Rickenbacker 325C64

This is a short scale RIC with three pickups - an exact replica of the famous John Lennon model. It is important to understand, that the idea behind the C-series was not to produce a modern instrument with modern playability and modern features but rather to build an exact copy of the guitar that John Lennon played in the 60s. Rickenbacker put much attention to the details here, so I will give it a 10 ...

The sound is exactly like the sound of a vintage 60s guitar. You might like that - like all the Beatles fans buying this model will certainly do - or not. If you do not like it, exchange the pickups for Rickenbacker hi-gains or humbuckers or buy a modern RIC. I personally prefer the sound of my 325V59, but the C64 is certainly closer to the vintage original.

This chapter is the reason why I write this review, because I simply cannot believe what the other ones have written concerning this. First of all: my guitar was set up perfectly at the factory. For the historical reasons mentioned above, this is a guitar with a roller bridge and a RIC Accent vibrato. So what do you expect?

To all those of you repeating the old rumour that such a guitar is better suited for rhythm guitar than for lead guitar playing, let me remind you of the following: Rickenbacker developed their short scale models because jazz virtuosos like Toots Thielemanns had suggested that you would be able to play faster on such a guitar - and you really are. So please try to adjust to the short scale neck first before you judge. The playability of these necks is incredible - especially for lead guitar!

The roller bridge and the RIC Accent do not work very well on this guitar, so if you are not into the historic aspect of this instrument, it is wise to exchange these parts for a standard Rickenbacker bridge and trapeze tailpiece.

There are a lot of RICs from the 50s and 60s sold for very high prices on ebay ...

The owner of the Rickenbacker company even answers questions in the Rickenbacker forum himself.

I am an experienced player and semi-professional musician. I wish that people would do a little more research on an instrument, before they write reviews. The 325C64 is not my favorite RIC, but it is a great guitar, which gives you the unmistakeable Rickenbacker sound, look and feel.

The guys below have pretty much explained the features, so I won't bother.

It certainly delivers that early Beatles songs in spades. I play through a Vox AC-30 CC2 and it sound pretty damn close to Lennon's sound on the early records. I had a 325 C58 too, so I can compare the two for those of you who are wondering what the differences are. As for this guitar, the bridge pickup is very bright and jangly without being too harsh. If you played any lead on this guitar, you'd probably want to switch to the bridge pickup for that.

The middle position activates all 3 pickups. This position probably sounds the best and is the most balanced. If you back off the neck/middle pickup volume and keep the bridge wide-open, that's the Beatle sound, no doubt about it. Three-pickup Rics sound different than two-pickup models, in my opinion. The jangle is still there, but there a kind of darker, glassy sound coming from the neck and middle pickups. Which brings me to the third position (with switch up)....

The neck/middle pickup position is what makes these three-pickup models sound so different. The "glassy" sound that I mentioned earlier is most present in this setting. I think that this position gets you the closest to the sound heard on "All My Loving". Keep in mind though, that when Lennon recorded that song, he had already disconnected the middle pickup. I've read that he used the neck pickup only on that sound, but I have no way of knowing. All I know is that the neck/middle position sounds the closest to me.

I don't think this would be a good lead guitar, and I haven't tried it with distortion, but if you play mostly rhythm you'll love it....and let's face it, probably most of the people who buy this guitar in the first place are huge Beatle nuts (like me). I'll explain more about the whole C58 vs. C64 comparison in the "Overall" section.

I bought this guitar from North Coast Music, so I can't speak for the other online retailers, but the setup on mine was great. Gary personally inspects each guitar and sets the action/intonation before he ships them. Definitely no setup issues with mine. Thanks, Gary!

The guitar does seem pretty fragile, but that may be mostly due to it's small size. I probably won't be gigging with this a lot, but when I do, I'll be extra careful. I think you can depend on it, but I don't have enough experience with it yet, to say for sure.

Never dealt with them.

Ok, so you want to know the difference between the C58 and C64? Mostly cosmetics, but here's a break-down:

C58: Gold pickguard (single), gold nameplate, alder body (thicker and lighter than the C64), "oven" knobs, unfinished fretboard, and the big difference....Kaufman Vibrola.

C64: White pickguard (dual), white nameplate, maple body (thinner and slightly heavier than the C58), black Rickenbacker knobs with white lines, finished fretboard, fifth "blender knob" (lets you control the "mix" of the pickups), Accent Vibrato (that actually works like a normal one)

As for the sound difference? There really isn't one! To my ears, the only difference is that the C64 has a slightly higher output and there isn't as big of a volume drop when you switch to the bridge pickup. I think they sound almost exactly the same. I guess the deciding factor for you would probably come down to looks. Whichever one you think looks better is probably the one you should get, because I think they sound the same.

Both are great guitars, though, and will nail the Beatle sound through the right amp. The price is really good for such a historically acurate guitar. Try finding a '64 re-issue Gibson or Fender for under $2500!

I just got my Dream guitar A 325c64 Rickenbacker.It was made february of 2006 in santa ana california. It is a short scale 21 fret electric guitar.The body and neck are made of maple.It has three rickenbacker toaster top pickups with a 3-way pickup selector switch.It has a beautiful clear gloss coated rosewood neck with small white colored fret markers.The entire gutar is Black (Jetglo) including the neck and headstock.It came with a very retro tremelo that Rickenbacker calls the accent vibrato.The tuners are Rickenbacker deluxe, chrome, vintage style with closed backs and oval knobs.The neck is a very small short scale model just like the original that John Lennon played.The case is a very nice wood shell with silver vinyl with black ends.The interior of the case is blue plush.It has a nice sized storage compartment for straps,tuners,picks,ect....The guitar came with a very large polishing cloth,a bridge adjustment allen wrench and case keys.....

The sound Is incredible....If you listen to the beatles Just think of the triplets John is playing in the back on "All My Loving".Its just incredible and Jangly!!! I am just in love with the sound.....I play it through My fender blues junior laquered tweede model and also through my vox pathfinder 15(that one is a cheapy,but it looks and sounds cool).I play it out of bridge seeting mostly and a little through the middle position....I don't really like the neck setting sounds kind of goofy for this guitar.Its very good for classic rock especially beatles(of course) I wouldn't play it for modern music.I really love the fact that the pickups are dead silen...theres is no hum to spaek of...its great....I have even used cheap cable and its almost as quiet as my monster jazz cable.

The one thing that was truly dissapointing was the fact that this literally has to be the worst set up guitar I have ever played in my life....I have played walmart guitars that only needed minor things done to the action and intonation to sound decent.The intonation is atrocious.There isn't anything you can do to this guitar to make it play in tune with its self....Its incredibly frustrating.The action is pretty high too....They probably set it that high to fool you into thinking that there isnt any fret buzz....But boy is there !! its everywhere....I received this box unopened meaning that it was never tampered with after it left the factory....the last person that touched this guitar was the builder or tech.
The next small complaint was that the bridge tends to wiggle or rock when you rest your hand on it,this effects the intonation significantly...when you tune the guitar and get it to be almost passable after doing some fine tuning using your ear and maybe a couple of chords and after you tune it with your electronic tuner you wont get through more than a couple chords before the bridge will rock one way or the other,it messes up what you just tuned pretty badly....I don't think this is a big deal though, I think the problem is that one of the four bridge adjustment screws is slightly longer or shorter that the other so the screw is in a sense "floating" above the hole that it is supposed to be sitting on or in.This is a problem that I will discuss with my repair guy.Everything else on the guitar was perfect....cosmetically the guitar is stunning.....It has the nicest finish I have ever seen...Its like looking into a mirror....its just gorgeous...The neck takes a couple of hours to get used to...but don't get frustrated !!! Just think....if big fat somoan or hawaiians dudes can play ukuleles...then you can get used to a short arm 325 !!! haha

The guitar seems very sturdy and Once I get it set up properly I know that it will last through a life time of many gigs with no problem.Another thing that really stinks is the machine heads...they are very stiff and slip badly...but I think that might have something to do with being historically acurate for 1964 technology(gonna replace those ,haven't decided what to put yet).The strap buttons are very small compared to anything I have seen but they look really cool and seem very solid...Besides they are the perfect size for those skinny type vintage straps (beatles straps) that I like to use.I would never go to a gig without a backup guitar.I always have a backup regardless of the reliability(you never know what might happen).

never dealt with rickenbacker..But I have heard many horror stories !!!

I have been playing about 5 years....I own fenders, gibsons,martins,ibanez.I would definatly replace my 325 it if it were stolen.I love the guitar and the history behind it but I hate the fact that rickenbacker claims to be the best guitar "right out of the box".That is totally misleading....It is the worst I have played ever "right out of the box" (as far as the set-up goes).They need to take more pride in the way they send you their instruments....the day I bought this guitar was the day I became closer to John lennon....And he would not be happy about the way they were sending "his guitar" out to people....seriously folks ....the only people that would probably buy this guitar are beatles or lennon fans....you don't go into your local music store(as if you could go in your local music store and find a 325 in stock) and say...."that ones pretty....I'll take it !" Chances are that you waited a very long time and were expecting to recieve an instrument that john lennon would gladly play...and I just think that rickenbacker needs to think a little more like that when they close that cardboard box packed with the guitar of someones dreams....

Hi ....

Just received my new Rickenbacker 325c64 MIAMI short-scale guitar.
It was made in January 2006 in the USA.
Although not a signature model, it is supposed to be a close replica of the 325 that was given to JOHN LENNON in Miami and subsequently
played by Lennon on the BEATLES 3rd Ed Sullivan appearance in February 1964.

Unlike the 325c58 HAMBURG relica, the 325c64 MIAMI model has the
Ric ACCENT Vibrato (rather than the 325c58's Kauffman vibrato).

This 1964 325 replica also has a semi-hollow maple body, a re-shaped body and headstock, 3 vintage-style single-coil pickups, and Deluxe Vintage tuners. It came with a vintage style silver hardshell case
with black VINYL trim. The Color is BLACK with a white pickguard.

The guitar is cosmetically BEAUTIFUL (nice finish, nice wood).

However, when tuned-up, it proved to have been set-up POORLY
by Rickenbacker (and remember...it was only made in January 2006!).

The low-E buzzed especially fretted past the 3rd fret, and the high-E and B-strings sounded dull and flat with 'dead" spots. I wasn't too concerned and figured the guitar just needed a basic set-up and intonation.

What concerned me more was the fact that the saddles for the top 3 strings (high-E, B, and G strings) had NO NOTCHES for the strings
(the bridge used Roller-saddles for the Accent Vibrato) and these
top 3 strings slid around on their saddles and produced "clinking"
sounds when I struck down or plucked up on them. VERY irritating !!!
Did JOHN LENNON have to put up with this type of string noise ?!?!?

I took the guitar back to the store where I purchased it (it had been
shipped to me sight-unseen) and had their tech guy check it out
for a basic set-up.

The tech guy checked it over and tried to adjust the DOUBLE Truss
Rods (YES, the 325C series has 2 Truss Rods). He found that one of the truss rods on the High-E side of the neck was loosened to the max and could not be turned anymore !
When he tried to compensate with the 2nd truss rod on the Low-E side,
the Low-E string started to buzz even more !!

Upon sighting down the neck, it was obvious that the actual wood
of the neck was BOWED .... one might even say WARPED !!!

How could Rickenbacker have let this guitar leave their factory like this ?!? Is this an example of USA Made craftsmanship and pride ?!?

I reluctantly had to RETURN this guitar. (I want a guitar that I can actually PLAY and not just collect and look at!)

Instead of a Refund, I am hoping for a prompt REPLACEMENT from Rickenbacker (hopefully it won't take another 5 years of waiting!).

If and when my next 325c64 Miami guitar comes in, I am going to be sure to check it out IN PERSON before I take it home.

But even if the next guitar's neck is fine, I am STILL concerned about the notch-less Saddles and the sliding of the top 3 strings
with the accompanying "clicking" and "clinking" sounds.

I have an option of replacing the ROLLER Saddles and Bridge with
a regular Rickenbacker bridge with set Saddles, but this is an
extra expense and alteration of this supposedly Historical replica.
Plus I am not sure how it will work (or not) with the ACCENT Vibrato.

However, I don't have any other ideas of what to do to solve this sliding strings noise problem.

DOES ANYONE OUT THERE HAVE ANY IDEAS OR SUGGESTIONS ?????

I would greatly appreciate ANY advice and I am sure other 325c64
owners (current and future) will also appreciate a solution to
this problem.

THANK YOU! in advance for any help.

Great Rickenbacker/BEATLES/LENNON vibe and tone !

Not sure what kind of strings or what guage Rickenbacker put on.

Feels like semi-flatwound (semi-roundwound?) strings, but not sure.
Anybody know ?!?

I am debating about what replacement strings to use for this 3/4
short-scale guitar.

ALso debating about FLATwound versus ROUNDwound strings.

I hear the FLATS are best for a Beatles mid-range sound, but I've also heard that you can use ROUNDwounds and just clip the high
end treble on your amp to get a similar tone of the flatter FLATS.

I've also heard that Pyramid strings are BEST (what guage? 11-13??)
for Rickenbackers and even Hofner "Beatle" Basses, but then I read
that although Sir Paul McCartney originally used Pyramids for his
Hofner Bass, he NOW uses D'Addario strings ! Could a more "modern"
FLAT string type like D'Addarios work fine on a Ric 325 guitar, too ?

Any opinions out there based upon experience ?

I pretty much covered my gripes about the guitar's POOR set-up at the Rickenbacker factory and the bowed/warped neck and fretboard.

With USA made carelessness like this, I am embarrased as an American!

C'mon, Rickenbacker ! Where's your PRIDE in your products ?!?

If they made these 325c64's truly like they made JOHN LENNON's 1964
guitar, this guitar should be able to stand-up to years of studio recording, live peformances and the screaming of 1,000 of fans, LOL !

Not only is Rickenbacker hurting their reputation by taking so looong to come out with this 325c64 model (5+ year wait!), they are
further disappointing potential buyers with their lousey "quality" control by shipping-out such an inferior instrument (warped neck).

I will keep this site posted about the outcome of my situation
and let you folks know if and when I receive my Replacement 325c64 from Rickenbacker.

I always wanted a JOHN LENNON short-scale style 325.
I debated between the 325c58 Hamburg model and the 325c64 Miami model
and decide to go with the 325c64 model ..... first !

I would like to get a 325c58 someday and alter it with a B-5 Bigsby
like Lennon did. But I have to have my confidence in Rickenbacker's quality restored again. I'll wait and see the quality of
the Replacement 325c64 that Rickenbacker sends me and then decide.