The History of Gibson’s Flying V Guitar

It was 1957, and Gibson had a problem.

Specifically, they were losing ground to Fender, whose new-fangled Stratocasters were taking the guitar world by storm. Fender’s flagship guitar sported a space-aged name and a futuristic and innovative body style. In the height of the Space Race, this resonated with the public.

By contrast, the Les Paul seemed like a throwback to the older Spanish and archtop guitars from the previous half-century. While now we view Les Pauls as iconic, Gibson felt that consumers saw the design as outdated at the…