Rickenbacker 325V59 JG

1988 '59 V325 jetglo(black) with bigsby, TV knobs gold pick gaurd and name plate. Short scale 3/4 size neck, 21 frets and three vintage reissue "toaster" pick ups. Thicker chambered body (similar to the late 50's Capri Rickenbackers). Small rounded neck feel, black tolex case. Looks very cool.

I play Blues and 60's influenced pop. This guitar sounds wonderful! The middle pick up has a sort of fender strat out of phase tone, but richer and warmer. The neck pick up is great for blues and jazzy tones, and of course, the bridge pick up has the tone that Ricks are famous for...that fantastic jangle!. Most players don't realize, however, Rickenbackers are very versatile, and offer nice warm deep tones in the neck position...but only with the vintage style pick ups. Those high gain pole pickups on the modern Ricks are very mid range, with absolutely no personality. I think the thicker chambered body on this guitar adds to the richness in the tone, a thinner body (like a V63) is not as warm in tone.

This is where I usually start my love/hate relationship with most Rickenbackers. This guitar goes out of tune just by looking at it. The tuners are okay, but slip, and the bigsby is like a hood ornament. Looks cool, but serves no real benefit to the performance of the guitar. I've considered removing the bigsby, and installing a Rickenbacker "R" tail piece. I think the bigsby contibuts to the tuning problem as well. If you use thicker strings, this may help...but you lose some of the tone. I've tossed the idea of eliminating this guitar from my collection, but the sound keeps it around. I bought it new in 1988, as a special order....the set up has never been touched and is perfect.

The form and feel and finish is excellent! Lets face it, Rickenbackers look fabulous....but I have never owned a reliable one. The tuning issue is a big problem, I think the "floating" bridge is also a big problem. I don't feel confident with the guitar live, I use it heavily in the studio....I use a strat for live shows. Re-stringing this guitar is a real PAIN. As with all Ricks, you need to replace one string at a time otherwise, the bridge will fall off of the guitar. The bigsby presents additional problems while re-stringing the instrument. Again, a strat is so much more reliable, and easy to work with.

I never had to call Rickenbacker concerning this guitar, however, I have contacted them for other reasons. The responce was immediate, but the answers were not what I had expected. I e-mailed about having the factory install a middle pick up to a Rick 1997 reissue I have, but I was told that there is no custom shop at Rickenbacker. This opened up a whole new issue for me, I just can't believe in this world of reissues, Rickenbacker is not as aggressive as other manufacturers. I have a feeling that in 10 years, Rickenbacker may be owned by another company.

I've been playing and collecting for 25 years, and have owned all sorts of guitars. Rickenbackers have always had a special interest for me. When the V59 reissue came out, I ordered this in Jetglo. The pure beauty and tone of this guitar has always stood out...(sometimes the tones are better than a Telecaster or a Strat) but it really fails in the performance area. The guitar will simply not stay in tune. If this guitar were lost or stolen, I would replace it with another Rickenbacker 3-pick up model with vintage reissue pick-ups. Probably a 340, or a 370. To replicate this guitar even used, I would have to pay far more than what it is worth.

1997 REISSUE. 21 frets. Short scale 3/4 guitar. Solid top. 2 vol-2 tone 3 way (mono only). Bigsby. Triple pickup configuation. Reissue toaster pu. Great RIC sound alive and well. Hollowbody maple(eastern). Jet Glow Black color. This was John Lennon's idea to paint the ax black prior to the Ed s. show. (called the 'Hamburg model). Ric tuners. Maple neck. Ric cloth and wrench. The best thing is the great Ric sound while playing those Beatles tunes.

This Ric has the vintage Ric sound without alot of power. Definately a rhytm guitar. The sound is so great to me that it deserves a 10 for individuality. Nothing even comes close.

Setup was ok. Introduced a little graphite to the nut and everything smoothed out. Tuners suck, maybe that's a little strong. Switches are not of the same quality as used with Gibsons. There is a little play. Finish looks OK, but not up to the standard of my new RIC 360. No binding-just black. Cool gold pickguard makes the guitar complete.

Playing live no problem. Finish should hold up. I would have a backup, because this is not a very flexible guitar-nor is it intended to be. It is from a bygone era. Dependability should be fine-I use Rics all the time.

I currently have a RIC 12 360/12v64 getting repaired in their plant. I will have to wait to report the results.

Playing 30+ years. I own 13 guitars; Gibsons, Rics 1 epi, Martin thru line 6 and fender princeton. This guitar brings alot of memories back in sight and SOUND. What else can you ask. I saw the Beatles in 1966 and he played his 350 RIC. It is a great fun guitar with a great sound from the past. Discover it for yourself.