Rickenbacker 325/12V63

Manufactured in 1985. One of the first of the 25 reissues built of this little known Beatle guitar. Basically a 325v63 but with 12 strings. Short scale which for me, makes it really easy to play.
Black, with 3 toaster reissue pickups, 2 tone, 2 volume and a mix knob.

Makes the perfect Rickenbacker jingle jangle. A little more top end, much like the Byrds tone, and slighly less "hollow" than a full size 330 or 360 12.

Action is perfect. No adjustments needed. The most "playable" guitar I've ever held.

Rickenbacker is a real pain to deal with. At first they wouldn't even admit to building these guitars! All hush hush for the Japanese or something... never quite figured what the deal was about these guitars being so secret. And then they make a special run of 138 back in 1999... not to mention the handfull built in the mid 90's...ooh was I supposed to say that?

Most definitely the best guitar ever built ( for me anyway).

This one of the 130-something special edition guitars made at the end of 1999. It is a 21 fret short-scale 12-string made to the specs of the one John Lennon custom ordered in 1964. Like all other 320 series guitars, it is semi-hollow without soundholes. This model has the new Rickenbacker 7.4 ohm single coil pick-ups on it. It is a 325v63 with twelve string on it.

I have owned several 90's era reissue Rics and wasn't really pleased with any of them. They sound too... how can I put this?... "honky." This guitar, however, sounds just like the 60's records that made the Rics famous. The combination of the new pick-ups and flat wound strings are probably most responsible for this improvement. When set to the treble pick-up, it is 1964-5 all over again. The Bass and Middle positions don't sound all that useful however. It sounds best, naturally, through a Vox amplifier.

I purchased the guitar second hand. It was set-up and ready to go. The short scale neck, which led many to believe would make this guitar impossible to play, actually makes it a dream. There is less tension, making it easier to fret and even bend notes (who bends notes on a 12-string?). I should warn that I also have no problem playing the sister Ric short scale guitars. If one found those impossible to play, then they probably wouldn't like this guitar either.

It's a keeper!

Overall, a nice guitar. However, it is a niche instrument for the most part. It certainally has that Beatles vibe to it, but is capable of doing more too. Its most suprising feature is its ease of playability for a guitar that has long been regarded in Beatles circles as a collectors piece only.