1975 Ibanez Flying V, Page 2

Now that the guitar is playable, we decided to post some more of our research.
What we have is a guitar made in 1975. Here are scans from Ibanez catalogs from 1975 and 1976. The two obvious differences between the two guitars are: 1. The pickguard on the 1975 model goes under the bridge like the 1958 Gibson Flying V. 2. The 1975 doesn't have a "no-slip" strip on the lower bout like the 1976 model or the 1958 Gibson Flying V. 3. You can't see it here, but the back of the headstock on the 1975 model was not painted and did not have a serial number, while the 1976 model had a black "widows peak" with a serial number. 4. The bridge on the 1975 model appears to be slimmer than the one on the 1976.	1975	1976
The bridge that came with our guitar had been pretty mutilated by the previous owner in a futile attempt to get the guitar in playing condition. He claimed that the bridge was original, but it was strange -- it was unlike the bridge that came on our Destroyer in that it had a retaining wire and thumbwheels more like a Gibson bridge. After doing some research, we found a 1975 Ibanez parts catalog, and look at what we found! The bridge pictured here is almost exactly like the bridge that came with our guitar.
Now that the neck is in good shape, it is time to reassemble the guitar. First step was to get the pickups back into the guitar. These pickups are not Super 70s, and only have a number stamped in ink on their bases. I took out a couple of the mounting screws, and found that the bobbins are cream. Based on research, I believe they are original Maxons, and they have their original solder joints. The covers are also original, and the solder joints on the covers are intact. I must also say that they sound incredible. I did some measurements on them, and they come the closest -- spec wise -- to the old PAFs I've worked on than any pickups I've had in the shop. We put the Dimarzio back in the pickup box...we're going to use these for a while.
This is not a great shot, but this shows the original Ibanez electronics in the pickguard. Three 500k pots, a cheap toggle, and a Mylar capacitor on the tone pot. The ultimate goal is to leave this all intact and put another pickguard on the guitar for playing.

Go to Page 3 to see the final product!

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