All of our John’s guitars are as authentic as possible to what John Lennon used during each Beatles era, as recreated by The Melbeats.

To cover songs from the 1963-64 period, John uses a Rickenbacker 325 re-issue of the genuine 1964 guitar that became an icon for Lennon. This is the re-issue of the guitar that replaced John Lennon’s original, hand painted Rickenbacker Capri.

For all acoustic and other relevant songs, our john uses a genuine John Lennon series Gibson J160E (1962 model). This is the same as the model that both John and George used throughout the 1960’s (George’s was stolen at one point).

For all songs from the 1965 – 66 Beatles era requiring electric guitar our John uses a re-issue 1965 Sunburst Epiphone Casino model. John, Paul and George each owned Epiphone Casino Guitars, Paul’s being bought some time before John’s and George’s. Our John’s Casino is identical to the original and is fitted with the correct genuine “trapeze” tailpiece.

For the final Beatles era of 1967 – 69, our John uses an original 1971 John Lennon signature series Natural Casino. This guitar is setup with all details as accurate as possible.

For all the Melbeats’ sets, our John uses an original 1970’s era, British made VOX AC30 guitar amp. The Vox AC30 model, designed and built by Jennings Musical Industries was the original Beatles workhorse amplifier, used both in the studio and live on stage.