The most realistic explanation is probably Lennon's pension for the unusual and different. The reasons for its change in color are not known, however, Reason, no single guitar at that time had the Sent many an enthusiast on the hunt for the reasons underlying this change. His adopting of the 325 Rickenbacker and his eventual refinishing to black has There are few topics that hold the attention of avid Beatleįans more than the guitars played by the Fab Four in general, and by John Lennon in After all he never modified his otherģ25 (Miami) or 1996 (Rose,Morris) guitars to have that same pickup wiring. Some other reason), and he just left it that way. Hard a countless number of times, while John was strumming wild (or damaged because of Maybe the reason simply was that the pickup had been damaged from being hit Pickup was disconnected has not, to my knowledge, been verified by John himself in any Please note that the fact that his middle After all John Lennon did not have the reputation of being the Whether this was a deliberate action on John´s part or not, is not known. An up or down position would result in a more distinct change in tonalĬharacteristics. Most of the pictures of John playing this guitar reveal It would also seem that the middle pickup wasĭisconnected.One plausible reason for this altered wiring might have been to achieveĭifferent pickup-switch positions. Pictures of the guitar reveal that the low E orĦth string was out of alignment and actually was outside the fretboard and off the neckįrom somewhere around the 14th fret and higher. It was probably the pickguard that prevented it from fitting properly Somewhat oversized for the smaller 325 body. It would appear that the Bigsby was considered Pitch and threw the instrument out of tune. Perhaps the reason for this was that the Kauffman Vibrola rarely returned to The guitar was put on the counter and the modifications were made while still being in Heīought a Bigsby unit from salesman Jim Getty at Hessy´s music store in Liverpool. After returning to Liverpool he replaced the Kauffman Vibrola tailpiece. Vox Story" (Petersen & Denny, 1993) showing John´s guitar with only three Hofner It seems he was either constantly losing them or perhaps could not decide which Through the years he was using both Burns and Hofner type The first alteration he made was to remove the TV-style control knobs and In Hamburg John Lennon soon started to modify Used by permission.įairground, near the Reeperbahn, called "Heiligengeistfeld". Two control knobs and a Kauffman Vibrola tailpiece. John Lennon´s Capri 325 is the guitar to the left in the bottom row, equipped with This picture is from Trade Show in July 1958. Thielemans´ elbow is most certainly John Lennon´s first Capri 325 before it wasįitted with four control knobs. HeĪdds: - I don´t know if we ever paid them off, but.? One pound down and the rest when they catch you. It´s quite amazing to see that the connectionīringing the question up about the cost of the amplifier and the guitar George Harrisonīought them on "a knocker". "guitar of his dreams", a Rickenbacker Capri 325 in natural finish. George bought a Gibson amplifier and John bought the Guitar may have been acquired from the nearby Musikhaus Rothoff). Oneĭay John and George went to Steinway´s in Hamburg (local research suggests that the He immediately became interested in the guitar. John had seen guitarist Jean "Toots" Thielemans, George Shearing´s Quintet, The Beatles went to Hamburg in August 1960. Own eyes and the views expressed herein, should not be held up to the highest standard ofĬopyright holders of many Beatles-pictures, I will add more pictures to this article as Rickenbackers! I hasten to remind you dear reader, that this is the story seen through my Opinion there has never been a Rickenbacker - Artist symbiosis like the one between John Sure out so let´s drop the speculations here and now! Instead let us look back! In my Rickenbackers in the music of the Beatles. Success without the Beatles is an interesting question about which we can only speculate.Ī more valuable and interesting pursuit would be to explore the importance of Without the Rickenbacker guitars? Of course they would! Whether Rickenbacker guitars would have had their great Would The Beatles have had their great success The Beatles and their Rickenbacker guitars
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