Framus - Hootenanny 6 String - Lennon Re-issue

In 1964 after their great success in Europe, the Beatles had taken off in the USA and Beatlemania reached its first peak. A folk and western music scene had developed in the USA in the early 1960s. This did not go unnoticed by the German manufacturer Framus, which was on its way to becoming the largest guitar manufacturer in Europe.

Nicolas Wilfer’s grandfather Fred Wilfer, recognized this and developed new acoustic guitars that combined elements of the highly successful Framus jazz guitars with the important features of Framus concert guitars.

Back to John Lennon: He had met Bob Dylan on tour in the USA and also recognized the folk trend. Upon his return to London, he purchased an acoustic Framus Hootennanny 12-string. He used it to compose the Dylan-influenced song 'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away'. For the recording sessions of the album Help, the guitar came into the studio and was used not only for the Dylan-inspired song, but also by John Lennon and George Harrison for the songs 'Help', 'It's Only Love' and 'I've Just Seen a Face'.

In the movie Help, John Lennon used this guitar for the filming of 'You've Got to Hide Your love Away'. And on the follow-up album Rubber Soul, the Hootenanny is also used for the recordings of 'Norwegian Wood' and 'Girl'.

In late 1965, John Lennon gave the guitar to Gordon Waller of Peter & Gordon, a duo produced by Lennon and McCartney. From there it went to the band's manager and disappeared in an attic for over 60 years. It was rediscovered in early 2024 and positively identified by Beatles gear expert Andy Bubiuk.

On May 29th 2024, this model was sold by Julien's Auction in California for a record price of approximately $ 2.85 million.

Meet the Framus Hootenanny 2025 reissue model line-up