I`m a 60`s country & 50`s rock picker, I`ve read where this guitar is mostly a rhythm guitar, thats only because John Lennon used it for that, In fact this guitasr has a better string bending neck for lead guitar sound than a Strat. the neck is short & the strings bend easier , you can use a fatter guage string & still bend it easily. The guitar is great , The only thing is the price, it needs to be more affordablde. Dan electricbanjoman

I've owned a Ric 330 and and 350. I had problems with both of them. Not serious problems, nothing that wasn't fixed with a good set-up. Although, truthfully, I did not enjoy playing the 350. It just didn't feel right. The 330 I still have and I love it.

But this 325 is somehow (hold on, guys) surreal. As Pete Townsend said, it is indeed the violin of guitars. Out of the box, the guitar was perfect. I tuned it a bit, which is all it needed, and--perfection. The 325 is unique. There is nothing like it. In the true sense of this good word, the guitar is precious. It intones perfectly. The strings are close to the neck "out of the box". I have not yet had it "set-up" because I'm not sure it needs a set-up. I may change my mind. Probably a new set of strings very soon. I only got the guitar Friday.

The tail-piece is a weak point. Ignore it or replace it. I choose to ignore it.

As everyone knows, this is primarily a rhythm guitar, the coolest and best in the world. Enough said. Now a question.

Why so early on did Ric decide to build such a small guitar? If you strip away all its Beatle associations (pretend John Lennon never bought one), this might be classified as a student-sized guitar. The perfect guitar for a girl or boy with small fingers! Yes. The action is fast for anyone, apart from someone with really big hands. But the question lingers. Any observations?

I rate it as high as possible. Buy one if you can find one. The one I have (325C58) has been discontinued.

I bought the C58 for the Beatles connection, but I've found it to be a really versatile guitar, that you can get a lot of sounds out of. Of course, the most famous use of this guitar is for cleanish rhythm, and it does that exceptionally well, but I have used mine with overdrive and found it to be very good for more modern rock tones. I also play mine for some country, it's got a twang not unlike a telecaster, but different and unique. I think the middle position on the pickup selector is the most useful, and most "traditional" sounding, though Lennon used the bridge pickup a lot on his second 325 on later Beatle recordings. Just remember this is not a balanced pickup set, so you lose some volume with only the bridge pickup--I think for live use I'll probably use a pedal to compensate. Still, the bridge tone is very bright without being ice-pick trebley, and probably the best to use with overdrive. Very good for bright rhythm, and I think it will be good for layering in recordings, plenty of spank to let you know it's there, without being overpowering.

The only negatives I can offer is simply that my guitar needed to be set up out of the box. Ignoring the Kauffman issue--it's a lousy vibrato but this, afterall, a 100% reissue of the '58 guitar--my guitar needed the truss rods adjusted, the sharp fret ends smoothed, and adjustment at the nut. I use .13-.53 flatwounds and stay in tune just fine, with a low action.

Overall, this a great guitar, and realistically any guitar you buy is probably going to need a setup, so I won't complain too much about that.

Growing up in the same area as Lennon and the rest of the group you can't help but be a huge fan of The Beatles. Some mates and I perform gigs all across the area impersinating The Beatles. I am John in the group and I bought this Rick in Jetglo and put the bigsby on instead of the stock vibrola. It sounds amazing and really brings out those great early beatle tones. The short arm neck is perfect for doing fast scales and just your average strumming and is just overall comfortable. I've ran it through a Fender Deluxe and the Vox both sounding great. It's really a great way to go if you want those great Beatle sounds.

This guitar is the perfect Ric. Set it up with Pyramid gold flat wound strings and you will have no tuning or intonations problems.

The combination of short scale, flat wound strings, and hollow body create a unique sound. The toaster vintage pickups are very nice, less output & more tone.

If you are a Lennon enthuist you know exactly what you are getting. However, the little Rick is very versitile. I have played it through an acoustic amp, and it sounds great, better than many acoustic electric guitars.