chuck stardust · Aug 2, 2007

The differences between the regular Gibby V from the Faded is simply the finish. The regular V has a gloss finish. They BOTH have Mahogany wood with rosewood fretboards. Of course, price is the most obvious difference.

Chuck Stardust