An amazing find backed up by quality sleuthing!

[www.sandiegoreader.com]

Very cool.
Purchased in a guitar shop in Old Town San Diego...

Amazing find is right.

Incredible story!



2 1 2 0

Yeah very cool! What a lucky buy for 175 dollars!

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Come On
Incredible story!

So let me see if I have this right! John and George both purchased the same guitar on the same day (Sept. 1962) and then later on they swapped these with each other. Then in December 1963, John's guitar (originally George's) went missing. So the guitar they just found was the one George originally purchased? And so, if this is all correct, the guitar John is playing in your photo in early 1965 (during the filming of Help), was the one John had actually purchased but was now owned by George? And I wonder if this is the one displayed below with George's son Dhani?

I don't think that's the story.. First off.. They ordered matching Gibson Jumbos thinking they were ordering Gibson 175's, Jazz guitars like their pal Tony Sheridan used. They instead received these Gibson 160E's and were disappointed but soon they became important parts of their working arsenal. John didn't switch to George's until his was stolen. Later around the recording of Help Lennon got a new 160E and George retained his earlier one. The Beatles guitars were pretty communal, they did not employ very many often giving their extras away to friends and family in Liverpool. Eventually John took off the sunburst finish on his 2nd Gibson and painted it psychedelic, soon afterwards he had it done in natural like his Epiphone Casino.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2015-06-08 20:52 by DoomandGloom.

Hmmm, considering that this guitar was stolen, I'd think that it should be returned to the rightful owner. The estate of John Lennon, although I personally would rather see Julian have it than Yoko.

Does the statute of limitations allow someone to auction off stolen property after a certain period of time? Perhaps it was insured and if they collected on the insurance policy it is rightfully owned by the insurer.

Cool story but the whole stolen part seems to raise a few questions, especially since the value is now close to a million dollars!

I guess if this goes thru and the new owner gets paid we are likely to see the Stones guitars which were stolen at Nellcote hit the auction block soon.

peace

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DoomandGloom
I don't think that's the story.. First off.. They ordered matching Gibson Jumbos thinking they were ordering Gibson 175's, Jazz guitars like their pal Tony Sheridan used. They instead received these Gibson 160E's and were disappointed but soon they became important parts of their working arsenal. John didn't switch to George's until his was stolen. Later around the recording of Help Lennon got a new 160E and George retained his earlier one. The Beatles guitars were pretty communal, they did not employ very many often giving their extras away to friends and family in Liverpool. Eventually John took off the sunburst finish on his 2nd Gibson and painted it psychedelic, soon afterwards he had it done in natural like his Epiphone Casino.

Actually it was the original two guitars that were swapped and George's family still has John's original guitar. So technically, the guitar George purchased is the one that was stolen: [wogew.blogspot.com]

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Naturalust
Hmmm, considering that this guitar was stolen, I'd think that it should be returned to the rightful owner. The estate of John Lennon, although I personally would rather see Julian have it than Yoko.

Does the statute of limitations allow someone to auction off stolen property after a certain period of time? Perhaps it was insured and if they collected on the insurance policy it is rightfully owned by the insurer.

Cool story but the whole stolen part seems to raise a few questions, especially since the value is now close to a million dollars!

I guess if this goes thru and the new owner gets paid we are likely to see the Stones guitars which were stolen at Nellcote hit the auction block soon.

peace

I am sure the statute of limitations are over for stolen property from the 60s. I too find it a bit strange about it being stolen, however, the guy who bought it didn't know it was stolen... and we are not sure if the guy who sold it was the original thief, I tend to think it wasn't. This guy fell into the honey pot getting this guitar for 175 dollars for what it will probably sell for. Amazing story!

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Naturalust
Hmmm, considering that this guitar was stolen, I'd think that it should be returned to the rightful owner. The estate of John Lennon, although I personally would rather see Julian have it than Yoko.

Does the statute of limitations allow someone to auction off stolen property after a certain period of time? Perhaps it was insured and if they collected on the insurance policy it is rightfully owned by the insurer.

Cool story but the whole stolen part seems to raise a few questions, especially since the value is now close to a million dollars!

I guess if this goes thru and the new owner gets paid we are likely to see the Stones guitars which were stolen at Nellcote hit the auction block soon.

peace

From one of the comments from this site [wogew.blogspot.com] : The guitar can legally be sold, as it wasn't reported lost or stolen to The Police. Under UK law, it must be reported stolen within ten years, for the owner to be still able to claim ownership.

Also from the comments: this is all occurring with the blessing of the Lennon family and percentage of proceeds from the sale of the guitar will go to Spirit Foundations, Inc., the non-profit organization founded by John and Yoko.

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2000 LYFH

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Naturalust
Hmmm, considering that this guitar was stolen, I'd think that it should be returned to the rightful owner. The estate of John Lennon, although I personally would rather see Julian have it than Yoko.

Does the statute of limitations allow someone to auction off stolen property after a certain period of time? Perhaps it was insured and if they collected on the insurance policy it is rightfully owned by the insurer.

Cool story but the whole stolen part seems to raise a few questions, especially since the value is now close to a million dollars!

I guess if this goes thru and the new owner gets paid we are likely to see the Stones guitars which were stolen at Nellcote hit the auction block soon.

peace

From one of the comments from this site [wogew.blogspot.com] : The guitar can legally be sold, as it wasn't reported lost or stolen to The Police. Under UK law, it must be reported stolen within ten years, for the owner to be still able to claim ownership.

Also from the comments: this is all occurring with the blessing of the Lennon family and percentage of proceeds from the sale of the guitar will go to Spirit Foundations, Inc., the non-profit organization founded by John and Yoko.

Thanks, that makes more sense to me now. Indeed an amazing story with a happy ending.

peace

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2000 LYFH

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DoomandGloom
I don't think that's the story.. First off.. They ordered matching Gibson Jumbos thinking they were ordering Gibson 175's, Jazz guitars like their pal Tony Sheridan used. They instead received these Gibson 160E's and were disappointed but soon they became important parts of their working arsenal. John didn't switch to George's until his was stolen. Later around the recording of Help Lennon got a new 160E and George retained his earlier one. The Beatles guitars were pretty communal, they did not employ very many often giving their extras away to friends and family in Liverpool. Eventually John took off the sunburst finish on his 2nd Gibson and painted it psychedelic, soon afterwards he had it done in natural like his Epiphone Casino.

Actually it was the original two guitars that were swapped and George's family still has John's original guitar. So technically, the guitar George purchased is the one that was stolen: [wogew.blogspot.com]

I see. Nonetheless John used the non stolen George one until he replaced his.