When The Beatles arrived in NY in February 1964 to make their American debut on the Ed Sullivan TV show, Rickenbacker president F.C. Hall was waiting for them, with a special room set up to demonstrate guitars at the Savoy Hilton hotel. Among the guitars Hall brought with him was a prototype for a 12-string based on Rickenbacker’s two-pickup, fancy-trimmed Capri 360 model.

Harrison was sick with the flu in his hotel room, but Lennon played the 360/12 and suggested that they take it to Harrison to try out. Harrison used the Rick 12-string for the broad opeing chord of “A Hard Day’s Night”, and it’s octave effect enhanced his solo in the middle of that record. When he appeared with the 360/12 in the Beatles movie “A Hard Day’s Night”, California folkie Roger McGuinn saw it and was so moved that he traded in his acoustic 12-string for a guitar like Harrison’s.

McGuinn went on to make the Rick 12-string a vital part of The Byrds’ sound as they brought folk and rock music together.