“I played my first Flying V ironically as a joke… It was considered a very ‘metal’ guitar, and I could not shred”: L7’s Donita Sparks on why she opted to play a Flying V – despite it being a “shredder guitar”

L7's Donita Sparks has become inextricably linked to the Flying V – a guitar that, admittedly, might not be the first guitar music fans associate with grunge-tinged art punk. However, Sparks claims her choice was deliberate, albeit one that began as a bit of a joke with a not-so-subtle hint of defying expectations.

“I do remember my first Flying V,” she tells Guitar World. “I played it ironically as a joke because nobody had a Flying V at that time who was doing art punk, or at least punk, right? It was considered a very ‘metal’ guitar, and it was kind of ironic, like I could not shred. I've never been a shredder, and yes, it's kind of a shredder guitar.”

L7 - "questioning my sanity" live @ Glastonbury Festival - 1994 - YouTube

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“A lot of guitars are very curvy, kind of like the silhouette of a va-va-voom woman,” she had previously shared with NPR. “And a Flying V is very angular. And it looks like you're playing something from the Jetsons.”

Once the band gained momentum, Sparks stuck with the Flying V, even playing it at career-defining moments like their 1994 Glastonbury appearance and their infamous set at the 1992 Reading Festival.

“At that point [in my career], I was playing Epiphone Flying Vs because the folks at Epiphone were kind enough to give me free guitars. So, I had Epiphone Flying Vs, and those were great.

“And I always needed a tremolo bar, so they had those, but sometimes, I'd break them by throwing them off me, and they'd have to get repaired. There was a lot of duct tape going on with all our stuff.”

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While Sparks switched to a 1963 Gibson Melody Maker for her solo record Transmiticate, feeling that the Flying V represented her “L7 identity,” the band's 2014 reunion and their 2019 album Scatter the Rats saw her return to the model she's best associated with – with a notable upgrade.

“We all play Gibsons now. Suzy plays a Gibson Melody Maker, and I'm on a Flying V. So, we finally graduated from Epiphone to Gibson!” she quips.

Guitar World's full interview with Donita Sparks will be published in the coming weeks.