Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Glen,
One of the first things I did when I was modifying my 325V59 into the Lennon specs was making the "correct" pickguard. I found the pickguard on a '58 325 didn't fit the reissue because it was a little too big. Did vintage 325's have a larger body than the current model? If so, was it because they were handmade guitars?

Tuck, was that an actual '58 pickguard or a copy of John's guard?

It was an actual '58 pickguard. John's looks a little larger to me as well, though.

Tuck, I once had what was supposed to be an exact copy of John's gold pickguard and I also had an original '58 325, which is now owned by the proprietor of Dear Prudence in Tokyo, Japan. The guitar was a basket case when I bought it and required a total restoration as well as a pickguard to replace the missing original. When we attempted to mount the copy of John's guard onto the original '58 body we discovered that the guard was a little too large and extended over the edge of the bottom portion of the body.

Joe: Do you consider that the body of your 1958 325 was smaller that the model that Lennon used, or was there some mistake made in reproducing the "exact copy" of John Lennon's pickguard? I guess another way to put it, do you consider that the body size of the earlier 325s was somewhat larger than those made later on?

Tuck: Time to find a way to measure the body size of Lennon's 325 at the Lennon Museum?

John Hall: Would you happen to know the dimensions of Lennon's 1958 325? Would you consider posting them here? Total length, maximum body width, body thickness, width of the headstock, width of neck at the nut and 12 fret,and so on?

I can add that the bodysize of my '64 Rose Morris 325 is larger than 2 other recent 320's I've compared it too. Larger to the extent that I really had to push to get the '64 into the moulded case of an '86 320 that a friend owns. The other point to note is that the control plate for the '64 is larger than the modern 320 plates.

Peter, RIC 310 - 325 body shapes and sizes have evolved over time, which makes the transition periods, so interesting.

Although I probably am one of the few people on the planet to have owned two 1958 325 models, I did not have both at the same time and therefore could not compare the two side by side. One would think that models from the same year would be very similar and close, but we do not have to look any further than 1964 to find a multitude of differences in the 325 model. Although I believe 1964 was a transition year, which is the reason we find a number variations that particular year, 1958 was a year that could be described as a year of product development and perhaps even experimentation for the entire Capri series. The long body '58 325, pictured in the Japanese RIC book is a perfect example of experimentation.

Regarding the copy of John's original pictured that I once owned, I can not say for a fact that it was a true copy, but the gentleman who made it for me was the fellow in New York who refinished John's '58 325 and he told me that he copied mine from John's original guard. I will let you draw your own conclusions.

Thanks for all the info. I wish I could be invisible and go through the glass to really measure the guitar at the museum.

I blew up the picture of Lennon's 325 in the Rittor book and compared with the '58 template, and they match almost completely. But it's somewhat too large for any current reissue 325 I have seen. Lennon's was one of the first units ever made and I assume the body of the earlier 325's (or transition models, I should say) was a little larger than the later ones.

I was given a copy of what is said to be an exact copy of Lennon's gold pickguard a few months ago, which I think is a little too large with a different shape and different pot positions. Perhaps a copy of the one you owned, Joe?

I recall that my friends '86 320 had a control plate that was actually slightly over the edge of the guitar. I assumed the plate was too large and we were going to make a new one - however when I compared it to my '90 320 I found that the plate was correct. The guitar body was undersized !

This 325 copy in this picture was built in the '70s.



The most of the hardware including pick guard came off of a late '50s larger Capris model. The body was cut from a template of a 58. Assuming the guards were a standard size being cut from the same template in the '50s, I can tell you that this vintage guard and the De Marino copy match exactly in shape, but have different hole positions for the pots and screws.

Thanks Nick for the info.
BTW, that's Mark Benson's guitar, isn't it? Does it have a 2-inch-deep body as well?

Ummm, how did they get around the fact that the knobs and switch would all be in different places on a large-bodied capri's pick guard?

When I look at the '58 Lennon 325 in Bacon's Rickenbacker book, the white DiMarino replacement pickguard appears to be too big. Could be an optical illusion but it looks strange. Anyone else notice this?

Mike

Mike: You are not alone in your observation. Others have made comment on this as well.

I have a 1958 325 "clone". You know the one I'm talking about................from somewhere in the USA other than SoCal.

It's body is slightly bigger than my mid-80s 325 miami. It has a two inch body, and an exact replica pickguard ala Dimarino that fits like a wet teeshirt on Pamela Lee. Next best thing to being there, and beats a V59 conversion hands down.