Rickenbacker 325 Guitar (1/3) ~ Luthiery Laboratories

Rickenbacker 325 Guitar (1/3)

A faithful reproduction of John Lennon's Rickenbacker, but built as a Danelectro. Masonite over hollow plywood body. Poplar neck. Passive electronics with active distortion on the fifth knob.

The first poplar neck I built for this was weak at the headstock and bent over from the string tension, so I built a second one stronger. Both use fixed steel truss rods. I never built another poplar neck, maple is the best choice. Note the incomplete set of dot markers. This is authentic. I guess Rickenbacker was having a shortage.

The entire guitar was originally finished in black nitro, which got ruined simply by existing. I stripped off all the lacquer and refinished it in black polyurethane, tough as nails.

1 2 3

6-String Guitars, All Built, Body - Built, Body - Hollow, Body - Masonite/Plywood, Body - Tolex Binding, Electronics - Passive, Neck - Built, Projects, Rickenbacker,

Rickenbacker Projects

Rickenbacker 325 Guitar

Rickenbacker 325 Bass 1

Rickenbacker 325 Bass 2

Rickenbacker 325 Bass 3

Rickenbacker 4001 Bass 1

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Masonite

Modern Danelectro construction of a classic design

Masonite is the classic Danelectro body material. Vintage Danelectros are Masonite over a poplar core, modern ones substitute plywood for poplar, which is actually better and cheaper. Masonite is available in 1/8" and 3/16" thicknesses. For luthiery, 1/8" is preferable, but 3/16" can also be used, especially if a slightly thicker and heavier body is desired.

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Danelectro Tolex Body Binding

This is what the binding looks like on a vintage Danelectro. I've never been able to find a 'weave' pattern like this. Reissues use a cowhide texture; I also like pebble-grain.

Tolex side binding is something that is particular to Danelectros. I love it. There are many good points to using Tolex side binding:

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Series Wiring

When two pickups are wired in series, the output of one is connected to the ground of the other. The outputs are directly additive, there is no loading effect as with parallel wiring. You get noticeably more output, and usually a much fuller sound. Two pickups may be wired in series with a standard [ON-OFF-ON] switch, available at any hardware store.

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On-Board Effects

This is a "Black Ice" circuit built onto a rotary switch. What a great idea - onboard distortion with no battery. Too bad though, I spent a while testing and analyzing it, and my conclusion is that it doesn't work. It could possibly work, but in most cases, it will not.

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6-String Guitars

Standard 6-string guitars.

6-String Guitars

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Sharp Fret Ends

I took this 'Bird down from it's usual place up on the wall to take some measurements, and I noticed that it had grown fangs along the ( otherwise excellent Mighty-Mite ) neck that were not there before. Sharp fret ends is something I see people piss and moan about all the time. It is going to happen. It's not that the frets weren't dressed properly at the factory, the problem is that most guitars are made in warm humid places like China, Mexico, Indonesia, and Tennessee in the summer. Wood swells with moisture. When they are brought to the USA and placed in a dry heated winter house, the wood dries and shrinks a tiny bit, and the fret ends protrude. Everything about fretwork is a matter of thousandths of an inch, even the tiniest discrepancies are obvious. So this is not a defect, it is something that is simply going to happen, and it is easy to fix.

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