I almost always root for the underdog, I preferred Betamax over VHS in the 80’s, and there’s something that fascinates me about Gibson Corvus guitars. I knew nothing of them (or, frankly, much about any guitars) until I played Guitar Hero 2. In that game, your character earns money based on your success in playing songs. The better (closer to the original) you play, the more money you make. You can spend your loot on ‘outfits’ for your guitar-playing Hero character, you can unlock new  songs in the game, and you can ‘buy’ your character additional guitars to play within the game.

One of these special unlockable guitars in Guitar Hero 2 is the Gibson Corvus. Not-so-affectionately known as the ‘can opener’ guitar, the Corvus saw very limited production in the early 80’s – say, 1982 and 1983 only. (Which reminds me of another very cool, under appreciated product close to my heart of the exact same vintage, the Yamaha Vision 550cc motorcycle but that’s a topic for another blog.)

I’ve seen the Corvus with a trio of single coil pickups, or with two humbuckers… I’ve seen them in a natural wood finish, bright, happy yellow, and cyan blue. An identical Gibson guitar is known as the Futura.

If rare is what you’re after, I have no idea what they sound like when played, and even  YouTube has no video featuring the Corvus, then this may be a collector’s item. Or it may be, to you, an ugly piece of crap. To each his own. I’m interested to buy one to see the look on the guitar tech’s face when I bring it in for a little tune-up at my favorite neighborhood music shop, American Music in Fremont, Seattle.

But hmmmm… if you were in the market for such a rare, unique guitar, where, just where, could you find one?

If there are any Gibson Corvuses for sale, they’ll most likely show up here:

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