The Rickenbacker 300 series is a series of semi-acoustic guitars manufactured by the Rickenbacker Company. The series was launched in 1958, shortly after F.C Hall took over Rickenbacker. The guitars were created by Roger Rossmeisl, a German guitar maker. [1]
The Rickenbacker model numbering system includes many variables such as scale length, number of pickups and deluxe features such as binding and inlay. In addition to the model numbers (310, etc.), a 5 added to the model number signifies the addition of a vibrato, a 10 an additional pickup, and a 1 special features (such as the 331 "Light Show" guitar with internal multicolored lights and translucent plastic top).
There are three main groups in the 300 series: [2] [3]
The 310 group instruments (310 to 325) feature a 20+3⁄4 in (530 mm) short scale, dot fretboard inlays, and small 12+3⁄4 in (320 mm) wide bodies. The body is unbound, semi-hollow (though lacking a sound hole), and boasts the "crescent moon"-style cutaways. This series is currently available only in "Vintage" or "C" reissue forms. These instruments were originally intended to be student models, but gained prominence due to John Lennon's use of a 325 during the early years of The Beatles. Lennon first heard of Rickenbacker guitars from an early musical hero of his, Jean "Toots" Thielemans. Lennon was able to obtain his first 325 from a Hamburg, Germany music store in 1960. Although accounts differ as to whether the instrument was part of the shop's regular inventory or if Lennon had it specially ordered, George Harrison maintained in an interview with Guitar Player Magazine that Lennon bought it "'on the knocks'—ten percent down, and the rest when they [catch] you!"
The 330 group consists of full scale guitars with standard features. These models (numbers 330 to 345) feature 24+3⁄4 in (630 mm) scale necks, unbound 15 in (380 mm) wide bodies with Rickenbacker's trademark "slash" sound hole, and pearl dot fretboard inlays.
The deluxe 360 model group, numbers 360 to 375. These instruments have hollow bodies with rounded top edges and binding on the back edges, stereo "Rick-O-Sound" output in addition to standard mono output, and large triangular fretboard inlays made from crushed pearl. There are two body styles for these models: the earlier or "old style" which was produced from its introduction to approximately 1964, and the new style, with rounded top edges. The original style shared the body style of the 330, with sharp edges and cutaways, distinguishable only by the front, back and neck binding and triangle inlays. For examples of the different styles, one could see George Harrison of The Beatles, who used an old style 360/12 (which was actually the second of three prototypes) in the movie and on the album A Hard Day's Night, while Roger McGuinn of The Byrds used a new style 360/12 with a factory-added third pickup and onboard compressor.
In addition to the three main groups, there are two other models: The model 350 (now existing only as the reissue models 350V63 and 350/12V63) is a full-scale version of the three-pickup 320 as it would have been produced in 1963 (although the 350 itself was not introduced until much later). This shares all of the same features as the 320, with the exception of scale length.
The model 381 is, in reality, a hollow body archtop guitar and is seen as the flagship of the 300 Series in the form of the model 381V69. Its body style is similar to the 330, but with a Gothic carved top and back providing extra depth. The "1" in the model name signifies pickups, as the 380 was originally intended as an acoustic guitar with electric guitar styling (although the 380 was supplanted by the 381's popularity.) It was most famously used by John Kay of Steppenwolf.
Rickenbacker guitars sold in Europe had traditional f-shaped sound holes until the 1980s. This was at the request of European instrument dealers, who were afraid that buyer response to the non-traditional "slash" sound holes would be poor. An example is the 1996, a (now discontinued) reissue of the export version of the 325.
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickups to convert the vibration of its strings into electrical signals, which ultimately are reproduced as sound by loudspeakers. The sound is sometimes shaped or electronically altered to achieve different timbres or tonal qualities via amplifier settings or knobs on the guitar. Often, this is done through the use of effects such as reverb, distortion and "overdrive"; the latter is considered to be a key element of electric blues guitar music and jazz, rock and heavy metal guitar playing. Designs also exist combining attributes of electric and acoustic guitars: the semi-acoustic and acoustic-electric guitars.
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted and typically has six or twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strings against frets with the fingers of the opposite hand. A guitar pick may also be used to strike the strings. The sound of the guitar is projected either acoustically, by means of a resonant hollow chamber on the guitar, or amplified by an electronic pickup and an amplifier.
Rickenbacker International Corporation is a string instrument manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California. Rickenbacker is the first known maker of electric guitars, with a steel guitar in 1932, and produces a range of electric guitars and basses.
The Gibson L-5 is a hollow body guitar first produced in 1923 by the Gibson Guitar Corporation, then of Kalamazoo, Michigan. The first guitar to feature F-holes, the L-5 was designed under the direction of acoustical engineer and designer Lloyd Loar, and has been in production ever since. It was considered the premier guitar of the company during the big band era. It was originally offered as an acoustic instrument, with semi-acoustic models not made available until the 1940s.
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously manufactured the Stratocaster since 1954. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top "horn" shape for balance. "Stratocaster" and "Strat" are trademark terms belonging to Fender. Guitars that duplicate the Stratocaster by other manufacturers are sometimes called S-Type or ST-type guitars. Many prominent rock musicians have been associated with the Stratocaster for use in studio recording and live performances, most notably Eric Clapton, Buddy Holly, David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Frusciante, Jeff Beck, George Harrison, and Tom Petty.
A semi-acoustic guitar, also known as a hollow-body electric guitar, is a type of electric guitar designed to be played with a guitar amplifier featuring a fully or partly hollow body and at least one electromagnetic pickup. First created in the 1930s, they became popular in jazz and blues, where they remain widely used, and the early period of rock & roll, though they were later largely supplanted by solid-body electric guitars in rock.
The Gibson ES-335 is a semi-hollow body semi-acoustic guitar introduced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES series in 1958. It has a solid maple wood block running through the center of its body with hollow upper bouts and two violin-style f-holes cut into the top over the hollow chambers. Gibson has released numerous variations and models based on the ES-335.
Variax was the name of a line of guitars developed and marketed by Line 6 between 2002 and 2023. They differed from typical electric and acoustic guitars in that internal electronics processed the sound from individual strings to model (replicate) the sound of specific guitars and other instruments. The maker claims it was the first guitar family able to emulate the tones of other notable electric and acoustic guitars. It also provided a banjo and a sitar tone. The Variax was available primarily in electric guitar models, but acoustic and electric bass guitar models have also been available in the past.
The Gibson ES-330 is a thinline hollow-body electric guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation. It was first introduced in 1959 and the guitar had the same dimensions as the ES-335.
A solid-body musical instrument is a string instrument such as a guitar, bass or violin built without its normal sound box and relying on an electromagnetic pickup system to directly detect the vibrations of the strings; these instruments are usually plugged into an instrument amplifier and loudspeaker to be heard. Solid-body instruments are preferred in situations where acoustic feedback may otherwise be a problem and are inherently both less expensive to build and more rugged than acoustic electric instruments.
The Fender Coronado is a double-cutaway thin-line hollow-body electric guitar, announced in 1965. It is manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The aesthetic design embodied in the Coronado represents a departure from previous Fender instruments; the design remains an uncharacteristic piece of Fender history.
The Rickenbacker 330 is part of Rickenbacker's 300 series of guitars. The 330 entered the Rickenbacker product line in 1958, though at the time the 300 series of guitars was known as the "Capri" series. It was designed by the German luthier Roger Rossmeisl. The guitar is associated by many players with the jangle-rock sounds of bands from the 1960s and 1980s. The instrument incorporates many features standard on Rickenbacker guitars, including a three-ply maple/walnut neck, a shallow headstock angle, and a thick rosewood fretboard finished with clear conversion varnish. The 330 also features a body with Rickenbacker's "crescent moon" double-cutaway shape with sharp, unbound edges, and an R-shaped trapeze tailpiece. One idiosyncrasy of the guitar is its dual truss rods, which allow for the correction of problematic and unwanted twists, as well as curvature, of the guitar's neck. The 330 is equipped with a monaural jack plate, lacking the Rick-O-Sound stereo functionality of other Rickenbacker models such as the Rickenbacker 360.
The Danelectro Shorthorn line of guitars is a dual cutaway hollow bodied design, made of Masonite and poplar. The original models were introduced in 1959 to replace the U model guitars, and were in production until the closure of the Danelectro company in 1969.
Tacoma Guitars was an American manufacturing company of musical instruments. It was founded in 1991 as a division of South Korean company Young Chang. Instruments were manufactured in Tacoma, Washington. The company and brand name were later acquired by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The Tacoma plant closed, and production ceased, in 2008.
The Rickenbacker 360 is an electric, semi-acoustic guitar made by Rickenbacker, and part of the Rickenbacker 300 Series. The instrument incorporates many features standard on Rickenbacker guitars, including a three-ply maple/walnut neck, shallow headstock angle, a thick rosewood fretboard finished with clear conversion varnish, and double truss rods. The 360 also features stereo or mono output, a body with Rickenbacker's "crescent moon" cutaway shape and rounded top edge and bound back, and an R-shaped trapeze tailpiece. A twelve-string version of the 360 is available. A three-pickup version of this model is also available, the 370.
The Rickenbacker 360/12 is the Rickenbacker company's 12-string variant of their 360 electric guitar model. Mainly known for producing "jangly" sounds, it was among the first electric 12-string guitars. The 360/12 was given worldwide attention when George Harrison used it on many Beatles recordings, introducing the distinctive new sound of this guitar on "I Call Your Name", which the band recorded in March 1964. In the late 1960s, the company made alternative models such as the Rickenbacker 370/12, which became the favored instrument of Roger McGuinn of the Byrds.
The Gibson ES series of semi-acoustic guitars are manufactured by the Gibson Guitar Corporation.
The Rickenbacker 325 is the first of the Capri series of hollow body guitars released in 1958 by Rickenbacker.
Classical electric guitars, also known as nylon-string electric guitars, represent a unique fusion of traditional classical guitar design and modern electric guitar technology. These instruments combine the rich and warm tonal qualities of nylon-stringed classical guitars with the versatility and amplified sound capabilities of electric guitars. By integrating nylon strings with onboard electronics, pickups, and preamp systems, classical electric guitars offer musicians a wide range of sonic possibilities for various musical genres and performance settings.
The Gibson ES-350T is an electric guitar model from Gibson Guitar Corporation, released in 1955. The ES-350T is a further development of the Gibson ES-350 model from 1947 and as such has a completely hollow body. The unique feature of the Gibson ES-350T at the time of its market introduction was the reduced width of the rims. As a result, the guitar has a thinner body compared to instruments with a resonance body that is of full thickness. The ES-350T, together with its sister models Gibson ES-225 TDN and Gibson Byrdland, was one of the first models of the thinline guitar type.