MACHINE HEAD Frontman Discusses Epiphone Love/Death Baritone Flying-V Signature Guitar

In early June, Gibson conducted an interview with guitarist/vocalist Robb Flynn of San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD at the Rock Am Ring festival in Nürburgring, Germany. You can now watch the chat below.

Flynn worked closely with Epiphone engineers to create the Epiphone Robb Flynn Love/Death Baritone Flying V, the first of its kind not only for Epiphone but for the Gibson family of brands as well. Robb has won countless awards including the Metal Hammer Golden Gods award presented in 2007. And just like his music, Robb's baritone design brings a totally original sound to metal and hard rock.

"The main reason for having the slightly shorter 27.0" baritone scale is when you tune down to B, it just makes the low definition really tight, especially for palm muting and chunking," remarks Flynn. "It opens up the sound a lot." The guitar comes equipped with string gauges (low to high) .58, .42, .32, unwound .18, .13, and .10 — the same that Robb uses on stage — but can also accept heavier gauges.

The Robb Flynn Love/Death Baritone Flying V features a Mahogany body in the classic Kalamazoo factory "V" style with a Mahogany SlimTaper "D"-profile neck which features a baritone ready 27" scale. The Ebony fingerboard has a 1.68" graphite nut for precision tuning and "Love/Death" inlays and 24 medium jumbo frets. The thunderous low end of the Robb Flynn Love/Death Baritone Flying V comes from the combination of an EMG-HA neck pickup and an EMG-81 bridge pickup. The EMG-HA neck pickup is a uniquely designed single-coil pickup inside a humbucker housing which keeps the classic look of a Flying V guitar but with something special under the hood. The EMG-HA debuted in 1974 as the first noiseless single coil pickup and features Alnico magnets for warmth and the widest possible frequency response for great definition and harmonics. It's also a perfect choice for rhythm when matched with the low tuning of a baritone guitar providing a solid "chunking" bedrock while still showing off all the complex overtones that are part of the baritone experience. The EMG-81 bridge pickup is one of EMG's most requested pickups and utilizes powerful ceramic magnets and close aperture coils for incredible amounts of low end cut and fluid sustain. The EMG-81, combined with the unique intervals of baritone tuning, will slice through dense mixes and make your baritone leads sound thunderous. The controls are straightforward with a full-size 500K O potentiometer Master Volume control and a 3-way toggle switch.

The Robb Flynn Love/Death Baritone Flying V features Epiphone's rock solid hardware including Grover locking machine heads for on-stage precision, an Epiphone LockTone Tune-o-matic bridge and StopBar tailpiece, chrome knobs, a standard 1/4" metal jack plate and Epiphone strap locks.

The Robb Flynn Love/Death Baritone Flying V includes a Custom Hard Case with original artwork by Robb Flynn and Strephon Taylor. The first 250 guitars produced will also receive a hand-signed certificate.

"This guitar isn't for blues players or jazz players," says Flynn, "it's a metal guitar designed specifically for young or modern metal players."

And as with every Epiphone, the Love/Death Baritone Flying V comes with the peace of mind of our Limited Lifetime Warranty backed by Gibson Musical Instruments' famous 24/7/365 day Customer Service. Go low and get heavy with the one-of-a-kind Epiphone Robb Flynn Love/Death Baritone Flying V.