Julien’s Auctions proudly presents Icons & Idols: Rock n’ Roll 2015 featuring the most important Beatles guitar ever to hit the auction block — John Lennon’s original 1962 J-160E Gibson Acoustic Guitar. The guitar has been lost for over 50 years and represents a rare and significant guitar to John Lennon’s history.
In December 1963, during The Beatles Finsbury Park Christmas Show, John’s guitar went missing and he later replaced it with a 1964 model. This guitar was lost for over 50 years and it will now be offered at Julien’s Auctions Icons & Idols: Rock n’ Roll auction event on Friday, November 6, 2015 and Saturday, November 7th, 2015.
The Beatles traveled from Liverpool to London’s EMI studios on September 11, 1962, the day after receiving the guitars. The first song recorded that day was “P.S. I Love You,” followed by “Love Me Do.” It was Lennon who used this guitar on many of the recordings they did in 1962 and 1963 that required an acoustic guitar.
John so loved this particular guitar that he would take it home and write songs on it with Paul McCartney. Beatles hits like “She Loves You,” “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Please, Please, Me,” “All My Loving,” “From Me to You,” “This Boy” and more were written with this guitar.
"No other guitar ever offered at auction can compare to the history this guitar has with The Beatles’ John Lennon. It can be seen in the November 22, 1963 videos of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “This Boy.”
Andy Babiuk, author of the critically acclaimed book Beatles Gear - All The Fab Four’s Instruments From Stage To Studio, recently discovered the guitar when John McCaw’s close friend and guitar instructor Marc Intravaia contacted Babiuk at his guitar shop, Andy Babiuk’s Fab Gear in Rochester, New York. “I get calls and emails all the time with people telling me that they think they have an instrument owned by The Beatles and 99% of the time it’s nothing, but there was something about McCaw’s story that was intriguing,” said Babiuk, the world authority on equipment used by The Beatles.
After Babiuk examined the guitar, he was able to match the wood grain in the spruce top to photos of Lennon playing the guitar with The Beatles in the early 60’s. “Wood grain is like a fingerprint, no two are the same, and without a doubt it is a match,” said Babiuk. “It is without a doubt one of the most historically important guitars ever to come up for auction.”
Other Beatles highlights from this incredible collection include: The Beatles hand painted bass drum logo drumhead used for their debut on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964, a pair of John Lennon’s trademark small round prescription “granny” glasses, Beatle manager Brian Epstein’s only “Will and Last Testament” in existence, an original water color painting by Stuart Sutcliffe, George Harrison handwritten letter circa May, 1962, John Lennon handwritten letter circa May, 1963, and a Beatles hand painted logo drumhead presented by the band to Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum.
Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to own a piece of Beatles history!
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