During the 1964 Christmas Show run at the Hammersmith Odeon, John accidentally dropped his Rickenbacker 325 off the stage. He gave the guitar a quick once-over, and he decided it looked alright.
But when he went to play the guitar the following night, he found the more he played it, the more it went out of tune. Between songs, he noticed a crack going from the nut around the back of the headstock. This was his work horse guitar.
To the rescue came Rose-Morris, the brand new UK importer of Rickenbacker, who gifted him a new fireglo-finish 1996 model – the British equivalent of the 325.
John played this guitar for the remaining 1964 Christmas shows.
John’s damaged guitar incident was a huge windfall for Rose-Morris, who used John in advertising campaigns with the slogan: “Rickenbacker the Beatle backer.”
“This is the famous Rickenbacker guitar model 1996 as used by Beatle John Lennon,” the ad continued showing John playing the guitar.
“For a long time now, John and his Rickenbacker have been inseparable, so why don’t you try one at your local music shop?’”
Four years later, during the ‘White Album’ sessions, Ringo briefly left the band. When he returned with new material he had written, John gifted him this guitar. John thought the guitar would fit Ringo well and wanted to encourage him to write more songs.
Below are photos of John with this guitar and Ringo with the 1996 model at a charity auction in 2015. The Rickenbacker sold for $910,000.
This is why we love Boris, who we thank for this story and photos.

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