Purchased from: Guitar Castle
Features: This is an older verion than the other review. I don't know the exact year, but it was made very early '70s, before Gibson sued Ibanez. Made in Japan. It has 22 frets and a rosewood fretboard. I'm almost sure it's made of mahogany. The finish is like transparant and it looks like the wood is "striped" It's really nice. It has a Tune-O-Matic bridge and comes with passive electronics. It has 2 volumes and one tone, and a 3 way Switch. That's everything you need. H/H pickup configuration. I bought it second hand, so I don't know what the original pickups were. I don't know what tuners it has but they're big. It came with the original fitted Flying V case. // 10
Sound: I play rock and it suits it fine. I use it through a few different amps (mostly Marshalls) and it always sounds great. I play it through an RP80 and it sounds good no matter what. The original pickups were replaced when I purchased it. It has DiMarzio pickups now. It's not noisy at all and has tons of sustain, thanks to solid mahogany. Because it has separate volume for each pickup, you can turn on pickup on and the other off and do cool stutter effects with just the guitar. // 10
Action, Fit & Finish: This guitar is well over 30+ years old and has seen years of gigging, so any factory settings are N/A. The Tune-O-Matic bridge is super easy to adjust, as are the pickups. But when adjusting the pickup, the spring did it's thing and shot out. But grab any clicky pen and that problem is beyond solved. Half of the screws holding in the pickguard are stripped, and all pieces of the original hardware have at least a little rust. The pickup selector is loose, but I've never had it move on it's own. The frets are pretty well worn. One volume knob seems a bit loose too. Remember the age. // 7
Reliability & Durability: It is very reliable and has withstood decades of playing. The strap buttons are odd to me, they are small and don't "fan out". But the strap has never come off and is hard to take off and on. I would defintitely use it without a backup, unless a string broke or something. The finish is definitely going to last. // 10
Impression: I've had it for one month but I play it nonstop. I've been playing guitar for a long time and I'm serious about it. If it were lost or stolen, I would do everything in my power to get it back/another. I love that it's identical to a Gibson V but affordable. If you find this guitar, buy it. No matter what you play, it can do amazing things for you. // 10
You wont be disappointed.