Recreated by the luthiers at Gibson's Montana acoustic guitar facility in period-perfect detail, the Gibson 70th Anniversary John Lennon J-160E model, finished in Vintage Sunburst is limited to 500 guitars.
Seventy years after his birth and three decades after his untimely passing, John Lennon's message of peace continues to touch the masses, and his songs still resonate in the hearts and minds of fans around the world. At the request of Yoko Ono, Gibson Guitar is proud to offer the 70th Anniversary John Lennon J-160E acoustic guitar to celebrate the legacy of this extraordinary artist.
This instrument is an accurate rendition of the J-160E of 1962, a guitar originally released in 1954 as one of the world's first successful "electro-acoustic" guitars, with built-in pickup and electronics and ready to hit the stage for the professional performing musician. Beloved by Lennon, and kept close throughout his too-short life, the 70th Anniversary John Lennon J-160E is a guitar every Beatles fan will want to make their own.
The 70th Anniversary John Lennon J-160E is built in the exacting image of the groundbreaking original J-160E of the 1950s and '60s. To build one of the world's first truly successful electro-acoustic guitars, Gibson 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, along with a single volume and tone control and a 1/4" 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. 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. The headstock is 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.
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. The guitar's neck and headstock are made much in the tradition of the original J-45, with the 24-3/4" scale length as featured on several classic Gibson flat-tops. Carved from a single piece of quarter-sawn mahogany to a comfortable rounded profile, and topped with an Indian rosewood fingerboard, the design incorporates Gibson's lauded 17-degree back-angled headstock, with John Lennon signature inlaid in mother-of-pearl.
This guitar comes with a special hardshell case, Certificate of Authenticity, an owner's manual and literature for Gibson's Gold Warranty.
Gibson 70th Anniversary John Lennon J-160E main features include:
- Body Type: Round Shoulder
- Laminated Sitka Spruce Top
- Back and Sides: Mahogany
- Multi-ply Top Binding, Single Ply Back Binding
- Traditional Rosette
- Traditional Ladder Bracing
- Headstock Type: Traditional J-160E
- Angle: 17 deg
- Inlay: Mother of Pearl “Gibson” logo inlay with "John Lennon" script signature
- Neck Species: 1-piece Mahogany
- Profile: Round Neck
- Thickness: 1.725" at Nut
- Truss Rod: Single Action
- Vintage Kluson-Gotoh tuning keys with Keystone Tuners, Ratio: 14:1
- Bridge: Traditional Belly Up with Adjustable Saddle
- Material: Indian Rosewood
- Fingerboard: 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 12th Fret
- Bone nut, Width: 1.725"
- Pickguard: Historic J-160E Pickguard, Tortoise shell
- Knobs: Amber Top Hats w/Silver Inserts
- Traditional Strap Button
- Strings: .011" - .052" Gibson Light
- P-90 Single Coil pickup at end of fingerboard
- 1 Volume Control, 1 Tone Control
- Gibson 1960s vintage style case. Exterior: Black Tolex, Interior: Plush yellow
Gibson 70th Anniversary John Lennon J-160E Vintage Sunburst (code 79143)
6-String Electro Acoustic Guitar, Sitka Spruce Top, Mahogany Back And Sides, Mahogany Neck, Rosewood Fingerboard, Vintage Sunburst
£2,549.00 (inc vat)