Tom Petty – Wildflowers
The music gear and equipment used by the artists, producers, engineers, and more involved in the making of the 1994 album Wildflowers.
Music from Wildflowers
Gear Used On Wildflowers
Explore the instruments, equipment, software, and production tools used in the making of Tom Petty – Wildflowers (1994). Click more on each item to see exactly how it was used.
Guitars used by Tom Petty on Wildflowers
At around the 21 minute mark, Tom Petty begins playing Don't Do Me Like That with his blonde Telecaster with a sticker from his 1994 album Wildflowers. This guitar, known as the 'Torucaster', was actually made by a luthier named Toru Nittono. Tom Petty was quoted as saying the following in a 1999 issue of Guitar Player; "Yeah ,I got it in 1981 at Normans's Rare guitars[in Reseda,Ca.].Norm said,"take it home and tell me what you think." I haven't stopped playing it since. Toru Nitono built it at L.A. guitar Works. I've had people bring me 20 vintage teles at show and rehearsals and nothing seems to match. The closest I've gotten is an old Esquire which I baught as a spare. If I lost my main Tele I'd die. Toru even tried to make me a second and it didn't sound nearly as good. Now it adorns the wall at the Hard Rock Cafe."
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Avg price: $3,650.00
Tom Pettys Gibson Hummingbrid is no usual one. It shows some very special features, which propably make it a one of a kind Guitar. It has the "upside down belly bridge" with an adjustable ceramic sadlle. That would sugest being from between 1965 and 1970. But the neck is very out of the ordinary. It has the very unusual big block inlays and is bound with the spike at the soundhole like the neck of a J200. The conclusion would be that either somebody changed the neck of a late 60s Hummingbird for a J200 neck and added the big block inlays or it is a very rare prototipe. Sadly there is pretty much no info about it online.
It has a beautiful honey sunburst and he used a LR Bags magentic soundholepickup on it.
He can be seen unsing it on multiple live performances for songs like Wildflowers and in studio, so it is probable that he also used it for recording songs like Wildflowers.
Microphones used by Tom Petty on Wildflowers
Avg price: $13,493.75
Mentioned by recording engineer Richard Dodd in this Sound on Sound interview about the recording of "Learning to Fly".
"Tom would play his guitar in the control room, too, unless it was acoustic, and in his case I might have had two mics on his amp: a 57 as well as an AKG 251, just in case it sounded better, although it very rarely did. Tom's a great rhythm player, so he definitely played rhythm on acoustic and on the Tele while I think Mike played the more lead-type 12-string stuff."
Original Telefunken 251s were manufactured by AKG.
