According to May Pang, by the time of Lennon's birthday in 1974:

"We had been together for fourteen months and our birthdays were soon approaching. John was going to be thirty-four on October 9 and I was going to be twenty-four on October 24. John loved the sitar sound, and Jimmy Iovine and I prowled around the guitar pawn shops until we found an old sitar-guitar, a model that was not being made anymore. I had a plaque made that read "With all my love" and had it mounted on the back of the instrument. John loved chocolate, and I also bought him a rich chocolate cake from his favorite baker, William Greenberg, Jr."

Does anyone know anything about the fate of May's musical present?

Also according to May Pang:

"About a week after John's birthday, Elton [John]'s present arrived in a box from Van Cleef & Arpel's. John unwrapped the box. Inside it he found a large black onyx pendant attached to a gold chain. The pendant was rimmed in gold, and there was an inscription from Elton on the rim. One side of the pendant was made of equal parts gold and platinum, standing for gold and platinum records. The gold was shaped in the form of a wall, the platinum in the shape of a bridge -- Elton's salute to John's album Walls and Bridges. On the other side the name Winston O'Boogie -- one of John's favorite pseudonyms -- had been inscribed in flashing stones.

"John stared at the inscription. 'They're rhinestones,' he said. His innate cheapness made him doubt anyone's generosity.

"'I don't think so. Elton wouldn't go to Van Cleef & Arpels to buy rhinestones.'

"John studied the pendant for a minute or two, then dropped it on the floor near our bed.

"Later when I was talking to Tony King, I asked him, 'Tell me the truth. Are they rhinestones?"

"'You must be kidding,' Tony replied. They're diamonds, my dear.'"

Reading May's description of this pendant, I'm struck by how much thought (and reverence for Lennon) Elton must have put into conceiving this present.

On Tuesday, April 26, 2022 at 7:28:47 AM UTC-4, Norbert K wrote:
> According to May Pang, by the time of Lennon's birthday in 1974:
>
> "We had been together for fourteen months and our birthdays were soon approaching. John was going to be thirty-four on October 9 and I was going to be twenty-four on October 24. John loved the sitar sound, and Jimmy Iovine and I prowled around the guitar pawn shops until we found an old sitar-guitar, a model that was not being made anymore. I had a plaque made that read "With all my love" and had it mounted on the back of the instrument. John loved chocolate, and I also bought him a rich chocolate cake from his favorite baker, William Greenberg, Jr."
>
> Does anyone know anything about the fate of May's musical present?
>
> Also according to May Pang:
>
> "About a week after John's birthday, Elton [John]'s present arrived in a box from Van Cleef & Arpel's. John unwrapped the box. Inside it he found a large black onyx pendant attached to a gold chain. The pendant was rimmed in gold, and there was an inscription from Elton on the rim. One side of the pendant was made of equal parts gold and platinum, standing for gold and platinum records. The gold was shaped in the form of a wall, the platinum in the shape of a bridge -- Elton's salute to John's album Walls and Bridges. On the other side the name Winston O'Boogie -- one of John's favorite pseudonyms -- had been inscribed in flashing stones.
>
> "John stared at the inscription. 'They're rhinestones,' he said. His innate cheapness made him doubt anyone's generosity.
>
> "'I don't think so. Elton wouldn't go to Van Cleef & Arpels to buy rhinestones.'
>
> "John studied the pendant for a minute or two, then dropped it on the floor near our bed.
>
> "Later when I was talking to Tony King, I asked him, 'Tell me the truth. Are they rhinestones?"
>
> "'You must be kidding,' Tony replied. They're diamonds, my dear.'"
>
>
> Reading May's description of this pendant, I'm struck by how much thought (and reverence for Lennon) Elton must have put into conceiving this present.

I'm thinking that the "old sitar-guitar" May purchased for John must have been a Rogue Guitar-Sitar. I've seen a pic of John with one somewhere.

I'd like to try one of those. I've always thought that the instruments looked like long-snouted pigs.

On Tuesday, April 26, 2022 at 4:28:47 AM UTC-7, Norbert K wrote:
> According to May Pang, by the time of Lennon's birthday in 1974:
>
> "We had been together for fourteen months and our birthdays were soon approaching. John was going to be thirty-four on October 9 and I was going to be twenty-four on October 24. John loved the sitar sound, and Jimmy Iovine and I prowled around the guitar pawn shops until we found an old sitar-guitar, a model that was not being made anymore. I had a plaque made that read "With all my love" and had it mounted on the back of the instrument.

This was probably the Danelectro Vincent Bell Coral electric sitar -- which, indeed, had ceased production in the 60s, although it has been reissued more recently.

This is the instrument used for the memorable solo on Steely Dan's "Do It Again." Remarkably, the performer of that solo, Denny Dias, had only spent a few hours with the instrument.