VINTAGE 1958 RICKENBACKER 325 CAPRI FULL
VINTAGE 1958 RICKENBACKER 325 CAPRI PLUS
VINTAGE 1958 RICKENBACKER 325 CAPRI SERIES

VINTAGE 1958 RICKENBACKER 325 CAPRI PLUS

The 375Fs sport the ne plus ultra of Rickenbacker features: three pickups, deluxe trim, and a special long-plate Accent vibrato (with a nifty cutout musical note motif) that is the only unique appointment (besides the large, rather pancake-like body). After LennonвЂ™s use of the model 325 made the shape known worldwide, it said вЂњRickenbackerвЂќ to most guitarists.

Probably any guitarist who was excited by the well-advertised slim sparkletrim neck was well past being tied to the вЂњold fashionedвЂќ single-cutaway body anyway вЂ“ the more dynamic look of the flashier double-cut body was an instant trademark for Rickenbacker.

VINTAGE 1958 RICKENBACKER 325 CAPRI FULL

With the occasional celebrity placement (Jimmy Bryant and James Burton both field tested the new Ricks, but werenвЂ™t weaned off those familiar Telecasters) the Capris were a modest success in the late вЂ™50s, but the full bodies didnвЂ™t exactly lead the pack.

VINTAGE 1958 RICKENBACKER 325 CAPRI SERIES

The F series probably were meant to fill out the line with a guitar that, while wholly Rickenbacker in concept, might appeal to the less adventurous electric archtop user. This results in an instrument almost as easy to build as a solidbody, having no bending of the sides or kerfing required, but with some of the sound of a hollow guitar. These guitars had the unusual construction feature of having the top and sides carved from one piece of wood, hollowed out and capped with a flat back. The necks and headstocks are specifically similar to some Hoyer guitars of the вЂ™50s, which can feel eerily familiar to anyone accustomed to playing an old Rickenbacker. Expatriate German luthier Roger RossmeislвЂ™s designs for a series of hollow cutaway guitars owe very little to any American concepts of the era, but have roots in the post-war archtops of his native land вЂ“ particularly features like the slim, non-tapered necks and slash-shaped F-holes. Hall purchased the moribund Rickenbacker operation and may well have seen his company as able to fill a niche between these two makers, with guitars not as radical as FenderвЂ™s solidbodies, but flashier and more modernistic than the average Gibson.ДЄfter marketing the Combo series (a radical, if not particularly practical, line of solidbodies), Rickenbacker readied prototypes of a thin hollowbody guitar in 1957-вЂ™58. In the native southern California music scene, Fenders had become the hot item, with Gibson as the perennial alternative. The 310-375 sweeping double-cutaway body was a radical design for the time, however familiar it looks today. ItвЂ™s easy to imagine these conceived as a fail-safe model, made to appeal to the more conservative player of the late вЂ™50s. Despite being very attractive, they missed achieving the iconic status of many other Rickenbackers. In sound and quality, these are the equal of any Rickenbacker, but that sweeping double-cutaway Capri body is the Rick trademark to most people, and without it, these guitars somehow donвЂ™t quite look right.

The entire 330-375F series was pretty much history prior to the British invasion hoopla that put Rickenbacker on the map worldwide, and unlike the Les Paul, no legendary rock guitar god pulled one out of the closet for a bout of reclaimed glory. Original вЂ™60s examples of these are also very hard to find, and there have been a lot of people looking the past 30 years! Why? Well, the most desirable Ricks today are those that carry the whiff of Beatles about them: the double-bound 360/12 0S, as used by George Harrison, the export model 4001S bass used by all English Rick players, and the short scale вЂњJohn LennonвЂќ model 325. But their full-bodied F series cousins were produced in extremely small numbers from 1959-вЂ™62, and quickly faded away.ДЄll vintage Ricks are rare compared to comparable Fenders or Gibsons, but the 375F guitars are among the least common of all вЂ“ so scarce, in fact, that even many dedicated Rick fanciers have never seen one! Published productions figures list only seven made and sold! Then again, even most fanatic Rickhounds are not looking for one, particularly.Дespite being a top-line guitar at the dawn of the greatest era for Rick collectibles, the 375F is neither the most soughtafter or costly Rickenbacker. The late-вЂ™50s Rickenbacker Capri thin hollowbody guitars were bold, classic, and original designs that still form the basis of the companyвЂ™s product line. Often, this is due more to an accident of history than any fault in the actual instrument. While some are consigned to the scrapheap of history for good reason, there are always instruments that just plain never caught on. Every guitar company has had its odd ducks, its failures, its forgotten models.

Vintage 1958 rickenbacker 325 capri