12 string electric

dogload

Funkfingers said:

Stuckfast said:

a hockey stick Fender Electric XII though.

Somebody on this forum must be hoarding one of those somewhere.

tbm said:

Byrds cover band?

One of the problems with RIC electric twelve string guitars is that they are strongly associated with The Beatles, The Byrds, Tom Petty and, to a lesser extent, Johnny Marr. Additionally, to get the early McGuinn sound, you need to invest heavily in studio outboard compressors. 

Fender's Electric XII is a short cut to the British "summer of love" Pop Music era. 

I currently cheat by having a RIC 220 strung in Nashville High Tuning. This provides enough background jangle to add texture to recorded rhythm guitar parts.

I've got a '66 Fender Electric XII. It's rather 'road worn' but it is the electric 12-string as far as I'm concerned. It chimes and rings exactly how you imagine one should, plus there's none of the fiddling around trying to fit all your fingers onto the neck like Rickenbackers. Plus they look so fecking cool.

That said, only Rickenbackers sound like Rickenbackers! I have a 360/12 which I got after 20-odd years of desiring one, but when I got it home I was initially disappointed that it didn't immediately sound like Marty Wilson-Piper or McGuinn; you need to work at the sound. However, I now find that with a few exceptions, I use it for almost anything other  than that - they really lend themselves to seriously heavy sounds

The Burns Double-Six is an option (less pricey than either the Fender or a Ric!) but I found the one I had - which in every respect but the sounds it made was absolutely lovely - to be rather uninspiring.

One to look out for is a second hand DeArmond S73-12, which apart from serious neck-dive (SG-style body with a 12-string heasdstock!) is a brilliant electric-12. I had one and have regretted selling it ever since. Nice roomy fretboard and the DeArmond 2k pickups give it both jangle and grunt. They seem to be a bit rare these days but definitely worth it.

MelodicLydian

I have an Ovation acoustic 12-string but always liked the idea of an electric too. I never got one though because there are only a few tunes I’d likely use it for. 

The ones I looked at were the Burns double six and Godin because they looked comfortable. That said I came across photos of a rare Ibanez RG 12-string online and that would be interesting because it would feel familiar to me.

Dodge

scrumhalf said:

I have the Yamaha one that looks Pacifica-ish, the pac-303-12.

I've not used it as much as I thought I might, but that's more down to me than the guitar.

Yep, me too.  Cost me peanuts, decentl build quality but crap pickups.  I've got lipsticks in mine, and it's fab.

chrisj1602

I’ve been tempted to try one of the Gear4music 12 string Tele style electrics... £99!

https://youtu.be/GiUcctKolCg

PhilKing

I have a 66 Fender Electric XII and a  66 Rickenbacker 370-12.  The Fender is great to play, but the Ric does suffer from a narrow fingerboard.  The Ric is extremely rare, but is a fake.  It was a 360 in Fireglo that was modified with an extra pickup and resprayed black.  

rze99

Yep. I played a few to try them But really I knew I must have a Rickenbacker and that whatever I did would be a second best substitute.

I use it for 5 songs in the set and, with plenty of bright compression and a thin plectrum applied, it just sounds unbelievable.  There is some foam under the R tailpiece which keeps the sound focused and tight at higher volumes.

Here it is with another one of the family a Tele Custom P90 build 

impmann

I have a Shergold Masquerader 12 string.
its irreplaceable to me.

tbm

Interesting responses. 

I’ve no concerns about Danelectro quality. I’ve owned a few and still own a baritone.  Lots of love for Fender XIIs, and the Strats pop up for ok money occasionally too. Rics are lovely but just too much money. Ideally I’d love an old Guild Starfire 12. But even the reissue ones are more then I can justify paying for a guitar which I’ll probably use infrequently. The D’Angelico 335-alike 12 strings are currently being sold off for a song (ha!) on Thomann, so I can justify that. It’s an itch I need to scratch more then anything else really, and I haven’t had an NGD in a few years.  

chrisj1602

@tbm those D’Angelicos look great, I didn’t need to see them.

Pigknows

Had a Danelectro electric 12 which sounded and played great.most

 A Rick 360 v63 which looked great, sounded good, but somehow inclined me to play only Byrds and Beatles tunes. I couldn't be bothered with the hassle of keeping it in tune.

A 660/12 which was much more stable but I didn't like the wide neck and small body.

The one I've kept is my Chinese Burns Double Six. Still a wide neck still, which takes some adjusting to,but super stable and has a wonderful shimmer, instant Smiths please please, but surprisingly versatile too.Sounds great through my Fender amps. Best sound of the lot for my purposes and cheaper than most

chris45

Can anyone explain the pricing for 660 / 12 strings?  I've seen ruby red (i.e. plain red) on for £2799 but the fireglo equivalent for over £4k - more than £1,000 for the colour?

mart

chris45 said:

Can anyone explain the pricing for 660 / 12 strings?  I've seen ruby red (i.e. plain red) on for £2799 but the fireglo equivalent for over £4k - more than £1,000 for the colour?

Fireglo looks great and ruby looks crap. It’s pretty simple.

scarry67

Rich Tone have a s/h Yamaha electric 12 string for £229. Look no further. (I have a Ric 360/12 which is my one luxury - not easy to play but easy on the eye & ear.)

tbm

chrisj1602 said:

@tbm those D’Angelicos look great, I didn’t need to see them.

I’ll let you know how I get on. Went for the blue one. It’s a bit Grohly, but I have a red Casino, and the black one looked a bit dull. The blue does look nice in pics. 

ICBM

mart said:

chris45 said:

Can anyone explain the pricing for 660 / 12 strings?  I've seen ruby red (i.e. plain red) on for £2799 but the fireglo equivalent for over £4k - more than £1,000 for the colour?

Fireglo looks great and ruby looks crap. It’s pretty simple.

Ruby looks great, but it's not plain red - it's metallic, more like Candy Apple Red. Plain non-metallic red is just called Red .

Was the Fireglo one a newer model? RIC have upped their prices massively recently... for example a 381 - which had already been bumped up from about £3K to £4500 a couple of years ago, which was daft even then - is now an eye-watering and completely ridiculous £7K list price.

thermionic

Rickenbacker pricing, new and used, is all over the shop. You can still find a bargain, but you have to be very patient.

chris45

ICBM said:

mart said:

chris45 said:

Can anyone explain the pricing for 660 / 12 strings?  I've seen ruby red (i.e. plain red) on for £2799 but the fireglo equivalent for over £4k - more than £1,000 for the colour?

Fireglo looks great and ruby looks crap. It’s pretty simple.

Ruby looks great, but it's not plain red - it's metallic, more like Candy Apple Red. Plain non-metallic red is just called Red .

Was the Fireglo one a newer model? RIC have upped their prices massively recently... for example a 381 - which had already been bumped up from about £3K to £4500 a couple of years ago, which was daft even then - is now an eye-watering and completely ridiculous £7K list price.

I don't know about newer models (not really buying) - just googled and saw massive variation on what seems to be finish:
https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/rickenbacker-660-12-string-electric-guitar-in-fireglo
https://www.pmtonline.co.uk/rickenbacker-660-12-string-ruby-red

Will be added to the lottery list - again can't justify but really cool

tbm

Those RIC prices are bananas. 

chris45

tbm said:

Those RIC prices are bananas. 

They are indeed.  Of course CS Fender and Gibson are in this price range but you would hope they are more flexible in terms of music; you and your band must LOVE 12 string to shell out on the Rickenbackers.  A lot of cash for the cool.

RonnieHotdogs

Rickenbacker operate outside the normal economic laws of Supply and Demand, they just do what the hell they want, and with an order book as big as theirs I can't blame them.
Buy used.