Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Anyone know what guitars John used during the Double Fantasy sessions? I've seen pics of the Ovation acoustic he used as well as a squared body electric guitar (anyone know what this is?) as well as a white electric guitar (Ibanez?)

He used a very strange shaped guitar called a Sardynex (don't know if that's the way it's spelled) which had wing type cofigurations on the top and bottom of the body. Almost looked like a rocket (wish I had a photo handy to scan, anybody out there have this?). And he also played a Hamer custom that was specially made for Rick Nielson of Cheap Trick who gave it to Lennon as a gift during the sessions.

Jeff, you're correct on that 'rocket' guitar and the Hamer. I took a trip out East in the fall of 1980 and as unbelievable as it sounds, happened to be at The Dakota on John's 40th birthday(I've got photos from that day to prove it). I've always been into the guitars so I asked the doorman if he knew what guitars John took to the Hit Factory for the Double Fantasy recording sessions. Although he wouldn't know the guitars from the cases(he wasn't a guitar nut like us) he said he helped John load around 20 guitars into a limo. I don't know how many guitars Lennon owned at this point but you would think his early Ricks were in the studio for those sessions. Also, I've owned a late 70's Ovation Model 1651 which is the one Lennon had and when strumming the intro to Just Like Starting Over there is no doubt this is the guitar he used on that song.

Larry,

I don't know if i read this or heard, but I recall that his 58 325 was in on those sessions. I'm not saying it was, I just remember something about it.

Great story Larry! I would've loved to have been there that day too!
You are correct Brian. I read that Lennon brought out the old '58 325 for Yoko's "Walking On Thin Ice". Don't know if it was used on any other 'Double Fantasy' tracks.

Isn't that sort of an urban Lennon-myth? Has it ever actually been established that John is using the '58 on WOTI? That would be pretty cool....

I wonder what Rick Nielson's opinion of Yoko is...after all, it was SHE who saw to it Cheap Trick members weren't on Double Fantasy (she apparently didn't know who they were and thought they were, um, exploiting John for personal gain.)..a classic case of Projection, IMO.

IMHO, Rick Nelson's opinion of Yoko was too low to be charted.

He was a sucker for Mary Lou anyway.

Good Bye Heart

The way I heard it, Jack Douglas claimed the 325 *hadn't* been used on any tracks, that John only brought it in one day to show off to Rick Nielson.

From page 200 of "The Last Days Of John Lennon" by Frederic Seaman ....."Douglas had told John that Nielsen was an avid collector of electric guitars, and John decided to show off some of his classic instruments from the sixties. We stopped by the guitar room in 71, where John picked out his his famous black and white Rickenbacker, a battered blue Vincent Bell, and two classic Fender electric guitars.
When I dropped off the instruments at the studio, Douglas introduced me to the two members of Cheap Trick. The slender, boyish Nielsen, an unabashed Beatle fan, could scarcely contain his excitement at the prospect of meeting John. He handed me a guitar-shaped pin. His bandmate, Bun E. Carlos, was a shy, chubby, bespectacled man sporting a droopy black mustache. When John showed up at 2:00 p.m., Nielsen presented him with a custom-made guitar. John politely thanked the guitarist and invited him to examine his famous Beatle instruments."

Still trying to find where I read about the '58 325 being used on "WOTI". I didn't find any comments from Jack Douglas regarding the 325, so unless you have an interview from Douglas that I don't have Scott, this is news to me.

I found a pic of the Sardonyx<sp?>
Guitar at:

http://www.vintagebb.com/lennon.html

Thanks Jaime, I knew someone would come up with it sooner or later!

And on the same page Jamie links to, there's a personnel mention of "I'm Losing You", with Rick Nielsen credited with guitar and Bun E. Carlos on drums for the session.