The
Rickenbacker 360/12 is an electric guitar made by the
RickenbackerRickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...
company; it was among the first electric twelve-string guitars. This instrument is visually similar to the
Rickenbacker 360The Rickenbacker 360 is an electric, semi-acoustic guitar made by Rickenbacker, and part of the Rickenbacker 300 Series. The instrument incorporates many features standard on Rickenbacker guitars, including a three-ply maple/walnut neck, shallow headstock angle, a thick rosewood fretboard finished...
. Rickenbacker uses an innovative headstock design that incorporates both a slotted-style peghead and a solid peghead, thereby eliminating the need for the larger headstock normally associated with a twelve-string guitar. Another feature unique to Rickenbacker twelve-strings is the ordering of the courses. Most twelve-strings have the octave course on the bass side of the standard course; Rickenbacker reverses this convention. The 360/12 was given worldwide attention by
George HarrisonGeorge Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
, who used it on many
BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
recordings, introducing the distinctive new sound of this guitar on
I Call Your Name"I Call Your Name" is a song written primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney.-Overview:Lennon wrote the song prior to the formation of the Beatles. In 1963, he gave the song to Billy J. Kramer of The Dakotas, another Liverpool band who was signed to Parlophone by George Martin...
in March, 1964.
Origin
Rickenbacker began developing its electric twelve-string in 1963. The folk music revival of the early '60s witnessed a surge in the popularity of acoustic twelve-string guitars, but the electric variety was still rare. The company created three prototypes, all incorporating the unique headstock design submitted by employee Dick Burke. The design features three tuners on each side mounted as on a standard guitar, with the tuner posts projecting out from the face of the headstock. Two parallel channels are machined into the face of the headstock, reminiscent of the slots in the headstock of a
classical guitarThe classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...
, but cut only halfway through the headstock. Three more tuners are attached to each side of the headstock. The knobs of these tuners project towards the rear of the headstock, and the posts transsect the slots in the headstock. This innovation minimizes the size of the headstock, and keeps the instrument from feeling "head-heavy" in the player's hands. It is also one of the very few twelve string guitars to use a conventional width six-string neck, making it somewhat difficult to play cleanly, as the string courses are much closer together than they would normally be on most twelve string guitars.
Rickenbacker gave the first of these prototypes to Suzy Arden, a
Las VegasThe Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
country musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
entertainer. Another prototype was featured at a special display at the Savoy Hilton hotel in New York City in 1964. This display was a showcase for
The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, who were in town to play on
The Ed Sullivan ShowThe Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
. Despite missing the display due to illness, George Harrison ended up with the twelve-string prototype. His prominent use of the instrument in the film
A Hard Day's NightA Hard Day's Night is a 1964 British black-and-white comedy film directed by Richard Lester and starring The Beatles—John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr—during the height of Beatlemania. It was written by Alun Owen and originally released by United Artists...
led to high demand for Rickenbacker's twelve-string. Harrison loved the 360-12, and while he moved on to other guitars as his "main" instrument, he retained his affection for the 360-12, once calling it "the only 12 string you can change a string on when you're drunk." He brought his original 360-12 out of retirement to use on his album "Cloud 9". Harrison received a new style 360/12 in August 1965, which he used on the "
Rubber SoulRubber Soul is the sixth studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released in December 1965. Produced by George Martin, Rubber Soul had been recorded in just over four weeks to make the Christmas market...
" and "
RevolverRevolver is the seventh studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released on 5 August 1966 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin. Many of the tracks on Revolver are marked by an electric guitar-rock sound, in contrast with their previous LP, the folk rock inspired Rubber...
" albums. The guitar has never been seen or mentioned since the group's 1966 US tour, with speculation that it was stolen.
When production began in 1964, Rickenbacker changed some features from those of the prototype. The edge of the body was rounded off around the top of the guitar, and binding was added to the soundhole. Production models retained the prototypes' use of the rectangular trapeze tailpiece until late 1964, when twelve-string models were fitted with Rickenbacker's "R" tailpiece. The last 360/12 OS was produced in Fireglo and made in December 1968 S/N HL1725.(Ref. R.Smith) After 1969, the 360/12 gained a 24-fret neck instead of the traditional 21-fret neck. Three models were produced: the two-pickup 360/12, the three-pickup 370/12 (favored by
Roger McGuinnJames Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
of the
The ByrdsThe Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
) and the 450/12, a two-pickup solidbody. The distinctive "jangly" sound of the Rickenbacker 360-12, while approached by other electric twelve strings, has a uniqueness of tone that is unavailable in other guitars of the same type, making it a high-value commodity to musicians attempting to get that particular sound. It continues to sell well to the end of 2007.
Notable players
- George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
of The BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
- Jim Albrecht
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- Roger McGuinn
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of The ByrdsThe Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
- Tony Hicks
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- Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
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- Carl Wilson
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- Tom Petty
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- Mike Pender
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(Rose Morris 1993/12 Fireglo, export version)
- Daniel Johns
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of SilverchairSilverchair were an Australian rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Merewether, Newcastle with the line-up of Ben Gillies on drums, Chris Joannou on bass guitar and Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars. The group got their big break in mid-1994 when they won a national demo...
- Jeff Buckley
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- Marvin B Naylor
- Stephen Takesian of Pacifc Raiders
- Brian Jones
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- Mike Rutherford
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of GenesisGenesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
- Pete Townshend
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- Marty Willson-Piper
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of The ChurchThe Church is an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave and the neo-psychedelic sound of the mid 1980s, their music later became more reminiscent of progressive rock, featuring long instrumental jams and complex guitar interplay...
- Les Fradkin
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- Ed O'Brien
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- Chris Martin
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- Johnny Marr
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, Modest MouseModest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. They are based in Portland, Oregon. Since their 1996 debut album, This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think...
and The CribsThe Cribs are an English three-piece indie rock band from Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The band consists of twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. They were subsequently joined by ex-The Smiths and Modest Mouse guitarist Johnny Marr who was made a formal member of the group...
- The Edge
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- Yegor Letov of Grazhdanskaya Oborona
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- Chris Walla
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- John Frusciante
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- Ely Buendia
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- James Honeyman-Scott
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of The PretendersThe Pretenders are an English rock band formed in Hereford, England in March 1978. The original band consisted of initiator and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde , James Honeyman-Scott , Pete Farndon , and Martin Chambers...
- Chris Urbanowicz
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of The Editors
- Paul Kantner
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- Laramy Smith of Arizona
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, Smith&Scheid, and the Laramy Smith Group
- Gem Archer
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- Pete Kennedy of The Kennedys
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Steve VanZandt - E Street Band
External links