GIBSON 70th Anniversary John Lennon J-160E acoustic-electric guitar

commissioned by Yoko Ono in honour of John Winston Lennon’s 70th Birthday

One Historic Acoustic, from One Legendary Artist, One exceptional Once-in-a-Lifetime Limited Edition opportunity to share in part of History…

John Lennon couldn’t quite afford his first Gibson J-160E in 1962, pressing Beatles manager Brian Epstein to co-sign for the guitar’s purchase. Epstein obliged, and ended up purchasing not just Lennon’s, but one for George Harrison as well.

Their place in making rock and roll history is well documented with the Beatles, appearing on countless studio recordings, movies, and live performances. The Gibson John Lennon J-160E Museum Model guitar—commissioned by Yoko Ono—is a painstaking recreation of Lennon’s beloved instrument as it was in 1969, after he stripped away the psychedelic paint job he commissioned in 1967, and before he doodled caricatures of himself and Ono on the guitar’s body during their infamous 1969 “Bed-In” protests against the Vietnam War.

Today’s John Lennon J-160E Museum model features the same round shoulder body design, with a Sitka spruce plywood top and mahogany back and sides, ladder bracing, producing a full-sounding, balanced tone with warm, rich lows and crisp, presence-laden highs.

The 70th Anniversary John Lennon J-160E is built in the exacting image of the groundbreaking original J-160E of the 1950s and ’60s. Much as with the design of the archetypal jazz guitar, the ES-175, just a few years before, Gibson applied a great deal of forward-looking, out-of-the-box thinking to the design of the J-160E in 1954. Prior to the arrival of this guitar, players of acoustic flat-tops struggled to be heard on stage, performing into inefficient microphones, or hassling with add-on soundhole pickups that usually faired little better.

To build one of the world’s first truly successful electro-acoustic guitars, Gibson re-drew the blueprint: it crafted a three-layer laminated Sitka spruce top with ladder bracing specifically to resist feedback, used a mahogany back and sides for added warmth and richness, added an adjustable bridge, and installed a P-90 pickup without traditional cover beneath the top at the end of the fingerboard (similar to “floating” pickups on some of Gibson’s arch-top models) along with a single volume and tone control and a 1/4″ (6.3mm) output jack.

In addition, the guitar’s solid mahogany neck was attached at the 15th fret to give performers plenty of access to the highest of the instrument’s jumbo frets.

HARDWARE
The 70th Anniversary John Lennon models carry an up-market hardware set, including vintage-style nickel tuners with keystone buttons, and belly-up rosewood bridge with adjustable saddle.

HISTORICALLY ACCURATE
Other historically accurate details on the 70th Anniversary John Lennon J-160E models include its laminated Sitka spruce top, multi-ply top binding, single-ply back binding, traditional soundhole rosette, bone nut, comfortable rounded neck profile and period-correct adjustable acoustic guitar bridge. In remembrance of John Lennon, the guitars’ headstocks are inlaid with John Lennon’s signature, and their Indian rosewood fingerboards carry mother-of-pearl trapezoid inlays with Lennon’s date of birth inscribed at the 12th-fret marker.

BODY and FINISH
Styled after Gibson’s classic round-shouldered dreadnoughts, the 70th Anniversary John Lennon models are built with a laminated Sitka spruce top with historically accurate ladder bracing and mahogany back and sides. The 70th Anniversary Lennon J-160E Museum model has a very thin natural lacquer finish.

TONAL CHARACTERISTICS
The 70th Anniversary John Lennon models bear the classic acoustic sound heard on countless Beatles recordings. This sound had a balanced lows, mids and highs and a lighter and brighter acoustic tonal character.

Plugged in, it benefits from a tight, cutting response, excellent presence, and impressive resistance to feedback for a flat-top “electro-acoustic” guitar.

Only 70 of these exceptional Time Capsule Limited Edition John Lennon Museum models were handcrafted by the Luthiers at Gibson’s Custom Shop for the World of which only one has been imported into Australia by the Australian Gibson distributor and purchased for sale by southcoastmusic.

As would be expected for an investment of this calibre, a special hardshell case, Certificate of Authenticity, an owner’s manual and literature for Gibson’s International Gold Warranty is included.

70th Anniversary John Lennon Museum Model Features:

Body Type: Gibson Round Shoulder
Top: Laminated Sitka Spruce Top
Back and Sides: Mahogany
Binding: Multi-ply Top Binding, Single Ply Back Binding, Traditional Rosette
Bracing: Traditional Ladder Bracing
Finish: Natural
Neck Species: 1-piece Mahogany
Profile: Round Neck
Neck Thickness: 1.725″ at Nut
Truss Rod: Single Action
Adhesive: Premium Titebond
Fingerboard Species: Indian Rosewood
Frets: 21 Historic Jumbo Frets
Scale Length: 24 3/4″
Radius: 12″
Fret Wire: Nickel Alloy
Inlays: Mother of Pearl Trapezoids with John Lennon’s birth date engraved on the 12th Fret
Nut Material: Bone
Width: 1.725″
Headstock Design: Traditional J-160E
Headstock Angle: 17 degrees
Headstock Inlay: Mother of Pearl “Gibson” logo inlay with “John Lennon” script signature on the 70th Museum Model.
Truss Rod Cover: Black Bell on the 70th Museum model.
Tuning Keys: Vintage Kluson-Gotoh with Keystone Tuners
Tuning Key Material: Nickel
Tuning Key Ratio: 14:1
Bridge Type: Traditional Belly Up with Adjustable Saddle
Bridge Material: Indian Rosewood
Pickup Type: Gibson P-90 Single Coil at end of fingerboard
Pickup Controls: 1 Volume Control, 1 Tone Control
Pickguard: Historic J-160E Tortoise shell 70th Museum Model.
Knobs: Amber Top Hats with Silver Inserts
Strap Buttons: Traditional Gibson Strap Button
Strings: .011″ – .052″ Gibson Light Guage
Case: Gibson Custom Hardshell Case with with Museum Model.
Case Exterior: Black Tolex
Case Interior: Plush burgundy interior.