On February 8th, 1964, the Beatles were in New York City to rehearse for their first appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show.”On this same day, Francis C.Hall, head of Rickenbacker Guitars, invited the Beatles to his suite at the Savoy Hotel in New York to see his newest invention, the electric twelve-string guitar. George, who was back at the Plaza Hotel, had the flu and stayed in bed. John, Paul and Ringo wanted to give him a chance to try out this new guitar, so they brought it to him.As they entered George’s suite, he was giving a telephone interview for radio station WDGY in Minneapolis. George began playing the 360/12 while he was on the air. This helped popularize the electric 12 string guitar and added a new dimension to the sound of the sixties. George’s guitar was the second Rickenbacker twelve string ever made.
