 1960:
Rosetti
Solid 7: Not a solid body but a sunburst (black to red) semi-acoustic
made in Holland by Egmond and renamed by the Rosetti firm, which imported
them into the UK and sold them for about £20, which included the
Royal pickup/scratchplate kit. "We went to play in Hamburg,"
McCartney says in the Bacon interview, "and I'd bought a Rosetti Solid
7 electric guitar in Liverpool [at Hessy's Music] before we went.
It was a terrible guitar. It was really just a good-looking piece of wood.
It had a nice paint job, but it was a disastrous, cheap guitar."
(It looked pretty impressive in the advert.)
Back in Liverpool, after temporary bassist Chas Newby left, McCartney restrung
the Rosetti with three or four bass strings reportedly "borrowed" from
a piano (photo below) and used it until Sutcliffe returned with his President
bass. The Rosetti, once again with a full complement of strings,
then played a return engagement in Hamburg, where it met its ignoble
end. McCartney recalled in a 1964 interview that he "didn't want
to get rid of it, but I had to, because it got smashed when I dropped it
one day. It wasn't a complete write-off, but I didn't think it was worth
repairing, so all of us . . . had a great time smashing it to bits by jumping
up and down on it! Bit mad, I suppose, but we had to get rid of our pent-up
energy sometimes and it seemed the 'obvious' thing to do at the time!" |
1960:
Hofner
Club 40 hollow-body electric (vintage unknown): After buying
a Rickenbacker, Lennon loaned this guitar to McCartney. He still
had his Rosetti at this time, but apparently was using the Club 40, not
just posing with it, as this photo from the first Hamburg trip suggests
it was actually restrung lefty. Lennon soon sold this guitar.