Gibson Victory

The Gibson Victory was an electric guitar produced by Gibson Guitars from 1981 until 1983 (although some sources say production lasted until 1984).[1] In the late 1970s, a band named Stillwater came out with a song named -Mindbender "My Daddy was a Gibson. My Mama was a Fender That's why they call me Mindbender" about a guitar that could talk. This song may have started the SuperStrat[2] battle, but in the early 1980s, when musicians watched Eddie Van Halen play his Frankenstrat[3] they questioned and rethought everything about their instruments and the SuperStrat war began. Guitar buyers insisted on engineering advances allowing more speed and playability of skyscraping leads, dive bombing, and rock crushing shred.[4] The master luthiers in Kalamazoo responded to these demanding guitarists by designing the Victory. The Victory, a superstrat, was a departure from Gibson's image as an old-fashioned guitar maker. MV stood for Multi-Voice, and X stood for ten. They were created by the Gibson research and development team in Kalamazoo, MI, with the sturdy body and neck work by Chuck Burge, and the "multi-voice" pickups and electronics by Tim Shaw.

Gibson Victory
ManufacturerGibson
Period1981 – c. 1983/4[1]
Construction
Body typeSolid, double cut
Neck jointSet-in neck
Scale24.75 in (629 mm)
Woods
BodyEastern hard rock maple
FretboardQuartersawn Madagascan Ebony or Indian Rosewood
Hardware
BridgeTune-O-Matic
Kahler
Pickup(s)HH (MV2)
HHH (MVX)
Victory MVX Headstock with Adjustable Brass Nut and Locking Self Triming Machine Heads
Gibson Victory MVX
Gibson Victory MV2

The Victory MV's were available with an optional / special order Kahler 2200 Tremolo System (required factory routing).[5] The standard Victory MV's had the first seven-point top-adjust bridge[6] designed by Rendal Wall and patent granted in June 1982 that worked for both right and left handed guitars. The three post holes in the underside allowed either side of the bridge unit to be moved forwards or backwards allowing intonation of ultra light or extra heavy string gauges, and twelve interchangeable individually-adjustable saddles, six standard nylon saddles and 6 optional brass saddles for fine adjustment of intonation and to affect tone. Note that the brass saddle inserts are almost impossible to find.

String gauge affects sound and playability. If you are a professional with strong fingers, using heavier strings produces greater dynamic and timbral range, more sustain, & less buzzing using slide. The high tension also allows lower action. Using lighter strings allows easier bending, easier hammer-ons, pull-offs & very fast solos. Victories were built tough and stiff to easily handle the high tension of using much heavier string gauges (total set tensions of 140 pounds or more) without a truss rod adjustment.

Tim Shaw engineered the Victory MV's with a series of specially designed Humbucker Pickups[7] Kalamazoo Victory pickups were hand made one at a time on the “center focused” KZ/LP115 PAF Pickup Winder,[8] with high sensitivity and unique tonal signature with fewer turns of wire, less scatter and a narrow magnetic aperture,[9][10] Nashville Victory pickups were produced on the Meteor ME-301 PAF Pickup Winder to the same Tim Shaw specifications. Each pickup across the range is different, and specifically designed for the role it was assigned. The MVX and MV2 do not have the same pickups, each guitar has its own sound.

The location of the Victory MV's pickups were carefully calculated to provide full frequency response and minimize dead spots by avoidance of string nodal points. The majority of harmonics coincide with where the twenty fourth fret would be located. If you want to play your Victory above the 22nd fret, use a ring slide. Humbucker pickups are inherently low noise because the interference is significantly reduced via phase cancellation, however the Victory MV's have additional shielding connected to ground with the use of special electrically conductive black paint in the routed out area under the pickguard. Truly silent when it should be. The coil tap switch in the up position is humbucker; in the down position is single coil, indistinguishable from traditional unshielded single coils minus the noise. Victory MVs are totally immune from "Strat-Itis"[11][12] (simultaneous multiple discordant frequency syndrome) In some single-coil pickups, strat-Itis is an annoying out-of-tune harmonic, oscillating/warbling /shriek/dissonant sound.

Gibson had established business agreements for over 100 years with the best wood suppliers in the world, and Gibson Luthiers had first pick to craft the Victory MV's. The availability of premium old growth wood[13] with tight grain was better in the 1980s than today because of new laws & limited natural resources.[14] The Victory MV's two piece body & tri-laminated quartersawn neck[15] were crafted from solid Eastern Hard Rock Maple, with a Janka Hardness ranking of 1,450 pound-force, a crushing strength of 7,830 pound-force per square inch, & a tensile elasticity modulus of 1,830,000 pound-force per square inch, harder than Walnut, Oak, or even Mahogany.

Eastern Hard Rock Maple is extremely hard, dense, and stiff, producing earth quaking sustain.[16][17] Victory MV's are air-dried instruments; seasoning produces a higher quality, more stable wood allowed to reach equilibrium in its natural shape with minimal stress on the woods cellulosic fiber structures (that look like microscopic straws), however the air-curing process takes a lot of time.[18] By comparison modern kiln-dried wood utilizes heat to dry wood much faster, but is more prone to cracking, twisting, warping & shrinkage. It is also hard on the hygroscopic substructure damaging the wood cells. Unless kiln dried lumber is kept in a fully climate-controlled building from the moment it comes out of the kiln, it will quickly re-absorb moisture from the ambient air, returning to the same moisture content as properly air-dried lumber. But the internal tensions remain.

The Victory MV's have a stacked laminate alternating wood grain neck design[19] crossbanding strengthens the overall neck, gives more tuning stabilization, and allowed the luthiers to eliminate the need for a scarf joint[20] at the headstock. Contrasting laminated graining angles provides superior resistance against impact cracking over angled single piece necks, scarf joint necks, or necks with no break angle that require junky string tree clips to keep the strings in the nut.[21]

Wood improves with age because of the polymerization of sap over decades. Once the wood is removed from the living tree crystallizes. Aged wood also loses its ability to absorb moisture, causing the wood to become more stiff and stable as it ages.

Victory MV's have binding along the edges of the fretboard that cover the unfinished fret tangs, fret slot end gaps, and the nibs on the fret ends that can protrude. Binding is tedious painstaking work and requires skill to install properly, but provides a slick smooth feel,[22] is especially nice for sliding your hand along the fretboard, and gives a dressy look. Not to be confused with undercut, fret over binding.[23] As the decades pass the aged fingerboard wood reaches its natural equilibrium and fret sprouts on Victory MV's have become extremely rare when properly humidified.[24] By comparison, If you read guitar forums, you will find many brand new kiln-dried beginner level guitars have major shrinkage problems with fret sprout causing the guitar to be uncomfortable or even unplayable.

The fret board on Victory Mv's have Nacre inlay markers, also known as mother of pearl, or oyster shell. It is hard, wear resistant, and iridescent. Gibson Victory fretboards have a 12” radius, which allow string bends to ring cleaner with the action low, for example guitars with a 7.25" radius will buzz or “choke out” if you to bend the strings too far.

Using glue that is stronger than the wood itself, the Victory MV's mortise-and-tenon Set-in neck[25] has a tight permanent coupling, and facilitates ripples of vibrational energy that round out and thicken the sound with a comfortable contoured low profile heel transition and silky smooth, very slick, fast playing, rock-hard quartersawn Madagascan ebony fret board that is absolutely unbeatable for its durability.[26] Unfinished [27][28] ebony will look new and last for generations without pitting.[29] Ebony has a Janka Hardness of 3,080 pound-force that required hardened carbide steel tools, more time, accuracy, attention to detail, and skill to craft.

In comparison, some guitars have a sticky glossy finish on a sealed fingerboard to keep moisture out that attracts dirt and grime.

Also by comparison other guitars with weak "screw-on" necks have a thick clumsy heel that is covered with a metal plate and need adjustment shims, causing a creaky neck pocket / body gap.[30] So called "bolt-on" necks have no proper neck torque specs, over-tightening the wood screws crushes the wood, cracks the finish, and strips the holes requiring a toothpick or dowel to be glued in the stripped hole,[31] or on necks attached with machine screws and threaded Inserts under-tightening the screws can cause shift in the neck pocket, causing the strings to shift to one side of the neck.

The Gibson Victory MV's elegant headstock shape has a fourteen degree stacked laminate "non-scarfed" break angle, made like a hockey stick. By comparison beginner guitars have the headstock cut off and then glued back on at an angle, with dowel pegs creating a "Scarf Joint" to save money. Gibson Kalamazoo luthiers pioneered laminated guitar necks.

The Victory's tuning machine alignment allows for a "perfectly straight" symmetrical pull on the strings that provides optimum string down pressure on the nut for the string to seat in the nut slot but not pinch, bind, or rattle in the slot, transferring all the vibration into the nut instead of into the tuning machines. (Unlike beginner guitars that need string tree clips, retainers, or guides that cause friction and pings/cracking noise and string breakage).

The Victory's chambered cutaway offers musicians with large hands better access to play in the top frets. The Gibson Victory MV's are not recommended for the weak, these sledge axes weigh a solid nine pounds but are perfectly balanced both on the strap or on the knee, Luthiers know guitars with more mass and density have more brilliance and sustain.[32]

All Gibson Victory MV's came standard with the highly sought-after Posi-Lok Diamond Security Strap Buttons.[33] (Stevie Ray Vaughan used these rare trademarked Posi-Lok buttons on his famous Lenny Guitar).

According to Gibson, Victory MV's were only produced in Candy Apple Red, Antique Cherry Sunburst, & Twilight Blue. (Only a small percentage were Twilight Blue) even more rare, sometimes a retailer who did a lot of business with Gibson would be able to ask for a small number of guitars with a special finish. Mention has been made of Roy Orbison's special order black Victory MVX on display in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City.[34][35]

The Victory MV's came standard with a rugged black Gibson branded "8170" dual lock and key padded hard case with internal storage box.

Decode the serial number on the back of the headstock to determine if your Victory was hand made by finding the location and the date of its manufacture.[36]

History

In order to respond to the superstrat craze, Gibson introduced new models such as the US-1, the US-2, M-III, Q-3000, and WRC models . Though the US-1 was one of Gibson's first mass-production superstrats the Victory MV is the true "FIRST" Gibson superstrat. The MV's were rare guitars when they were new.[37] Only 1800 MVX and 200 MV2 were ever minted. They were distributed worldwide. Only the earliest of these exceptional Gibson Victory MV guitars (quantity unknown) were handmade by the 44 veteran luthiers[38] in the historic 225 Parsons St. Kalamazoo factory, using the best methods, and highest quality materials, with reputations of caring about each instrument as a creative piece of art. They were also the last.[39] In 1981 America was in terrible stagflation, the economy was miserable,[40][41][42][43] Millions of union auto workers and steel mill workers lost their jobs due to cheap imported cars and steel, The OPEC oil cartel controlled the world oil supply and had America on its knees . Americans begged in long lines at gas station for overpriced gas, banks started to foreclose on family farms. At the same time factories in Japan, China, and Korea were producing cheap lookalike copies of classic designs from Fender, Gibson, and Rickenbacker putting American luthiers out of work, and forcing American guitar companies to make the change to automated mass production lines, and the Kalamazoo factory founded in 1894 by Orville H. Gibson was shut down. Les Paul himself came with a truck to rescue the KZ/LP-115 Pickup Winding Machine.[44] and final minting of the MV's were sent to Nashville using automated milling and routing equipment and the "speedy" Meteor ME-301 PAF Pickup Winder[45][46] Some of the master luthiers who made the last "Kalamazoo Victories" purchased the old Gibson factory, equipment, and tools, and started the Heritage Guitar Co.[47] Emphasizing quality before quantity, the character of the two factories that Gibson ran in the early '80s was quite different. Nashville was set up to produce large quantities of a few individual models whereas Kalamazoo was more flexible and could design, specialize, and customize small runs and "one-of-a-kind" instruments. The MV's were superb guitars: a Victory, both in name and features, ahead of its time,[48] but a defeat for Gibson in terms of sales. Due to the double-dip recession top shelf guitars were simply unaffordable to most professional musicians at the time.[49][50] The Victory MV's were hard to find in music stores, and if you wanted to custom / special order one they took time to make. They were priced between the Les Paul Deluxe and the Les Paul Standard. The Victory MV's were not well marketed. In the late 70's getting a copy of the Gibson Guitar Catalog was on every musicians wish list. But in 1981 and 1982 there were no American catalogs. To save money on advertising, Gibson[51] only publicized the Victories with a 5-page black and white paper leaflet.[52] It was also very poor timing to market the Victory MV-2 as "Designed primarily for the discerning country player" during the worst farm foreclosure crisis in US history.[53] It was not until 1983 that the Gibson Guitar Catalog showed a Twilight Blue Victory MVX with a Kahler tremolo in a full color high quality photograph.[54] Over the decades many MV's have been played hard, need fret dressing or re-fretting,[55] and have some scars.[56] Only a small percentage of Victory MV's actually have the original Kahler 2200 Tremolo System invented in 1979 by Gary Kahler and Dave Storey, and an even smaller percentage have a "Gibson Branded" Kahler 2200 Tremolo. Shredder Danny Coralles from Autopsy/Abscess - one of the early breed of US death metal acts still plays his Victory MVX.[57] The Kinks' Dave Davies also played a Victory MVX.[58] There was at least one Gibson Victory/Q Series MV Twelve string prototype. There was also at least one Gibson Victory MV with a white scratch plate. The Victory MV guitars are perhaps some of the most underestimated, and short lived guitars in Gibson history. The bulk of production seems to have been limited to the second half of 1981, and the first quarter of 1982 in Nashville. Blink in the early 1980s and you would have missed them. The Victory Standard, Artist, and Custom bass guitar model were produced from 1981 to c. 1986.[1]

Models

The Victory MV's were only available as a six string solid body guitar. Two models were produced:

  • MV2 - "Velvet Brick"[59] neck humbucker, "Magna II"[60] bridge humbucker, passive electronics with one volume and one tone knob and one three-position pickup selector, and a quartersawn Indian rosewood fretboard.[61] It is important to note that the MV2 Velvet Brick pickup is NOT the same pickup as the later mass-produced Gibson Sonex Deluxe Velvet Brick pickup, they are clearly different but have the same name. Confusing, yes. Identifying, measuring and documenting these rare MV2 neck pickups for collectors should be done.
  • MVX - "Magna Plus" neck humbucker 7.79 ohms, "Magna Plus B" bridge humbucker 5.94 ohms, "Super Stack" middle humbucker, passive electronics one volume and one tone knob, a five-position pickup selector, a coil tap switch, and a quartersawn Madagascan ebony fretboard.

Note: For many years quartersawn ebony boards have been unavailable because the farms of newly planted ebony trees are still small and need time to grow. Forest harvesting is greatly restricted.

Currently less than 1% of ebony fret boards are quartersawn and pure-black ebony (unstained) is very hard to find. [62][63]

Gibson stopped using ebony and transitioned to synthetic Richlite[64] in 2012/2013. Worldwide demand for high quality ebony fretboards has made restoring and refretting vintage guitars very popular.

Environmental sustainability and restoration

For over a century Gibson went to the ends of the Earth and into the deepest forests to obtain the finest wood on the planet to hand make their instruments. Generations of luthiers carried on the skills of their trade. As the guitar industry underwent the change to mass production more guitars were produced cheaper. The demand for old growth trees for premium specialty wood increased rapidly. Restoring a fine classic instrument to new, or better than new condition is by far a better environmental choice than buying a new guitar. Collectors want to keep their guitars as close to original as possible, however there are some popular modifications Victory owners have made without damaging the instrument. Change out those nylon inserts, they dampen sustain, Victories were engineered to ring like a bell. Look in to a Stetsbar tremolo system if your Victory does not have the original Kahler tremolo system. The Stetsbar tremolo system bolts right on to the original posts without any routing or drilling. Consider locking machine heads with automatic string trim, they are easy to do yourself and they keep your guitar in tune even better. If the frets on your Victory are worn out, have a luthier re-fret your fret board with stainless steel fret wire,[65] the frets will last forever and you will never find better ebony. Re-fretting also allows you to choose new custom binding.[66] Technology is now available with the use of a "PLEK" machine[67] to analyze and repair even microscopic imperfections in your frets and fret board.[68] Gibson Victory frets are comfortable, easy to slide your fingers up and down fret board, and properly set up have very low action, but like tires on a car, guitar frets are consumable and wear out. Eventually your Victory will need fret work. The idea that a professional re-fret makes a guitar less valuable is uneducated. Victory MV's came standard with .08 wide by .04 tall Nickel Silver fret wire. Comparable to Jescar 37080 fret wire, Dunlop 6230 fret wire, or StewMac Medium/Medium. By today's standards many professional guitar players feel Nickel Silver is too soft, however some luthiers do not like working with Stainless Steel because it ruins their tools. Finding an experienced luthier is a must. Re-fretting your Victory gives you lots of choices, you can use the exact same fret wire it came with originally, or go harder. The Vickers hardness test was developed in 1921 by Robert L. Smith and George E. Sandland to measure the hardness of materials. For example, If Vickers hardness is notated: 100 HV/5, it means a HV of 100 was obtained using a 5 kg force.

Nickel Silver 200 HV/5, EVO Gold 250 HV/5, Stainless Steel 300 HV/5.

You can also change fret wire size, but consider carefully. Jumbo frets are easier for bending but can feel like driving fast over speed bumps with your fingers walking a tightrope. With medium frets a light touch is all it takes, they are easier to chord and won't go sharp- plus light gauge strings are still easy to bend. Do you want more control over string height on your Victory? Install a string height adjustable brass nut, especially if you like to play slide and fret at the same time - you can get your string height perfect. Keep all of your original parts in a safe place. Exact match paint for your Victory can now be mixed with the use of a hand held "Spectrophotometer" at your local auto paint supply, just bring it in.


CAUTION! If you a musician who travels internationally: Ambiguous trade rules apply to CITES-listed tree species, such as ebony and rosewood, enforcing restrictions on your instrument.  To prevent your Gibson Victory from being impounded or confiscated going through customs by an overzealous customs agent make sure you have the proper accompanying CITES paperwork. Even then, it can still boil down to what country or who you are dealing with at customs, and how they interpret CITES. A slight misinterpretation and you could have to fight to get your instrument back.


Gibson Victory MV's designed by Tim Shaw

Tim Shaw was an engineer in the Kalamazoo custom shop. In 1980 he conducted a scientific study of the various PAF models and  lab analyzed the materials, to design a pickup that was an exact copy, reissue, or replica of the 1959 PAF pickup. This is what people commonly refer to as a "Shaw Pickup", these have an Unoriented Alnico 5 and are ink stamped as: 137/138, 372/373, 498/499.

The "Shaw Era" for Gibson was between 1980 and 1986. Tim Shaw's Victory MV pickups do not have ink stamps.

For example, the Gibson Victory MVX center pickup is an extremely rare "stacked" humbucker, designed by Shaw, but clearly not what people now refer to as a "Shaw pickup".

Tim Shaw is now chief engineer for Fender. In 2015 Fender released the American Professional instruments series using brand-new Shawbucker pickups.[69]

The Kalamazoo luthiers broke the mold and a century of tradition to build a radical new model that screamed. Because of automation and cheap imports, the survival Gibson was in question. This new guitar model required the most sensitive and focused pickups they could make. The “Magna 2, Magna Plus, and Magna Plus B” series of pickups each had their own unique tonal qualities.  The super stack pickup was also a relatively new design. The MV's pickups have nickel-silver alloy baseplates, the formulation is unknown. Ni-Ag has a direct effect on the pickup's inductance.

It is reasonable to estimate that only about 150 Gibson "Magna II" pickups are still left in the world. The "Magna II" pickups were overwound, with full magnet loading in both coils. One outside bar magnet loaded coil and a 6 internal pole piece magnet loaded coil.

The MV2 Velvet Brick neck pickup was designed by Bill Lawrence. The Velvet Brick pickups were later mass-produced. This is from the Gibson brochure 1980.

"The Velvet Brick features a distinctive black and cream combination finish. The exposed coil pickup produces higher output than our standard humbuckers, with extended treble response, increased mid-range and solid lows. Add more to your sound with the Velvet Brick. A pickup that looks as good as it cooks. Features: Inductance-4.7 Henries, Resonant peak-5.8kHz,DC Resistance 7.8k ohms, High Output Permanent Ceramic Magnet, 6 adjustable pole pieces, Exact replacement for Gibson and many other large humbuckers".

Optional Kahler 2200

In 1981 American Precision Metal Works Inc., a division of Kahler Systems International; unveiled the Kahler tremolo, Victory MV's were the first Gibson's to have them, but only a small percentage came new from Gibson with this option. These Victories can be identified by inspecting the routed area under the trem will have the same electrically conductive black paint used in the routed pickup area. Others Victories had aftermarket Kahler 2200's professionally installed by luthiers. Some of the Kahler trems were Gibson branded, some were not. Each individual saddle could be adjusted in six directions: up or down, for proper string height to follow the radius of the neck; a front-to-back saddle adjustment, to intonate the strings; and a side-to-side adjustment for spacing each string properly. The Kahler arm is sensitive to the touch and has a soft feel. They needed to be kept clean and lubed to work properly.

Victory Multi-Voice "CM" Option

Victory MV's were rare, but even harder to find is on the headstock of a small percentage of BOTH the Victory MVX and the MVII guitars there is a CM after the word Victory. The meaning of the CM may be lost to the winds of time forever. An extensive search of several guitar forums for the meaning of the "CM" came up with "Chick Magnet", "Costs More", or "CustoM"; but the CM Victories are visibly identical to the standard MV's. They look the same ."Country Music" could make sense on the MVII due to its marketing, but does not make sense for the MVX. Both the Victory MVX and the MVII had ALNICO magnets (Aluminum, Nickel, Cobalt) in the pickups, except for the MVII which had one ceramic magnet (strontium ferrite) in the Velvet Brick pick-up. So a possible clue to the meaning of CM is that Tim Shaw was experimenting with the electrodynamics of the Victories and used all "Ceramic Magnets" [70] in the pick-ups to give them another flavor of sound. This is just a theory. It would be interesting to hear a standard Victory MVX or MVII played side by side with Victories that have the CM option. This theory could be proven or disproven if we could measure and compare the CM pickups for resistance and gauss. It is unknown how many CM Victories were made. If you know more please update this page.

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