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playing John's J160E


JuanCarlosVejar

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I'm using serious Sennheisers and there's no way for me to make any serious comment on the guitar sound. It could be nearly any guitar in that setting and I'd expect it to sound like that.

 

I'd need to hear it properly miked and used in a song that doesn't change chords every two seconds. There's no conclusive proof of anything. Other than people's natural biases to want to like the guitar.

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Beatles riffs like Daytripper sound great on my J45 Standard....... at home.

 

Would they buy the J160 if they had all the choices today? Doubt it. That was a test run for an acoustic with pickup with lam top for live play, wasn't it?

 

A billion choices now, plus anti feedback gadgetry.

 

 

BluesKing777.

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Beatles riffs like Daytripper sound great on my J45 Standard....... at home.

 

Would they buy the J160 if they had all the choices today? Doubt it. That was a test run for an acoustic with pickup with lam top for live play, wasn't it?

 

A billion choices now, plus anti feedback gadgetry.

 

 

BluesKing777.

 

I have thought about this too .

My conclusion is that John got a replacement to the "stolen one" because he liked the tone and feel

 

 

 

 

JC

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I have thought about this too .

My conclusion is that John got a replacement to the "stolen one" because he liked the tone and feel

 

In relation to the re-found miracle, I read that Lennon more than loved his/this 160'er and your logic is clear.

 

Still something tells me the new one didn't quite match the stolen, which might be the reason he always used George's (in reality his own before they swapped) further through 64-65.

 

He got the D-28, yes, but even during the White sessions the are pics of him with the now sanded new 160E. The one preferred for Give P a Chance also, , , (as we know).

 

A theory could be that

 

1 - Lennon dug the somewhat raw voice of the ladder-braced lami-beast

 

2 - was fascinated by the 2 functions of the guitar

 

and 3 - of course was drawn to its irresistible looks.

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Would they buy the J160 if they had all the choices today? Doubt it. That was a test run for an acoustic with pickup with lam top for live play, wasn't it?

 

 

 

Never cared for the sound of the 160E unplugged. I always wondered if it had not been for the association with the Beatles would these guitars be near as popular as they are today. They did, however, sound great plugged in. A bunch of us went a different route opting for an old J-45 with a Dearmond 210 pickup slapped across the soundhole.

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The J 160E is on my list and maybe my next Guitar. I want to find a clean one and after I pay for a neck reset that is getting fixed now, and get some stuff situated around the house here, Maybe by christmas.

 

They are popular because of Lennon and Harrison. I drank the Kool Aide.

 

I would wear a pink G- string if Lennon and Harrison wore one. Yeah, I am a punk ,hack player, Beatle Fanboy.

 

 

Just being honest. <_<

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It sounds like a guitar. Nice to think of the history associated with the guitar, but I just don't hear anything special in this instrument. Nor can I remember hearing anything special in any other guitar owned and played by some legend. We seem to attach magical qualities to guitars that celebs played throughout their careers or on a particular record, performance, or even simply autographed. But in reality they sound like guitars and if there's any magic it's from the legend who played the guitar. I think we want these guitars to sound like something special and that's what we often hear. A few years ago when we were in Nashville I got to meet Marty Stuart and he sat there and played one of Cash's favorite D28s. It was sweet, hearing the guitar and knowing Cash played it and it sounded like a D28 should: it roared. But no more than most D28s, etc. Besides, guys like Stuart can play rubber bands and make them sound good........Anyway, I'm sure Lennon's old guitar is a sweetheart and I appreciate the role it played in music history, but I doubt it has any qualities other J160's of that time period didn't also have. :o

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It sounds like a guitar.

 

Have to add that my positive response hasn't to do with the original owner.

 

It probably sounded like it should back in the day, still in Lennons ears apparently better than the 'Harrisons' 160 (in reality John's first) as they swapped before it got stolen.

 

What I praise is the way time has kicked in. Not really a fan of the model here, this 1962'er sounds better than most others I've heard.

 

Then again haven't listened to many old J-160E's close up.

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Don't know what he uses here, but a highly interesting thing for the specialists, is that the joyful phrase known from Imagine as

 

Yooohoooo you may say, , , is already on the sketch-board in this early phase. Listen 1:43 and again 2:16 and towards the end. .

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHdja8s4UNI

 

 

Love this clip of one of my favorite early ballads.

 

It's a long, long distance from a demo to the finished product, but I always enjoyed seeing a song bloom as you worked from the first rough run-through to the performance level and the final finished product through the magic of the studio. It's an exhilarating experience, particularly when you work with a demanding group of perfectionists.

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This is akin to that Epiphone David Rawlings plays…it is really a cheap guitar, although he has a good one, I've played a couple that are dogs. BUT because Rawlings plays one, they have skyrocketed in price…..silly really….The J-160 is a sub standard guitar acoustically, but plugged in, with the P-90, sounds like an electric (sort of)…..but because Lennon played one…..prices are sky high…..again, silly….but to each his or her own….I read somewhere that the J-160 was all laminate in an attempt to eliminate feedback when plugged in…..acoustic properties be damned!

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