Gibson Les Paul Special John Lennon Model
John Lennon was always a fan of Charlie Christian, and he also enjoyed tinkering with his guitars. So when he met New York luthier and guitar repairman Ron DeMarino in the early 70’s, he asked him to take his 1950’s Tobacco Sunburst Les Paul Junior and add the pickup made famous by the jazz legend.
“We put it in the neck position,” says DeMarino. “Installing the pickup involved extensive routing and major modifi cation to the back of the guitar. We left the Gibson P-90 pickup in the guitar and added a toggle switch wired for pickup selection. When I got the guitar back to John he liked the way it sounded.” Later, at Lennon’s request, he sanded off the ‘burst finish and added the Tune-O-Matic bridge and stop tailpiece. On August 30, 1972, Lennon used his customized Les Paul in its new raw wood state during his famous benefi t concert at New York ’s Madison Square Garden.
Today, the guitar is on permanent display at the John
Lennon Museum in Japan.
