Overview

The Rickenbacker 325 was the first of the Capri series of hollow body guitars released in 1958 by Rickenbacker

Rickenbacker

Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...

. It was designed by Roger Rossmeisl, a guitar craftsman from a family of German instrument makers. Production models were 20-3/4" short scale, dot fretboard inlays, and a small (12-3/4" wide) body. The body is unbound, semi-hollow, with 2'oclock angled soundhole (although re-issues lack a sound hole due to the Lennon connection), and boasts the "crescent moon"-style cutaways. This series is currently available only in "C" reissue form. These instruments gained prominence due to John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

's use of a 325 during the early years of The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

. John Lennon's 1958 model was among the very first batch made and has the pre production feature of a solid top, i.e.: no soundhole. All subsequent production 325. 315, & 310 guitars had soundholes until the 1970s. See additional information at The 325 Connection - http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/~glen325/

Notable players

• John Lennon
  John Lennon
  John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
  
   played 325s and their assorted variants during the 1960's. A replica of Lennon's 325 is available as a guitar controller for The Beatles: Rock Band
  The Beatles: Rock Band
  The Beatles: Rock Band is a 2009 music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games, and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the third major console release in the Rock Band music video game series, in which players can simulate the playing of rock music by using...
  
  .
• Susanna Hoffs
  Susanna Hoffs
  Susanna Lee Hoffs is an American vocalist, guitarist and actress. She is best known as a member of the all-female pop band The Bangles.-Early life:...
  
   of The Bangles
  The Bangles
  The Bangles are an American all-female band that originated in the early 1980s, scoring several hit singles during the decade.-Formation and early years :...
  
   played the 325 and its full scale variant, the model 350 (Hoffs even received her own signature version of the 350).
• Toots Thielemans
  Toots Thielemans
  Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans , known as Toots Thielemans, is a Belgian jazz musician well known for his guitar and harmonica playing as well as his whistling. Thielemans is credited as one of the greatest harmonica players of the 20th century...
  
   used a Combo 400 guitar in the 1950s and may have inspired John Lennon, a fan of Toots, into buying a Rickenbacker himself.
• John Fogerty
  John Fogerty
  John Cameron Fogerty is an American rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist, best known for his time with the swamp rock/roots rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival and as a #1 solo recording artist. Fogerty has a rare distinction of being named on Rolling Stone magazine's list of 100 Greatest...
  
  played his 325 on almost every song he played with Creedence Clearwater Revival