Guitar giant Gibson has partnered with legendary Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner to unleash the new Richie Faulkner Flying V Custom strictly limited edition guitar.
The new guitar is a product of the renowned Gibson Custom Shop and has been designed to incorporate as much of Faulkner’s signature style as possible.
“This guitar has become a good friend of mine over the past couple of years and is the latest evolution of my main guitar with Priest for the past 12 years,” said Faulkner. “It’s something that has evolved as I have both on stage and in the studio, in looks and in sound. Whenever I see that double pick guard and Pelham blue, I know that that is my guitar. With the Floyd Rose, signature EMG pickups and striking appearance I know that armed with my faithful Flying V, I will be able to deliver every night. Beautiful yet deadly, elegant yet sonically powerful it is the number one guitar in my Arsenal.”
Faulkner is the co-lead guitarist for the iconic metal band Judas Priest as well as the guitarist for metal supergroup Elegant Weapons. A long-time Gibson Flying V player, the Richie Faulkner Flying V Custom has been built to brings Faulkner’s personal touches to the model, including a one-piece mahogany body with a full-face pickguard, multi-ply binding, a mahogany neck with a custom Richie Faulkner profile, and an ebony fretboard with a mother-of-pearl falcon inlay at the 12th fret.
It also comes with a Floyd Rose vibrato and Faulkner’s signature EMG pickup set. The electronics are stripped-down, with simply a pickup selector switch and a single volume control.
Only 100 models will be crafted by the luthiers of the Gibson Custom Shop as part of this very limited run. The Gibson Richie Faulkner Flying V Custom comes with Pelham Blue finish complete with a hardshell case.
Faulkner will be spreading the proceeds from the guitar to the John Ritter Foundation and the American Heart Association, having suffered a rare aortic aneurysm an complete aortic dissection onstage in 2021. He was rushed to hospital and into open heart surgery and made a full recovery.