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Gibson’s Tom Petty SJ-200 Wildflower pays tribute to the late rock icon

Only 100 units will be produced by Gibson’s Bozeman, Montana facility.

Gibson Tom. Petty SJ-200 Wildflower

Image: Gibson

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Gibson has unveiled the Tom Petty SJ-200 Wildflower, a signature acoustic-electric guitar that celebrates the late rock icon’s Wildflowers era.

According to Gibson, only 100 of these guitars will be available, each handcrafted by the luthiers of its Bozeman, Montana facility.

The guitar features a number of special touches that reference Petty’s acclaimed second album, Wildflowers from 1994. The album’s logo appears in mother of pearl on the front side of the guitar’s headstock. On the back of the headstock, there’s a decal of the lyric, “You belong among the wildflowers”, taken from the album’s title track.

Meanwhile, the guitar’s construction involves a AAA Sitka spruce top, figured quilted maple back and sides, as well as a two-piece flamed maple neck with a walnut stringer. Its fretboard is fashioned out of Indian rosewood and features 20 standard small crown frets and mother of pearl inlays. As with other SJ-200 models, the ornate dovetail neck-to-body join also appears on this signature instrument.

For hardware, there’s a set of Grover Imperial tuners in gold, as well as a rosewood moustache bridge. Gibson also equips this guitar with an LR Baggs VTC under-saddle pickup, with its volume and tone controls adjustable from the soundhole control panel. The guitar comes in an Antique Natural gloss nitro finish.

Petty’s longtime producer George Drakoulias thinks the icon, who passed away due to an accidental drug overdose in 2017, would have been “very happy” with how the signature model turned out.

“I think [Tom] would have loved the inlay,” he said in a trailer for the guitar [below]. “The headstock design – that was on the back of the tour bus.”

Tom Petty’s daughter Adria said of the instrument: “We hope fans and members of the music community alike enjoy this beautiful instrument as much as we do. It is a beautiful tribute to him.”

The Tom Petty SJ-200 Wildflower is priced at $9,999 and comes with a custom hardcase and certificate of authenticity.

Learn more at Gibson.com

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