Guitaripedia

Every guitar has a story.

Rickenbacker

325

Lennon bought it natural in Hamburg and had it painted black. The reissues copy the ends of that story, not the middle.

Hamburg, fall 1960. A young John Lennon walks into a music shop and buys a small, natural-finish Rickenbacker with three pickups and a short neck. It’s one of the first of its kind. By the time America sees it on television, it won’t look anything like it did that day.

Introduced
1958
Type
Short-scale semi-acoustic electric
Class
Production
Read the story · 3 min

All guitarsMore Rickenbacker

Rickenbacker 325C64 Jetglo on a stand: short-scale Capri, three toaster pickups, white two-level pickguard, Accent vibrato. A Miami-spec recreation, not Lennon’s 1964 original.
Rickenbacker 325C64. Photo by CasinoKat. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.Owner photograph of a 325C64 Jetglo on a stand in a display setting, not an isolated factory catalog still and not John Lennon’s 1964 original DB122.

The short version

  1. 1958

    The short-scale Capri

    Rickenbacker’s 300 series arrives, designed by Roger Rossmeisl. The 325 is the small one.

  2. 1960

    Hamburg

    Lennon buys one of the very first 325s. Which shop sold it is still argued about.

  3. 1962

    New vibrato

    Rickenbacker’s Accent vibrato replaces the Kauffman unit on new 325s.

  4. 1964

    Two Sullivan shows, two guitars

    The battered black one on 9 February. A new Jetglo one from F.C. Hall for the Miami broadcast.

  5. 1966

    The Casino takes over

    Lennon’s Epiphone Casino takes over as his stage guitar.

  6. 1969

    ACME

    John Fogerty plays his modified Fireglo 325 at Woodstock and on The Ed Sullivan Show.

  7. 2002

    Hamburg, as purchased

    The 325C58 reissue copies the Hamburg guitar the way it left the factory. It runs until 2010.

  8. 2016

    Found

    Julie Fogerty tracks down ACME, decades after John gave it away. It’s his for Christmas.

Side A

A1

A small guitar in Hamburg

In the fall of 1960, John Lennon bought a Rickenbacker in Hamburg. Which shop is still argued about: some say Steinway Musikhaus, and later writing leans toward Musikhaus Rotthoff. I won’t pick. He’d seen the Belgian jazz player Toots Thielemans with a Rickenbacker.

The guitar he got was one of the first short-scale Capris Rickenbacker ever made. It was natural finish, made of alder, with three pickups and a Kauffman vibrato, and it had no soundhole at all.

Hold on to that picture, because it doesn’t last. Over the next four years that guitar gets a new vibrato, a coat of black paint, and new knobs more than once. The version the world remembers is the one Lennon made.

A2

The short one

Rickenbacker launched its 300 series, the Capri, in 1958, with Roger Rossmeisl as the main designer. The 325 is the small member of the family. The body is 12¾ inches wide and about 34½ long. A 330 is 15 inches wide. You can see the difference from across a room.

The scale is short, too, and nobody agrees on exactly how short. Rickenbacker’s own table says 21 inches. Depending on who you ask, it’s 20¾ or 20½. What it definitely isn’t is 24¾, the full-size Rickenbacker scale. Any time you read that Lennon played a 330, somebody got the wrong guitar.

A shorter scale means less string tension, so it’s easy to bend and quick under the fingers. Three pickups on a body that small also makes it look busy in the best way.

A3

Painted to match the suits

Back in Liverpool, the Kauffman vibrato came off and a Bigsby went on, installed at Hessy’s with the help of a man named Chris Huston. Then the natural finish went black, to match the band’s suits. The knobs changed, and changed again.

By February 1964 it was a battered black working guitar, and that’s the one Lennon played on the Beatles’ first Ed Sullivan Show, on 9 February 1964.

F.C. Hall, who ran Rickenbacker, was watching. He rushed a brand-new 325 to Lennon, in shiny Jetglo with a white pickguard and the newer Accent vibrato, which had replaced the Kauffman back in 1962. It reached him in Miami, in time for the second Sullivan broadcast. The Miami guitar became his stage guitar until the Epiphone Casino took over in 1966.

Rickenbacker’s boss saw his guitar on national television, battered and painted black, and decided Lennon needed a new one.

Flip the record · By the numbers

  • 12¾"

    Body width. A full-size Rickenbacker 330 is 15 inches. The 325 is the small one.

  • 20½–21"

    Scale length, depending on whose tape measure. Not 24¾, whatever the forum says.

  • 2

    Different 325s Lennon played on his first two Ed Sullivan appearances in February 1964.

Side B

B1

The one-off twelve, and the English cousin

There were more. In May 1964 Rickenbacker built Lennon a short-scale twelve-string, a one-off. It went on the 1964 North American tour and into sessions around A Hard Day’s Night and Beatles for Sale. Short-scale twelves don’t stay in tune, and he used it sparingly. It isn’t George Harrison’s full-size 360/12. That’s a different guitar and a different story.

In December 1964, while the Miami guitar was in for repair, the British distributor Rose-Morris gave him an export model 1996. It’s a 325 with an f-hole. It is not a 1997. Pete Townshend’s 1997 is a full-size guitar, and it lives on another page.

B2

ACME, and the copies

In 1969, John Fogerty was playing a Fireglo 325 he’d picked up from Rickenbacker’s Los Angeles showroom. It got a Gibson PAF humbucker and a Bigsby, and “ACME” painted on the truss rod cover. It went to Woodstock and onto The Ed Sullivan Show, and it was his standard-tuned Creedence guitar from Bayou Country through the last record.

Around 1973 or 1974 he gave it away. At Christmas 2016, Julie Fogerty got it back for him.

Rickenbacker, meanwhile, has spent decades making copies. The 325C58, from 2002 to 2010, was Hamburg as purchased: alder, Kauffman vibrato, gold pickguard. The current 325C64 is the Miami guitar, Jetglo only, built in Santa Ana to order. Both are good guitars.

But look at what they copy. The day the Hamburg guitar left the shop, and the day its replacement arrived in Miami. (A 1980s reissue, the 325V59, took a stab at the Bigsby years with the dimensions off, and it’s long gone.) Nobody sells the four years in between, the Bigsby from Hessy’s, the black paint for the suits, the knobs swapped by a kid who couldn’t leave it alone. Fogerty’s ACME is the same kind of guitar. You can buy a 325 off the rack. The one you’d want is the one you do that to yourself.

Put this on

You’ve read about it. Now hear it. Here’s what this guitar sounds like, and what to listen for.

  1. The Beatles · 1964

    The Ed Sullivan Show (first appearance)

    That’s the Hamburg guitar, painted black, with a Bigsby and a history. It’s the reason Rickenbacker rushed him a new one.

    Watch it on YouTube

  2. The Beatles · 1964

    The Ed Sullivan Show (from Miami)

    The replacement, fresh Jetglo with a white pickguard and an Accent vibrato. It’s the guitar the current 325C64 copies.

    Watch it on YouTube

  3. Creedence Clearwater Revival · 1969

    Bayou Country

    John Fogerty’s modified 325, “ACME,” was his standard-tuned CCR guitar from this album through the last one. It has a Gibson humbucker in it, which is part of the sound.

    Find it on YouTube

The cast

The people, and the specific guitars, that made the legend.

  • 1960

    John Lennon

    1958 325, the Hamburg guitar

    Bought natural in Hamburg, given a Bigsby in Liverpool, painted black, stripped again later. His first Rickenbacker.

  • 1964

    F.C. Hall

    Sent the replacement

    Rickenbacker’s boss saw the Hamburg guitar on the first Sullivan show and rushed Lennon a new Jetglo 325 in Miami.

  • 1958

    Roger Rossmeisl

    Designer

    Principal designer of the 300-series Capri line the 325 belongs to.

  • 1969

    John Fogerty

    1969 Fireglo 325, “ACME”

    A 325 with a Gibson PAF and a Bigsby added and “ACME” painted on the truss rod cover. He played it at Woodstock.

  • 2016

    Julie Fogerty

    Found ACME

    Tracked down the guitar John had given away in the early ’70s and got it back to him for Christmas 2016.

  • 1980s

    Susanna Hoffs

    325, and a full-size 350

    The Bangles. Played a 325, and also the bigger 350, which is a different guitar.

Liner notes

Specs, construction, rarity, value, and every source we used.

Short-scale Capri 325 is Lennon’s Hamburg and Miami guitar. Not a 330, not a 360/12, not Townshend’s Rose-Morris 1997, and not the Petty *Torpedoes* cresting-wave.

Body
Maple, 12 3/4" × 1 1/2" × 34 1/2"; factory 7.0 lb (3.2 kg)
Neck
Set-in maple
Fingerboard
Rosewood, 7.25" radius, dot markers, unbound, 21 frets
Scale
Factory table 21" (53.34 cm) — short; see construction
Pickups
3× vintage toaster-top single-coil
Hardware
Accent Vibrato / roller bridge; RIC Deluxe tuners
Electronics
Mono only
Finish
Catalog Jetglo only
Nut
1.63" (41.4 mm); 1.93" at 12th
Open the full research fileConstruction details, the complete player record, production numbers, dated value estimates, and sources

Current living SKU is the 325C64, from rickenbacker.com (fetched 25 Aug 2026) and the USA price list effective 1 January 2026. Copy on that page is semi-hollow maple; the same page’s spec table prints Body Type: Solid. Treat as factory-page conflict; dealers split the same way. Not a 330/360 (24 3/4"), not a 350V63 “Liverpool” (full-size three-pickup), not a 360/12.

Construction

Rickenbacker 300 series, Capri, 1958. Roger Rossmeisl. Built in Santa Ana, California, to order. Model-number folklore (Vintage Guitar, Aug 2005): 3 = semi-hollow Capri, 2 = 3/4 scale, 5 = vibrato. Do not use that as a wiring law.

The useful split is short-scale 325-family vs full-scale 330/360. This body is 12 3/4" wide and about 34 1/2" long. A 330 is 15" × ~39 1/2". Forum posts that hang Lennon on a 330 are wrong.

Scale is contested in the sources. Factory 325C64 table: 21" / 53.34 cm. Wikipedia 325 and leftover Guitar Center copy: 20 3/4". rickenbacker101 model guide: 20.5" on C58/C64/V59/V63. Do not pick a winner. It is not 24 3/4".

1958 Hamburg-class. First short-scale Capri. rickenbacker101: serial V81 left the factory as a 2" alder semi-hollow, Natural, three toasters, Grover Sta-Tite, Kauffman Vib-rola + roller, long jack plate; two lap-steel knobs on a one-level gold guard, then factory-upgraded to four Rogan knobs before sale. Wikipedia: that first-batch guitar has a solid top / no soundhole (pre-production). Later production short-scale 300s had soundholes until the late 1970s. Alder early; maple later (VG 2005). Current C64 is maple.

1964 Miami-class. Jetglo, three toasters, Accent vibrato, roller bridge, white two-level guard, five knobs (blend), Kluson-class tuners on the original. This is the living C64 silhouette. Accent replaced Kauffman in 1962 (VG) — do not put a Kauffman on a C64. guitarprice.net’s 325C64 blurb that gives Miami a Kauffman is a page error.

Soundhole vs no hole. Lennon V81: no hole. Many catalog 325s: none, or a cat-eye. By 1964, an f-hole was standard on the 325S; UK export Rose-Morris 1996 is that guitar. Current C58/C64 recreations omit the hole to mimic Lennon’s instruments (Wikipedia 325). Do not call every 325 an f-hole guitar. Do not call a 1996 a Townshend 1997 — 1997 is a 330-platform export (2 PU, dots, unbound, f-hole) and lives on rickenbacker-330-360.

Reissues, labeled. 320B (1982–84): “evoke,” not a copy. 325V59 (c. 1984/85–2001): Bigsby-era 1958 idea, maple, dimensions off (rickenbacker101). 325C58 (2002–2010): alder, Kauffman, gold one-level guard — Hamburg as purchased; not on the 2026 list. 325V63 (1984/86–2001): Miami-ish, small-detail misses. 325C64 (rickenbacker101 Beatles page 2004; model-ID guide 2006–present): current Miami. 325JL (1990–93) is a doodled V63. 350 / 355 / 350V63 are full-scale. 325/12 (Lennon DB151, May 1964) is a one-off short-scale 12 with trapeze — not a 360/12.

Dual hairpin vs later rods: confirm on a serial. Do not freeze 330/360 2024 rod notes onto this short-scale recreation unlabeled.

Players

John Lennon’s 325s live here. Harrison 360/12 is not this guitar. Pete Townshend’s smash-era Rose-Morris 1997/1998 are 330-platform UK exports — not 325. Tom Petty’s Damn the Torpedoes cover is a cresting-wave solidbody 12 (VG 2006: 660/12; later writers 625/12 or 620/12) — not a 325.

John Lennon — 1958 Capri SN V81. First short-scale Capri. Bought Hamburg, fall 1960. Shop is contested: Steinway Musikhaus vs Musikhaus Rotthoff (Rickresource; later writing leans Rotthoff). Do not pick a winner. He had seen Toots Thielemans with a Rickenbacker (often told as Combo 400); a 1958 trade-show 325 in the V81 path is a provenance note, not a Thielemans discography. Liverpool: Kauffman swapped for a Bigsby B5 at Hessy’s with Chris Huston (Rickresource). Refinished black to match the suits; knobs changed more than once (Rogan → Höfner-type → Burns). First Ed Sullivan (9 Feb 1964) is this battered black 325, not the Miami guitar. Later stripped back toward natural. Not a 330.

John Lennon — 1964 325 SN DB122. F.C. Hall rushed a Jetglo replacement after seeing V81 on the first Sullivan show. Delivered Miami for the second Sullivan appearance. Accent vibrato, white guard. Stage guitar until the Epiphone Casino (1966). This is what 325C64 copies. Not V81.

John Lennon — 1964 325/12 SN DB151. One-off short-scale 12, May 1964, to Epstein. MET Play It Loud / Commons: North American tour 1964; sessions around A Hard Day’s Night / Beatles for Sale; “probably” the intro of “Ticket to Ride.” Trapeze, not Accent. rickenbacker101: used sparingly; short-scale 12s do not stay in tune. Not Harrison’s 360/12 CM107.

John Lennon — 1964 Rose-Morris 1996 SN DE519. Donated by Rose Morris while DB122 was in for repair (Dec 1964). Export 325S with f-hole. 1996, not 1997.

John Fogerty — 1969 Fireglo 325 “ACME.” Vintage Guitar / Guitar World / Rolling Stone (2017): acquired ~1968–69 from RIC’s L.A. showroom; Gibson PAF and Bigsby added; “ACME” painted on the truss cover. Woodstock and Ed Sullivan 1969; standard-tuned CCR from Bayou Country through the last LP. Given away ~1973–74; Julie Fogerty recovered it (Gary’s Classic Guitars, Christmas 2016). Modified 325, not a 330.

Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles). Vintage Guitar (Sollenberger, via Wikipedia 325): played 325 and the full-scale 350. The 350/350V63 “Liverpool” is not this page.

Rarity

The 325C64 is not scarce as a current model. It is C-series production, Jetglo only, Santa Ana, to-order. Single-factory backorders are production-rate scarcity. Factory 325 yearly totals: unpublished.

Actually scarce: 1958–60 first Capris (V81 class); documented 1964 Miami originals; 325/12 one-offs (DB151); clean Rose-Morris 1996 f-hole exports; 325C58 (2002–2010, especially un-“Lennonized” Jetglo). 325V59 / V63 / JL are discontinued recreations, not 1958/64 originals. Artist-owned Lennon/Fogerty instruments are a separate market, not a price for ordinary 325s.

Value

Informal estimate, 25 August 2026. Not an appraisal.

Asking prices are not sold prices. Public 2024–26 sold histograms for 1960s originals were not extracted. Thin hammers; this is listings and dealer asks. Do not price a C64, a V63, or a C58 as a 1958/64 original. Lennon V81 / DB122 are market factors, not comps.

New street. $3,649 for a 325C64 (USA list 1 Jan 2026, vintage reissue case included). Dealer examples at the same number: Fab Gear Jetglo; Swing City; Gelb Music; Corner Music $3,649.99. 350V63 “Liverpool” lists $3,149 — full-size, not this SKU.

Used modern. Reverb price-guide page for 325C64 Jetglo (203 orders, Good–Mint; 2024 tape on the capture): about $1,988–$2,860. Equipboard used listings $2,428 (updated 12 June 2026). Not a 1960s sold table. C58s trade as discontinued recreations, not Hamburg originals.

Vintage / collectible. 2024–26 hammers not captured. Labeled asks: Kansas City Vintage 1966 325 Mapleglo $7,250 (refret + neck reset — not original-neck money). Lovies 1967 Rose-Morris 1996 Fireglo $7,945 (top refin). guitarprice.net 2026 compilation (third-party, not a sold table; it also mis-specs the C64 Kauffman): 1960s 325 $8,000–$15,000+. Rickresource forum valuations for refin 1996s are pre-2024, not 2026 solds.

See also

  • rickenbacker-330-360 — full-scale Capri 330/360; Townshend’s 1997 lives there
  • rickenbacker-360-12 — Harrison’s deluxe 12; not Lennon’s 325 or 325/12
  • epiphone-casino — Lennon’s later fully hollow guitar, not a 325

Sources

Guitars this one gets compared to, confused with, or descended from.