John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make Music, musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person ...

s were both diverse and many, and his worldwide fame resulted in his personal choices having a strong impact on cultural preferences.

Overview

played various guitars with

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and during his solo career, most notably the

Rickenbacker 325 The Rickenbacker 325 is the first of the Capri series of hollow body guitars released in 1958 by Rickenbacker. Overview The 325 was designed by Roger Rossmeisl, a guitar craftsman from a family of German instrument makers. Production models had ...

(four variants thereof) and

Epiphone Casino The Epiphone Casino is a thinline semi-acoustic guitar, hollow body electric guitar manufactured by Epiphone, a branch of Gibson Guitar Corporation, Gibson. The guitar debuted in 1961 and has been associated with such guitarists as Howlin' Wolf, ...

, along with various Gibson and Fender guitars. His other instrument of choice was the piano, on which he also composed many songs. For instance, Lennon's jamming on a piano together with

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

led to creation of "

I Want to Hold Your Hand "I Want to Hold Your Hand" is a song by the English rock music, rock band the Beatles, written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Recorded on 17 October 1963 and released on 29 November 1963 in the United Kingdom, it was the first Beatles recor ...

" in 1963. Lennon's musicianship went beyond guitar and piano, when he showed his proficiency on the harmonica in early

Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

records. His mother,

Julia Lennon Julia Lennon (''née'' Stanley; 12 March 1914 – 15 July 1958) was the mother of English musician John Lennon, who was born during her marriage to Alfred Lennon. After complaints to Liverpool's Social Services by her eldest sister Mimi Smi ...

first showed him how to play the banjo and encouraged him to learn to play guitar, when they would practice together, "sitting there with endless patience until I managed to work out all the chords". According to Lennon, it was Julia who introduced him to rock 'n' roll and actively encouraged him to pursue his musical ambitions. After Julia's death in 1958 the instrument was never seen again and its whereabouts remain a mystery. Lennon also played keyboards besides piano (

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument that has a piano-style musical keyboard, where sound is produced by means of mechanical hammers striking metal strings or reeds or wire tines, which leads to vibrations which are then converted into ele ...

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

, Lowrey organ,

harmonium The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

clavioline The clavioline is an electronic analog synthesizer. It was invented by French engineer Constant Martin in 1947 in Versailles. The instrument consists of a keyboard and a separate amplifier and speaker unit. The keyboard usually covered thr ...

), saxophone, harmonica, six-string bass guitar (either he or

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

, when McCartney was playing piano or guitar), and some percussion (in the studio).

Replica guitars

Rickenbacker Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. Rickenbacker is the first known maker of electric guitars, with a steel guitar in 1932, and produces a range of electric guitars and bass ...

makes several "Lennon" model electric guitars, Gibson makes a limited-edition replica of his J-160E and an "inspired by" John Lennon Les Paul replicating the modified Junior. Epiphone also makes two "Lennon" edition guitars; the EJ-160e and the Inspired by John Lennon Casino.

Piano

Lennon composed his biggest solo hit " Imagine" on a

Steinway Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in New York City by German piano builder Henry E. Steinway, Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth le ...

upright piano. In 2000, this piano was bought by

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. Regarded as a pop culture icon, he is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling rec ...

at an auction for £1.45 million. Later, the piano was on charity tour called the Imagine Piano Peace Project. The piano has been on display at

Strawberry Field Strawberry Field is a visitor attraction and training centre in the Liverpool suburb of Woolton that is owned and operated by the Salvation Army. It operated as a children's home between 1936 and 2005. The house and grounds had originally been ...

in Liverpool since 2020.

Sound effects

Lennon used a variety of sound sources for his songs, such as radios, sound effect records, resonators, and even his own heartbeat. He recorded his, Ono's and their baby's heartbeat, for sounds on the '' Wedding Album'' and '' Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions''.

Instruments

Guitars

(four models): ** His original 1958 model, modified with Bigsby vibrato and nonstandard control knobs. ** A 1964 six-string model used on the Beatles' first appearance on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

'', serial number DB122. ** A twelve-string model (similar to DB122), with a trapeze tail piece. Only used a few times in the studio, most notably on "Every Little Thing". Lennon used it at home for songwriting purposes. ** A Rose Morris model 1996, finished in Rickenbacker's Fireglo finish, and with an f-shaped

sound hole A sound hole is an opening in the body of a stringed musical instrument, usually the upper sound board. Sound holes have different shapes: * Round in flat-top guitars and traditional bowl-back mandolins; * F-holes in instruments from the viol ...

. Used after Lennon's second Rickenbacker was damaged. Lennon used it for home studio use until it was given to

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...

during the '' White Album'' sessions. *

(In 1968 Lennon had his sunburst Casino professionally stripped of its paint, removed the pickguard and changed the tuning machines to gold Grovers) * A twelve-string

Framus Framus is a German string instrument manufacturing company, that existed from 1946 until 1975. The Framus brand was revived in 1995 as part of Warwick GmbH & Co Music Equipment KG, in Markneukirchen, Germany. The company has offices located in M ...

Hootenanny acoustic used during the ''

Beatles for Sale ''Beatles for Sale'' is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 4 December 1964 in the United Kingdom on EMI's Parlophone label. The album marked a departure from the upbeat tone that had characterised ...

'', ''

Help! ''Help!'' is the fifth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles and the soundtrack to their Help! (film), film of the same name. It was released on 6 August 1965 by Parlophone. Seven of the fourteen songs, including the sin ...

'' and ''

Rubber Soul ''Rubber Soul'' is the sixth studio album by the English Rock music, rock band the Beatles. It was released on 3 December 1965 in the United Kingdom on EMI's Parlophone label, accompanied by the non-album double A-side single "We Can Work It Ou ...

'' sessions and was possibly used on " Polythene Pam". * Gibson Les Paul Jr. which was modified with the addition of a Charlie Christian pick-up * Gibson J-160E Acoustic-electric guitar * Gibson SJ-200 In "The Beatles: Get Back", Lennon is seen playing this distinctive acoustic-electric guitar (sunburst finish, floral pick guard pattern and "moustache" bridge decor) on different songs. * 1962

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...

finish in Sonic Blue used from 1965 to 1968. * Fender The STRAT: candy apple red "Strat" with 22 carat gold electroplated brass hardware bought in 1980. * 1963 Fender Duo-Sonic #L22604 Bought from

Manny's Music Manny's Music was an American Music store, music instrument store in New York City on Music Row (West 48th Street, between 6th and 7th Avenues), Midtown Manhattan, where musicians from beginner to professional could buy their instruments and meet e ...

and later given to the band Man's lead singer Clive John's by

Mal Evans Malcolm Frederick Evans (27 May 1935 – 4 January 1976) was an English road manager and personal assistant employed by the Beatles from 1963 until their break-up in 1970. In the early 1960s, Evans was employed as a telephone engineer, and ...

and was used extensively in Man live shows and recordings. *

Fender Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele (), is an electric guitar produced by Fender (company), Fender. Together with its sister model the Fender Esquire, Esquire, it was the world's first mass-produced, commercially successfulLes ...

Höfner Karl Höfner GmbH & Co. KG is a German (originally Austro-Bohemian) manufacturer of musical instruments, with one division that manufactures guitars and basses, and another that manufactures other string instruments, such as violins, violas, ce ...

Senator: according to George Harrison it was bought in 1960 and used for his songwriting purposes. Later given to roadie

. *

Guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

Starfire XII: Given to him by Guild in August 1966, likely used on a 12-string guitar part on "

While My Guitar Gently Weeps "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles (album), The Beatles'' (also known as the "White Album"). It was written by George Harrison, the band's lead guitarist, as ...

". Most likely used for his home studio, somehow it got to

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

's second husband Anthony Cox. Currently on display at the Hard Rock Cafe in Honolulu, Hawaii. *

Gretsch 6120 The Gretsch 6120 is a hollow body electric guitar with f-holes, manufactured by Gretsch and first appearing in the mid-1950s with the endorsement of Chet Atkins. It was quickly adopted by rockabilly artists Eddie Cochran, Duane Eddy, and later ...

: (used on the ''

Revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

'' sessions), used for songwriting purposes at his home studio but has been in Lennon's cousin David Birch's hands since 1967. Currently on display at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. * A 1965 Martin D-28 (bought in early 1967 and taken to India in February 1968) * An Ovation acoustic. * A custom Yamaha acoustic given to him by wife

. *

Club guitar, used after his Gallotone Champion suffered some damage. *

Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typic ...

25/50 (given to Julian in 1978) *

Fender Bass VI The Fender Bass VI, originally known as the Fender VI, is a six-string electric bass guitar made by Fender. The instrument is tuned an octave below a standard electric guitar. Design concept and history The Fender VI was released in 1961 and fo ...

: The bass guitar that he and George Harrison would use when Paul McCartney would play piano or guitar. Used by John Lennon on ''The Beatles'' and ''Let It Be'', and by George Harrison on ''The Beatles'' and ''

Abbey Road ''Abbey Road'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 26 September 1969, by Apple Records. It is the last album the group recorded, although '' Let It Be'' (1970) was the last album completed before th ...

''. * Vox Guitorgan, Lennon had received it as a gift from Dick Denny, the inventor of the instrument. Lennon eventually gave the guitar along with his Höfner Senator to road manager and friend

. It was later auctioned. *

Sardonyx Onyx is a typically black-and-white banded variety of agate, a silicate mineral. The bands can also be monochromatic with alternating light and dark bands. ''Sardonyx'' is a variety with red to brown bands alternated with black or white bands. T ...

: a very rare semi-custom guitar built by Jeff Levin with custom electronics by Ken Schaffer. Lennon played the Sardonyx on ''

Double Fantasy ''Double Fantasy'' is the fifth collaborative studio album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and the final one before Lennon's death. Released in November 1980 on Geffen Records, the album marked Lennon's return to recording music full-time, followin ...

'' and used it in session the day he was killed. File:Gallotone Champion guitar body.jpg, Gallotone Champion File:Hofner Club40John Lennon Edition 1.jpg, Hofner Club40 John Lennon Edition File:John Lennon's Gretsch 6120 (SN 53,940).jpg, John Lennon's Gretsch 6120 (S/N 53940) File:Fender-VI-Bass.jpg, Fender Bass VI File:Vox V251 guitarOrgan-IMG 5539.jpg, Vox V251 Guitorgan File:The Beatles' 1966 Guild Starfire XII 12-string, HRC Honolulu.jpg, The Beatles' 1966 Guild Starfire XII 12-string

Amplifiers

* Various Vox amplifiers, such as the AC-30, UL7120 and UL730 and the Super Beatle * Various

Fender amplifiers Fender amplifiers are electric instrument amplifiers produced by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The first guitar amplifiers attributed to Leo Fender were manufactured by the K&F Manufacturing Corporation (K&F) in 1945. Later, Fe ...

, such as the Deluxe Reverb and the

Twin Reverb The Fender Twin and Twin Reverb are guitar amplifiers made by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The Twin was introduced in 1952, two years before Fender began selling Fender Stratocaster, Stratocaster electric guitars. The amps are known f ...

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

amplifiers

Pedals

* Vox Tone Bender * Dallas Arbiter

Fuzz Face The Fuzz Face is an effects pedal for electric guitar, used also by some electric bass players. It is designed to produce a distorted sound referred to as "fuzz", originally achieved through accident such as broken electrical components or damag ...

pedal (during the ''

Let It Be Let It Be most commonly refers to: * ''Let It Be'' (album), the Beatles' final studio album, released in 1970 * "Let It Be" (song), the title song from the album Let It Be may also refer to: Film and television * ''Let It Be'' (1970 film), ...

'' Sessions) * Gibson Maestro Fuzz pedal * Vox Wah pedal * Rush PepBox

Keyboards

upright piano model Z * Bechstein D-280 concert grand piano *

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

and

Hohner Pianet The Hohner Pianet is a type of electric piano, electro-mechanical piano built by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany and designed by Ernst Zacharias. The Pianet was a variant of his earlier reed-based Hohner electric piano, the Cemba ...

pianos *

(the MK II model was used only at Lennon's home and is now residing at Interscope Records) *

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...

used during ''

''. * Sequential Circuits

Prophet-5 The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential (company), Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith (engineer), Dave Smith and John S. Bowen (sound designer), John Bowen in 1977. It was the first Polyphony ...

used during ''

'' *

Vox Continental The Vox Continental is a transistorised combo organ that was manufactured between 1962 and 1971 by the British musical equipment manufacturer Vox. It was designed for touring musicians and as an alternative to the heavy Hammond organ. It supp ...

used at

Shea Stadium William A. Shea Municipal Stadium ( ), typically shortened to Shea Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City.Clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...

Harmonium The pump organ or reed organ is a type of organ that uses free reeds to generate sound, with air passing over vibrating thin metal strips mounted in a frame. Types include the pressure-based harmonium, the suction reed organ (which employs a va ...

Harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

Clavioline The clavioline is an electronic analog synthesizer. It was invented by French engineer Constant Martin in 1947 in Versailles. The instrument consists of a keyboard and a separate amplifier and speaker unit. The keyboard usually covered thr ...

Harmonicas

* Various

Hohner Hohner Musikinstrumente GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of musical instruments, founded in 1857 by Matthias Hohner (1833–1902). It is a subsidiary of Matth. Hohner AG. The roots of the Hohner firm are in Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg ...

diatonic, chromatic, chord and bass harmonicas

Percussion

Tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

Maraca A maraca ( , , ), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas, also known as tamaracas, were rattles of d ...

s *

Cowbell A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell (instrument), bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. ...

Conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest ...

Headphones

* AKG K240 Sextett

Other

Banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

Whistling Whistling, without the use of an artificial whistle, is achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips, usually after applying moisture (licking one's lips or placing water upon them) and then blowing or sucking air through the space. Th ...

Tape loop In music, tape loops are loops of magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound when played on a tape recorder. Originating in the 1940s with the work of Pierre Schaeffer, they were used among ...

s *

Saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

References

External links

Equipment

{{John Lennon John Lennon, Musical Instruments Lennon, John