How often was alder used?

fus44 · Post by **fus44** » Wed Dec 27, 2000 12:46 pm

I found out through this site that John Lennon's first 325 was made of alder. Were all of the '58 325's made of alder or did Rickenbacker just make a one off to experiment with?

glen_l · Post by **glen_l** » Wed Dec 27, 2000 4:03 pm

Yikes! This is a difficult one - and I got myself in real hot water over this question of maple or alder construction in recent times. Let's just say the jury is still out on this question - but there are examples of capri's made of both maple and alder.

admin · Post by **admin** » Thu Dec 28, 2000 5:23 am

John Hall has commented in The Rickenbacker Forum on December 5, 2000: Quote:Some of the '58s, including John Lennon's, but not all of them were made of Alder

glen_l · Post by **glen_l** » Sun Feb 11, 2001 3:57 am

Well the 325C58's are going to be full Alder guitars, as Lennon's was. This will be a contributing factor to the light weight (5lbs). We've had warnings such as - "It's unfortunate that Alder is so sappy and mineral retentive. It's nice to have the light weight but visually it can be unattractive. The sap is also quite light reactive, changing the appearance over time."

Should potential 325C58 owners be worried about this? Not that I'm complaining - that light weight will be a dream.

How about the 325C64 guitars? Will they be Alder as well? Perhaps not, as it certainly won't be seen under the finish. Also the '64 325's weren't 5lbs. I believe mine weighs in at more like 6lbs.

jwilli · Post by **jwilli** » Sun Feb 11, 2001 3:39 pm

RIckenbacker used Alder more than i first realised. I knew that '50's Combo 400-450s were Alder. I was a bit surprised when they found out that Lennon's 325 was Alder. And I was even more surprised last week when i checked my '58 365 and found out that at least the neck was Alder.

admin · Post by **admin** » Sun Feb 11, 2001 5:01 pm

Glen and John: From your posts, and from my own life experience, it would seem that there are some surprises to be had as we get alder.

glen_l · Post by **glen_l** » Sun Feb 11, 2001 5:28 pm

lol....very good Peter

I hope to get alder....a nice 325C58 in alder

jwilli · Post by **jwilli** » Sun Feb 11, 2001 6:30 pm

Peter, it must be your Canadian accent(vibrato)!

Nick_Thiel · Post by **Nick_Thiel** » Sun Feb 11, 2001 9:08 pm

As Peter will tell you, we have a great program on the CBC up here called "This Hour Has 22 Minutes". This program has cast of 4 East Coast Canadian genius types who literally make me laugh so hard that tears fall. I think Peter is now in the running for the fifth position on that show, I pure stroke of comedic genius with that "Alder' comment.

It also has a nice feature called "Talking To Americans", but you wouldn't find it very funny, well maybe Glen would, lol.

joe_hardman · Post by **joe_hardman** » Sun Feb 11, 2001 10:16 pm

The vast majority of known early '58 Capri models, which includes the 325, were in fact made of alder.

New 325C64 models will be made of maple, since that is what 325 models were made of in 1964.

glen_l · Post by **glen_l** » Sun Feb 11, 2001 11:14 pm

Thanks for the info on the 325C64 timber Joe, And it's nice to see all you guys in the Vintage 325 forum. Things have been quiet so I thought I'd risk a comment about the alder....lol

Great to see such a good sense of humour amongst the Ric community. I don't get to see that show at all Nick. I do recall seeing a Canadian program some years back called "The red and the green" (from memory). I laughed myself silly. Hey isn't Mr Rogers Canadian? My 6yr old worships him, but he needs to work on his jokes....lol

Nick_Thiel · Post by **Nick_Thiel** » Mon Feb 12, 2001 7:31 am

Try this for some more detailed specs: http://www.rickenbacker.com/us/325c64.htm

larrywassgren · Post by **larrywassgren** » Mon Feb 12, 2001 5:34 pm

Hey, all-der, ah, '58's I have seen were alder. Sorry, I know that's very lame. But, now that we know Lennon's blonde was alder, and all the other
'58 325's I've seen were alder, they were all more
than likely alder. Lennon's is number V81, I have number V106 which is alder and I know V107 is alder. All the others I have seen between numbers V80 and V107(which totals the 28 '58 325's) are alder too. Plus number V121(which is a 345) is alder and John William's V128(?) is alder. I think they may have all been alder in early '58!

Joe_Hardman · Post by **Joe_Hardman** » Tue Feb 13, 2001 10:22 am

If we accept the long held belief that the first 28 Capris made during 1958 were 325 models, V80 through V107, would it not be logical to presume that 2V108 (an alder 335) was the first full scale Capri made that year?

glen_l · Post by **glen_l** » Tue Feb 13, 2001 5:12 pm

I doubt that it's as clear cut as that Joe. There are a few reasons I say this. One is that John Hall has mentioned that his '58 325 predates V80. So that throws the whole system into contention for starters. Also in my records I show 11 of the 28 guitars from V80 to V107. Not all of them are 325's. There's a mandolin, and a couple of 325longbodies and the 850polynesian. Also I know for a fact that there is another '58 325 and also a '58 310 with numbers just the other side of V108. All this points to the fact that V80 to V107 are not a subsequent run of 325's. That said, there's no reason why V108 couldn't be the first production full scale capri, but didn't you previously own a nice 345 that was numbered prior to V108? Wish you remembered that exact number. Would like to knock out another missing number in that range..lol

There are other protos that predate it too aren't there, such as JW's 365Ag 2V128. Numbered as a '58 but with unusual early features.