Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I can play full barre chords up to around the 10th fret, or so, but I usually don't. John Lennon usually didn't either, he played a lot of closed, 4 note chords, especially when he was way up on the neck. She's a Woman is a good example...I hardly ever play chords like that on any guitar except a 325.

Thanks Bill,I have to get that book.Thanks Joe,That is good to know.

huh.. what would a short scale acoustic sound like...

Mitch, it really is a good book--the actual title is "The Beatles Complete Chord Songbook", Hal Leonard Press.

Cheers, Bill

Short-scale acoustic?

Would it sound like a ukulele?

Thanks Bill,I will get it.

"John Lennon usually didn't either, he played a lot of closed, 4 note chords, especially when he was way up on the neck. She's a Woman is a good example...I hardly ever play chords like that on any guitar except a 325."

Joseph: Are you saying Lennon didn't play a full 12th fret barre for the opening of She's A Woman?

For us big handed klutzes, we learn 2 and 3 finger chords......with the short scales it works well...........................

I've got normal length hands with wide fingers (similar to Danny Gatton) and I have no problem doing full barre chords at the 12th fret like the full E (upstroked) for the beginning of "She's a Woman". I thought that short scale would be a problem for me - just the opposite - I'm finding it easier to play. However, leads seem to be more of a challenge - but it's not what I use this guitar for.

Ok,thanks for all the helpful input.I am just a self taught beginner with no inborn talent and on top of that I have a disability that affects my ability to use my hands adroitly,however,I have found that I can play barre chords up to the 12th fret if I play standing or seated in a classical position.I still can't play it well but at least I find that it is not impossible for me and that is what is important.

Douglas--I'm the worst person to ask on this, but based on some of the footage I've seen, I don't think so--on the record he's got the bass and maybe the lead guitar filling in the bottom, so it's hard to hear if he's getting the bass strings. I, personally, have done both, but sometimes a full barre gets a bit cramped way up there. You can get close by playing the E on the seventh fret, if you find the 12th fret small.

I have a question regarding Lennon's 325 that has been nagging at me. Most makers of 3/4 scale neck guitars brought them out as "student" models. There is nothing "student", however, regarding V81, John's first Rick. Perhaps the 420 would be the closest thing to a Rick student model. Why did RIC make such a nice, "loaded" guitar as the 325 (3 p/ups, Kaufman vibrato) with a 3/4 scale neck? Most 3/4 scale neck guitars of that era (e.g.,Fender Musicmaster) were definitely low-end, one-pickup guitars designed for small hands.

I am sure this has been covered somewhere else. Perhaps someone will point me in the right direction and solve my puzzlement.

Good question,I think I read that F.C. Hall really believed the 325's would be widely accepted as the next step in the evolution of the electric guitar

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I believe it was a difference in marketing philosophies between Fender and Rickenbacker.

Fender showed the shorties (don't forget the Duo-Sonic and its two pickups!) posed with students and youngsters. They were low end, well-made, but definitely "beginners' instruments" as far as Fender Marketing was concerned.

The Rickenbackers were seen AFAIK as alternative, full-featured guitars for people with smaller hands, period--be they youngsters, ladies, or men with skinny fingers and adaptable playing styles.

I just got my first C58 after 3 years of hankering, and the guitar (seen as an acquired taste by many and as quirky by many others) just flat leaves me speechless. It's so light and responsive, and for myself--accustomed to decades of short-scale playing--so much fun to play it makes me chuckle to play it.

It's also fun to offer it to someone to look at or play, by holding it at arm's length by the headstock!

Amazing...

The c58's are really cool, PW. Did'ja get Alderglo or Jetglo?