Players of the six-string include John Lennon of the Beatles, John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Paul Weller of the Jam, John Kay of Steppenwolf, Peter Buck of R.E.M., Johnny Marr of the Smiths, and Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles. Rickenbacker twelve-string guitars were favoured by George Harrison of the Beatles, Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, Pete Townshend of the Who, and Tom Petty. The company is credited as the first known maker of electric guitars – a steel guitar in 1932 – and today produces a range of electric guitars and basses. Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. In the eyes of most players, it remains a classic model from the British Invasion.Ĭheck out Guitar Center's current line-up of Rickenbacker guitars here.Electric, acoustic, lap and console steel guitars, basses, amplifiers, electric violins, electric mandolins, electric banjos In the wake of the British Invasion, the brand found favor with ’70s and ’80s stars like Tom Petty and Mike Campbell of the Heartbreakers, Paul Weller, Peter Buck, Dave Gregory, Johnny Marr and many others.ĭespite the collectability of vintage 325s and Lennon’s enduring legacy, relatively few major stars have turned to this short-scale model, although Susanna Hoffs made her mark with one in the Bangles, and a generation earlier John Fogerty used his Fireglo 325 on many Creedence Clearwater Revival recordings and live dates. Their sound is appropriately bright and chimey, and has played a big part in Rickenbacker guitars’ enduring popularity. Although these look somewhat like mini humbuckers, they are actually single-coil units made with a central row of six individual Alnico magnet pole pieces with a coil wound around them.
Tone-wise, the 325’s scale length contributes to a loose, wiry sound, but the key proponent of that Rickenbacker jangle and kerrang is found in its three toaster-top pickups. (Image credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) For instance, later examples sported an f-hole on the upper bout that revealed the body’s semi-hollow nature, though this ’58 – an early guitar built in the model’s first year of existence – had a solid top that gave it the impression of being a solidbody. (A decade later it would be repaired and stripped to natural by New York repairman Ron DeMarino.)īut fans comparing Lennon’s early Rickenbacker with even slightly later 325s will notice several other things that stand out about it.
This 325 would become the sound of Beatles rhythm guitar from 1960 to around ’65, as heard on “All My Loving,” “I Saw Her Standing There” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”īy the time it was thrust into the public eye during the band’s 1964 debut appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, Lennon’s 325 had transmuted to a gloss-black finish in 1962, courtesy of an English coachmaker. Not just for Rickenbackers, for anything – Fenders, Gibsons… And I think it purely because John needed a decent guitar and that one happened to be in the shop and he liked the look of it.”
Harrison, who was along for the ride when Lennon bought the guitar, told BBC Radio, “It was a great-looking guitar, and I think in England you had to order them and wait for six months. The 325, like the other models in the series, was designed by German luthier Roger Rossmeisl.
#Vintage rickenbacker 325 for sale series
Lennon found his hanging in a Hamburg guitar shop in the form of a natural-finish 1958 Rickenbacker 325, which was part of the company’s Capri series (named for the Hall family cat). For Lennon, Harrison or any young British rock and roller of 1960, the term quality guitar was synonymous with American guitar. It was around this time that a young John Lennon was walking the streets of Hamburg, Germany, in search of his dream guitar.
The big horseshoe pickup still appeared on some of the revamped company’s early models, notably the Combo, but over the next few years, some more-conventional single-coil guitars went into production, and the line was lurching toward what we consider its classic status.īy the end of the 1950s, Rickenbacker offered a model range that included hollowbodies, short- and full-scale solids, and semi-hollowbodies with one, two and even three pickups. (Image credit: Sammlung Horst Fascher - K & K/Redferns)
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