John Lennon

"Purchased a Triangle Big Muff in August of 1971 in New York, but it is unknown if he ever recorded with one."

"This gorgeous Guild Starfire 12-string was custom made for the Beatles and is an absolute one-of-a-kind instrument. Guild presented it to John Lennon in 1966 (much to the chagrin of George Harrison) at the Warwick Hotel in New York." - Hard Rock Cafe, Honolulu.

In 1974 Barrie Marshall was managing the musician Clive John (Clive Space) from the Welsh band, Man. On an upcoming trip to New York, Clive requested that Barrie purchase a short scale guitar that was similar to one John Lennon played. During his visit, Barrie met with a close personal friend, Mal Evans (John Lennon's PA / Beatles Technician) and discussed Clive's request. After further discussions he was then given one of John Lennon's personal instruments. This was not one of his legendary short scale Rickenbacker 325s that he’d used throughout his Beatles career, instead it was a Fender equivalent, that being his 1962 short scale Duo Sonic/Musicmaster model . On Barrie's return to the UK it was then given to Clive John who used it from 1974- 2011.

This article from Rolling Stone discusses John Lennon's 1966 Gretsch 6120, which he used to record "Paperback Writer" at Abbey Road Studios.

John Lennon commonly played the Vox Continental organ during the Beatles' raucous set closer "I'm Down."

In 2008, the Vox Continental used by John Lennon at the historic 1965 Shea Stadium concert and the Beatles' August 13, 1965 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show was auctioned off by Christies for $182,500.

The following comes from the Daily Beatle's article about the organ and the ensuing auction:

In front of a crowd of 55,600, Lennon closed out the most famous concert in history with a frenzied rendition of “I’m Down” in which he wildly pounded on the offered keyboard, resulting in the organ not working properly for the next show in Toronto on August 17.

The next day in Atlanta, the organ was traded in for a functioning Vox Continental organ from the Thomas Organ Center – The Vox Shoppe, the exchange being completed by a local Atlanta policeman. At the concert in Atlanta they had a rare opportunity to hear the organ in concert, as the stage was equipped with something of a rarity for the Beatles in those days, monitor speakers!

It was done especially for The Beatles. FB ‘Duke’ Mewborn, the boss of Atlanta hi-fi store Baker Audio, decided to give the group something that had never been done before: monitor speakers on the stage, pointing towards the group, to allow them to hear their voices and instruments.

“It was adequate. We got over it, we were on top of it. You could hear them amidst the screaming,” commented Mewborn.

It wasn’t just on stage that the sound was different. The state-of-the-art setup on the field included four Altec 1570 amplifiers, each giving 175 watts of sound, which in turn powered two stacks of Altec A7 speakers. Although unremarkable today, in 1965 it was an unheard of amount of power for a pop concert. The difference was noted from the stage, with Paul McCartney exclaiming after “She’s A Woman”: “It’s loud, isn’t it? Great!”

Being able to hear themselves enabled The Beatles to play tighter than usual, and they were delighted with the results. Afterwards, Brian Epstein suggested that Mewborn deal with the sound for their other shows, but the offer was turned down.

The organ remained in the possession of the owner of The Vox Shoppe in Atlanta for nearly four decades.

The organ itself is distinguished by a non-standard Vox Continental logo adhered to the front of the case, which is clearly visible in pictures and film from the event and from the set of The Ed Sullivan Show two days prior.

Before auctioning away the organ in 2008 at Christies’s Punk/Rock auction at New York’s Rockefeller Plaza for $182,500, the original organ was repaired, keeping all the original parts (which were in pristine condition) and was fully functional at the time of the auction.

Prior to the auction, the organ was featured in exhibitions at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, The Beatles Story in Liverpool, and “John Lennon Unfinished Music” at Cite de la Musique in Paris.

Additional photos of John at the Continental can be viewed here, here, and here.

"On January 28, 1969, while The Beatles were rehearsing Old Brown Shoe, John Lennon brought out a Stylophone. Here's the result."

In this image the vox super beatles amp can clearly be seen behind Lennon's back.

John Played this bass for the "Get Back" sessions, as it shows on the "Beatles Get Back" doccumentary, also is seen on the "Let it be" music video

In a photo capturing John Lennon recording "Girl" on November 12, 1965, he is seen using a Neumann M 49 microphone.

In a photo taken by a visitor, John Lennon's Dallas Tuxedo bass was spotted in his former bedroom, now used for storage.

In this photo, John Lennon can be seen playing a Framus Hootenanny 12 string guitar for the film 'Help'.

John Lennon used a 1962 Fender Stratocaster in Sonic Blue during his time with The Beatles, as shown in a photo from Myrareguitars.

In the image you can see John playing his Vox Kensington. This was custom made by Vox. Both John and George played it in rehearsals for "I Am The Walrus" and "Hello Goodbye".

In this photo we can see John using the Vox Python strap, which was specially designed for him.

In the picture you can see John Lennon's Fender blackface Showman amp during their revolver sessions.

The Conqueror is seen behind Lennon.

In this photo, John Lennon is holding a Rickenbacker 325 12-string guitar.

John Lennon's famous pure white Steinway piano as used in 'Imagine'. In 2000, George Micheal bought this piano at auction for $1.5-3 million at auction. Steinway & Sons now produce a John Lennon signature series of pianos known as the "Imagine Series". John also used a Steinway & Sons Model Z Upright piano.

John Lennon and The Beatles used the Moog Synthesizer during Abbey Road (The Album) Recordings in 1969

Little is known about where this guitar came from; it was used on the "Paperback Writer" session and then apparently stuck away at Lennon's home. Two years later Lennon gave this guitar to his cousin David Birch, who in '63 had also received a Hamburg-vintage Fender Vibroluxe amp from his cousin. "Upstairs in John's house in Weybridge, he had his den and music room. It was full of tape decks, keyboards, guitars, etc. The two guitars I remember were the blue Fender Stratocaster and the Gretsch 6120. It may have been cheeky, but I asked him did he have any spare guitars, as I was trying to get a group together while staying with Mimi in Bournemouth. I really fancied the Fender, but that was a no-no, but he said I could have the Gretsch. I was over the moon, as you would expect." Birch loaned this guitar to The Beatles Story in Liverpool for display in 2010, and he remains the enviable owner of a genuine Beatle guitar, not to mention amp (below)! As of June 2012, this guitar is on loan to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

In this photo, we can see Lennon singing through a Reslo RB.

One of their first guitars. Used by Lennon on the Beatles "Cavern Club" era.

Used for the organ on The Beatles, as mentioned by sound engineer Ken Scott in this June 2012 Sound on Sound interview.

"In addition to Paul's bass being DI'd, the cabinet probably would have been miked with a 4038, [Neumann] U67 or [AKG] C12. I would have used two 4038s on the organ, 67s on John and George's guitars, and it could have been anything on George's vocal.”

This guitar can be seen on his album Acoustic.

In this video, John can be seen using the U47 in the recording studio at minute 0:14.

Used for the guitar on The Beatles, as mentioned by sound engineer Ken Scott in this June 2012 Sound on Sound interview.

"In addition to Paul's bass being DI'd, the cabinet probably would have been miked with a 4038, [Neumann] U67 or [AKG] C12. I would have used two 4038s on the organ, 67s on John and George's guitars, and it could have been anything on George's vocal.”

In a 1980 studio session in New York for the recording of "Double Fantasy," John Lennon is seen using a Yamaha CP-80 Electric Grand Piano. [User-uploaded photo]

John Lennon is believed to have acquired a Jose Ramirez 1A Classical Acoustic Guitar, often referred to as the "Segovia model," possibly around the same time as George Harrison. This nylon-string guitar was likely used in the studio for tracks such as "Any Time at All," "I'll Be Back," "And I Love Her," "Yes It Is," and "I Need You." The current location of this guitar, like several others owned by Lennon, remains unknown. A user-uploaded photo serves as the source for this information.

In the image you can see John Lennon playing an upright bass.

Once installed on a Gibson Les Paul currently in the possession of Julian Lennon, as reported by The Gear Page member DøøG in this May 5, 2010 forum post.

When I was playing with Julian Lennon, Jules brought down some of his dads guitars, one was an LP that had the mounting plate for the Gizmo, but no Gizmo on there, I really wish he had it!!!! Love to try one of those things........