Gibson 70th Anniversary John Lennon 1962 J-160E Museum Limited Edition 2010

One of only 70 produced by Gibson Montana in 2010 including the very special Yoko Ono signed Certificate of Authentication.

Eighty years after his birth and four 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. Eleven years ago at the request of Yoko Ono to celebrate John's 70th birthday, Gibson Guitar produced a very special 70th Anniversary John Lennon 1962 J-160E acoustic guitar to celebrate the legacy of this extraordinary artist. Accordingly, only a very limited number of these handmade acoustics were produced.

In 1962, John Lennon was still an up-and-coming artist, and though one of two main singer/songwriters at the heart of The Beatles, was scraping by on the little money the band was bringing in at that time. For his first quality American acoustic/electric guitar, Lennon had his sights set on a new Gibson J-160E – the problem was, he didn't have the money to buy it. With the aid of a co-signed purchase from Beatles manager Brian Epstein (who also co-signed for bandmate George Harrison's J-160E), Lennon made the guitar his own, and put it straight to the business of making rock and roll history. Recreated by the luthiers at Gibson's Montana acoustic guitar facility in period-perfect detail, the 70th Anniversary John Lennon Museum Limited Edition is now available. 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, 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. 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. 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.

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.

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. Each model comes with a special hardshell case, Certificate of Authenticity, an owner's manual and literature for Gibson's Gold Warranty. The Museum model include a Special 70th Anniversary Certificate personally signed by Yoko Ono, additionally the soundhole label is also signed by Yoko Ono. The body's top is made from three-layer laminated Sitka spruce, a material that is highly regarded for its resistance to feedback when used in the soundboards of electro-acoustic guitars. Its back and sides are made from mahogany. 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. The 70th Anniversary John Lennon J-160E is designed along the lines of the large-bodied, round-shouldered J-45 dreadnought, an all-time classic that Gibson introduced in 1942.

The neck of the 70th Anniversary John Lennon models are constructed from one solid piece of quarter-sawn, lightweight mahogany. The luthiers in Gibson's Montana plant carefully select the grain orientation of the mahogany used for necks to optimize tone and sustain. The wood, construction, and headstock pitch all contribute greatly to the superior resonance, sustain, and overall tone of the 70th Anniversary John Lennon models. Just like the original J-45, and many other classic Gibson models, the 70th Anniversary John Lennon models' headstocks are carefully angled at Gibson's traditional 17 degrees. This subtle yet crucial element of the guitar's design increases pressure on the strings and helps them stay in the nut slots. An increase in string pressure also means there is no loss of string vibration between the nut and the tuners, which equals better sustain. The headstock of the 70th Anniversary John Lennon models carry six vintage Kluson-Gotoh tuners with keystone tuners and efficient 14:1 gear ratios. A traditional belly-up pin bridge made from Indian rosewood carries an adjustable saddle, just like on the original. The 70th Anniversary John Lennon models comes equipped with a P-90 single-coil magnetic pickup installed beneath the top of the guitar at the end of the fingerboard, with its adjustable pole pieces extending through the wood. This is routed through a single volume and tone control, and a standard 1/4" output jack.