JOHN PLAYS GEORGE'S RICKENBACKER 425 - Weird Moments in Beatles History #2

Why did Lennon choose to play Harrison's rarely seen Rickenbacker 425 for one show in 1964? Here's the story!
I may do a longer video about Harrison's 425 in the future, but just to add some details - it was later modified (extra pickup, extra switch, etc.) and the instrument was sold at auction in 2014 for $657,000 USD. The Rickenbacker 425 was apparently used on "I Want to Hold Your Hand" - which would actually make sense, as that song was recorded in October 1963, and this month seems to be the "high point" of Harrison's use of this guitar.
I mildly remastered the B/W footage seen here at the Ipswich Gaumont, and then applied a stabilization algorithm to the color footage as well. I also want to add - in the B/W Gaumont footage, it looks like the pickup is a bit further towards the neck. It would appear the guitar had been modified by this point with a second pickup added and the spacing changed along with a new pickguard...but I'm not 100% sure.
• JOHN LENNON'S RICKENBA...
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Coming soon:
-Paul breaks a string in front of 34,000 people
-George rocks Germany with a Gibson SG
DISCLAIMER: This video is for educational purposes only. All images and video footage falls under fair use laws.

[@DRguitar918]

Notice how in this footage you can clearly see it had already been modified with the second pickup at this point! This is how it appears today, but I had always thought it was done sometime after George gave it away!

[@ARWest-bp4yb]

When George purchased the 425 in Illinois he asked if they could paint it black so it would match John's 325. He also had a second pickup added by the time of the Ipswich shows. That's an awesome clip you found from that performance, all I'd ever seen was that one blurry photo!👍👍

[@DLee1100s]

It seems Harrison's 425 may have been modified twice. Here you see it has the second pickup but still only two knobs. Later photos show an extra switch/knob added which does not seem to appear in this footage.

[@48musicfan]

I figure right before they were to go on stage, a string probably broke on John’s 325.

[@Tom-hk6ub]

That's exactly what I thought ... and Mal couldn't re-string it in time ...

[@BadChizzle]

Yuuuuuup

[@SS_Psyops]

Almost certainly what it was. I mean… also sometimes when I would tour and play a lot I would randomly switch it up at times just out of sheer boredom. Playing rock night after night is awful….

[@loganfinn2728]

To someone who plays in a band this isn’t all that weird. Strings break, guitar pickups can experience difficulties, input jacks can become loose. Small technical difficulties happen all the time and it’s easy to just switch guitars. The super fans think about this stuff much more than the actual musicians do

[@beatlemaniacwaltdisneyfan4753]

But for THE BEATLES is weird i mean they always played same band gear

[@NinjaMatt2201]

Yeah, it's just that we don't know why and it only happened to the Beatles this one time. It's still interesting.

[@jimmybonar2566]

Fascinating stuff, thanks Nick!

[@InSearchof8]

Interesting to note: George is playing his Gretsch Tennessean in that clip 2:22

[@bananasundae157]

And you can see the 12-String standing beside Ringo's drum kit and what I'm thinking is that the footage is from late 1964 or sometime in 1965

[@maxime1776]

Man I love this, keep them coming

[@sallykohorst8803]

Very nice video. Thanks.

[@ringodingo]

Oh my goodness. Why do I like these little videos so much?

[@Eluwilussit]

because you have no life

[@ringodingo]

@@Eluwilussit L O L because it's true. Teehee.

[@theneonchimpchannel9095]

George had the guitar refinished to match John's 325 which John had refinished from it's original Mapleglo finish to match George's Gretsch Duo Jet.

[@martinrw42]

excellent research

[@theneonchimpchannel9095]

John did also use someone else's Rickenbacker for a few shows while his main one was being repaired. I forget which model it was but it was an unusual dark brown colour and had an F hole so was probably one of the import models.

[@PiotrSiedlecki-qv2cd]

Very interesting 😊

[@ArtistsOnlyMusic]

The Big Question is: Did Paul switch to his Backup Bass referred to as The Cavern Bass, or change the string on his 1963 Hofner. IF Paul switched to his Cavern Bass during the American stadium concert, it is unique and rare. A photo of Paul using his Cavern Bass during American Tour would be amazing to see- A one time Event.

[@jckistan]

No idea why John would use this as a rhythm guitarist, considering the guitar is most believed to be the lead part on I Want To Hold Your Hand. Still a cool moment!

[@BenjaminLewis-nh7zd]

I have a 425 and boy its a tricky thing to play😵‍💫

[@hollywoodjoe123]

I have a video posted here at youtube - look up under these tag words - - George Harrison Rickenbacker guitar - music store - Benton , Illinois visit September 1963 -

[@carolbarnes3212]

Yeah, id say a last minute replacement for his 325. String problems or something simple. Especially if it was used later that night.

[@therealdoddfather]

Have you done a video of him playing the rose morris rickenbacker with the f hole

[@twointahoe]

Because he could❤

[@johnbasos]

yeah I saw this on another youtube site also ....neat stuff

[@graniterhythm53]

Doesn't seem much of a mystery - George & John often played each others guitars over the years in the studio!

[@CarlDraper]

my guess is something happened to john's guitar, maybe a string broke,and there wasn't time to sort it for that performance, so george lent him his backup guitar, the 425.

[@user-cv5oo8ln9h]

I want you to ask Paul about this mystery right now.😆😆😆 please🙇🙇🙇🙇 お願い致します🙏🙏🙏🙏 fromJAPAN🙌

[@roughcutguitars]

HANG ON a mo'! Unless my eyes are going, look at the position of the pickup on the model John is playing compared to George's - especially visible on that vast white guard. Doesn't it look much closer to the neck than the standard mid-position on George's?

[@calbassist2494]

George eventually had the guitar modified with a neck pickup installed by 1964. That's why it may seem different than when it was first seen in 1963. It is still George's 425.

[@Wildmutationblu]

The side notes item looks like a cowbell @0:36

[@jlondo9161]

Looks like right end view of the guitar that George is holding with strap button and attached strap visible.

[@TheMusicalElitist]

He chose to play it cos he knew you'd make a video like this, and wanted to mess with you. That's why.

[@halcooper3070]

Broken string?

[@NickMartellaro]

Perhaps! However, Lennon had his custom 325/12 string model as his designated backup guitar throughout '64. It's often spotted on stage right behind him. Not sure why he'd use Harrison's 425...

[@halcooper3070]

@NickMartellaro was the 12 a backup, rather than there for a song that needed a 12? You're not going to play most songs with a 12, wouldn't work.

[@NickMartellaro]

@@halcooper3070 Pretty sure it was only a backup as there's almost no photos of him playing it live outside of a show at the Boston Gardens in '64.

[@mollkatless]

@Nick Martellaro - Dude, the guitar name is pronounced "Rick-en-bocker". That mispronunciation is actually physically painful

[@liamgillespie3407]

The CEO of Rickenbacker has said in multiple interviews that it’s pronounced Back not Bach.

[@NickMartellaro]

I can't tell you how much I appreciate this comment. 😉 For context, I said it like that ("bocker") in my John Lennon Rickenbacker videos. My inbox was flooded with messages about my pronunciation. Your comment proves, quite literally, that no matter what we do - you can't please everyone!

[@dirtylemon3379]

It's Ricken-backer. Anyone of a certain age or older cringes when they hear it as "bocker." There was even an ad campaign; "Rickenbacker, The Beatle Backer." Would that have sounded right if it was Rickenbocker?

[@NickMartellaro]

​@@dirtylemon3379 My guess is that the confusion comes from the pronunciation of Eddie Rickenbacker's name, which people often hear first (especially non-musicians). That said, I don't think it has anything to do with age. Multiple KZbinrs with far more subscribers than me say "Ricken-BOCKER" and no one ever says a thing. 😉 Examples: Rick Beato (~4M subscribers) says "bocker" in his videos: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fmGzZpypd9dqq9ksi=jE5LKANVEO1xrcXV&t=400 Norman's Rare Guitars (~600K subscribers) say "bocker" in their videos: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nJOtf2aPe6x8lbssi=9wqEdM4doqZglkuQ&t=16 60 Cycle Hum (~130k subscribers) says "bocker" in his videos: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gGjdcoGinbFsoNksi=gWkCA2KORg3sVdiF&t=48 I could go on. Frankly there are countless other examples online, but I'm the only one that seems to be flooded with comments on a daily basis. Perhaps it's because of MY age that people feel the need to constantly point out my errors. However, the idea that people of a "certain age or older" know better is simply not true.

[@Eluwilussit]

obsessing about guitar models is a waste of life... get a life! it's not about what guitar you play... it's about ..... something else

[@brianroof8613]

It was a transgender guitar