SOUND CHECK

THE ORIGINAL GIBSON Victory models (the dual-humbucker MVII and triple-pickup MVX) date back to the early Eighties when Gibson was losing serious market share to Fender and super Strats from upstarts like Charvel, Jackson and Kramer.

- Chris Gill

Gibson Victory and Victory Figured Top

While it still retained a good chunk of Gibson DNA, the Victory's offset asymmetrical double cutaway shape and clever pickup switching options made it a strong competitor that got overshadowed by flashier designs. The Victory lasted only a few years during the end of the Norlin era and the relocation from Kalamazoo to Nashville, but over time it has earned status as a sleeper model.

Gibson's recently revived Victory model looks similar to the original MVII, but the new model is more of an update than a replica. As one of Gibson's more attractive forgotten models from its recent past (thankfully the butt-ugly Corvus from the same period doesn't seem to be on Gibson's radar), the new Victory offers guitarists an attractive alternative to traditional Gibson designs both in form and function.

Build Quality & Playability

Several notable differences distinguish the new Victory from its Eighties predecessor. The body is mahogany instead of boat anchor-heavy hardrock maple; the neck is also mahogany and has a 25.5-inch scale, 24 frets and compound radius instead of a maple neck with a 24.75-inch scale, 22 frets and 14-inch radius; the headstock has an angled "hockey stick" Explorer-style shape instead of a straight "Firebird-esque" design; the new pickguard is smaller; the electronics include 80s Tribute humbuckers, push-pull coil split and inner/outer coil select switches and a three-way toggle instead of custom Tim Shaw humbuckers (plus a stacked middle single-coil size humbucker on the MVX) and a five-way blade pickup selector; and the new model's neck joint is contoured to provide even better access to the upper fret region.