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on February 9 1964 America holds its breath 73
Millions people a number almost impossible to
imagine sit transfixed in front of their
television sets they're about to witness
something unprecedented a moment that will
change music history forever four young men
from Liverpool England are about to step onto The
Ed Sullivan Show stage carrying with them a sound
that we reset popular music forever and Inspire
countless of future rock stars to buy a guitar
and play the sound Americans are going to hear
is the one of I Want to Hold Your Hand that song
that shoot to number one almost overnight and is
driven by John Lennon's hypnotic rhythm guitar oh
yeah but what if we discovered that the
iconic sound that John Lon features in
I Want to Hold Your Hand the sound
that conquered America over night
and launched the Beatles to stardom
was never supposed to exist? Stay
tuned. In the annal of rock history few
instruments has achieved the legendary
status of John Lennon's Rickenbaker 325 Capri.
To illustrate his historical significance in
rock music even guitars that John Lennon never
touched or played are selling for 100,000 simply
because their serial numbers are a few digits
close to the one that John owed owned which
was a prototype from the Beatles unprecedented
rise to bame in British entertainment to their
stellar success following the Ed Sullivan show in
America Lennon's unique sound defined the Beatles
phenomenal success and their rise to stardom
Rickandbacker guitars have carved out a unique
place in music history thanks to their signature
sound that continues to shape and influence
popular music to this day however what many don't
realize is that this famous sound comes from a
surprisingly simple source a small 5 cents 4n7
capacitor wired in series with the bridge pickup
this capacitor was installed on every Rickenbacker
guitar in the 50s in the 60s and in the 70s and
remained in used until it was discontinued around
the 80s it wasn't just an arbitrary choice at
Rickenbackerit was a standard feature designed to
create this bright distinctive tone that became
Rickenbacker's Hallmark Lennon predominantly used
the bridge pickup both in studio sessions and live
performances making this capacitor integral to his
sound it's worth noting that even George Harrison
most famous Rickenbacker guitar his 12 strings
360-12 retained the same hi pass filter capacitor
wired to the bridge pickup which is why many be
tributes today struggle to recreate the original
George vintage sound remember this capacitor as it
will soon play a crucial role in our story in mid
September 1962 Lennon's Rickenbacker underwent a
significant cosmetic transformation a black paint
job some relate this to Beatles manager Brian
Epstein who thought that a black finish would
better complement the new Beatles matching suits
and create a more cohesive professional appearance
for the band some said John simply liked to match
George Gretsch Duo Jet black color while the exact timeline
remains uncertain we know that John Lennon's Rickenbacker 325
was last seen its original natural Alder finish
not Maple Alder finish during the Emi sessions
of September 4 1962 the first one with Ringo the
timing aligns perfectly as on September 10 George
and John visited Rushworth's music house in Liverpool
and bought two electroacoustic Gibson J160E
guitars and use them at the next Emi session
on September 11 the one for the Please Please
Me single this suggests that John acquired the
Gibson as a replacement for his Rickenbaker 325
that was presumably undergoing refinishing during
this exact period while a lot of people have taken
credit for painting John's guitar black over the
years the true identity of a painter remains
unknown to this day what is certain however
is that when the guitar reappeared at the tower
Ballroom concert in New Brighton on October 12th
sporting its new shiny black finish and a brand
new set of Hofner teacup control knobs something had
gone wrong and this is where our story starts to
take an interesting turn but before I continue I
would like to stress that while I am committed to
keep this channel running for as long as possible
your contributions help maintain and spread the
extraordinary Beatles heritage for future audiences
so please support this Channel and now back to the
video so what went wrong with John's guitar after
was painted black Witnesses say that John pretty
soon complained about the circuit of his guitar
being put back the wrong way and very soon
the wiring of his cherished Rickenbacker
guitar began falling apart what was happening
to John's guitar whoever was tasked to restore
the wiring after its refinishing seems to have
run into some problems photos from January to
May 1963 reveal a chaotic repair history with
mysterious disappearances and reappearances
of volume and tone control knobs and also full
potential meters until at the Fairfield Hall
concert in April 63 John's guitar appeared
stripped down to just two knobs seems like
someone has gutted most of the wiring providing
John with just essential controls for his guitar
to perform this situation of complete wiring
pandemonium forced John in the coming months
to almost exclusively use the electro acoustic
Gibson J160E that he had bought in Liverpool one
year before and which he had swapped with George's
one until frustrated by these electrical grames he
eventually decided to react and took his beloved
Rickenbacker guitar to a guitar repair in London
this likely occurred around July 1963 just in
time for John to collect his guitar back when
the Beatles returned from their short vacation at
Western Supermare there was no other apparent
reason to bring the guitar to repair except to
definitely get rid of all the wiring issues that
had been plaguing John for some time surely when
the guitar finally made it to the guitar doctor
little or nothing of the original wiring had
remained Rickenbaker would have no UK distributor
to assist until one year later in 1964 and getting
wiring schematics will mean waiting them to arrive
via air mail from the United States no way considering
the Beatles schedules so the repairer likely made the
only sensible choice any guitar repair including
me would make rather than trying to track down the
missing original pass from John they simply chose
to rebuild the entire wiring from scratch this is
supported by the fact that when the guitar
made its next public appearance at the Grafton
Ballroom concert in Liverpool on August 2 it
displayed a new set of polished aluminum volume
and tone control knobs and a new black toggle switch
knob which which is consistent with a complete
replacement of the original wiring and do you
remember which was the crucial component in the
original wiring yes the 4nano7 high pass filter capacitor
that provided John's Famous Rickenbacker guitar
with the sound he featured from Hamburg to the
please please me album recording now here's what
taking a moment and look at the situation a bit
closer the beos are preparing to begin recording
the second album with the Beatles in just a few weeks
an album that showcases a rocker warmer more Town
influenced sound compared to their previous work
they are also a few months away from recording I
Want to Hold Your Hand the song that will conquer
the United States and launch them to stardom where
John's guitar features prominently serving as
the driving force and the main instrumental
voice of a track let's now consider for a moment
the implication of removing the highpass filter
from John's Rickenbacker what impact would this
accidental change have had on its sound quality
without the high pass filter capacitor gone with
the original spark or bright sound in this place
the bridge pick out would have produced his
natural unfiltered tone notably warmer and
richer are you getting the point does this align
with John's sound and I want to hold your hand
and coincide with the band shift to um warmer
more American Motown influenced sound as I
mentioned before is there a chance that the entire
trajectory of popular music might have pivoted
by the removal of a 5 cents electrical component
from John's guitar to reply I decided to tackle this
head-on I painstakingly recreated John's legendary
Rickenbacker 325 Capri following every detail of
the original 1958 specifications and Manufacturing
methods this isn't just any replica it's a time
machine of sort capturing every detail of the
original including all other Wood Construction
Forstner drill tone Chambers handmade pickups wired to
match the exact original vintage specs custom made
pickup covers a paduk unfinished fretboard Nitro
laquer and all other early modifications of the
original few Rickenbacker prototypes batch Lennon's guitar
originates from I have connected a 4nano7 capacitor
the same that John had on his Rickenbacker
to the bridge pickup of this guitar and to a
push pull potentiometer pulling the push pull
knob enables me to engage the high pass filter
capacitor so we can hear the original sound of
the bridge pickup exactly as John heard it when he
first bought his guitar in Hamburg in 1960 until
he recorded that please please me lowering the
push pull knob excludes the capacitor and the
high pass filter is removed from the circuit
exactly as I suggest it happened after the guitar
was finished black we are now ready to perform a
few tests and check which sound fits what are
Are you ready let's go this one you're going to
hear now is the sound of John rickenbaker in the
introduction of cry for a shadow in a recording of
1961 let's now insert the high pass
filter capacitor and reproduce this
introduction sounds very very close
right because this is a typical sound that a Rickenbacker
325 featured in the 60s with the
high pass filter filtering the bridge
pickup let's now remove the highpass
filter and play the same introduction
again that's no longer the same sound
because it has lost the original bright
tone let's now try playing I want to hold
your hand with the high bu filter inserted
pretending that John's guitar reached 1963
untouched and let's compare it to the
original no way this sound compares to
the original let's now remove the hi pass
filter capacitor from the circuit and try again
that's the sound so there we have it a
simple audio test confirms what historical
evidence suggests I want to hold your hand was the
Breakthrough hit that launched the Beatles to success
in America paving the way for their worldwide
success and enduring Legacy the distinctive
sound in I Want to Hold Your Hand where the guitar
acts both as the song's backbone and Main melodic
voice is so fundamental to the song that this
hard to imagine it existing otherwise the
fact that the removal of such a small electrical
component a 5 cents capacitor from John's guitar
circuit could have potentially altered the entire
course of popular music is a remarkable thought but
what about John somewhere along the line the sound
of his Rickenbacker changed this changing sound
must have been quite surprising for him at first but
in the end he seemingly discovered something in
this new tone that sparked his creativity gone was
the thin sharp sound of the original in his place
something Fuller warmer with a muscular mid-range
that drove songs like I Want to Hold Your Hand
Money A Hard night in 1962 John Rickenbacker 325 Capri
was restored to its original natural finish and
conditions by New York luthier Ron de Marino today it
stands as a testament of how the biggest moments
in music history aren't always carefully planned
the absence of a single 5 cents capacitor gave
Lennon's guitar a voice that it was never designed
to have a voice that will echo through decades and
Inspire countless generations of musicians to come
in the end perhaps there is a profound lesson here
for musicians and creators breaking something
and I don't necessarily mean something merely material
is the first step to create something
extraordinary John Lennon's broken guitar didn't
just help launch the Beatles into Stratosphere
it redefined what a guitar should sound
like and what rock music could be that's not
just good fortune that's rock and roll Magic
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