Rickenbacker started the electric guitar era in 1932, but under the ownership of Adolph Rickenbacker (a machinist – not a musician, instrument designer or salesman) the company fell well behind Gibson, Fender, and Epiphone by the early 1950s. Rickenbacker sold his company in 1953 and new owner F.C. Hall hired German-born designer Roger Rossmeisl.

New solidbodies appeared immediately, and in 1958 Rossmeisl hit his stride with the elegant new Capri series, identifiable by the sweeping curve of their cutaway bouts. In Britain, Rick distributor Rose, Morris & Co., Ltd., offered a limited selection of Capris, all with a traditional f-hole rather than the “slash” hole (or, in the case of the short-scale models, no soundhole at all), and Rose, Morris’s Model 1996 corresponded to the short-scale 325 model.

John Lennon’s 1958 Rickenbacker 325 had no soundhole because he bought it when The Beatles were playing in Hamburg, Germany, in 1960. Rickenbacker later offered a Lennon signature model, but the more accurate reissue of Lennon’s first Rick was the 325V59 Hamburg, introduced in 1984.