The Epiphone Jimi Hendrix “Love Drops” Flying V features a careful recreation of the psychedelic graphics that Jimi Hendrix hand-painted on his original guitar.
As part of the Epiphone Inspired by Gibson Custom Collection, the Epiphone Jimi Hendrix “Love Drops” Flying V is now available at Authorized Epiphone dealers and worldwide on www.epiphone.com.
“Jimi’s artistic expression was all-encompassing. It went far beyond creating magical music and expanded into another dimension of art that allowed us to see the beauty of his music,” says Janie Hendrix, Sister of Jimi and President and CEO of Experience Hendrix LLC & Authentic Hendrix LLC. “When he hand-painted his Flying V, which was an expression of his love for his instrument and his music. With the Epiphone series, Gibson has recreated Jimi’s artwork beautifully! We are excited to partner with them! Seeing Jimi’s handiwork come alive in this spectacular collection is extremely gratifying.”
The Epiphone Jimi Hendrix “Love Drops” Flying V with custom hardshell guitar case.
Originally a Sunburst, Jimi Hendrix customized his Ebony-refinished Gibson Flying V with striking psychedelic graphics that he hand-painted on the original guitar, which are carefully recreated here on the Flying V. As a fitting tribute to one of the world’s most legendary and famous lefty guitar players, the Epiphone Jimi Hendrix “Love Drops” Flying V is available in right and left-handed versions. The Jimi Hendrix “Love Drops” Flying V also features a mahogany body, a one-piece mahogany neck with a Rounded C profile, a laurel fretboard, and 22 medium jumbo frets.
An Inspired by Gibson Custom logo and reproduction of Jimi’s signature adorn the back of the 1967-style Flying V headstock. Epiphone Deluxe tuners anchor the strings at the headstock, while a short Maestro Vibrola anchors them at the other end. The electronics are first-rate, with a pair of Gibson Custombucker humbucker pickups wired to CTS potentiometers, a Mallory tone capacitor, and a Switchcraft 3-way pickup select switch and 1/4” output jack. An Epiphone hardshell guitar case with Inspired by Gibson Custom and Authentic Hendrix™ logos is also included.
Learn more: www.epiphone.com.
As a founding member of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna, legendary bass player and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductee Jack Casady’s full driving tone and innovative melodic bass work have defined the role of bass guitar in rock and roll for decades. Liberating the bass from its traditional role as part of the rhythm section, Jack’s pioneering approach to bass brought the instrument to the forefront. The new Epiphone Jack Casady Fretless Bass was and is the culmination of years of experimentation by Casady to find an instrument with superior electric tone and the response of an acoustic bass. It features the Casady-designed JCB-1 Low-Impedance Humbucker, and a three-position rotary impedance control for a wide range of tonal versatility.
Jefferson Airplane’s debut, Jefferson Airplane Takes Off, was recorded in February of ’66 and released in August of that year. “It had somewhat of a local success,” explains Jack. “It was the material that we had been playing as a group around the Bay area for a while. We recorded it on 3-track, all pretty much live performances.” When the original singer, Signe Anderson, left the band to have a baby, it was Jack who convinced Grace Slick, then performing with her own band the Great Society, to join the group. The roster complete, Jefferson Airplane rocketed to superstardom in 1967 on the initial strength of their hits “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit,” making them a cornerstone of San Francisco’s burgeoning rock scene. Jack’s ground-breaking bass work was a highlight of Surrealistic Pillow, the Airplane’s 1967 breakthrough album. “That album was really a unique statement,” says Casady in retrospect. “There were a lot of different styles of songs contributed by everybody, including an instrumental acoustic fingerpicking original tune by Jorma called ‘Embryonic Journey.’ It was quite an eclectic album and I think it still holds up today.” Jefferson Airplane subsequently released a string of acclaimed recordings–After Bathing At Baxter’s (late ’67), Crown of Creation (’68), the live Bless Its Pointed Little Head (’69), Volunteers (’70), Bark (’71), Long John Silver (’72), and the live Thirty Seconds Over Winterland (1973). The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.
With the release of his solo album, Dream Factor, Casady opened a new chapter in his ever-evolving career. Featuring 11 songs and an impressive cast of collaborators including Paul Barrere, Ivan Neville, Jorma Kaukonen, Warren Haynes, Box Set, Fee Waybill, and Doyle Bramhall II among others, Casady showcases his signature sound in a variety of settings, traveling through blues, rock, country, folk, funk, R&B and soul influences.
One of the most innovative rock and roll bands in American music, Hot Tuna recorded their latest album, Steady As She Goes, at Levon Helm’s studio with GRAMMY®--winning producer Larry Campbell and captures the energy of Hot Tuna’s live performances. Jack, along with longtime band mate Jorma Kaukonen, teamed up with Barry Mitterhoff on mandolin, Skoota Warner on drums, as well as Larry Campbell on guitar, fiddle, organ, and vocals to deliver an absolute masterpiece.
With sweeping chords and stormy melodic lines Jack’s bass distinguished not only Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna but also a variety of solo and side projects and recordings with artists including Jimi Hendrix, David Crosby, Warren Zevon, Country Joe and The Fish, SVT, Rusted Root, and Gov’t Mule.
For more information, please visit epiphone.com.
This 1968 Epiphone Al Caiola Standard came stocked with P-90s and a 5-switch Tone Expressor system.
Photo courtesy of Guitar Point (guitarpoint.de)
The Epiphone Al Caiola model was built in the Gibson Kalamazoo factory and was similar to an Epiphone Sheraton, with a longer 25 1/2" scale. It was built from late 1963 until 1969 and was available with different pickups like Gibson mini-humbuckers and P-90s. The guitar would be renamed the Al Caiola Custom to make way for the Al Caiola Standard that was introduced in 1966, but both models had the Tone Expressor system.
The guitar has a Telecaster-like wiring configuration: two pickups, master volume and master tone, 2-way pickup-selector switch. Since the circuit only has a 2-way switch instead of a 3-way switch, you can’t play both the neck and bridge pickup at the same time. (Maybe Al Caiola didn’t like a middle-position sound; who knows?) There are also five additional mini-slider switches labeled 1—5 which make up the Tone Expressor system.
“With the individual slider switches of the Tone Expressor system, you can combine all five switching positions in any way you like, so you have countless possible combinations.”
Having a look under the hood reveals the Gibson Varitone system used on the ES models. My first thought was this was new wine in old bottles, but after having a deeper look, there are differences between the standard Gibson Varitone and the Tone Expressor system. The Gibson Varitone uses a 1.5 H inductor, while the Tone Expressor system has a 15 H inductor on board. The Varitone is a rotary switch, so you can only dial in one of the switching positions, no combinations. With the individual slider switches of the Tone Expressor system, you can combine all five switching positions in any way you like, so you have countless possible combinations. Electronically, the Tone Expressor is a switchable band-rejection filter; mids are attenuated and the result is a crisp, more twangy tone.
In this first of two parts about this very special circuit, I want to describe the switching positions of the Tone Expressor system. First, here are the individual parts:
• 500k audio master volume and master tone pot with a 0.02 μF tone cap. This configuration will work with mini-humbuckers as well as P-90 pickups.
• 2-way pickup-selector slider switch. Having the possibility to engage both pickups together (no matter if in parallel or in series) would enhance this wiring noticeably.
• 15 H inductor (choke). The inductor in this circuit creates a series of notch filters together with the caps of the individual switches, so the circuit doesn’t remove all signal above a certain frequency, but only a certain amount above and below that frequency. There is a lot of debate about using an inductor or not, and if so, what type.
Personally, I think adding an inductor is not the best choice. The design may have worked at the time, but today, most of us are looking for different sounds. While the Varitone has its fans, it was never very popular because it can suck tone, and a lot of people say that it doesn’t have a major effect anyway.
If you want to use an inductor and find a matching one, these have center-tapped primaries and secondaries. Use the entire primary or the entire secondary, and ignore center taps for the Varitone wiring. I had the chance to measure several original inductors (labeled TF-90-1C), and they all showed something between 12 H and 17 H; keeping their tolerances in mind, you can use any inductor in this ballpark.
• 10 M resistors. There is a 10 M resistor connected to the circuit in series to each of the five caps. These “pull-down” resistors prevent loud popping noises when using one of the switches—standard when switching capacitance like on the Varitone system.
• 100k resistor. Together with the caps on the switches, the single 100k series resistor creates a frequency selective voltage divider, which is essential to create a proper frequency notch. The value is well-chosen so there is no need to replace it.
On the Varitone rotary switch, position No. 1 is the bypass mode. The Al Caiola, with its slider switches, naturally doesn’t need an extra switch for this. When no switch is engaged, the Tone Expressor system is in bypass mode. In general, we can say that the bigger the cap, the thinner the tone, and vice versa. Or in other words: The bigger the cap, the more the humbucker tone is tidied up towards a more twangy and single-coil-like tone.
An up-close look at the controls for the Tone Expressor system.
Photo courtesy of Guitar Point (guitarpoint.de)
Here is what each switching position does:
• Switch No. 1 with 1000 pF cap corresponds to position two of the Varitone rotary switch and has a very subtle effect. It’s an unmistakably PAF-style humbucker tone, but with the bass frequencies tidied up a little. This setting can help cut through a mix and will prevent a boomy, woolly tone when playing full-tilt.
• Switch No. 2 with 3000 pF cap corresponds to position three of the Varitone rotary switch and is my favorite setting. Still a PAF-style humbucker tone, but tighter and with more transparency. This tone never gets too boomy and rides on the edge of the P-90 territory.
• Switch No. 3 with 0.01 μF cap corresponds to position four of the Varitone rotary switch. This reminds me of a typical P-90 tone with a tight bass and clarity in the high frequencies—very cool for some break-up blues playing.
• Switch No. 4 with 0.03 μF cap corresponds to position five of the Varitone rotary switch and is a very twangy and single-coil like setting that sounds like a Stratocaster—very useful and versatile.
• Switch No. 5 with 0.22 μF cap corresponds to position six of the Varitone rotary switch and is the most twangy setting. It reminds me a lot of a good Telecaster, especially with the bridge pickup.
Next month, we will look into different ways to set up and mod this circuit, so stay tuned!
Until then ... keep on modding!