The Beatles and Rickenbackers in Germany

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admin
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The Beatles and Rickenbackers in Germany

Post by admin »

Markus: I have a question about Rickenbackers in Germany today.

Perhaps the most famous purchase of any Rickenbacker took place in Hamburg when John Lennon bought the Model 325 Capri.

This event was so significant that I was lead to believe that Rickenbacker guitars were made in Germany.

Is there still a strong association between Rickenbacker guitars and the Beatles in Germany?
Life, as with music, often requires one to let go of the melody and listen to the rhythm

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Re: The Beatles and Rickenbackers in Germany

Post by doctorno »

Rickenbacker guitars are not very well known among guitarists in Germany nowadays, I think. They have seldomly been on display in our local shops - even in the biggest ones - in recent years. Many guitar players in Germany do not know anything about Rickenbacker guitars at all. And yes, those who do, usually associate them with the 60s and The Beatles.

If you show people your RIC over here, many of those who have heard of the name "Rickenbacker" are surprised that the company still exists. And my 650AVH usually causes even bigger astonishment: a RIC with a "modern" shape and playability?

In Germany nobody thinks that Rickenbacker is a German company. Everybody who knows anything about Rickenbacker knows that it is an American company. Funny enough - only a few people over here know that the most popular Rickenbacker guitars were designed by a German luthier who had immigrated into the USA.

By the way my first Rickenbacker was a 325, too - my beloved 325V59. I found it in a little shop in Cologne back in 1994, I think. I got it for a very, very good price, because the owner of the shop had not been able to find somebody who wanted to buy this little guitar with that strange short scale for more than a year :wink:.
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Re: The Beatles and Rickenbackers in Germany

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Funny enough - only a few people over here know that the most popular Rickenbacker guitars were designed by a German luthier who had immigrated into the USA.
Isn't is quite amazing that persons of talent are often times accepted more by a community that is not that of their birth.

Further, when they do achieve fame, somehow the magnitude of their accomplishment is diminished when viewed by those who often were part of the reason for their success to begin with.
Life, as with music, often requires one to let go of the melody and listen to the rhythm

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Re: The Beatles and Rickenbackers in Germany

Post by doctorno »

Yes, Peter, in Germany we have a saying: "Der Prophet gilt nichts im eigenen Land." ("The prophet is never heard in his own country.") I think this attitude is typical for Germans and I have heard that it is typical for Scandinavians as well: if somebody achieves something special, if somebody is successful over here or abroad, he either gets ignored or is viewed with suspicion and envy.

This seems to be different in America. I think Americans have a tendency to admire and celebrate their heroes more than we do.
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Re: The Beatles and Rickenbackers in Germany

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doctorno wrote:
This seems to be different in America. I think Americans have a tendency to admire and celebrate their heroes more than we do.
Britney, Paris, Miley, not to mention the cast of "The Hills"...yep.
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Re: The Beatles and Rickenbackers in Germany

Post by doctorno »

Sorry, Paul, when I tried to answer you I mixed up the "Edit" and "Quote" buttons. I am not used to being a "moderator" yet. I hope, that I was able to restore your post to its original content.

Now here is what I wanted to answer:

These young ladies (the first two - I do not know the other ones) were not exactly what I was thinking about. :lol: No, I meant that few people in America would doubt that people like The Beach Boys, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, George Gershwin or maybe Charles Ives a.s.o. were great artists - or that Leo Fender was an important man for the guitar industry or whatever. But who in Germany knows and admires Kurt Weill, Kraftwerk or even Bach and Beethoven?
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