1. The Unpaid Guitar
In August 1960, when The Beatles visited Hamburg, John had spotted guitarist Jean "Toots" playing a Rickenbacker 325, and sort of fell in love with it. When he finally went with George to a Steinway's there, in Hamburg, George purchased an amplifier and John got the longed for Rickenbacker Capri 325 in natural finish. The funny and peculiar thing about it was the way the paying took place. George stated that they agreed to pay one pound down and the rest when they will meet again. And as far as he remembers, they never got around to paying for them. His reputation for not being a very technical person was verified by the number of times he kept changing the knobs, a thing that became almost a myth.
2. Clumsy Paul
When Babiuk was writing his book, a friend of his alerted him that he had a potential story, connected with a "68 December issue of the Rolling Stones" which told a story regarding the White Album sessions, and also a photo of Paul that was playing left-handed a Fender Jazz Bass. Since he knew McCartney's guitar tech John Hammel, he called him and asked about the Jazz Bass. However, Paul stated that he never used a Jazz Bass when playing with them.
However, after Babiuk's book came out, the same friend managed to send him some photos that Linda McCartney took for the magazine and, as it turns out, Paul was indeed playing a Jazz Bass. Another interesting story about the same photos is that Ringo was spotted playing a double kick-drum set, of which he stated that he had tried to play to imitate Keith Moon and Ginger Baker but he froze when he had to do it, so he never tried it again.
3. The One That Made History
On February 8th, Francis C.Hall had invited John, Paul and Ringo in his suite at the Hilton Hotel from New York to show them an invention that he was very proud of – the electric twelve string. Both C. Hall and the radio station to which George was giving an interview at the time wanted to offer the instrument as a gift. However, Hall had been the one that managed to make the gift. The event is of historical importance since that specific sound was later on adopted by a lot of music groups from all over the world. Also, another interesting fact is that the guitar George received was the second Rickenbacker twelve string ever made. Lastly, the first song recorded with this guitar was called "I Should Have Known Better."
4. The Mysterious Case of the Missing J-160E
Apparently, in 1963, John became short of a guitar and guitar strap: the J-160E. The author of the book stated that he was called in a summer by a guy who stated that his friends might be in the possession of the mentioned guitar. After seeing the photos, the author was very inclined to believe that it was the actual missing guitar. The guy bought it secondhand in San Diego. When the author started playing the beginning of "This Boy", he instantly recognized the sound.
5. The Gift
It seems that Babiuk had been a terribly lucky guy since he also received a gift from one of the Gods – Ringo. Ringo called him once and told him that John had given him a guitar right after the time when he left the band for a little while. He was writing some songs, and John made him this gift, that he had previously used in the Christmas shows from December 1964.
Do you happen to know other stories about the guitars of the band? Let us know in a comment below.
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