My brother got “The V”, a very fancy version of the Flying V from the early 80s that had such a great look. That’s what started me down this road of getting my own flying V.

I couldn’t just get the same one, though I wanted to (same thing goes for his Gibson Les Paul Supreme…). So I had to think about what I wanted in a flying V. After seriously considering the korina V’s from Epiphone, I realized that I preferred the slimmer body shape of the 70’s version. And when I saw that they came in olive drab color with open pickups and cream plastics (plus that pointy headstock), I was hooked. There was only one problem… It was a Gibson.com exclusive color and it was sold out!

It wasn’t even available on Reverb used at the time. I guess it was still too new and people hadn’t decided to part with theirs yet. Or maybe because it’s just that darn good and no one wanted to part with theirs! Whatever the reason, I was on a mission to get one and I finally got my chance when the Gibson Demo Shop (where they put guitars they feature in their stores, or give to artists to try, etc.) posted one. It wasn’t a great deal, but it was available and it looked great. Plus, it came with a COA and was set up from Gibson (a couple of things I wanted) so I went with it. And I couldn’t be happier with it. It’s a great guitar, a great look, and it ROCKS. Check out the video to learn more.

I’ve been a big fan of Firefly Guitars for a few years now. When I was first starting to check items off of my guitar bucket list, Firefly was a great option because it allowed me to get a whole bunch of different looks and features and only spend about $200 each time. This can get quite dangerous, considering how my collection exploded since I found out about Firefly… But, the best part about the guitars from them are the ones where you can’t really get a similar version from one of the major manufacturers.

That brings us to my FF338, which is an ES-338 style semi-hollow guitar from Firefly that has a spalted maple top. I don’t believe this is something you can get from Gibson, so this is a pretty unique piece. Every top looks a little different and the one I have is really nice- it has a great color, some flame figuring and a cool wood grain design that I’ve dubbed The Elephant (which you may notice in the video!).

The one upgrade I made to this guitar (because I knew I was going to keep it and wanted it to be one that I could potentially record with) is to put in Ephiphone ProBucker pickups in it. This was a great upgrade and this thing really sounds as good as it looks now. If you haven’t tried out Firefly, I’d suggest it! And yes, Firefly, you can contact me to have me review guitars…please!

Today, we’ll look at my Gibson Custom Shop 1968 reissue Les Paul Custom guitar. This guitar was a “Made 2 Measure” one from Eddie’s Guitars. There were only 5 made and it’s really unique. This one checked off a whopping 16 items off the Bucket List! Of course, some of those were already checked off before, but we still had quite a few first-time checks to go through in this video.

The guitar features a quilted maple top, a custom “Nordic Blue” color, a Bigsby tailpiece and three ’68 Custom pickups. It sounds amazing and even plays better than anything I’ve ever tried. Even the finish is somehow different than all the others- it’s amazing and surprising to me that the most expensive one is the best. In my experience, it usually doesn’t work that way! You have to check this video out- it’s certainly a crown jewel in the collection!

On this edition of the Guitar Bucket List, we look at my Rickenbacker 360/12C63 12-string electric guitar. This is one of my prized possessions, as it was the same model the George Harrison played with the Beatles. The sharp edges on the “horns” of the guitar are what really drew me to this model, as well as the classic sound that you can only really get with a Rickenbacker.

When I was growing up, I fell in love with the 12-string sound. Guys like Tom Petty and Mike Campbell really brought that sound back in the 70’s and 80’s and when I was little, albums like Cloud Nine (George Harrison) and Full Moon Fever (Tom Petty) featured the instrument. And those are the albums that really formed my love for rock’n’roll that will always live!

I hope you like this guitar as much as I do- it’s a cornerstone of the collection and was really the first big-time guitar I bought, as this is a reissue model of the ’63. It doesn’t get much better than this!