Every Guitar Has A Story posted a video featuring a 1952 Gibson CF100E. It was the original acoustic-electric guitar. The fully acoustic CF-100 came out the year before. Adding pickups in 1952, was a game changer.
The design is so amazing. Sitka spruce top with bound mahogany back and sides, a rosewood fingerboard made this a beautiful solid wood guitar complete with scalloped x-bracing. It was also the first acoustic to have a cutaway. The Florentine cutaway not only gave it a unique look, it made it easier to access those high frets.
How rare is this guitar? The CF-100E was produced between 1951 and 1959 with only 1257 shipped for the entire production run.
Controversy reared its predictable head with the statement, “it became the famous John Lennon Guitar." The owner brought a picture that was autographed by Paul McCartney and if you look closely, it is not the exact model. Nobody claimed this particular guitar was owned by John Lennon. Just watch the video to understand the evolution of this early acoustic electric.
The first version, which is the one in the video, had issues with feedback. Gibson substituted scalloped x-bracing with ladder-bracing and the solid wood with a laminate. That one, with the dreadnaught shape was the one John Lennon used. They named that model the J-16E.
Here’s a little side story about that particular guitar. Yes, the guitar used on She Loves You, I Want To Hold Your Hand, All My Loving and those early Beatles classics. That guitar was missing for 50 years. A California man bought it from a friend for $175. He had no idea what he bought. It hung on his wall for decades. The end of that detective story was an action price of $2.4 million.
Every Guitar Has A Story. That guitar has had a darn good story…so far.
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