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I initially did a double take when I saw this picture as I thought Lennon must have put a trapeze on his 325..then I realised it was a shot with his 320 12 string. Thinking about it, I recall seeing very few pictures of Lennon using this 12 string in action (I remember a few shots of him using it live on the Beatles tour of the Netherlands when Jimmy Nicol sat in for Ringo). Judging by the writing on the wall, looks like this pic may have been taken in Baltimore so I guess there must be plenty of other shots of him using the 12 in the US?

Interesting, Eddie. Thanks for the photo!

Great picture, butchered truss rod cover notwithstanding.

scoobster28 wrote:Great picture, butchered truss rod cover notwithstanding.

Hi Benjamin. I don't believe the truss rod cover was butchered. Although it does look artificially truncated, I understand it left the factory that way....see pic of the actual guitar headstock below (the guitar is still owned by Yoko Ono)

k43rover wrote:

scoobster28 wrote:Great picture, butchered truss rod cover notwithstanding.

Hi Benjamin. I don't believe the truss rod cover was butchered. Although it does look artificially truncated, I understand it left the factory that way....

Yep, same TRC blanks that were later used on '64 Rose Morris 1993's, from what ive heard (though by then they had the made in USA printed on them)

collin wrote: Yep, same TRC blanks that were later used on '64 Rose Morris 1993's, from what ive heard (though by then they had the made in USA printed on them)

Great observation Collin. I just had a look through the 1993 pictures on the Register database. Obviously the sample size is low, but I note that some early/mid '64 dated 1993's do indeed have this same shape TRC as on Lennon's 320/12 (with the addition of the "Made in USA")...but others don't. That would suggest that either the factory was inconsistent in what shape they used even in early/mid '64 or those early production examples pictured with longer TRC's have had their original short TRC's swapped out over time. Seems by the end of '64 the shape had definitely changed as I only noted the longer, pointed end, shape on those guitars. Either way this early pattern short TRC is obviously very rare...

I believe that TRC's were hand-shaped for the early 12 strings, accounting for the lack of consistency in shape.

There are some nice pictures of John playing his 325/12 on that site :
http://www.boinkwithme.com/nick/beatles/john/32512.html
http://www.boinkwithme.com/nick/beatles ... _john.html
http://www.boinkwithme.com/nick/beatles ... _pics.html

On that one Paul & John both have a 325 in hand

Two 12-strings at once, I bet this concert would have been fun to be at (that is, if you could have heard it)


Collin, your own 1993/12 has a TRC very similar to Lennon's, if I remember right? The inconsistency of early Rics never ceases to amaze me. It's almost like snowflakes...no two are exactly alike.

JakeK wrote:
Collin, your own 1993/12 has a TRC very similar to Lennon's, if I remember right? .

Yep.





Mine is October, 1964---I think by the November batch, they had the pointy TRCs, so mine would have been among the last to get the "stubby" TRC (mine also had a trapeze tailpiece, originally, and R-tailpieces showed up near November '64 as well.) I dig the short TRCs-- kinda cool and different.

collin wrote:

JakeK wrote:
Collin, your own 1993/12 has a TRC very similar to Lennon's, if I remember right? .

Yep.





Mine is October, 1964---I think by the November batch, they had the pointy TRCs, so mine would have been among the last to get the "stubby" TRC (mine also had a trapeze tailpiece, originally, and R-tailpieces showed up near November '64 as well.) I dig the short TRCs-- kinda cool and different.

mmmmmmmmmmmm, lovely...forget the Lightshow, when are you putting this one up for sale Collin?

Collin is guarding this one with his life! He told me!

As for Lennon's 320/12, the picture of it in Beatles' Gear shows the tailpiece painted black and has the original strings that was put on it in March of 1964.

JakeK wrote:Collin is guarding this one with his life! He told me!

...looks that way, but those V12's are awful juicy The darker FG on that 1993 is just boooootiful

You should see it in person! It's incredible.

My mother took this picture of Collin and myself beside his RoMos at SCARF in October of 2010. He handed me the 1998, (which was relic'd (eat that Paul W! ) and repaired Townshend style with a worn toggle switch) and with trembling hands, I played "My Generation". It had a neck similar to my '86 1997 reissue, kinda on the chunky side. Then, I put it on the stand and asked to give the 1993 a whirl. My hands trembled harder as I picked it up, then I played (I think) "You Can't Do That" on it. It has a very thin top, which gives it an awesome sound acoustically, and the thinnest neck I've ever played on ANY guitar and I haven't played too many compared to some folks here.

Either way, Collin won hands down on my favorite guitar there with his 1993, followed closely by Gary Clauson's 370/12 McGuinn, due to it's versatility.

Excellent pic Jake...a lot of the later '64's seem to have that slightly darker FG which looks cool!