Gibson Flying V2 1981 in good condition, incl. original hard case. When Tim Shaw arrived at Gibson in 1978, one of his first assignments was to help with designing a companion guitar to the newly designed E2 Explorer guitar. This companion guitar would be the new Gibson V2. The general shape of previous Flying V's was retained by Gibson, but the new V2 sported a new 5-layered sculptured walnut and maple body. Initially these guitars came in a natural finish to accentuate the layered effect, with either Maple or Walnut for the top & bottom layer. This layering was known at Gibson as the "Sandwich" and the sculpted body gave the layering a 3D effect. Knobs were moved off the pickguard, and a Pearl Gibson logo was inlaid into the black headstock, along with gold Gibson Tuners. Two solid brass 5/8 studs known as the "Sustain Sisters" were fitted into the body to anchor the "Tune-o-matic" bridge along with a brass nut and brass "V" shaped tailpiece. Gibson felt this would provide the sustain and brilliance they wanted for the new V2. The 1979 through 1981 models used the "boomerang" humbucker pickups that were designed to sound like single coils with lower noise. The V2 with case retailed for $1199 in 1979 as Gibson's 3rd most expensive guitar. Gibson officially discontinued the V2 model in 1982.