Gibson to Offer Limited Edition Ray Whitley Flattop Guitar

Country music star Ray Whitley was famous in Nashville and Hollywood, but perhaps his legacy rests with the Gibson SJ-200. The guitar, which Whitley worked with Gibson to make in 1937, was the biggest flattop ever built, and quickly became the must-have item for legends like Tex Ritter, Gene Autrey and Roy Rogers.

Now Gibson is making a few more. In support of Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s Working on a Building Campaign, Gibson is offering a limited-edition run of the guitars, each made with the same care as Whitley's original. The newer models will include a small diamond dot on the "i" in the Gibson logo on the headstock and precious gems unique to Montana in each bridge pin.

This is a true connoisseurs masterpiece, built from an assortment of exotic woods and finished with Whitley's original country-western icon inlays, hand engraved by master luthier Ren Ferguson. Visit Gibson.com for more information on this one-in-a-kind guitar.