The Gibson Victory MVX (sometimes MV10) was designed to have a lot of different sounds. MV stood for "multi-voice", with X the Roman numeral for 10. This referred to the "ten distinct sounds from one great new guitar", achieved with a five way Stratocaster-style blade pickup selector switch, combined with a separate coil tap switch "for single coil/humbucking tonalities". And it's a great looking guitar! This example, in Twilight blue was produced at the Gibson Kalamazoo plant, stamped on 20th Nov 1981, and would have been priced at $xxx (1/1/1982 price list).
The Victory series was created by the Gibson research and development team in Kalamazoo: Bruce Bolen, Chuck Burge, and Tim Shaw. Production of the Victory basses began at the second Gibson plant in Nashville. But the Victory MV guitars were initially made at Kalamazoo, and this continued until late 1981 when production also moved to Nashville. But there was a period (October / November 1981) in which both plants were producing Victory guitars - at least according to decoded serial numbers. Whether any parts (including stamped necks?) were moved from Kalamazoo to Nashville is unclear.
So this is one of the final Kalamazoo-built Gibson Victorys, with later examples shipping from the Gibson Nashville plant.
The Victory series was very much aimed at Fender players - offering them an instrument that felt like a Fender, with the same intuitive controls, but with an expanded tonal palette. As described in the "no substitute for Victory" flyer the series has "voices as thin and sparkling as they are fat and rich". The Victory MVX can be described as a super-Strat, with a similar body style, the same five-way pickup selector / controls in the same position - but with the addition of a set neck and humbucking mode for some more traditional Gibson tones. The original 1981 advertising pictured Strats, Les Pauls, and a G&L F100, claiming Sounds Like... All Of 'Em.
The Gibson Victory series featured some innovative new hardware. The the new "top adjust" Tune-O-Matic bridge was fitted to several Gibson guitar models at the time; however the various pickup designs were exclusive to the Victory. All five pickups across the range (three in the MVX, two in the MVII) are different, and specifically designed for the role assigned.
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$3500
$4295