Gibson Flying V

Jol Dantzig met Paul Hamer in college and played together in various bands before the two formed their own retail and teaching studio. They soon found themselves designing and building their own style of electric guitars and basses. With the help of two other friends, the Hamer Guitar Company was created in the 1970s. They made a splash in the industry with a series of innovative instruments and with a bass model helped popularize the Flying V, which had not been a success when Ted McCarty at Gibson had introduced it two decades before.

Bo Diddley was the pioneering rhythm and blues performer who taught the industry one main point in the early days of the electric guitar era. With his square cigar box guitar, patented by Gretsch, Bo demonstrated that, if it’s electronic, it could be any shape and size. Soon after he played the square guitar, companies such as Gibson patented other uniquely-shaped instruments such as the Flying V and Explorer. What people didn’t know were the hidden sides of Bo that made him what he was, 12 years of classical music lessons, violin building and a softer, more compassionate side.

Amy England was just seven years old when she proudly sold her first set of guitar strings in her family’s Indianapolis music store. Her grandparents, Leola and Amos Arthur, had opened Arthur’s Music Store in the early 1950s, and it quickly became renowned worldwide for its impressive selection of stringed instruments. Amy eagerly learned the intricate art of instrument repairs and finish work from her grandfather, while listening to his captivating stories about famous customers and his involvement with the iconic Gibson Flying V #12, later owned by bluesman Joe Bonamassa.

Little Freddie King has become a mainstay within the New Orleans music scene.  His energetic performances, often with high kicks, always feature his main instrument, the Gibson Flying V!  Freddie is so much a part of the blues in New Orleans that he was inducted into the state’s Music Hall of Fame.  He has also played at the New Orleans Blues & Heritage Festival every year but one since it began in 1970.  As a songwriter, Freddie has given voice to his special style of country blues and as a result, thanks to his manager and drummer, Wacko Wade, he formed his own music publish

Ted McCarty was the president of Gibson Guitars when he signed Les Paul to help design a series of instruments with his name.  Ted went on to design and patent guitars such as the Flying V before working with Chicago Musical Instruments and Bigsby Guitars, becoming an industry icon.  Among the classic moments of the industry’s history in which Ted took part in was in the 1950s when he asked Seth Lover to design a pick-up for the newly created electric guitars that would "buck the hum."  Later in his life he was befriended by Paul Reed Smith who sought Ted's advice and friendship a

Linda Osborne fondly recalls with a broad smile and immense pride her parents’ rich musical backgrounds before they established the family’s cherished music store. Leola and Amos Arthur, both lifelong musicians, had a profound passion for teaching—Leola excelled on the accordion and Amos mastered the guitar and mandolin. In 1951, they opened a humble music lesson studio, which quickly expanded within a year into Arthur’s Music, a staple of Indianapolis, Indiana. Linda grew up immersed in the vibrant energy of the store, which, by the time she was a teenager, had grown to three thr