Lennon's Rickenbackers
bonaire
Perhaps someone can help me figure put which guitars John used during
his recording career. I am puzzled re his Rickenbackers. I know he
purchased his first, a natural-finish 325 short-arm (5/8 scale neck)
with gold scratch-plate, in Hamburg in 1960.
Research shows F.C. Hall, head of Rickenbacker, gave John his SECOND
Rick 325 in Feb. '64, and that it was first used during the second
Sullivan show (Miami) That model seems to be a b&w full-scale neck
model.
My problem is, somewhere between these two, John got another 325
short-arm, black w/ gold scratch-plate, which he is seen playing thru
'63 in Europe, about which I can find no info. If you have any, or
can direct me to a complete list of John's equipment, please respond
or drop me a line at bon...@pacifier.com
BTW, I know Rickenbacker, also in '64, made John a custom 325-12
string, full-scale (b&w) .
Thanks John Crowley
Metronome Studios
bonaire (bon...@pacifier.com) wrote:
: Perhaps someone can help me figure put which guitars John used during
: his recording career. I am puzzled re his Rickenbackers. I know he
: purchased his first, a natural-finish 325 short-arm (5/8 scale neck)
: with gold scratch-plate, in Hamburg in 1960.
:
: Research shows F.C. Hall, head of Rickenbacker, gave John his SECOND
: Rick 325 in Feb. '64, and that it was first used during the second
: Sullivan show (Miami) That model seems to be a b&w full-scale neck
: model.
:
: My problem is, somewhere between these two, John got another 325
: short-arm, black w/ gold scratch-plate, which he is seen playing thru
: '63 in Europe, about which I can find no info. If you have any, or
: can direct me to a complete list of John's equipment, please respond
: or drop me a line at bon...@pacifier.com
OK. Here's what I remember about his Rics:
1) Lennon's 'Miami' Ric is not full scale but short scale.
2) The "other 325 short-arm, black w/ gold scratch-plate, which he is seen
playing thru '63 in Europe" is actually the first Ric he bought. Same
guitar. All he did was "paint it, black" (sorry :) and change the knobs.
Scott Jennings
In article <342d326a...@news.pacifier.com>, bon...@pacifier.com
(bonaire) wrote:
> Perhaps someone can help me figure put which guitars John used during
> his recording career. I am puzzled re his Rickenbackers. I know he
> purchased his first, a natural-finish 325 short-arm (5/8 scale neck)
> with gold scratch-plate, in Hamburg in 1960.
>
> Research shows F.C. Hall, head of Rickenbacker, gave John his SECOND
> Rick 325 in Feb. '64, and that it was first used during the second
> Sullivan show (Miami) That model seems to be a b&w full-scale neck
> model.
>
> My problem is, somewhere between these two, John got another 325
> short-arm, black w/ gold scratch-plate, which he is seen playing thru
> '63 in Europe, about which I can find no info. If you have any, or
> can direct me to a complete list of John's equipment, please respond
> or drop me a line at bon...@pacifier.com
>
> BTW, I know Rickenbacker, also in '64, made John a custom 325-12
> string, full-scale (b&w) .
All of John's Rickenbacker guitars were 3/4 scale. The one that was
purchased for him by NEMS (not given to him) in Feb., 1964 is the same one
he used through the rest of the Beatles career. He had 4 model 325's in
total. The 58-9 as seen in Hamburg and the first and third Sullivan
appearances (the third show was actually taped first), the '63 from the
second Sullivan show on, the '64 325/12 string which he used as a 6 string
backup guitar on at least one US tour, and the '65 Fireglow (sunburst) one
with the 'f' hole. The Lennon Estate owns all but the Firglow one, which
was either given to Julian (according to several sources), stolen
(unconfirmed in several less than reliable books), or given to a friend of
May Pang in the early 1970's (as told to me by May).
- Scott
--
Scott Jennings
Route 66 Guitars
http://www.southpaw.com
(213) GUI TARS € (213) 484 8277
Tom Hartman
In article <813-280997...@p7.mlode.com>, Tomcat <8...@mlode.com> wrote:
>When things are purchased for one person by another person, they are usual-
>ly considered gifts. BTW, Bacon & Day's Rickenbacker book makes it perfect-
>ly clear that it was Rickenbacker who gave the guitar to Lennon.
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>"During the Beatles' first visit to the US
>in 1964 Rickenbacker GAVE Lennon this
>most famous of 325s, as a replacement
>for his original."
>
>(_The Rickenbacker Book_, Tony Bacon & Paul Day, page 19, emphasis mine)
Although the same book claims "Can't Buy Me Love" was recorded the next
week after the Sullivan shows (it had already been recorded in France
before they got to the US), and that "You Can't Do That" was the first
outing for George's 12 string (the Ricky was overdubbed on "Can't Buy Me
Love" before "You Can't Do That" was recorded, albeit the same day).
patrick f.coleman
Tomcat wrote:
> In article
> <scottj-2709...@pool013-dwan6.pw-ca-us.dialup.earthlink.net>,
> When things are purchased on behalf of another person, they are
> usually
> considered gifts. BTW, Bacon & Day's Rickenbacker book makes it
> perfectly
> clear that it was Rickenbacker who gave the guitar to Lennon.
>
> > (not given to him)
>
> --------------------
> ----------------------------------------------------
>
> "During the Beatles' first visit to the US
> in 1964 Rickenbacker GAVE Lennon this
> most famous of 325s, as a replacement
> for his original."
>
> (_The Rickenbacker Book_, Tony Bacon & Paul Day, page 19, emphasis
> mine)
>
> -----
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Rickenbacker CERTAINLY GAVE a guitar to Lennon: a black 325
> model with the new five-control layout,..."
>
> (_The Rickenbacker Book_, Tony Bacon & Paul Day, page 40, emphasis
> mine)
>
> -----
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> > in Feb., 1964 is the same one
> > he used through the rest of the Beatles career. He had 4 model 325's
> in
> > total. The 58-9 as seen in Hamburg and the first and third Sullivan
> > appearances
>
> John Lennon's first Rickenbacker was always a 1958 Rickenbacker 325
> Capri
> despite all attempts to falsify the year of manufacture of this
> guitar.
>
> -John Lennon's 1958 Rickenbacker 325 was never a "1958-9" guitar.
>
> -John Lennon's 1958 Rickenbacker 325 was never a 1959 guitar.
>
> -John Lennon's 1958 Rickenbacker 325 was never a 1959-60 guitar.
>
> -John Lennon's 1958 Rickenbacker 325 was never a 1960 guitar.
>
> John Lennon's 1958 Rickenbacker 325 was, is, and ever shall be a 1958
> Rickenbacker 325 guitar. There is abundant dated photographic
> evidence
> straight out of the personal archives of Francis C. Hall in all the
> Rick-
> enbacker bibles to support this absolutely undeniable and irrefutable
> fact
> -- all except the Bacon & Day book, of course, which lovingly omits
> all
> photographs of John Lennon's 1958 Rickenbacker 325 either before John
> ac-
> quired it, or while he was using it with the Beatles.
>
> The fact that Rickenbacker issued a Model 325V59 is no confirmation
> whatso-
> ever that John Lennon's 1958 Rickenbacker 325 was a 1959 model since
> disin-
> formation backing up disinformation is still disinformation. Nobody
> knows
> better than the Rickenbacker factory that John Lennon's first
> Rickenbacker
> 325 was a 1958 model guitar. The Rickenbacker factory has known since
> day
> one that John Lennon's first Rickenbacker was a 1958 Rickenbacker
> 325. Pho-
> tographic evidence in Smith's Rickenbacker bible and Ogane's
> Rickenbacker
> bible prove this fact conclusively.
>
> Serial numbers be damned. They are easily replaced, and any high
> school
> kid who's taken metal shop can stamp out a Rickenbacker jackplate with
> any
> serial number which seems appropriate. Whether or not the serial
> number on
> the guitar now purported to be Lennon's first Rickenbacker indicates a
> 1958,
> or a 1959, or a 1960, or a 1970, or a 1980, or a 1990 date of
> manufacture is
> totally irrelevant in the face of photographic evidence which clearly
> shows
> John's 1958 Rickenbacker 325 on display at the July 1958 NAMM Trade
> Show.
> This was at least two years before John acquired it. The guitar was
> still
> in its original 325 Capri configuration with the Kauffman vibrato and
> and
> its original two-knob pickguard with one master volume and one master
> tone
> control and, of course, the single pickup-select toggle. The guitar
> was
> later updated to a four-knob configuration by the Rickenbacker factory
> be-
> fore being shipped to Germany where John acquired it.
>
> "Later in 1958, the factory refitted
> many of the 325 guitars in Rickenbacker's in-
> ventory with two tone controls and two volume
> controls."
>
> (_The Complete History Of Rickenbacker Guitars_, Richard R. Smith,
> page 163)
>
> -See also _The Complete History Of Rickenbacker Guitars_, Richard R.
> Smith,
> page 108 (lower left corner of lower left photo), & page 109 (behind
> "Toots"
> Thielemans' right elbow in upper right photo) for Lennon's 1958
> Rickenbacker
> 325 at the July 1958 NAMM Trade Show.
>
> -See also _The Complete History Of Rickenbacker Guitars, Richard R.
> Smith,
> page 162 for photograph of Francis C. Hall cradling John Lennon's
> 1958 Rick-
> enbacker 325 Capri in February of 1958.
>
> Since Rickenbackers have always been handmade, and since it takes
> approxi-
> mately six weeks to manufacture a Rickenbacker, it is entirely
> possible that
> the manufacture of John Lennon's 1958 Rickenbacker 325 began as early
> as late
> 1957.
>
> "It takes about six weeks to make a Rickenbacker."
>
> (Guitar World's _1991-92 Guitar Buyer's Guide_, page 155, article
> entitled
> "JANGLE FEVER - The Rickenbacker Factory Tour", by Alan Di Perna)
>
> -See also _Rickenbacker: Pioneer Of The Electric Guitar_, Naoki Ogane,
> page
> 162 for an enlarged color photo of John' 1958 325 at the July 1958
> NAMM
> Trade Show.
>
> -See also _Rickenbacker: Pioneer Of The Electric Guitar_, Naoki Ogane,
> page
> 116, upper left hand photo (photo #2) for a color photograph of
> John's 1958
> Rickenbacker 325 Capri in 1958 shortly after it was manufactured.
>
> > (the third show was actually taped first),
>
> "For the two Ed Sullivan Show appearances in New York on
> February 9th (one went out live, the other was taped for later
> broadcast) Lennon used his old 325, but for The Beatles'
> second live Sullivan appearance, broadcast seven days later
> from the Deauville Hotel in Miami, Florida, Lennon gave his
> new five-knob 325 its public debut."
>
> (_The Rickenbacker Book_, Tony Bacon & Paul Day, page 40)
>
> > the '63 from the second Sullivan show on,
>
> Smith's Rickenbacker bible and Ogane's Japanese Rickenbacker bible
> identify
> this guitar as being a 1964 Rickenbacker 325.
>
> -See _The Complete History Of Rickenbacker Guitars_, Richard R. Smith,
>
> page 75
>
> -See _Rickenbacker: Pioneer Of The Electric Guitar_, Naoki Ogane,
> pages 117-119
>
> Bacon & Day's book is vague and does not actually specify the year of
> John's
> second Rickenbacker 325.
>
> > from the
> > second Sullivan show on, the '64 325/12 string which he used as a 6
> string
> > backup guitar on at least one US tour, and the '65 Fireglow
>
> Although the Fireglo 325S/1996 was apparently given to John as a
> temporary
> replacement in 1965 by Rose-Morris, the Japanese Rickenbacker bible
> identi-
> fies John's third Rickenbacker 325 6-string repeatedly as a "1964 1996
> (325)".
>
> -See _Rickenbacker: Pioneer Of The Electric Guitar_, Naoki Ogane, page
> 120
>
> (BTW, Rickenbacker spells it "Fireglo".)
>
> > (sunburst) one with the 'f' hole.
>
> The 1964 "325S/1996".
>
> -See _Rickenbacker: Pioneer Of The Electric Guitar_, Naoki Ogane, page
> 120
> for year and model designation.
>
> -See _The Rickenbacker Book_, Tony Bacon & Paul Day, page 49 for the
> model
> designation.
>
> > The Lennon Estate owns all but the Firglow one, which
> > was either given to Julian (according to several sources), stolen
> > (unconfirmed in several less than reliable books), or given to a
> friend of
> > May Pang in the early 1970's (as told to me by May).
> >
> > - Scott
>
> Any further attempt to falsify the year of manufacture of John
> Lennon's
> 1958 Rickenbacker 325 and to suggest or falsely date the guitar as
> anything
> other than its true 1958 designation poses the following questions:
>
> -Who is desperately attempting to falsify the true history of John
> Lennon's
> 1958 Rickenbacker 325 in the face of known and verifiable facts? And
> why?
>
> I strongly suggest that so-called & self-proclaimed Rickenbacker
> historians
> blown by a strong Santa Ana wind stay honest, and if they can't speak
> intel-
> ligently on John Lennon's 1958 Rickenbacker 325 (or certain
> Rickenbacker 12-
> strings), better not to say anything at all rather than to
> deliberately and
> knowingly disseminate false and misleading information -- whatever the
>
> motivation.
>
> Tomcat
> 8...@mlode.com
way to go, Tomcat!
twang!
patrick f. coleman
:-)
I just had to see a post this good run twice.
Julia
>
> > In article <342d326a...@news.pacifier.com>, bon...@pacifier.com
> > (bonaire) wrote:
> >
> > > My problem is, somewhere between these two, (natural 325 short-arm and 325 b&w) John got another 325 short-arm, black w/ gold scratch-plate, which he is seen playing thru '63 in Europe, about which I can find no info.
This guitar *is* the first (natural) 325. It was refinished black,
and the gold pickguard remained on it.
Scott Jennings
> (BTW, Rickenbacker spells it "Fireglo".)
They didn't in 1965...