John Lennon's Missing Framus 12 String - Help required as I might need to raise $6 million

guitars4you

https://www.guitarworld.com/news/john-lennon-beatles-lost-framus-auction?utm_term=21B679D1-15AB-4952-AF45-25FA127F96CE&lrh=0aa1f929fb9984e418eef0465bc223a92aa04fb3b52135592d262cfeb7fe414c&utm_campaign=81B8FE53-0558-425C-A5DF-6AED422268A4&utm_medium=email&utm_content=ECF1D207-B5FC-4A1B-A9D4-BB6B4D6E1060&utm_source=SmartBrief

Tipped to become the most expensive guitar sold via auction

When they said 'you've got to hide your love away' - they didn't mean put the guitar in the attic for 50 years

theatreanchor

What do the people who buy these things do with the instruments? Put them in a display case? Donate them to a museum? Form a tribute band?

WezV

theatreanchor said:

What do the people who buy these things do with the instruments? Put them in a display case? Donate them to a museum? Form a tribute band?

Well you're probably not going to play it.   This will have played like a dog when new, god knows what it will be like after 50 years in an attic

guitars4you

Thinking about this Framus 12 String - If you had to think of 10 famous guitars owned/played by The Beatles, then I bet no one had this in that list - You'd have one of Paul's Violin Bass, John's Casino, his 325 Ricky, that he might well have forgot to pay for, his J160E - George's Duo Jet, Country Gent and/or Tennessean and what is probably the most famous guitar for only around 30 mins of work, the roof top Rosewood Tele - Just a small selection of well known models for starters - But would you recall that Framus 12 string 

But then the other question is did the guitar help to write Help, Norwegian Wood , You've got to hide your love away - ie Did the sound of the guitar inspire him to write the songs - ie the sound of a potential song is/was in his head but the guitar allowed the idea to blossom (hope that comes out how I intended it to) 

guitars4you

WezV said:

theatreanchor said:

What do the people who buy these things do with the instruments? Put them in a display case? Donate them to a museum? Form a tribute band?

Well you're probably not going to play it.   This will have played like a dog when new, god knows what it will be like after 50 years in an attic

Norwegian Wood - so it should be okay after time spent in the attic 

guitars4you

WezV said:

theatreanchor said:

What do the people who buy these things do with the instruments? Put them in a display case? Donate them to a museum? Form a tribute band?

Well you're probably not going to play it.   This will have played like a dog when new, god knows what it will be like after 50 years in an attic

Agree - Would be interesting to see/hear how they 100% verify that this is the actual guitar 

WezV

the grain patterns in the top are pretty distinctive, so you only need one good photo of it from back in the day

guitars4you

WezV said:

the grain patterns in the top are pretty distinctive, so you only need one good photo of it from back in the day

I thought it might be that - Think they did similar with John's 160E that was only re-discovered a few years ago 

WezV

Obviously it helps if their is a provenance trail between John and the attic it was found in

elstoof

They’re now finding Beatles guitars in attics faster than Gibson can put out Slash signatures 

guitars4you

So I've just spent a few mins on a Google trip - If I wanted to go on a Beatles nostalgia trip and have a guitar in the style off, for some form of 'association' - So how much would I have to pay for an original 60's Framus Hootenanny 5/024 - Most listings have a 'John Lennon' sales tag line with them, for obvious reasons - £600/700 appears to be the current order of the day - I assume such prices will now go up, as a result of the new publicity that John's personal 'attic' guitar has created

JayGee

To paraphrase the Grease Rat from Mad Max…

”Nostalgia is just a question of money. How much intangible golden glow of association can you afford…?”

scrumhalf

As long as it's not being sold by someone with the same name as the other guitarist in The Beatles.

impmann

Well, if it truly *is* that guitar it will sell for a load of cash... is it an iconic Beatles guitar? Probably not iconic, but it featured on some of their big hits and is played during an iconic sequence in Help. As soon as I read the headline I could picture it, so its not as peripheral as George's Maton, or John's Gretsch (that he played on Paperback Writer) or Paul's r/handed sunburst Esquire...
Good luck to them, I say

guitars4you

scrumhalf said:

As long as it's not being sold by someone with the same name as the other guitarist in The Beatles.

Took me a min to work out what you meant

Strat54

I'm sure someone is making all this nonsense up....first the McCartney bass now this....
'discovered in the attic of a rural family home just outside London'

Philly_Q

I'm sure there are better pictures, but I'm not sure you can actually match the grain patterns in this B&W photo.

I thought at first it was a different bridge too, but I think that's just a shadow in the colour photo.

guitars4you

Crazy, but the guitar is probably worth more than the house it came from

CaseOfAce

"Beatles tax" - the premium banged on top of any instrument in any way, shape or form associated with the legendary band.

Kittyfrisk

Philly_Q said:

I'm sure there are better pictures, but I'm not sure you can actually match the grain patterns in this B&W photo.

I thought at first it was a different bridge too, but I think that's just a shadow in the colour photo.

If it is worth that much, it's very generous to lend it to George while he was 'avin a fag...

guitars4you

So you go up into your attic and find what looks effectively like a charity shop guitar, with a brand name that few outside of our industry will have heard of - So is it pure luck that somehow you find out that it was John's missing guitar - You are just as likely to find such a guitar in a charity shop, car boot sale, skip/tip or on a stand at a guitar show - So what was the driving factor that took the owner down the route of 'maybe it is John's Guitar

Who now owns it and as such will receive payment