Rickenbacker 325

• Title — Rickenbacker 325 • Manufacturer — Rickenbacker • Period — 1958–present • Bodytype — Semi-hollow • Necktype — Set-in • Woodbody — Maple; alder on 50s instruments & reissues. • Woodneck — Maple; alder on 50s instruments & reissues. • Woodfingerboard — Bubinga (1960s–2000s), Padauk (late 1950s), Chechen (current). • Bridge — 3-way • Scale — 20+3/4 in • Pickups — Three single-coil pickups • Colors — Mapleglo (natural), Jetglo (black), Fireglo (red sunburst)

The 325 was designed by Roger Rossmeisl, a guitar craftsman from a family of German instrument makers. Production models had a 20+3/4 in short scale which essentially makes it a Six-string alto guitar in Sizing, dot fretboard inlays, and a small (12+3/4 in) 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's use of a 325 during the early years of The Beatles. 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.

• John Lennon 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 of The Bangles played the 325 and its full scale variant, the model 350. • John Fogerty played his modified Fireglo 325 on many Creedence Clearwater Revival songs and live concerts, including their appearance at the 1969 Woodstock festival. Fogerty modified his model to include a Gibson humbucker pickup and a Bigsby vibrato. • Maurice Gibb of Bee Gees used the 325 for all live performances between the late 1980s until 2003. • Multi-instrumentalist Toots Thielemans 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 played the 325 throughout the late 1960s.

• Illustration — 325C58 MG A replica of the 1958 model played by John Lennon • Illustration — 325C58 MG(Pickup Zoom) • Illustration — 325C58 JG A replica of another 1958 model played by John Lennon, technically called the "Hamburg" model

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