Dan Erlewine Albert King Custom Flying V - "Lucy" vs ESP Custom V Red Sparkle

The Dan Erlewine Albert King Custom Flying V - "Lucy" and the ESP Custom V Red Sparkle are both electric guitars sharing mid-forward, sustaining. The Dan Erlewine Albert King Custom Flying V - "Lucy" leans transparent and warm. The ESP Custom V Red Sparkle leans aggressive and full.

Similarity
citedBlended from circuit-archetype lineage, dynamic feel, tone-signal overlap and tone-vector distance — the tone vector itself is derived from editorial description text, not a measured acoustic signal, so this reflects how similarly the catalog copy describes the two, not a lab measurement. Shown only within a gear class, and only where there's enough evidence to be meaningful.

54% — moderately similar

Shared tone character
citedDerived from overlapping tonal signals across both listings.
  • mid-forward
  • sustaining

ESP Custom V Red Sparkle

Esp · electric guitar

Citation fame
citedCitation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.
0%
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Description

This brown Flying V, built by luthier Dan Erlewine, is one of several instruments Albert King named Lucy over his career, part of a lineage that began with his original 1959 Korina Flying V and continued through custom copies from different builders including Erlewine, John Bolin and Tom Holmes as King wore through or retired earlier examples. Erlewine was among the first luthiers King commissioned for a replacement once his original Korina V became too valuable and fragile for regular touring use. It is associated in this catalogue with both Albert King and Joe Bonamassa, the latter a well-documented collector of King-associated Flying Vs.

The ESP Custom V in Red Sparkle is a Flying-V-shaped guitar built by ESPs Custom Shop, the division that produces one-off and small-run instruments for artists and collectors beyond the standard signature model line. The sparkle finish is a cosmetic custom-order option rather than a stock colourway. It is associated in this catalogue with Kirk Hammett, whose long relationship with ESP has included numerous custom-built instruments beyond his mainline KH signature guitars.

Genres
citedGenres this gear is documented as being used in.
  • Blues
  • Metal
Tonal lean
  • transparent
  • warm
  • aggressive
  • full
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Dan Erlewine Albert King Custom Flying V - "Lucy" vs ESP Custom V Red Sparkle — Shared Character & Differences — NodeTone