I just realized that it can be very hard to get a good forearm anchor on a Flying V with the neck at a “classical guitar” angle; in this sense it is vastly inferior to a shape like a Stratocaster.
This is obvious in retrospect, of course.
I like the V shape for the unencumbered access to the high frets, but like you, found the ergonomics of that shape lacking in other ways.
I kind of feel like the ideal shape is the Uli Roth “Sky” guitar, though rather than pay those prices, I’d rather just buy a strat-shaped guitar and saw off the lower horn.
I agree about the V shape. Great access to to upper frets, but awkward in other ways.
The Sky guitar is a neat idea, it definitely makes more sense to to me remove the lower horn entirely than trying to to make the cutaway extremely large while still maintaining a horn (like the Rusty Cooley signature guitars).
I think this is the ideal:
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I think the upper-left part needs to look circular because of the constraint of a forearm anchor, so that looks reasonable. The upper horn is very useful for balance, so removing it depends on the taste of the user. After that, it’s just a question of if the guitar has to work in a seated position, or not…
This guitar looks reasonable to me in terms of overall design, it might even have a 5-way that behaves like an Ibanez (HSH), I’m not sure:
I can’t afford a Sky guitar! But one thing: I used to think that V’s had great fret access, but they don’t. Look carefully at this example, and it will be clear:
https://www.jacksonguitars.com/gear/shape/king-v/usa-signature-corey-beaulieu-king-v-kv6/2803640803
This is a guitar with good forearm anchor and access to every fret:
I’m wondering if I have to disassembly my V (it’s from Warmoth) and replace its body,
I was watching some of the best posers (not “poseurs”) on the V, and all of them seem to have terrible forearm anchors. I concluded that I can get a somewhat reasonable forearm anchor if I bring one really high, but that’s silly.
For the curious, this is first-rate posing, IMHO, with lots of drama, I love it:
For anything related to Vs, this guy has the answer.
Thanks for the link to MS, he’s great!
I think that everybody has a bad anchor with a V, even the pros. So my conclusions are (a) use a Strat-like body for going fast, and if it doesn’t have to be fast, then (b) pose like Wolf (although they all have a lot of the tricks in common). I’m terrible now, every time I get a V in my hand it’s going to point everywhere!
Here is ACCEPT doing a synchronized back-and-forth with their V’s, I do that as well now. I’m very impressionable, I suppose.
So there is a happy ending here: I started to copy Wolf Hofmann whenever I am playing a V, and it turns out that if I’m standing with it mounted on my right leg I can get a reasonable anchor as long as the neck is not too high. But even more interestingly, when I look at the pick, I see under the string plane and can clearly see the tip working on the strings, and it’s a totally different perspective than I used to get… before, I’d say that I was looking at my hand and the pick tip was hidden, but now, I’m looking at the business-end of the pick. So, in summary, no regrets about a V.
Now I remain concerned about a Warmoth “Explorer” that I have to assemble…