Cougar Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 I've always liked this John Lennon EJ160E guitar. Apparently they're discontinued; nobody sells them new anymore. As I recall, they were typically around $400 new. A few weeks ago, used ones seemed to be going for more than they were new! Wha...? Then last week, a couple good deals showed up on ebay. One was a buy it now for $280, which I seriously thought about snapping up. It was gone in about an hour. That's fine. I had my eye on this other one that had incredible grain. It wasn't a 2nd, but the seller, apparently a music store - Woody's Music, said they had trouble with the tuners, so they replaced them with Kluson locking tuners. Sounds OK to me - those aren't cheap. They even said they'd have their tech give it a setup before shipping. And the plastic was still on the pickguard. So, it was an auction hovering at $255, but I expected it would go a lot higher, at least $300. I always make one bid with seconds to go and take my chances. Another sniper bid $300, but I guessed a little higher than that and took it for $305! Of course, shipping is about $50, so it's not a super deal, but it sure looks like a super guitar. Check out these listing pics.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzariahJames Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Sweet. I picked mine up used for that price. I like mine a lot, running martin phos/bronze 12's on it. Gives it a nice woody tone. The only thing that I don't care for is the tuners and I have been looking at the Klusons to upgrade mine, so that is a great deal. Of all mine the neck on my 160 is the most comfortable for me to play. The extra length on the fret gives is a different feel as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodger11 Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Looks just like mine Cougar I picked up mine for £250 used - tried it and asked for a price - went back the next week and the manager was asking £350 which was the list price at the time - told him his colleague had offered it at £250 and he relented. I have mine strung with Elixers and it sounds great - never plug it in though. Dodger PS that's 2 Beatles guitars you've picked up in the space of a couple of weeks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 Left Greensboro. In transit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted June 14, 2015 Author Share Posted June 14, 2015 Oops, hit edit instead of add. Oh well.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted June 16, 2015 Author Share Posted June 16, 2015 Stopped off in Colorado. Hopefully will get here later today or tonight and be ready for "customer pickup" tomorrow. Shipment tracking is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agradeleous Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 Greensboro NC ? If so you should have let me pick it for you and go through it play it some you know make sure it's all good . :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 Greensboro NC ? If so you should have let me pick it for you and go through it play it some you know make sure it's all good . :) Gee, I didn't think of that. I'll tell you about it. :) I should be able to pick it up tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 The only thing that I don't care for is the tuners and I have been looking at the Klusons to upgrade mine... Yeah, I'm interested to see these. I have no experience with locking tuners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted June 18, 2015 Author Share Posted June 18, 2015 Looks just like mine Cougar They look great! PS that's 2 Beatles guitars you've picked up in the space of a couple of weeks! Yeah, lol, as I mentioned in that post I accidentally erased, it's Beatles week! The burst Texan is just stunning. And now this slope-shoulder vintage burst AJ with John Lennon's signature (did he sign yours too? ;) ) makes it quite the week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodger11 Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 We must have both got lucky on the signatures :) I have mine strung with elixirs - are you going down the acoustic or electric strings route? Played mine for a while last night and it's sounding great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted June 19, 2015 Author Share Posted June 19, 2015 The EJ160E arrived in an old chipboard case inside a box. The sale didn't include a case, so that's a little extra. But very little. It's probably only good for shipping, which seemed to work OK. I wouldn't keep a guitar in it! The guitar looks great. Really nice grain top and bottom. There does look like a little blemish running parallel to the bridge, an inch or so from it toward the soundhole. I don't know if that will disappear with some polish. Plays fine acoustically, BUT the electronics are not working. That was not disclosed in the ad. I expect it's some wiring connection, plus I get more buzz when I touch the strings, so it's apparently not grounded properly. I don't imagine anything's wrong with the mini humbucker? How hard/easy, expensive/inexpensive a job would that be for good tech to hunt down the problem and fix it? I've asked the seller if he'll fund the fix, or at least help fund it. Haven't heard back yet.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodger11 Posted June 20, 2015 Share Posted June 20, 2015 That's not on! I don't use the electronics on mine but good to know they're there if needed. The seller really should do something - partial refund would be good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted June 20, 2015 Author Share Posted June 20, 2015 Well, I gotta say, Woody's Music in South Carolina is OK in my book. I got a good email from the manager, and a partial refund was credited to my paypal account. As I hoped, I'm keeping this beautiful guitar. My luthier/tech is out of town until next week sometime, so I won't know what the problem is till he gets back. But what are the possibilities? I can't find much about the specs on this pickup system. It's a single mini humbucker connected to "full-size 500K O potentiometers" (according to Epiphone's page). Woody's says the electronics were working before shipping. I'm guessing a soldered connection got jarred loose during shipping (?). Any other possibilities? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diverden Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 I have one for sale in the trading post. Mint, no alterations. With an EDREAD case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzariahJames Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 A connection that has come loose, a bare spot in a wire that is touching something metal and grounding out, if the case was a little loose maybe it bounced on the jack while in transit and pushed something up from the jack spot. You could get one of those little extendable mirrors and a flash light and search it out a little. See what you can see underneath the bridge, to the end where the jack is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted June 21, 2015 Author Share Posted June 21, 2015 A connection that has come loose, a bare spot in a wire that is touching something metal and grounding out, if the case was a little loose maybe it bounced on the jack while in transit and pushed something up from the jack spot. You could get one of those little extendable mirrors and a flash light and search it out a little. See what you can see underneath the bridge, to the end where the jack is. Thanks, Az. Yeah, I've got to get me a little mirror and check it out better. There's not a lot under there - wires from the mini humbucker at the end of the fretboard back to the vol and tone knobs, then to the jack.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 There's not a lot under there - wires from the mini humbucker at the end of the fretboard back to the vol and tone knobs, then to the jack.... I swung by my tech's shop just to see if he was open, which he was, so I stopped in to alert him to the incoming EJ160E in need of work on the electronics. He said that should easy, for the reason I mentioned above - there's not a lot under there. That sounded hopeful. Plus, I've got to unload some guitar shipping boxes, and he said he'd take 'em and give me credit for them toward the work on the guitar. Symbiosis! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodger11 Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Good result Cougar! We need to hear a recording of that guitar unplugged and plugged in when you get it back! Have you decided what strings to use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 ...Have you decided what strings to use? Not really. I guess I want some phosphor in 'em, since it's just a mag pickup. She's going in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 Well, that was easy. Tom the tech plugged her in, tapped the end screws on the pickup, and she worked. That was embarrassing, lol. He proceeded to set all the posts to the right height to balance the string outputs. I gave him a guitar shipping box for his troubles 'fixing' my guitar, and we called it even. (Man, I've got to unload more boxes.) Tom buys bulk Martin phosphor bronze, so I got 3 sets of 12s for 9 bucks. He pointed out the error of what I'd been thinking about the low conductivity of bronze for magnetic pickups -- they're still wound around steel, which will sufficiently 'vibrate' the magnetic field, which is what gets picked up. So it works at home too! Being a passive system, I've got to crank up the box a bit (and I'm getting buzz somewhere, but I don't think that's Lennon's fault). The tone knob has quite a good range. I'm digging the deep bass just this side of muddy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzariahJames Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Hey Cougar, I was wondering about those tuners, if they tune up and hold well. I am really looking at getting some klusons for mine, as they are not bringing it into tune very well any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 Hey Cougar, I was wondering about those tuners, if they tune up and hold well. I am really looking at getting some klusons for mine, as they are not bringing it into tune very well any more. I'm not so sure they're actually klusons. I'm thinking they put those mesh sleeve things on the pegs and called it good. The tuners still seem to be a bit of a problem. I might be following your lead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzariahJames Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 I got a call from my local GC last week about credit that I still had not used, and was unaware of. I am glad they have good book keepers. Well I had a $70.00 gift card to use, I noticed that online had the Gibson Deluxe Vintage tuners with the pearloid buttons for $58.00. So, I picked em up and installed them on my EJ-160e. Love them. Makes a huge difference in how it tunes, and also in how it looks. Its not a perfect match hole for hole so I did have to drill out the peg holes a little, and one screw hole per tuner,(with one oops). The difference though is very worth the upgrade. The buttons are more vintage looking and the stocks are thicker. Over all just looks like it belongs on the guitar. I also am trying a set of the new Martin Retro strings on it. They are louder, maybe a shade deeper than the ej's I usually run, but not quite as much articulation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckster Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 I've always liked this John Lennon EJ160E guitar. Apparently they're discontinued; nobody sells them new anymore. As I recall, they were typically around $400 new. A few weeks ago, used ones seemed to be going for more than they were new! Wha...? Then last week, a couple good deals showed up on ebay. One was a buy it now for $280, which I seriously thought about snapping up. It was gone in about an hour. That's fine. I had my eye on this other one that had incredible grain. It wasn't a 2nd, but the seller, apparently a music store - Woody's Music, said they had trouble with the tuners, so they replaced them with Kluson locking tuners. Sounds OK to me - those aren't cheap. They even said they'd have their tech give it a setup before shipping. And the plastic was still on the pickguard. So, it was an auction hovering at $255, but I expected it would go a lot higher, at least $300. I always make one bid with seconds to go and take my chances. Another sniper bid $300, but I guessed a little higher than that and took it for $305! Of course, shipping is about $50, so it's not a super deal, but it sure looks like a super guitar. Check out these listing pics.... For what it's worth (always liked that tune)......I bought my Lennon model 'new' some years back and it cost $500.00!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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