In February 1964, during The Beatles’ first trip to America, Rickenbacker president F.C. Hall presented John Lennon with a new Jetglo 325 to replace Lennon’s well-worn 1958 model. At the same time, Hall gave George Harrison one of the prototype Rick 12-strings and, later that same year, Lennon custom-ordered his own 12-string, based on his Rick 325, with three pickups and short-scale length.

As the 325/12 model name would suggest, Lennon’s guitar originally had a vibrato, but it didn’t work well, and F.C. Hall removed it before sending it to Lennon. In 1985, five years after Lennon was killed by a fan, Rickenbacker began offering the 325/12 as a regular model (still without the vibrato and technically a 320/12).

In 1989, the company officially teamed up with Lennon’s estate to create the limited-edition 325JL and, a year later, the 325/12JL. The limited edition 12-string featured vintage-style “chrome bar” (aka “toaster top”) pickups, five-knob control configuration, Lennon’s signature and self-portrait drawing on the pickguard, and the same flat, non-vibrato tailpiece found on Lennon’s original guitar.