Lennon's Framus Hootenanny 12 String Found

Canard · Apr 23, 2024

John Lennon's Framus Hootennany 12 String has been found, verified, and put up for auction (of course

).

It is a famous guitar, if not a great guitar. Great acoustic guitar sound is not always what you want in the mix for recording. The guitar's rather dead, muddy sound was absolutely perfect on You've Got to Hide Your Love Away--Iconic.

Provenance: Lennon to Peter and Gordon to current owner, who forgot all about it.

Guitar played by John Lennon on Help!, lost for 50 years, going up for auction

Guitar also played by George Harrison on Norwegian Wood could sell for millions in May auction, alongside other memorabilia including a book of Tupac Shakur’s handwritten lyrics

www.theguardian.com

Lennon's fingers on the fretboard:

Canard · Apr 23, 2024

Harrison's fingers on the fretboard:

chazmo · Apr 23, 2024

Cool find. Like you said, not a great instrument perhaps, but fascinating provenance. I'm kind of amazed that an instrument sitting in an attic for 50 years could be in this condition. The case seems to be disintegrating, but the guitar (at least the top) looks good. The thing's probably all laminate, but still...

HeyMikey · Apr 23, 2024

Wait, you are gifted a famous guitar owned and used by John Lennon on Help and you forgot you had it???

Canard · Apr 23, 2024

chazmo said:
Cool find. Like you said, not a great instrument perhaps..

I sent the link for the story to a friend in Texas who replied saying that he used to play with someone who owned a Hootenanny 12. He said the most charitable thing he could say about that guitar is that it had a unique sound.

walrus · Apr 23, 2024

Cool story!

I just checked my PayPal account and I'm going to assume I won't be bidding on this guitar...

mavuser · Apr 23, 2024

too bad it's a 12-fretter...guess i'll have to find a different 2 million dollar acoustic with a floating bridge and archtop tailpiece.

Canard · Apr 23, 2024

HeyMikey said:
Wait, you are gifted a famous guitar owned and used by John Lennon on Help and you forgot you had it???

Uhhh .... like ... it was the 60s ... cough .. cough .... umm like where's the cookie jar, man? Whoah ... like far out man .. . we were talking about something. Uhhh can't remember what now, though. Like weird. Heavy, man. Here then gone ...

Guildedagain · Apr 23, 2024

Name checks out. It is a Hoot ;[]

merlin6666 · Apr 23, 2024

chazmo said:
Cool find. Like you said, not a great instrument perhaps, but fascinating provenance. I'm kind of amazed that an instrument sitting in an attic for 50 years could be in this condition. The case seems to be disintegrating, but the guitar (at least the top) looks good. The thing's probably all laminate, but still...

This is the UK where climate is mild and attic temperatures may not be extreme. I have several guitars stored in my mother's attic (Germany) for about 40 years now and they are still in the same shape as then.

wileypickett · Apr 23, 2024

Provenance: John Lennon, to Peter & Gordon, to Nick Drake.

Canard · Apr 23, 2024

wileypickett said:
Provenance: John Lennon, to Peter & Gordon, to Nick Drake.

Interesting.

I cannot find the owner named anywhere.

Rolling Stone says:

John Lennon's 'Help!' Guitar Headed to Auction After Spending the Last 50 Years in an Attic

After spending the past 50 years in an attic, John Lennon's lost 'Help! guitar is headed to auction next month.

www.rollingstone.com

The Framus later ended up with Gordon Waller, the Scottish singer-songwriter who was one-half of the duo Peter and Gordon (with Peter Asher), and then Waller passed it along to one of Peter and Gordon’s road managers. Fifty years later, it was discovered in an attic in the British countryside, while the original guitar case (made by the Australian company Maton) was found in the trash and rescued.

Guitar World now has pics:

“We thought it was lost forever. This could be the guitar that sets a new world record”: John Lennon’s missing Help! Framus acoustic has been found in an attic after 50 years – and it could become one of the most expensive guitars ever sold

The 12-string acoustic guitar was used on a number of classic Beatles tracks, and is tipped to rival Kurt Cobain’s $6m Martin D-18e when it hits the auction block next month

www.guitarworld.com

Rocky · Apr 23, 2024

Which is a crappier instrument, this one, or the "Magic Alex" guitar?

I mean, it's cool that it's been found, and somebody is going to get a pile of dough from this, but outside of it's Beatle connection, it's not exactly 'tonal nirvana.'

wileypickett · Apr 23, 2024

Before the embargo against American made instruments was lifted in the UK in the '60s (?), musicians didn't have a lot of options. That's why you see so many Hofners, Framuses, Hagstroms and a plethora of others in the hands of musicians from that era.

Both Keith Richards and Bill Wyman played Framuses also.

Whatever their limitations, they came off pretty credibly on record.

chazmo · Apr 24, 2024

wileypickett said:
Before the embargo against American made instruments was lifted in the UK in the '60s (?), musicians didn't have a lot of options. That's why you see so many Hofners, Framuses, Hagstroms and a plethora of others in the hands of musicians from that era.

Both Keith Richards and Bill Wyman played Framuses also.

Whatever their limitations, they came off pretty credibly on record.

I didn't know there was an embargo of US-built guitars in Britain in those days. I won't ask what that was all about here (political, I assume), but I will go research to learn.

Berrrrrry Interesting, as Arty Johnson used to say on "Laugh In."

Rocky · Apr 24, 2024

chazmo said:
I didn't know there was an embargo of US-built guitars in Britain in those days. I won't ask what that was all about here (political, I assume), but I will go research to learn.

There's a fairly decent article on Reverb about it: https://reverb.com/news/the-british-guitar-embargo-when-brits-were-banned-from-buying-american

It doesn't really get into the reasoning behind it, but I suspect it may have been to keep money on the East side of the pond to facilitate post-war recovery.

Bernie · Apr 24, 2024

An embargo against U.K. in the 60s ? Never heard of any ! Such a thing would surprise me a lot ; I think some instruments made in Europe were good. I personally had a Framus 6 strings, and it was a good little guitar (and quite cheap too)...I doubt very much that Paul Mc Cartney would have kept his Hopfner bass for so long if it wasn't true (he had several ones over time, and it even seems its a brand new one with some added built in electronics that he plays on his participation to the last Rolling Stones album). Possibly a first 12 strings then for a John Lennon who wasn't rich yet when he bought it. Mine had a real skinny neck...(written before new elements were given and Paul was in Germany)

chazmo · Apr 24, 2024

Bernie said:
An embargo against U.K. in the 60s ? Never heard of any ! Such a thing would surprise me a lot ; I think some instruments made in Europe were good. I personally had a Framus 6 strings, and it was a good little guitar (and quite cheap too)...I doubt very much that Paul Mc Cartney would have kept his Hopfner bass for so long if it wasn't true (he had several ones over time, and it even seems its a brand new one with some added built in electronics that he plays on his participation to the last Rolling Stones album). Possibly a first 12 strings then for a John Lennon who wasn't rich yet when he bought it. Mine had a real skinny neck...

Well, the article Rocky pointed to was on Reverb, Bernie... Not sure that's a trustable source, but without getting into politics this does make sense based on what instruments we see the Brits playing back then.

"... a new set of restrictions that the British government announced at the end of 1951.... "

Rocky · Apr 24, 2024

chazmo said:
Well, the article Rocky pointed to was on Reverb, Bernie... Not sure that's a trustable source

Yeah, the Reverb articles are often pretty bad, but the comment section usually fixes the errors.

johnreardon · Apr 24, 2024

wileypickett said:
Before the embargo against American made instruments was lifted in the UK in the '60s (?), musicians didn't have a lot of options. That's why you see so many Hofners, Framuses, Hagstroms and a plethora of others in the hands of musicians from that era.

Both Keith Richards and Bill Wyman played Framuses also.

Whatever their limitations, they came off pretty credibly on record.

The so called ‘embargo’ was more of a restriction in how many things could be imported from other countries. These things included musical instruments, records etc. Regardless of the rights or wrongs, it was intended to help the UK balance of payments in the post war years.

It was actually lifted in 1959, but the only ways to get hold of American made things, was to try and ’persuade’ sailors to bring one across with them on ships or try to import privately as Cliff Richard did for the Shadows.

As a result, there were very few US made guitars available, new or second hand, in the late 50s, early 60s. Most of us used brands like Broadway, Framus, Hofner etc.

When I bought my Guild Slim Jim in 65, it was the first US made

I had seen in our local shop. Thereafter, there seemed to be a flood of them

Lennon's Framus Hootenanny 12 String Found

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