Gibson's Tom Petty Flying V Marks 50 Years of the Heartbreakers

Gibson is marking 50 years of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with a guitar that leans on the band's look more than its records: a limited-edition Tom Petty Flying V 50th Anniversary. Gibson announced it on October 20, 2026. Only 250 will be made worldwide, split evenly across five finishes that Gibson has nicknamed the "Flying Five." The US price is $2,799.

The timing lines up with the band's own calendar. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released their self-titled debut album on Shelter Records on November 9, 1976, so the 50th anniversary of that record is just two weeks away. Gibson says the new guitar was inspired by the Heartbreakers logo on that album's cover.

What Gibson Announced

According to Gibson's announcement, the Tom Petty Flying V 50th Anniversary comes in five gloss nitrocellulose lacquer finishes, with 50 guitars made in each one:

• Gainesville Gold, which Gibson calls a nod to the band's home city in Florida
• Graphite Metallic
• Heartbreaker Red
• Pearl White Metallic
• Pelham Blue

That's the whole run: 250 guitars in total, worldwide. Gibson is selling them through Gibson.com and at its Gibson Garage stores, alongside a Tom Petty lifestyle collection of apparel and accessories.

The Specs

Underneath the anniversary branding, this is a classic Gibson V recipe with a few modern touches. Here's what Gibson lists:

• Body and neck: mahogany Flying V body with a glued-in mahogany neck in Gibson's SlimTaper profile
• Fretboard: rosewood, 12-inch radius, 22 medium jumbo frets and acrylic dot inlays, with single-ply white binding
• Scale and nut: 24.75-inch scale, a Graph Tech nut and a 1.69-inch (42.86 mm) nut width
• Headstock: mother-of-pearl Gibson logo, Grover Rotomatic tuners, a "Heartbreaker 50th" truss rod cover and a reproduction of Tom Petty's signature on the back
• Pickups: a pair of Gibson '70s Tribute humbuckers with gold covers
• Electronics: hand-wired, with two volume controls, a master tone with an Orange Drop capacitor and a three-way toggle
• Hardware: gold-plated, including an aluminum Nashville Tune-O-Matic bridge, a stop bar tailpiece and gold Top Hat knobs
• Trim and case: three-ply white pickguard, cream toggle cap and a Gibson hardshell case

Two details stand out for players. The first is the pickup choice. As the name suggests, the '70s Tribute humbuckers point to the decade the Heartbreakers broke through, which suits a guitar celebrating that era. The second is the price. MusicRadar pointed out that $2,799 (£2,499 in the UK) is in line with Gibson's regular USA production guitars, which is unusual for a run this small. Limited editions with an artist name on them often cost a lot more.

Why a Flying V for Tom Petty?

If you think of Tom Petty's guitars, a Flying V probably isn't the first one that comes to mind. Petty is far more closely tied to Rickenbacker 12-strings, Fender Telecasters and Stratocasters, and the acoustic guitars he wrote on. So why a V?

The answer is the band's image in its first years. Gibson ties the design to the Heartbreakers logo on the 1976 album cover, and Petty can be seen with a V-style guitar in the band's 1977 publicity photos. Adria Petty, Tom's daughter, put it simply in a statement quoted by Guitar World: "The V was an essential part of the imagery onstage for my dad as well as the band rose to fame in the 1970's."

In Gibson's own announcement, she framed the guitar as a reinterpretation of the logo: "The Heartbreakers logo has been part of the band's identity since the first album, so seeing Gibson reinterpret it through the Flying V feels both unexpected and completely natural. The collection honors Tom and the Heartbreakers' history while giving musicians and fans a new way to carry that spirit forward."

Gibson's chief marketing officer, Beth Heidt, added: "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have meant so much to so many, with timeless songs that continue to inspire us today. It is a profound honor to celebrate 50 years of that music through these instruments and this collection."

It's worth keeping the history straight, though. The guitar is a tribute to the band's look, not to the sound of its early records. The band's most famous early riff, "American Girl," wasn't cut on a Gibson at all. As we explain in our History of the Riff on "American Girl", Mike Campbell played a 1951 Fender Broadcaster over Petty's borrowed 1964 Stratocaster to fake the sound of a 12-string.

A Short History of the Flying V

The Flying V is one of Gibson's oldest "modern" designs. Gibson introduced it in 1958, alongside the Explorer, as part of a push to look futuristic next to the curvy solidbodies of the day. The original korina-bodied Vs didn't sell well, and Gibson made only a small number before production stopped. That rarity is why original 1958 Vs are now among the most valuable electric guitars in the world. Blues and rock players such as Albert King and Lonnie Mack kept the shape in the spotlight, and Mack's 1958 "Number 7" V, together with his Magnatone rig, recently sold at auction for $550,000.

Gibson brought the V back in the late 1960s with a mahogany body, and by the 1970s it had become a hard-rock and arena-rock icon. That's the era the Heartbreakers came up in, and it's the era this anniversary model nods to, with its mahogany build and '70s-themed pickups.

Price and Availability

The Tom Petty Flying V 50th Anniversary lists at $2,799 on Gibson.com in the US. Gibson says the guitars and the lifestyle collection are available at Gibson Garage locations and on Gibson.com.

Supply is the catch. With only 50 guitars per finish worldwide, these won't last long. When we checked Gibson.com on October 26, the US product pages for all five finishes showed the guitar as unavailable, with a "Notify me when available" button, six days after launch. Gibson Garage stores may still have stock, so if you want one, contact a Gibson Garage location directly before assuming they're gone.

The lifestyle collection includes an imogene + willie x Gibson "Tom Petty" t-shirt, an imogene + willie x Gibson "Tom Petty Patch" military shirt jacket and an AXE HEAVEN Tom Petty Flying V mini guitar, among other items.

The TGP Take

This is a smart, restrained anniversary guitar. Gibson didn't build a relic replica of a specific Petty instrument, and it didn't charge collector prices. Instead, it took the shape from the band's first logo, added five good-looking finishes, gold hardware and '70s-voiced humbuckers, and priced it like a standard USA Gibson. For Heartbreakers fans who play, that's an easier sell than a Custom Shop collector's piece.

The flip side is that 250 guitars won't go far, and the people most likely to want one are collectors who may never take it out of the case. If you just want to sound like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, you don't need a V at all. Start with a clean amp, two guitars playing different parts and the octave trick Mike Campbell used on "American Girl." If you want a Flying V with Petty's name on the headstock, you'll need to move fast.

*Read next: our History of the Riff on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "American Girl", and more Gibson news, from the DES Series to the Billy Gibbons "Pearly Gates" Collector's Edition.*

Sources

• Gibson, "Gibson celebrates 50 years of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with limited-edition Flying V" (October 20, 2026): https://www.gibson.com/blogs/gibson-gazette/gibson-announces-tom-petty-flying-v-and-lifestyle-collection
• Gibson.com product page, Tom Petty Flying V 50th Anniversary: https://www.gibson.com/products/gibson-tom-petty-flying-v-50th-anniversary-heartbreaker-red-exclusive
• Guitar World, Gibson's Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 50th Anniversary Flying V: https://www.guitarworld.com/gear/electric-guitars/gibson-tom-petty-and-the-heartbreakers-50th-anniversary-flying-v
• MusicRadar, Gibson unveils Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Flying V: https://www.musicradar.com/artists/gibson-limited-edition-tom-petty-and-the-heartbreakers-50th-anniversary-flying-v