Framus has announced a reissue of John Lennon’s famous 12-string Hootenanny acoustic guitar to commemorate its recent discovery and multi-million dollar sale.
Lennon had bought the instrument after being drawn to the folk music that Bob Dylan was making a name for himself with, in the mid-’60s. It’s purchased kickstarted a brief but intense love affair with the instrument.
The guitarist soon wrote "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" with it, and it would later be used in other seminal Beatles moments, including the songs "Norwegian Wood," and "Girl," as well as the band’s feature-length film, Help! Harrison also played the guitar in the film, extending its legacy.
It has since become one of the most famous Beatles guitars but had been lost and presumed gone forever for over 50 years until its unlikely discovery last year.
Against the odds, it had been found in the attic of a house in the rural British countryside. It sold for an “unprecedented” $2,857,000 months later, becoming one of the most expensive guitars sold at auction. Only four guitars, including Eddie Van Halen’s Hot for Teacher Kramer, David Gilmour’s Black Strat, and Kurt Cobain's Martin D-18E have fetched higher prices.
The sale also made it the most expensive Beatles guitar sold at auction, beating the $1.27m sale of George Harrison's peculiar Futurama guitar.
The Hootenanny acoustic was a hybrid concoction, pairing aspects of the German luthier's jazz guitars and concert models, with Lennon's model featuring a mahogany neck, a rosewood bridge and fingerboard, and a Trapeze tailpiece.
While Framus was unable to get its hands on Lennon's exact model, it did pull “an identical 12-string Hootenany” from the Framus Vintage Museum. With the help of old documents, the luthier has reconstructed the celebrated six- and 12-string models “to the exact specifications of the original,” with the blessing of the Lennon estate.
The new models, also available in six- and 12-string formats, mirror the Hootenany’s heritage with solid Sitka spruce tops, mahogany back, sides, and neck, and flat, 19 nickel silver fret rosewood fingerboards. They’ve been given an oil finish for added authenticity.
Like the legendary original, it features a nickel, height-adjustable trapeze tailpiece, with vintage-style, closed nickel machine heads aiding its retro chic.
Decorative elements include ivory and black binding, a black pickguard just like the one found on Lennon’s 12-string, and a decorative sound hole rosette made of individual pieces of wood.
Each model has a special Hootenany headstock 6st or 12st headstock.
“The ingenious blend of jazz and classical guitars gives this guitar an exceptional look and sound,” says Framus. “Warm and surprisingly loud. It's the sound you recognize when you hear You've Got To Hide Your Love Away.”
The 12-string models are priced at (€1.099, approx. $1,145), with the 6-string marginally cheaper at (€999, approx. $1,040). Both come with a special Hootenany hard case.
“This guitar happens to be one of the most important Beatles guitars and instruments ever to come to the auction block,” Julien’s Auction’s founder Darren Julien had said at the guitar’s unveiling last year. “It’s so important, so historic. We thought this guitar was gone – we thought it was lost forever.”
Adding to its mystique in the wake of its sale, David Goodman, the chief executive of Julien’s, told The Guardian UK: “We are absolutely thrilled and honored to have set a new [Beatles] world record with the sale of John Lennon’s lost Hootenanny guitar.
“This guitar is not only a piece of music history, but a symbol of John Lennon’s enduring legacy.”
The Framus Hootenanny reissue guitars are available now.
Visit Framus for more details.
