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

More: Rickenbacker Projects ...

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.

More: Masonite ...

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:

More: Danelectro Tolex Body Binding ...

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.

More: Series Wiring ...

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.

More: On-Board Effects ...

6-String Guitars

Standard 6-string guitars.

6-String Guitars

More: 6-String Guitars ...

Comments on Rickenbacker 325 Guitar

Questions or Inquiries?

Just want to say Hello? Sign the .

Submit a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

May 20, 2026

WordPress 7.0

May 20, 2026

I cringe whenever I see a new major version number of WordPress - what did they break this time? But you can't hold back the tide, so with some trepidation I installed it on a test site, and to my surprise, I found nothing wrong. The changes are all on the back-end, and completely unnecessary, like animated menus. The people in charge must be six-year-olds in need of entertainment.

Then I tested the editor, and not at all to my surprise I found they had broken it in a way that shows just how little they test things or care. Fortunately I was able to fix it with a little more of my own code. That is the risk you take when you use a platform like WordPress. Someday they may break something I can't fix.

Of course, they also added support for AI. At least that is disabled by default, and it is going to stay that way. I am not even curious, crusty old curmudgeon that I am.