Two years ago, Josiah was a high school sophomore. After watching season 4 of Stranger Things, he was inspired to play guitar. Fans of the show will remember the epic scene where Eddie Munson plays Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” in an effort to save his friends. It’s easy to see how that could inspire someone.
After watching, Josiah went to Guitar Center and bought a Squier Stratocaster and a Fender amp. The strat is a cool guitar, but wasn’t giving the sound Josiah wanted.
Enter the Flying V. Fans of Metallica are familiar with this guitar. In 1979, Kirk Hammett partnered with Gibson to create his iconic guitar. Hammett used his Flying V on early Metallica albums and still plays his original guitar.
We asked Josiah why he was so drawn to this guitar. He said, “Kirk Hammett. He ripped on a ‘79 Gibson Flying V. It’s such an iconic and metal shape that I just had to have one.”
The Gibson factory hand-made 200 guitars, one of which went to Kirk Hammett, and they are not cheap. They have become collector items–if you can find one. Gibson has launched a limited edition model–that costs $15,000. So what is a high school student to do?Build his own. Josiah got a Flying V body and stripped it. He removed the junk electonics that only buzzed. He stripped the junk paint off the body. Then he brought it to the shop to do more extensive sanding and finishing. He stopped by to work on it when he had time off from school.
After he was satisfied with the smooth surface, he took it home to paint. He quickly realized that painting is not in his wheelhouse, so he brought it back to Dan. Dan finished the painting–it helps to have a paint booth for quick curing. Dan also did a little more body work and installed all the electronics.
Now, a little over a year later, Josiah has his Flying V, made more special by the work he put into it.
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