John Lennon's J-160E found?

Have I not been frequenting the right forums? Either my drugs have really kicked in, or is there really no conversation
about the auction for what is supposedly Lennon's J-160E? I would think this would be all over the internet, since about
last month, but first I have seen is the cover story on Collectible Guitar (Jul/Aug 2015).

I have my own thoughts about this, but I suppose the guitar would have to eventually show up somewhere...but LA? And no
one thought about any connection before? The only reason this guitar model has any cache at all is due to John and George.

Find this all very strange...

According to Andy Babiuk's "Beatles Gear", Lennon's J-160E was stolen in 1963. So when I saw this auction, I wondered how someone could sell an item they had originally stolen without any repercussions...

http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/22645-john-lennons-gibson-j-160e-hits-the-auction-block

walrus

If you strum a chord or hit a note on that guitar, does Yoko show up out of nowhere and start screaming in her famous "Stranded/Beached Dying Whale Song"? Could be a reason there is not much buzz about the guitar, LOL. Just Kidding, Maybe my drugs are kicking in too hard now! LOL

Well, I have part of my answer, I was on the road and then at Kaufman Kamp...but still, I wasn't completely off the 'net...just would have thought the forums would have been alight with talk about finding the lost "ark."

My first thought is where is Yoko with her hand out?...yeah, cruel...but apparently the auction is "estate sanctioned"...and it now comes out that it wasn't "stolen," but simply "forgotten" my Mal Evans at a venue...so the person that picked it up hadn't stolen it, just thought it was really their guitar, right? And it makes its way, without Lennon, from the UK to the West Coast.

Sidebar: When I went to buy my first good acoustic guitar in '95, local store had a J-160 and I was in heaven. Finally played it and it sounded TERRIBLE. Dead as a fart! And you looked down and saw all the wires for the p/u hanging there, I was so disappointed. I actually tried a Guild DV-52 several times, but it was a Gibson J-30 that got me that time...in tobacco burst of course, if I couldn't have the J-160, then...

This guitar is from way before he met Yoko - she has the one he replaced it with, drew on, etc., so she is fine.

I'm not sure how someone could "pick it up" and not know it's his guitar when they took it, but whatever. I'm sure it will be out of my price range!

walrus

This is great (but not as great as would be the auctioning off of George's '62 SG). We know John's stuff brings top dollar. I'm not sure if it was 1.5M pounds or dollars that George Michael (who?) paid in 2000 for the upright Steinway that "Imagine" was worked out on. The provenance of stolen goods is only an impediment when the true owner - the person with good title - shows up to try to pry it away from the buyer (made more complicated when the buyer pays good money for the goods with no knowledge of the thief-seller's wrong). Wasn't John's 160 laminate?

Here's a brief overview with photos of the different "versions" of Lennon's J-160E over the years:

http://www.thecanteen.com/lennon4.html

And here's the answer to your "laminated" question from a vintage Gibson web site:

"In 1954 Gibson introduced a flat top jumbo acoustic - electric guitar and called it the Gibson j-160e , the guitar gained popularity in 1962 when George Harrison and John Lennonhttp://www.thecanteen.com/lennon4.html from the Beatles made it their standard acoustic guitar until 1968. Although the Gibson j-160e was made famous by the Beatles it does not have that distinguished full tone sound of a jumbo guitar, they had laminated tops and ladder bracings to cut feedback hence giving it less sustain and a flatter acoustic tone".

Funny, they sounded pretty good to me!

walrus

walrus said:

Funny, they sounded pretty good to me!

Click to expand...

Yeah, you need to play particular instruments rather than generalize. Still, I've played a couple "vintage" J-160Es and both were definitely meh. But I have a mid-'60s B-25N (LG-3) with the plastic bridge base, which is a supposedly thin-sounding guitar compared with its predecessors. Well, this one didn't get that message 'cuz it sounds full, balanced & lively.

-Dave-

Quantum Strummer said:

But I have a mid-'60s B-25N (LG-3) with the plastic bridge base, which is a supposedly thin-sounding guitar compared with its predecessors. Well, this one didn't get that message 'cuz it sounds full, balanced & lively.

Click to expand...

Yup, I've had three of them over the years, including my current '66 Epiphone Cortez (B-25 clone). Indeed, some very dead ones are out there, but all three of mine have produced a full & rich tone.