The Rickenbacker 325 is the first of the Capri series of hollow body guitars released in 1958 by
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. Rickenbacker is the first known maker of electric guitars, with a steel guitar in 1932, and produces a range of electric guitars and bass ...
.
Overview
The 325 was designed by
Roger Rossmeisl Roger Rossmeisl (1927 in Kiel – 1979 in Berlin) was a German luthier who designed electric guitars in the 1950s and '60s for the US companies Rickenbacker and Fender.
Life and work
Roger's father Wenzel Rossmeisl (June 28, 1902 in Kiel – Apr ...
, a guitar craftsman from a family of German instrument makers. Production models had a short scale, dot fretboard inlays, and a small () body. The body is unbound, semi-hollow, with an angled sound hole, and boasts "crescent moon"-style cutaways. These instruments gained prominence due to
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
's use of a 325 during the early years of
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
. Lennon's 1958 model was among the first batch made and has the pre-production feature of a solid top with no sound hole. All subsequent production short-scale
300-series Rickenbackers (310, 315, 320, 325) had sound holes until the late 1970s. This series is currently available only in "C" reissue form, although the reissues lack a sound hole to mimic Lennon's instrument.
Notable players
*
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...
played 325s and their assorted variants during the 1960s (Including a 12-string made to match his second 325). A replica of Lennon's 325 is available as a guitar controller for ''
The Beatles: Rock Band''.
*
Susanna Hoffs
Susanna Lee Hoffs (born January 17, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and actress. With Debbi Peterson and Vicki Peterson, she founded the Bangles in 1981. Their debut album, ''All Over the Place (The Bangles album), All Over ...
of
The Bangles
The Bangles are an American all-female band, all-female pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, in 1981. They are known for hit singles during the 1980s that made them one of the most successful pop rock groups of the decade. The band’s biggest ...
played the 325 and its full scale variant, the model 350.
*
John Fogerty
John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Together with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and his brother Tom Fogerty, he founded the swamp rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), for which he was th ...
played his modified Fireglo 325 on many
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Creedence Clearwater Revival, commonly abbreviated as CCR or simply Creedence, was an American Rock music, rock band formed in El Cerrito, California. The band consisted of lead vocalist, lead guitarist, and primary songwriter John Fogerty, h ...
songs and live concerts, including their appearance at the 1969
Woodstock festival
The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...
. Fogerty modified his model to include a Gibson humbucker pickup and a Bigsby vibrato.
*
Maurice Gibb
Maurice Ernest Gibb (; 22 December 1949 – 12 January 2003) was a British musician and songwriter. He achieved global fame as a member of the Bee Gees pop group. Although his elder brother Barry Gibb and fraternal twin brother Robin Gibb wer ...
of
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees
were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in ...
used the 325 for all live performances between the late 1980s until 2003.
* Multi-instrumentalist
Toots Thielemans
Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans (29 April 1922 – 22 August 2016), known professionally as Toots Thielemans (), was a Belgian jazz musician. He was mostly known for playing the chromatic harmonica, as well as his guitar and wh ...
regularly played Rickenbacker guitars and his usage of a
Combo 400 model inspired John Lennon, a fan of Thielemans, to take up the instrument. Incidentally, a photograph of Thielemans at a 1958 US trade shows a 325 that is likely to have been the very guitar later purchased by Lennon in Hamburg.
*
Donovan
Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...
played the 325 throughout the late 1960s.
Gallery
File:Rickenbacker 325C58 whole image.jpg, 325C58 MG
A replica of the 1958 model played by John Lennon
File:Rickenbacker 325C58.jpg, 325C58 MG(Pickup Zoom)
File:Rickenbacker 325C58 JG.jpg, 325C58 JG
A replica of another 1958 model played by John Lennon
See also
John Lennon's musical instruments
John Lennon's musical instruments were both diverse and many, and his worldwide fame resulted in his personal choices having a strong impact on cultural preferences.
Overview
John Lennon played various guitars with the Beatles and during his ...
References
Rickenbacker guitars
Semi-acoustic guitars
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