After adjusting the setup, moving the vibrola up off the top of the guitar and loosening it's mechanism a little so it could move to a stable position, removing the arm, and rubbing beeswax treatment into the fingerboard It was in a condition where I could comfortably play it and spent last doing just that for a couple of hours. I found that it's still slipping out of tune and I think it'll end up with a trapeze in place of the kauffman. A few of the Ric statites feel loose, which may also be contributiong to the tuning slipping. I may have to do something about that also.
I played thru a Vox AC30/4 using mainly the bridge pickup thru the Normal channel with the brilliant switch in the 'Bass' position. It was this combination that was really giving the early beatle type sound. I found that the amp had to up very loud though (more about that later).
Has anyone yet pointed out that the volume controls actually hit each other in use? I was a little concerned initially but then it clicked that there's a reason for it. The control panel is actually an accurate copy of Lennon's original one including all the hole postions. His panel originally had only two pots and one switch, and the knobs were the earlier plain chrome type, with a smaller diameter. The 'Oven' knobs were fitted when the extra 2 pots were added. So the two new pot holes where spaced further apart to allow for these larger diameter knobs, but the original two lower pot holes had to be left as is. This means the oven knobs would have hit together on Lennon's also, and explains the odd hole placements when you compare the two pairs of holes. Maybe another reason he was on a quest for different knobs.
I was surprised at the dc resistance of the short pole toaster pickups. The three on this 325C58 measure only 3.5K each, which is lower than I expected. Many owners of 50's rics have reported readings of 5-7K on their toasters. This would account for the high amplifier volume setting required to get sufficient level. The drawback is you are more likely to pick up unwanted noises and humming.
I noticed that with the selector in the middle or upper postions (neck and middle pickups selected in parallel) I was getting that unwanted mechanical noise of the pick hitting the middle pickup. This is why so many (myself included) have previously theorised that Lennon disconnected the middle pickup on his original 325.
More recent investigation indicates that it's far more likely his 325 was wired in an earlier version of 4 control wiring such that the middle pickup could actually be switched out. Recent research to shows that the idea of shorting the neck and middle pickups together was a practice that probably started after 1958. The wiring on Lennon's was likely more intricate than previously thought, whereas the wiring in the 325C58 is more like later models.
I'll be making up 2 replacement panels for mine so that I can interchange them and compare the results.
1) Correct value pots, toggle switch, capacitors, and wiring in 2 control format, with 2 chrome 'Tele' style knobs, very close to the originals from the '57/58 period
2) Correct value pots, toggle switch, capacitors, and wiring for 4 control version, with 4 radio style knobs.
More on that when it happens.......
