Electric 12-strings. What's out there?

Stuckfast

For a long time now I've been toying with the idea of buying an electric 12-string. But all the ones I see are either hugely expensive, fugly or both. In an ideal world what I'd really like is an original Fender Electric XII, but they seem to be £3k plus if you can find one at all. Likewise the original Vox Teardrops and so on, and they have a bad reputation for playability. The other Fender 12-strings all fall into the fugly category to me, including the "reissue" Electric XII. I don't get on with Rickenbackers. Not awfully keen on Danelectro, Italia etc. What else is out there? Budget... roughly what I could get in trade for a ’70s Fender Mustang, I guess.

ICBM

Yamaha do a Pacifica-based one which is quite cheap... maybe too cheap for what you want.

There are also various 80s Japanese ones from the brief resurgence back then - Aria, Ibanez etc. Or a Charvel Surfcaster from the 90s (which have very wide-flat necks).

impmann

Shergold Masquerader 12 (not one of the Sheggle ones - a 1970s one).
Burns Double Six.

dogload

As you say, the Fender Electric XII is pretty much bang on as far as electric 12s go. I feel pretty smug in that I have one that I bought back in the early 90's when they were quite cheap and fairly undesirable, but I bought it mainly because I couldn't afford a Rickenbacker. Smart move in hindsight as it sounds much more 12-string and plays much easier than the Ric 360 that I eventually bought.

To be honest, having tried many and owned several other electric 12's, I would go for a Danelectro - they sound good and play nicely and used ones can be found at a decent price.

I've had a Burns re-issue Double Six that I found very uninspiring; massive and unfriendly neck and rather lifeless pickups.

If you can find one, the old DeArmond S73-12 is excellent - I very much regret selling mine. Very playable neck and fantastic pickups offering very good variety of sounds. However these seem to have become like the proverbial hens' teeth.

I'd recommend avoiding the old Hondo Fame electric 12, basically because the one I had (well still own in a state of disrepair) was such a dog.

Aria used to do one back in the day... not sure of the designation, although on googling, I found a thread on this very site. Very nice guitar but I would imagine also difficult to find and also expensive.

There are of course the Vintage (brand!) 335-style 12's which are quite reasonable (I've seen them for less than £400 new on ebay) although I've not tried one. 

Also, Fender did a bungled re-hash of the Electric XII a year or two ago, which has it's fans, although again, I haven't seen one for a while, but they do have the look of the original although not vintage spec.

richardhomer

I’d either try to find one of Fender’s short-lived Mexican Electric XIIs (which should be well under budget) or save a bit more and go the whole hog and buy a used Rickenbacker. 

rpr

Burns do one about the £300 mark

Cirrus

ICBM said:

Yamaha do a Pacifica-based one which is quite cheap... maybe too cheap for what you want.

There are also various 80s Japanese ones from the brief resurgence back then - Aria, Ibanez etc. Or a Charvel Surfcaster from the 90s (which have very wide-flat necks).

There was a Surfcaster 12 on Ebay earlier in the year for £750, and I almost pulled the trigger despite feeling it was slightly over priced. Anyway, it's gone and there's another one up at £1600, so there you go. I think they're the coolest looking electric 12s anyway, though I do like the aesthetic of the Italia 12s.

Stuckfast

Thanks all.

Hmmm. I looked up the word "fugly" in the dictionary and it just said "Yamaha Pacifica".

Original Shergolds and Burns / Baldwin models seem quite pricey. On balance I'd prefer a solid body and single-coils rather than a semi or humbuckers I think.

I do quite like the look of the DeArmond that @dogload mentioned, and there is one on Gumtree fairly locally for £550 -- is that crazy money?

robinbowes

ICBM said:

Yamaha do a Pacifica-based one which is quite cheap... maybe too cheap for what you want.

I'd quite like one of these. I have a MIJ Fender XII which I like, but I have a few Yamaha guitars and fancy another one

R.

robinbowes

robinbowes said:

ICBM said:

Yamaha do a Pacifica-based one which is quite cheap... maybe too cheap for what you want.

I'd quite like one of these. I have a MIJ Fender XII which I like, but I have a few Yamaha guitars and fancy another one

R.

Haha, I found this on here from 1999: https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/2206169/#Comment_2206169

R.

JohnS37

Me too, I have seen so many in old footage recently (Beach Boys, Byrds, George Harrison) that I have been lusting after one too.  But must be relatively low budget.  Currently I’m thinking Gretsch - any thoughts?

danban

I know you see the odd 12 string Gordon Smith floating about. Possible option?

dogload

Stuckfast said:

Thanks all.

I do quite like the look of the DeArmond that @dogload mentioned, and there is one on Gumtree fairly locally for £550 -- is that crazy money?

It's almost double what I sold mine for, but there again, DeArmonds are suddenly desirable, and that one is quite rare anyway. Probably what you'd expect, considering people are asking 750 quid for the Jetstar! 
If I was after another 12 I'd certainly look at it - make them an offer, do some haggling!

dchwhite

https://www.hotroxuk.com/revelation-rjt60-12-jazzmaster-12-string-sky-blue.html

Kittyfrisk

^ Good call on the Revelation, they are excellent value guitars.
Also this (put down the pitchfork's lads)  https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_rb_612cs_classic_series.htm
Loads of others at all price points too  https://www.thomann.de/gb/12_string_guitars.html?oa=prd

ICBM

danban said:

I know you see the odd 12 string Gordon Smith floating about. Possible option?

The only ones I've seen have major problems with the stopbar bridge collapsing. I'm not sure if they did other types with a better design.

victorludorum

I built a Jazzmaster XII type thing. Cost about 800 all-in. Jon Manuel body, Musikraft neck, ABM bridge, Faction plate, Mojo Jazzmaster humbucker and Gotoh tuners. It plays wonderfully, holds its tuning almost perfectly and looks good (at least it does to me!).

Switch625

robinbowes said:

Haha, I found this on here from 1999: https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/2206169/#Comment_2206169

R.

Oh man I really like the look of the the Pacifica in that thread...

blobb

ICBM said:

danban said:

I know you see the odd 12 string Gordon Smith floating about. Possible option?

The only ones I've seen have major problems with the stopbar bridge collapsing. I'm not sure if they did other types with a better design.

:-)

impmann

Stuckfast said:

Thanks all.

Hmmm. I looked up the word "fugly" in the dictionary and it just said "Yamaha Pacifica".

Original Shergolds and Burns / Baldwin models seem quite pricey. On balance I'd prefer a solid body and single-coils rather than a semi or humbuckers I think.

I do quite like the look of the DeArmond that @dogload mentioned, and there is one on Gumtree fairly locally for £550 -- is that crazy money?

Hmmm, well, the Shergold has very effective coil splits and is a shed load more versatile than most. The Burns Double Six is wonderful - the reissues shouldn't be too expensive (£600-750).

Thing is - cheap 12 strings are cheap for a reason. I've played electric 12s for the past 30 years, and genuinely the cheap ones are crap. I've played most of them.

Your going to need to spend a bit to get something worth having - otherwise it'll just piss you off and it'll be back in the classifieds in no time at all.

Below is a link to all the 12 string electrics on ebay for sale right now:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/33034/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=12+string+guitar&rt=nc&LH_PrefLoc=1

Lots of variety but buy the best you can. A shit 12 is a world of pain and tuning.

Oh and GS 12 string bridges... <shudders>

Winny_Pooh

The revelation guitars are great,  and no the new Fenders are no more fugly than the old ones, you're just more used to seeing the old one and its ridiculous headstock