Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Glen: I am wondering if the wiring modification of the 325 "Byrd" Model owned by Henry McGuinn, arranged by Roger McGuinn and David Crosby, is a one-of-a-kind or if there are others. Also, do we know the year of this model?

Peter,

Hope you don't mind if I chime in here. Are you asking whether or not there are any other "Byrd wired" 325s? Or are you asking if the "wiring modification . . . is a one-of-a-kind"?


Viewing Henry's short-scale 325Byrd as shown above, here is the "Byrd wiring" as I have been given to understand it from owning a full-scale "Byrd wired" Rickenbacker.

Upper knob: Master volume control.

Lower three knobs: Individual "slave" volume controls for each of the three pickups.

Upper toggle: 3-position pickup selector.
Up - Neck pickup only. Middle - Middle pickup only. Down - Bridge pickup only. Lower toggle: 3-position tone selector.
Up - Heavy low-pass tone capacitance. Middle - Lesser low-pass tone capacitance. Down - Clean bypass. Mono output. The mini-switch above Henry's two toggles would undoubtedly be the Vox Treble Booster control. As for the year, serial #FA284 would suggest 1966.

BTW, there was a quite lengthy 370/12Byrd thread on VoxTalks not so very long ago. Many of the "Byrd wired" Rickenbackers, including Henry's, were discussed.

FWIW.

Good question Terry. I am asking if there are any other vintage Model 325's that have the Byrd wiring. Thanks for the clarification.

By the way Terry. What became of the 1966 Model 370 with the Walnut finish itemized on the shipping invoice?

I'd hazard a guess that there are no other 325's with the 'Byrd' wiring. Seeing as Roger regarded the process as a failure and handed the 325 over to his young boys to play with. If you have a look at the excellent closeups on Bjorn's site you can see that the mods were actually fairly roughly done.

Here's an interesting side question. Roger wanted a Jetglo 325 because he liked the look of Lennon's. Why couldn't a correct solidtop model be provided for a celebrity like Roger McGuinn?

Glen wrote:
I'd hazard a guess that there are no other 325's with the 'Byrd' wiring.

That would probably be as good a guess as any. After all, why would any self-respecting Beatles fan want to ruin their precious 325 "Beatlebacker" with anything having to do with The Byrds?

Seeing as Roger regarded the process as a failure and handed the 325 over to his young boys to play with.

Nonsense. Roger didn't regard the 'Byrd' wiring . . . process as a failure; he personally regarded the "short-arm" Model 325 itself as a failure (for him) since he felt the 3/4-scale 325 was too short to tune properly. Thus, he gave it to his kids as a toy guitar.

Quote:". . . the three-quarter-neck 325 was too short for me to tune properly, so I gave it to my kids as a toy guitar."

-- Roger McGuinn
The Rickenbacker Book, Tony Bacon & Paul Day, page 45 If you have a look at the excellent closeups on Bjorn's site you can see that the mods were actually fairly roughly done.

Not the "Byrd wiring" itself, which was professionally done by the factory (see Björn's photos) -- just the Vox Treble Booster mini-switch mod, which was said to be originally done by McGuinn, then reportedly redone later by long-time Byrds road and equipment manager Jim Seiter. McGuinn was evidently not very handy with a soldering iron (and other tools), and the booster was reportedly wired in sloppily by McGuinn using wads of black electrical tape, thus necessitating Seiter's later intervention with a soldering gun. McGuinn's reported lack of technical proficiency is further evidenced by the sloppy hole which was gouged in the pickguard for the booster mini-switch itself. To a certain extent, the same is also true of the Vox Treble Booster mini-switch hole gouged into my Rick's pickguard. This can be seen in old photos, too, btw.

Well - didn't mean to go rufflin feathers on my second day here.

It was interesting that the McGuinn 325 appears to have surfaced again as a result of work for the 325 Connection. It had been said for years by many, that Mcguinns 325 was a twin of Lennon's 325/12. I was very curious about that so I asked Roger - who passed me on to his son Henry. It was then that Henry dug out the old 'toy' to answer my questions, and he photographed it and sent me the first pics. Since then he has done some very nice pics for Bjorn too.

Thanks Glen. It was your site that sparked the interest of many with regard to the vintage 325s in general and instruments such as the 325 "Byrd" in particular. What is so interesting about the discussion of this historical information is that different people will take differing points of view and this adds to the knowledge bass. Many folks, who haven't played a 325 don't have the first hand experience and your work is a valuable contribution. I agree with comments already made that the reason many play Rickenbackers stems from a 325, Lennon's! Long may your site continue.

Glen: Perhaps my posting came across a bit rough for this forum. I recently did a spate of posting over on another Beatles/325-oriented forum where ignorance and arrogance seem to spend more than a bit of time married together concerning "Byrd wired" Ricks. Perhaps my guard is still up from banging heads with certain know-it-all Beatles fans over there (one in particular) who seem to regard with thinly-veiled disdain and derision anything Byrds-related, especially anything with "Byrd wiring". I'm glad that Henry's guitar has come to light and that some of the urban legend surrounding it has been disposed of. If this is "a result of work for The 325 Connection," then that is certainly commendable. And there is no place on the Web that I can think of offhand that has more specialized content and relevant information on rare vintage 325s all in one place. It's what the Rickenbacker Research Ring is all about. However, I was led to believe (by Henry) that the first photo of his 325Byrd was initially posted at this now-defunct URL http://www.thedagmars.com/henry/new-2.jpg last April. In any case, it's good to have another bona fide rare vintage 325 expert on this forum (something I certainly lay no claim to being), and I look forward to reading whatever you may contribute in that regard. As a matter of fact, I'd be interested in your thoughts on "sap runs" as they relate to the alder 325s. Then again, if "the jury is still out on this question," I'll understand. <g>

I know one thing...

That TrebleBooster-equipped 325 *can* sound downright shrill! I stress *can* because I would think that with all the pickups, switches and knobs, this guitar is capable of a variety of sounds. Nevertheless, when Henry played at VoxFest 2000... oh boy, ear fatigue!

Not that his playing was necessarily bad... just the sound coming across to the audience was really, REALLY bright. I'm talking "glass shattering" bright! And to be fair, his set was sort of a last-minute walk-on thing, so he probably didn't have much time to get acclimated to the amps and PA system.

BTW, there was a quite lengthy 370/12Byrd thread on VoxTalks not so very long ago. Many of the "Byrd wired" Rickenbackers, including Henry's, were discussed........................I can't get the link - anyone can help or copy and paste here what was said?

Can't believe what an arrogant jerk I sounded back then. Why didn't someone give me a hard kick .

Five years down the track and I'm feeling very much the student. The more I've learned about these guitars, the more I've realised that there is to know, and that other very qualified persons have walked there before in most cases. If I can add just a little to the pool of knowledge I'm happy.

Graham: You have likely set a new record for bringing back a five year old thread. Sometimes we sound like five-year-olds, too.

I identify, Glen. When I read some of my old posts from the late '90s and what I thought I knew, I cringe sometimes.

Yeah, that's how I feel about last week...