Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Not sure if this question has been already asked and answered - but I was wondering if anyone in our forum had information as to what happened to George's
original 360/12 - so often seen and heard in "A Hard Day's Night" and in various concerts. The only thing I have uncovered is that it was supposedly stolen sometime in 1966. (this was just someone's comment I read somewhere a while back on the web). Would love to hear from others here who have other knowledge or other comments about what perhaps happened to the legendary guitar.

George's second 360/12 was the one stolen in 1966. The first one is with the Harrison estate.

It was sitting on stage at the Concert For George...wasn't played, though.

The stolen 360/12 has never turned up.

Thank you for that information Kris. I can imagine if George's original Ric (the one in the estate) is ever put up for auction - it would get such attention that the bidding would go sky high and get interested buyers from every corner of the globe!

Does anyone know if *any* of the guitars from the 1966 theft have ever shown up. IIRC that includes Paul's original Cavern Bass, George's Tennessean and a coupleof others. All are immensely valuable. And by that time Paul's bass had been highly modifed and is instantly recognizable.

nbfanca wrote:Does anyone know if *any* of the guitars from the 1966 theft have ever shown up. IIRC that includes Paul's original Cavern Bass, George's Tennessean and a coupleof others. All are immensely valuable. And by that time Paul's bass had been highly modifed and is instantly recognizable.

I don't know about the Gretsch, but the Hofner appeared in the "Revolution" video in 1968.

Paul's original Hofner bass was stolen at Twickenham Film Studios during the filming of LET IT BE I thought. Since he plays it in the film it must have been around well past 1966.

There have been several threads about George's second 12 string on the RIC corporate forum. They have narrowed down the SN to the 4 or 5 FG 360 12 instruments sent to that music store in Minnesota. They are wise not to share the list of possibilitys as it would assist someone trying to create a fake one.

I found this image online of it last year which would help to identify it ... since the wood grain on the top would be as distinctive as a fingerprint, there cannot be two 1965 360 12's with the precise same pattern I would think..

Perhaps Paul W wil chime in... Can a wood grain pattern on a guitar be duplicated?

Wasn't that how Hendrix's Flying V got found - from the distinctive wood grain?

Note the knot in the wood directly below the catseye soundhole...

Ontario_RIC_fan wrote:Paul's original Hofner bass was stolen at Twickenham Film Studios during the filming of LET IT BE I thought. Since he plays it in the film it must have been around well past 1966.

As I understand it, George's second Rick was last spotted in 1969 at Abbey Road. It is believed the Tennessean and the Hofner disappeared around the same time as the Rick. Sometime after March of 1969. All three were reportedly in a storage closest at Abbey Road.

http://www.thecanteen.com/harrison7.html

http://www.thecanteen.com/mccartney3.html

That is my understanding although I am unsure of the date.

However, I am pretty sure the original Hofner is not in Let it Be. The last recorded siting is onthe revolution video. I am pretty sure the picture above is from that time. Notice the mute under the string.

nbfanca wrote:That is my understanding although I am unsure of the date.

However, I am pretty sure the original Hofner is not in Let it Be. The last recorded siting is onthe revolution video. I am pretty sure the picture above is from that time. Notice the mute under the string.

If you're talking about the Revoution/Hey Jude video, at that time Paul didn't have a beard.

I own the film LET IT BE on DVD and VHS. I also have the book of photos that came with the LP box set in 1970. Paul definitely plays his original Hofner bass in it.. I will have a look on youtube and see if I can find a clip for you.

I saw it just a couple of weeks ago and I think I would have spotted that. But I concede.

Especially after checking my source - John Crowley's excellent page:

http://www.thecanteen.com/mccartney3.html

which says (and explains some of the confusion):

"It appeared again in late '68, minus its pickguard, for the "Revolution" video from the David Frost show, and it's last seen in footage from Twickenham Studios, where the Beatles were filming "Let It Be." Soon afterward, it was stolen, most likely from a closet at EMI's Abbey Road studio, along with Harrison's Gretsch Tennessean and second Ric 360-12."

nbfanca wrote:I saw it just a couple of weeks ago and I think I would have spotted that. But I concede.

Especially after checking my source - John Crowley's excellent page:

http://www.thecanteen.com/mccartney3.html

which says (and explains some of the confusion):

Same site I provided earlier (see above posts).

Ontario_RIC_fan wrote:I own the film LET IT BE on DVD and VHS. I also have the book of photos that came with the LP box set in 1970. Paul definitely plays his original Hofner bass in it.. I will have a look on youtube and see if I can find a clip for you.

I would still like to see that if you can find the clip.