The Rickenbacker 300 Series Guitar
In 1956, Rickenbacker celebrated its first 25 years inthe guitar-making business. The compnay already had a distinguished track record and now its new owner, F.C. Hall, was nuturing plans for an exciting and innovative line of electric archtops.
Initially known as the Capri series, and later as the 300 series, it was soon to bring Rickenbacker international recognition - and some very famous customers from the world of pop and rock.
The Capri/300 series guitars were designed by Roger Rossmeisl, a German emigre who had previously worked, like his father, at Gibson.
Rossmeisl took charge of the wood shop at Rickenbacker's Los Angeles factory, where he developed a variety of single- and double-cutaway, thin- and full-bodied models in an integrated "house style" that made them instantly recognizable.
The rand divides into a number of distinct types and classifications, though all Capri/300s share the characteristic sloping Rickenbacker headstock, and are made from maple with rosewood fingerboards.
After 1958, the company began to use numbers and suffixes for it's various Capri/300 models, and the three-pickup single cutaway instrument, which dates from 1960, was given the designation 375F.
Numbers from 360 to 375 were assigned to Deluxe models, and the "F" stands for thin "full body".
The 300 series had even more impact on musicians than Rickenbacker's popular Combo range of solid-body guitars.
A key factor in this popularity was the instruments' adoption by The Beatles; after John Lennon acquired his Model 325 in Hamburg. George Harrison began to use a twelve-string 360, and later, Paul McCartney would frequently be seen with a Rickenbacker 4001 bass.
Leading American groups were also attracted to the 300 series.