An English guitarist has unwittingly bought John Lennon’s old Fender Deluxe guitar amp for less than $4,000, after the historic combo ended up on Facebook Marketplace.
Father of two James Tyler, 45, of Brighton, England, works in the Hi-Fi industry and was perusing the social media giant’s listings when he came across a mid-’60s blackface Fender Deluxe combo for a not-too-shabby price.
The seller, who is believed to be the amp’s second owner after John Lennon first parted with it in the early ’70s, had hinted at its illustrious past during the trade, but Taylor “didn’t pay it much mind” until after the sale.
By 1968, the Beatles were the biggest band in the world. Around that time, Fender gifted the band three pieces of gear – a Fender VI, a silver-panel Deluxe Reverb, and a black-panel Deluxe – for use during the White Album sessions at Abbey Road and Trident Studios (as per Andy Babiuk’s book, Beatles Gear).
As per Manchester Evening News, Taylor suspects the amp he bought from Facebook Marketplace is the same one that was used during these sessions.
As the story goes, Lennon later gifted the combo to guitarist Rod Lynton as a thank you for playing acoustic guitar on his 1971 solo album, Imagine. Lynton – who wrote a letter of authenticity to vouch for its provenance – is then believed to have sold it to the seller from whom Taylor bought it.
“They told me it might have been gifted to someone by John Lennon, but I have heard these stories before,” Taylor tells the Manchester Evening News.
“I bought the amp because I wanted the amp,” he adds, “and I didn't pay John Lennon sort of money for it.”
After Taylor acquired the amp, a research deep dive led him to his discovery. “I realized I had something very exciting on my hands,” he says. “I wasn’t expecting it at all.
“It plays and sounds fantastic. I had used it in my own band practices prior to authentication. I might have been a bit more cautious had I realized the historical importance.”
Considering John Lennon’s recently re-discovered Please Please Me Vox amp sold for £151,200 (approx. $203,000) when it went to auction last year, it’s understandable that the idea of selling the amp is tempting.
“It would be scary for me to have something so valuable in the house,” he concludes. “There are many parts of me that wish I could hold onto it, but it is a risk to keep in a house with toddlers rushing around.
“I could probably use the money from selling it to get myself a mortgage and get on the property ladder.”
Taylor is now reportedly looking for additional help to authenticate the amp, and to confirm whether his suspicions that his new Fender Deluxe was the one used during the White Album sessions.
Elsewhere, Lennon's $2.8m Hootenanny 12-string acoustic has been revived with permission from the late guitarist's estate, and Paul McCartney brought his Höfner violin bass, lost for 50 years, back to the stage for a spot alongside Ronnie Wood.
