Beatles Gibson J160E

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Sat Oct 12, 2002 8:26 am

I would like to hear from any of you Beatle fans that owns a J160E. My main conern is, "how does it sound plugged in"? What type of amp do you use or is it run through your PA? Thanks, Steve

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Sat Oct 12, 2002 2:53 pm

I have one----- I don't like how it sounds plugged. It has a P-90 but to my ears it does not sound like a P-90 pup. Folks at VoxTalk say it was used to do the intro to "I Feel Fine" using a Voc AC50. I find it hard to do the riff in an acoustic and is much easier in an electric for the obvious reasons. If JL did it that way he could certainly play. In any event I find the tone to be devoid of much character except when one rolls off the tone and use it for jazzy licks. I originally bought the guitar because it was a Beatles icon. I recommend you post this question in the VoxTalkbbs. They have many experts on this guitar.

J

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Sun Oct 13, 2002 3:33 am

Julio, Thanks for your input. I had read that George Martin also did not care for the sound of this guitar plugged in. When it was used in recordings, it was with a mic. How do I get to this VoxTalkbbs? Thanks, Steve.

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Sun Oct 13, 2002 4:54 am

Here is the site:

http://www.voxtalks.com/cgi-bin/UltraBoard/UltraBoard.pl?Action=ShowBoard&Board=VT9&Idle=&Sort=&Order=&Session=

J

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Sun Oct 13, 2002 7:08 am

Lennon too had issues with the J160E pickup which is why he chose to move it from one side of the sound hole to the other. The type of strings certainly make a difference with this instrument as well.

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Sun Oct 13, 2002 7:40 am

Thanks Peter. Did he use it plugged in? Most semi-acoustics sound better through a PA.

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Sun Oct 13, 2002 10:57 am

He did use it plugged in, however, much of the Beatles' acoustic work was miked. Just in passing, the "I Feel Fine" riff is quite workable on the J160E with a little practice. I especially like the way the open D string rings on the first note of the riff. I suspect that the feedback on the A string at the beginning is also from the J160E. Just lean it next to your amp unplugged and you will hear the feedback, which is how I think Lennon got the idea to begin with.

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Sun Oct 13, 2002 12:24 pm

I have spoken to many guitar players about the J160E. Most of them say you have to change the pickup. These guitars are selling for about $1,700. It's tuff to justify spending that much then having to fix it before you can use it. I thank you for your feedback. Steve

anonymous · Post by **anonymous** » Tue Oct 22, 2002 4:43 pm

A friend of mine has one ( he actually used it when he played Lennon in "Beatlemania") He plays at small clubs and doesn't use it anymore, because it's just too "thin" plugged in. He now uses an SJ200. I guess the J160E would be OK in a mix, but when you're alone on stage with your acoustic, you don't need thin.

my $.02,

Joey

sneakers · Post by **sneakers** » Fri May 02, 2003 3:28 am

I have to concur with Peter. I got the same effect with a J-45. The riff can be played, barred in the "D" position at the tenth fret, using your pinky to play the notes. The feedback from the acoustic sounded just like theirs. Maybe John started the feedback and George took over with the riff on his Gretsch CG.

jazzsmith · Post by **jazzsmith** » Fri May 02, 2003 4:36 am

You really have to think of the J-160e as a hollow body electric, not an acoustic with a pickup. Supposedly, in the Hamburg days, the Beatles used to borrow a Gibson ES-175. They called it the Gibson jumbo electric. When they started making some money, they ordered "Gibson jumbo electrics" and got J-160e's and just figured, "Oh well, we'll play these". But if you think of the J-160e as another version of a jazz hollow body with a neck pick up you'll be much happier with it - acoustically, they will never stack up to a J-45 or D-18 or anything of that ilk.

toneman · Post by **toneman** » Thu May 08, 2003 7:40 am

Jeffery; Actually there's documentation from George Harrison in a letter to a friend saying that he and John wanted to get a couple of Gibson Jumbo guitars like the Everly Bros. had that had electric capabilities. However, John and George both loved Tony Sheridan's ES-175 as well.
I once asked Chris Huston who was in another Liddypool band called "The Undertaker's" why John use to wear his guitar up so high. He said that Tony Sheridan did that and he(Tony) was a huge influence on both John and George. Chris is also the chap who installed the Bigsby B-5 on John's Ric 325.
On to J-160E's.. I've played with Gordon Waller on more occasions than I can count and Gordon still has his old J-160E(actually has two. He keeps one at his Mum's in Pinner-north London area-nice place!! I've got cousin's 5 minutes from Gordon's Mum)). He use to loan John his J-160E when they were both recording at Abbey Road. John seemed to prefer the sound of Gordon's over his own Gordon's told me. He also said that they would plug them into AC-30's and as well stick a mic (U-47) in front of the guitar as well and blend the two sounds together.
I've seen photos of John and George at Abbey Road from `63/`64 with them sitting in-front of a mic playing the J-160E's and also a guitar cable coming out going to their Vox Amps with a mic on the amp(usually the Nuemman U-47's).
These days if you want a good acoustic guitar sound there's many great options available that weren't even possible 40 years ago.

jazzsmith · Post by **jazzsmith** » Thu May 08, 2003 9:28 am

Again, thanks Don for the most interesting insights. I've always liked and longed for just the right J-160E, even though by all accounts the Gibson CF-100E is a vastly superior instrument (so I'm told - never played one). Can you imagine if John and George had gotten ES-175's instead? We'd be obsessing over whether or not to change the rosewood bridge to a tune-a-matic, or whether or not PAF's are necessary to get The Sound!

toneman · Post by **toneman** » Mon May 12, 2003 6:25 am

Jeffery; LOL! Yeah, you're most likely right on the ES-175's. I can hear the debate as well on if their `62 PAF's had long or short bar magnets or if they were early pat.# one's...