ticketsMember | Make a donation

Model 425 (serial no. BH 439)

1962
Not on view
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.
George Harrison acquired this Rickenbacker solid-body guitar while visiting his sister in Illinois in 1963. At the time, few American electric-guitar makers distributed to the United Kingdom; this made instruments like Rickenbackers highly sought after among the Beatles and their British contemporaries. Harrison used the instrument in appearances on British television shows such as Ready, Steady, Go! and Thank Your Lucky Stars, and to record “I Want to Hold Your Hand” (1964) at Abbey Road Studios. He had the body, originally in “fireglo” sunburst, refinished in black to match John Lennon’s Rickenbacker 325. One of the pickups and the selector switch are later additions.

Technical Description:

Maple body and neck, rosewood fingerboard; 24¾ in. scale; black finish; set neck with pearloid dot inlays; Rickenbacker logo on white truss rod cover; two chrome bar humbucking pickups, tone and pickup selector switches, volume and tone controls; chrome-plated adjustable bridge, tuners, pickup covers, and tone switch, nickel switch; large white plastic pickguard, black plastic knobs; original “fireglo” sunburst refinished in black, additional pickup and three-way selector switch added

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Model 425 (serial no. BH 439)
  • Artist: Rickenbacker, Inc. (American)
  • Artist: George Harrison (British, Liverpool, 1943–2001 Los Angeles)
  • Date: 1962
  • Medium: Maple, rosewood, metal, plastic
  • Dimensions: Length: 37 in. (94 cm)
    Width: 12 3/4 in. (32.4 cm)
    Depth: 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm)
    Weight: ~6-7 lbs.
  • Classification: Chordophone-Lute-plucked-fretted
  • Credit Line: Private collection
  • Curatorial Department: Musical Instruments