Joe Bonamassa 2-18-23 Riverside Theatre in Milwaukee

Amos is a 1958

Gibson Flying V The Gibson Flying V is an electric guitar model introduced by Gibson in 1958. The Flying V offered a radical, "futuristic" body design, much like its siblings: the Explorer, which was released the same year, and the Moderne, which was designe ...

guitar. The guitar was one of only 98 Flying Vs manufactured by

Gibson Brands Gibson, Inc. (formerly Gibson Guitar Corporation and Gibson Brands Inc.) is an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and professional audio equipment from Kalamazoo, Michigan, and now based in Nashville, Tennessee. Orvil ...

between 1958 and 1959. In 1958 it was shipped to an Indiana music store. In 1975 the guitar resurfaced in the collection of a

Tarzana, California Tarzana () is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Tarzana is on the site of a former ranch owned by author Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is named after Burroughs' fictional jungle hero, Tarzan. His ...

guitar seller named Norman Harris. The guitar appeared in the 1984 movie '' This Is Spinal Tap''. It is now in American musician

Joe Bonamassa Joseph Leonard Bonamassa ( ; born May 8, 1977) is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his inde ...

's guitar collection.

History

The guitar was manufactured in 1958 and it was owned by Amos Arthur, who founded Arthur's Music Store in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. Even though the Flying V was labeled ugly, Arthur ordered one. He thought the unique guitar would be a good conversation piece. The serial number of the guitar which became known as Amos is 8-2857. In 1959 the guitar was sold by Arthur's Music Store and it was not seen again until 1975. The guitar was purchased by Norman Harris of Norman's Rare Guitars in Tarzana California. Harris said the guitar was brought into his store by a collector and he obtained it through a trade. Harris stored the guitar in his collection for four decades and in 2014 he sold the guitar to musician

Description

In 1958 Amos was one of only 98 Flying V guitars documented to have shipped from Gibson's

Kalamazoo Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

factory. Amos is one of only ten Flying Vs to have been shipped with a black

pickguard A pickguard (also known as a scratchplate) is a piece of plastic or other (often laminated) material that is placed on the body of a guitar, mandolin or similar plucked string instrument. The main purpose of the pickguard is to protect the guita ...

. The guitar has mismatched plastic, with a black pickguard and a white poker chip around the switch. It is believed that only five Flying Vs left the factory with that configuration. The Flying V was only produced by Gibson for two years: in 1958 (81 shipped) and 1959 (17 shipped). The guitar is made from korina wood and has two

humbucking Mains hum, electric hum, cycle hum, or power line hum is a sound associated with alternating current which is twice the frequency of the mains electricity. The fundamental frequency of this sound is usually double that of the local power-line fre ...

PAF pickups.

Legacy

Amos appeared in the 1984 movie '' This Is Spinal Tap'' in the collection of fictional guitarist

Nigel Tufnel Nigel Tufnel is a fictional character in the 1984 mockumentary film '' This Is Spinal Tap''. In the film, he is the lead guitarist of the rock band Spinal Tap. He was played by actor Christopher Guest. Character biography Nigel Tufnel was born ...

. The guitar also appears on page 196 of the Norman Harris book ''Norman's Rare Guitars: 30 Years of Buying Selling & Collecting''. In 2017,

Epiphone Epiphone () is an American musical instrument brand that traces its roots to a musical instrument manufacturing business founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos in İzmir, Ottoman Empire, and moved to New York City in 1908. After taking over ...

designed a limited edition copy of Amos; the same year,

Seymour Duncan Seymour Duncan is an American company best known for manufacturing guitar and Bass (guitar), bass Pickup (music technology), pickups. They also manufacture effects pedals which are designed and assembled in United States. Guitarist and luthier ...

released a set of limited-edition Amos guitar pickups. In 2024, Gibson released an extremely limited edition Collector’s Choice clone of Amos that was scanned for exact measurements and aged by the Murphy Lab. Joe Bonamassa continues to play the guitar in concerts. In 2023, ''The Official Vintage Guitar Price Guide'' listed the value of a 195859 Flying V at to .

References

External links

{{commons category, Amos (guitar)
YouTube video Joe Bonamassa at Norm's Warehouse with Amos
1958 musical instruments Individual guitars Instruments of musicians F

History

Description

Legacy

See also

References

External links