An Exceptionally Fine 1967 Rickenbacker 325 - The 'John Lennon' Model

1967 Rickenbacker 325 (three pickups with vibrato)

This super rare Model 325 weighs just 6.30 lbs. Asymetrical double cutaway, 12 3/4 inch wide and just under 1 1/2 inch deep maple body with a single f-hole (running at 1 o'clock) on the top. Maple neck with a nut width of just under 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-thin frets and white dot inlays. White opaque plastic truss-rod cover, lettered in black "Rickenbacker" & "Made in U S A" secured by three slot-head screws.Individual double-line Kluson Deluxe tuners with oval metal buttons & "D-169400/Patent No." stamped on the underside. Three Rickenbacker "toaster" pickups with chrome covers and outputs of 3.84k, 3.84k, and 8.23k. Split-level two-piece white plastic pickguard secured by four screws. Five controls (two volume, two tone, and a blend control volume) plus a three-way pickup selector switch. The potentiometers are stamped "137 6646" & "137 6708" (CTS, November 1966 & February 1967). Seven-sided black plastic knobs with metal tops with black lettering. Rickenbacker bridge and Rickenbacker Vibrato tailpiece complete with original Ac'cent tremolo arm. Serial number "GD / 2092" (April 1967) stamped on jack input plate. There is some playing wear with surface lost to the treble side of the neck by the first fret only, some very minor belt-buckle rash on the back (nothing through the finish) and a few very small and insignificant surface marks. Taking into account the aforementioned, this fifty-year-old 'John Lennon' model 325 is still in exceptionally fine (9.00+) condition. Housed in the original three-latch, rectangular silver hardshell case with black leather ends and blue plush lining (8.75). According to the shipping records (Smith, p. 234) there were only 44 Fireglo 325's produced between 1964 and 1968 (23 in 1964; 1 in 1965; 20 in 1966 and 5 in 1968) - the Rickenbacker shipping records for 1967 are not published but it would be fairly safe to assume that maybe five Fireglo 325's were shipped in 1967 which would make a total of 67 examples made. There were also 28 - possibly 33 examples in Jetglo shipped between 1964 and 1968.

John Lennon owned two 325's - his original 1958 (serial # V81, originally Jetglo - now with a natural finish) and his early 1964 example (made specially for Lennon without an F-hole) which he received just in time for the Beatles famous appearance  on the Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964. Both of these guitars are now owned by Yoko Ono - the '64 model suffered a neck crack during the Christmas '64 UK shows and was poorly repaired…

"There were three divisions in the Thin Hollow Body category, but just two different body styles. The first division, Models 310-325, had extreme cutaway three-quarter size bodies. The second and third divisions, Models 330-345 and Models 360-375, had extreme cutaway full sized bodies… The first guitars from the 310-325 group had solid tops… In 1961 photos showed traditional F shape sound holes on some of these models… There is no consistent pattern in the production of F hole and solid top guitars. It was probably simultaneous throughout the history of the 325 style instruments… Thanks to the Saturday Evening Post and the Ed Sullivan Show, by mid 1964 nearly every young guitarist in America was familiar with Models 310-325. It was about this time that Beatle fans unofficially tagged the 325 "the John Lennon Model." The standard finishes in 1964 were Fireglo and natural maple. Black was available for an additional twenty-five dollars over the retail cost. The traditional F shape sound holes became standard, but, as before, some solid top guitars were made too. Other regular features included white pickguards, Accent vibrato, and the mixer control." (Richard Smith. The History of Rickenbacker Guitars, p.162-163).