Publicity stated: Gibson has tipped its cap to the one and only Elvis Presley with two new signature acoustic guitars, the Elvis SJ-200 and Elvis Dove.
Based on two of Elvis's personal favorites, the new signature guitars both feature a maple body with a sitka spruce top and maple back and sides. Both acoustics are also graced with a stripped-down ebony finish, and feature an LR Baggs VTC under-saddle piezo pickup and preamp with soundhole-mounted volume and tone controls.
The SJ-200 is based on an acoustic that was given to Presley as a gift at a recording session at RCA Studio B in Nashville in the mid '60s. The King would go on to use the guitar extensively onstage, and later gifted it to his friend Marty Lacker at Graceland in 1976.
The Elvis SJ-200 is also outfitted with an SJ-200 rosewood 'Moustache' bridge with mother of pearl Hourglass and Teardrop inlays, and an SJ-200 tortoise pickguard.
The Elvis Dove, meanwhile, is based on a customized 1969 Gibson Dove that was gifted to Elvis by his father, Vernon. Elvis played the guitar onstage throughout his later career, including during his enormously successful 1973 Aloha From Hawaii concert. In a surreal twist, he later – during a 1975 concert in Asheville, North Carolina – gifted it to an audience member mid-performance.
On both acoustics, Grover Keystone tuners are fitted to a headstock adorned with a Gibson crown and an 'Elvis' logo located just above the nut. Gold hardware is also standard all around.
The Gibson Elvis Dove model is available now for $4,499 (the same as a standard Dove), while the Gibson Elvis SJ-200 rings up at $5,299 – a few hundred more than your standard SJ-200. Both models come with hardshell cases.
(Source: Guitar World / Gibson)
