An Absolutely Mint as New 1996 Rickenbacker 325V59 John Lennon Limited Edition
Signed by The 'Fifth' Beatle - Pete Best

This limited edition Model 325V59 'John Lennon' weighs just 7.40 lbs. Asymetrical double cutaway, 12 3/4 inch wide and just under 1 7/8 inch deep maple body. Maple neck with a nut width of just over 1 5/8 inches, a short (three-quarter) scale length of 21 1/4 inches and a medium-to-thick profile. Rosewood fretboard with 21 original medium-jumbo frets and white dot inlays. Gold opaque plastic truss-rod cover, lettered in black "Rickenbacker" & "Made in U S A" secured by three screws.Individual double-line Rickenbacker (Kluson) Deluxe tuners with oval metal buttons. Three Rickenbacker "toaster" pickups with chrome covers and outputs of 5.34k, 3.66k, and 10.19k. Split-level two-piece gold opaque plastic pickguard secured by five screws. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus a three-way pickup selector switch. The potentiometers are stamped "137 96XX" (CTS, 1996 - the exact week numbers are obscured by solder). TV style gold plastic knobs with diamond-shaped tops with gold metal inserts. Rickenbacker height-adjustable with six individually adjustable saddles. Rickenbacker 'Horseshoe Bigsby' tailpiece. Serial number "F9/ 6758" (June 1996) stamped on jack input plate. The Mapleglo Natural finish has mellowed to a beautiful golden rich honey shade. The guitar is in mint as new condition and the original brown leather 'Rickenbacker' guitar strap, the original 16 page 'Maintenance Manual', original Rickenbacker polishing cloth and allen and case keys. Housed in the original three-latch, rectangular silver hardshell case with black leather ends and dark blue plush lining (9.50). This guitar has been signed (on the edge of the treble horn) by the 'Fifth' Beatle, Pete Best.

The original owner of this guitar, a dedicated Beatles fan, attended a Beatles Convention in the late 1990's where he had the guitar signed by Pete Best.

Randolph Peter Best (born Randolph Peter Scanland; 24 November 1941) is an English singer, songwriter and civil servant. He is best known as an original member and the first drummer of the Beatles. After he left the group in 1962 he started his own band, The Pete Best Four and would later join many other bands over the years. He is one of several people who have been referred to as the Fifth Beatle. The Beatles invited Best to join on 12 August 1960, on the eve of the group's first Hamburg season of club dates. Ringo Starr eventually replaced Best on 16 August 1962 when the group's manager, Brian Epstein, exiled Best under the direction of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison, following their first recording session as Abbey Road Studios in London.

"Following his dismissal from the Beatles, Best tried to make a name for himself in music, but found limited success. Eventually, he returned to Liverpool and settled into a career as a civil servant; he wasn’t playing on the Ed Sullivan Show or rubbing shoulders with the Queen, but at least he could pay the bills. And then, after shying away from the spotlight for 20 years, in the late 1980s Pete began to play various Beatles-related engagements. Rediscovering his passion for live performance in the process, the drummer soon founded his own Pete Best Band, and has toured all over the world for the past three decades. "I’d been asked for many years to get up and play so people could see what I could do, and see who this guy was... "This mysterious guy who used to play with the Beatles." [laughs] And I kept turning them down. Then, in 1988, I got asked by the people running a Beatles convention in Liverpool, and I couldn’t get out of it... So I said “OK, let’s get it over and done with.” I picked some friends from the old days, and my younger brother [to play with], and said “Let’s have some fun. It’s going to be a one-off [performance]. Let’s just go out and show ‘em what we could do.” And we did, and the audience went wild. Absolutely wild." (popmatters.com).