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Gibson Announces Tom Petty Wildflower Guitar

March 23, 2021

For 127 years, Gibson has shaped sound across generations and genres and has emerged as the most relevant, played, and loved guitar brand around the world. Gibson has teamed with the family of world-renowned music icon Tom Petty to create his beloved SJ-200 Wildflower acoustic guitar. Decades in the making, the Tom Petty SJ-200 Wildflower acoustic guitar is handmade by the expert luthiers and artisans of Gibson Acoustic Custom Shop in Bozeman, Montana and is available worldwide at: gibson.com.

Gibson acoustics are cemented in the zeitgeist as the quintessential American acoustic guitar. The SJ, or Super Jumbo body shape, was first designed in 1937 and is engineered for volume even with a natural touch. The Tom Petty SJ-200 Wildflower is inspired by the guitar Gibson made for Tom around 1996 while he was entering a prolific period of songwriting, recording, and performing around the release of his Wildflowers album.

“It is so incredible to see the SJ-200 design our Dad worked on so long ago, lovingly brought to fruition with his long-time guitar tech and friend Alan Weidel and the craftsmen and women at Gibson guitars.

There has been much effort made to make certain this guitar lives up to Tom’s musical standards and the specs he wanted for a best-in-class instrument. Alan Weidel has put this instrument through its paces as he has with all Tom Petty signature guitar models.

Tom played the SJ-200 while writing and recording Wildflowers and to us it is an honor and a privilege to have Gibson launch this instrument to celebrate his musical masterpiece. That way others can make what my Dad called “the big jangle” a reference to that gorgeous, big, SJ-200 acoustic sound he loved.

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.”

-- Adria Petty

Music Connection

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