 1964:
1964 Rickenbacker 325 Jetglo (black). This updated, solid-top
325
was designed with Lennon in mind but not yet ready when Rickenbacker
president
F. C. Hall arrived in New York to meet with the Beatles before their Ed
Sullivan debut. Hall had heard about the British band using
his guitars, and had tracked down Brian Epstein, and arranged a private
meeting, to which Epstein, probably with an eye toward replacing
Lennon's
battered Hamburg 325, readily agreed. (To this meeting Hall also
brought an electric 12-string, which the group schlepped over to an
ailing
George Harrison, and a prototype Model 4001 bass, which Paul McCartney
passed on, for some reason). Lennon's new 325 -- updated with an
extra fine-tune knob, double-layered pickguard, improved vibrato and
slimmer
body -- was shipped to Lennon at the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach in
time for rehearsals for the second Sullivan broadcast and immediately
took
over from the "Hamburg" 325 as Lennon's workhorse; it saw action right
up until late '65 tours, after which it served as a backup.
Temporarily
out of action after Lennon dropped it at the Hammersmith Odeon during a
'64 Christmas show.
First album use: A Hard Day's Night. On display at
the John Lennon Museum in Japan, where it still has a nasty crack in
the
headstock, near the machine heads. (photo
courtesy of Frank Trevino)
Lennon's '64 Rick (right) still has cello tape on it from the '65 tour set list. Lennon bent the vibrato arm, presumably to get it out of his way. When this model went into production it sold for about £400. Rickenbacker has introduced a faithful replica, the 325C63. (Check out Glen Lambert's look at the above guitar "In the Wrong Hands." ) |
1964:
1964
Rickenbacker 325-12 Jet-glo: At their New York meeting,
Lennon
asked Hall to make him a twelve-string model to match his 325, and in
March
'64, Rickenbacker shipped this guitar to him in London. The only
differences are the headstock and the tailpiece. This short-scale
guitar
was used on a Dutch TV show, in the studio (Beatles For Sale)
and served as a backup throughout 1964, and saw actual use at a show in
Boston on 12 September. Tom Hartman, who recorded in Abbey Road as a
young
man, recalls seeing it in the 
storage
area with a set list taped to it. Rickenbacker CEO John Hall remembers
"seeing this guitar at one point with a vibrato on it as the
model
number describes (which didn't work well at all)." Because
it made the guitar impossible to keep in tune, the vibrato was removed
and replaced with a trapeze tailpiece before this prototype was sent to
Lennon. Most recently on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame.
Owned by the Lennon Estate.
1964:Ramirez
A-1 (vintage unknown): Perhaps at the same time Harrison got
one, Lennon acquired this nylon-string classical guitar, often called
the
Segovia model. Probable use in the studio: "Any Time at All,"
"I'll
Be Back," "And I Love Her," "Yes It Is" and "I Need You." Like
several
other Lennon guitars, its whereabouts is a mystery.