One idiosyncrasy of the guitar is its dual truss rods, which allow for the correction of problematic and unwanted twists, as well as curvature, of the guitar's neck. The 330 also features a body with Rickenbacker's "crescent moon" double-cutaway shape with sharp, unbound edges, and an "R"-shaped trapeze tailpiece. The instrument incorporates many features standard on Rickenbacker guitars, including a three-ply maple/walnut neck, a shallow headstock angle, and a thick rosewood fretboard finished with clear conversion varnish. The guitar is associated by many players with the jangle-rock sounds of bands from the 1960s and 1980s. It was designed by the German luthier Roger Rossmeisl.
The 330 entered the Rickenbacker product line in 1958, though at the time the 300 series of guitars was known as the "Capri" series. The Rickenbacker 330 is part of Rickenbacker's 300 series of guitars, the series for which Rickenbacker is perhaps best known.
Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles played the 325 and its full scale variant, the model 350 (Hoffs even received her own signature version of the 350).A replica of Lennon's 325 is available as a guitar controller for The Beatles: Rock Band. John Lennon played 325s and their assorted variants during the 1960s (Including a 12-string made to match his second 325).All subsequent production short-scale 300-series Rickenbackers (310, 315, 320, 325) had sound holes until the late 1970s. John Lennon's 1958 model was among the first batch made and has the pre-production feature of a solid top with no sound hole. These instruments gained prominence due to John Lennon's use of a 325 during the early years of The Beatles. This series is currently available only in "C" reissue form. The body is unbound, semi-hollow, with 2 o'clock angled sound hole (although re-issues lack a sound hole due to the Lennon connection), and boasts the "crescent moon"-style cutaways. Production models were 20 + 3 ⁄ 4 inches (530 mm) short scale, dot fretboard inlays, and a small ( 12 + 3 ⁄ 4 -inch-wide ) body. It was designed by Roger Rossmeisl, a guitar craftsman from a family of German instrument makers. The Rickenbacker 325 is the first of the Capri series of hollow body guitars released in 1958 by Rickenbacker. Mapleglo (natural), Jetglo (black), Fireglo (red sunburst) Maple alder on 50s instruments & reissues.īubinga (1960s–2000s), Paduak (late 1950s), Chechen (current). and today it is known as Rickenbacker International Corporation or RIC.Rickenbacker 325C64 (A reissue of the 1964 model 325 played by John Lennon) By 1965 the distribution company was finally renamed "Rickenbacker Inc. In 1964 Rickenbacker added 12 string models to their line, John Lennon and George Harrison of the Beatles were early customers. One of the interesting things about Rickenbacker guitars is that the deluxe models (starting in 1960) featured and extra jack with "Rick-O-Sound" which divided the signal from the neck and bridge pickups allowing each signal to be fed to a different amp. In 1958 Rickenbacker introduced the thin hollow body designs completing the design elements we recognize today. In 1957 Rickenbacker introduced the Combo 650 and the Combo 850 which utilized a sweeping crescent shape. In 1953 Rickenbacker sold the company to Francis Cary Hall. Electro String sold a series of frying pan, lap steels and Electro Spanish guitars. The name "Rickenbacker " was also added to the head stock this year. The company was originally named Ro-Pat-In then in 1934, renamed to the more logical Electro String instrument corporation. Adolph Rickenbacker founded Rickenbacker with two partners in 1932.