1959: Hofner Club 40 model 244 (vintage
unknown): "A little Hofner that looked like a solid
guitar but was actually hollow inside, with no
soundholes," as Harrison described it. It differs from Lennon's Club
40 in that its control panel is round instead of
rectangular, and the headstock logo is horizontal
rather than vertical. Harrison got it in
a trade with Ray Ennis of the Swinging Blue Jeans, and
has said that he later traded in the Club 40 for
"something," but a rare photo (bottom) shows him with it
even after he'd bought his next two guitars, and at any
rate it showed up again a few years later.![]() In December 1965 some Star Club officials and others from Hamburg attended a Beatles show at the Hammersmith Odeon and came away with the Club 40, signed by all four Beatles (or, more likely, by Neil Aspinall), reportedly offered by Harrison to help publicize the venue's upcoming "Best Band" contest. The winner was The Faces, and band member Frank Dostal stowed the guitar away in a German bank vault until May 2018, when it was offered for sale through Julien's Auctions. When reached for comment, a representative of Julien's "could not confirm" it was purchased by a representative of the Harrison family. ![]() |
![]() The Faces celebrate their Star Club award: George's Club 40? |
A closeup of the guitar in question:![]() |
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![]() A photo of a similar vintage Futurama shows more clearly the push-button pickup switches and the Stratocaster styling that appealed to young Harrison. [It's not known whether Fender took issue with the advert (above) that declared the "automatic" Futurama had "the most revolutionary guitar design in years."] |
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(c)2000, 2015 John F. Crowley