“I sold 120 of them because I don’t have room for them anymore”: Mike Campbell says he's quit buying guitars, despite his continuing “obsession”

Back in 2021, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers guitar-slinger Mike Campbell thinned his formidable collection of electric guitars and amps with a huge Reverb.com sale. Notice that we say ‘thinned.’

Campbell's post-sale collection remained significant enough that it featured on Gibson TV's The Collection YouTube series the following year.

Displayed as a literal “carousel,” Campbell's stable of guitars includes an '80s-'90s-era white Firebird V signed by Johnny Winter, and a '62 Les Paul SG Junior (acquired, at a video store, of all places, for just $120) that he used on one of his greatest solos, for Petty's Runnin' Down a Dream. The cherry on top of Campbell's collection, meanwhile, is that vintage guitar holy grail, a 1959 'Burst Les Paul Standard.

Guitar-wise, what else do you need? Well, as Campbell tells Guitar World, the answer is 'nothing.'

“I have a guitar obsession,” he admitted to GW in a recent interview. “I sold about 120 of them a couple of years ago because I don’t have room for them anymore. I’ve quit buying them because I kind of have one of every guitar that I ever dreamed of. At this point, buying them is kind of pathetic.”

The Collection: Mike Campbell - YouTube

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Asked by GW whether the smaller scale of his live shows with his solo band, the Dirty Knobs – as opposed to his arena-sized engagements with the late Tom Petty – motivated him to travel with a smaller selection of those prized vintage guitars, Campbell replied in the affirmative.

“I play them all in the studio, but I just take a few essentials on the road because you’re right – it is a smaller production.”

Though the 'Burst remains undoubtedly the most valuable piece in Campbell's gear stable, it's not the one with which he has the deepest personal relationship, a distinction that goes to his vintage Fender Broadcaster.

“Lately, I’ve brought out my original Fender Broadcaster from the first Heartbreakers album, which I used on American Girl and Breakdown,” he told Total Guitar last month. “It’s been exciting to hear that again because it sounds great.”