De gitaar die de Beatles succesvol maakte

Gitaar-producent Gibson maakt graag nog reclame met The Beatles. Volgens de maker is het vooral het bijzondere geluid dat er voor gezorgd heeft dat het viertal uit Liverpool kon doorbreken met het nummer Love Me Do. De gitaar was echter nogal prijzig, zoals uit dit stukje blijkt: “Taking the recording studio advice to heart, George Harrison and John Lennon, remembering Tony Sheridan’s impressive Gibson ES-175, decided they needed some Gibson power and finesse of their own and both fancied a J-160E acoustic. The only problem with that was the price. England, in 1962, was still recovering from two World Wars. The economy was still precarious and the average yearly wage was only £800. The Gibson J-160Es cost a cool £161 apiece, a steep price for even a successful live band of the time. Fortunately, The Beatles had a relatively wealthy manager in Brian Epstein and he co-signed for their payment plan at Rushmore’s music store in Liverpool. But even Epstein took a year to pay off the guitars!”