Was the 4080 the first?

[bassduke49]

Was it the first double neck to combine bass and guitar in a PRODUCTION instrument? 4080 started in 1975. Anybody else try this before? Or is it the ONLY bass/guitar double neck?

[jps]

IIRC, Gibson had one first.

[Grey]

Yeah, the Gibson EBS-1250 started production in 1962.

[ilan]

And a year before that, in 1961, Hofner had the Model 191.

[teeder]

Macca should have played one of those!

[Ivan3000]

I'm sure there was some prototypes in the 1800's that have been destroyed in a pirate ship wreck.

[rickboy88]

Was it the first double neck to combine bass and guitar in a PRODUCTION instrument? 4080 started in 1975. Anybody else try this before? Or is it the ONLY bass/guitar double neck?

I have read that Ric was the first to prototype an 8 string bass at NAMM, but Hagstom was the first manufacturer to make an 8 string electric bass a production model.

[antipodean]

I think Danelectro did a double-neck bass/guitar in the '60s - not sure of the year though...

[ilan]

Evan is correct, Dano had a 6/4 double neck (Model 3923) in 1959, so I guess that makes them first.

[gellkeller]

Semie Moseley (Mosrite) was producing double-necks in the mid '50s but I believe most of them would have been custom builds, like the one he produced for Joe Maphis.

[antipodean]

Semie Moseley (Mosrite) was producing double-necks in the mid '50s but I believe most of them would have been custom builds, like the one he produced for Joe Maphis.

I think I may have seen a Mosrite bass/6 string double neck - but it would have been post '65. The early ones were 12/6 or mando/6.

I think Semie may even have done a triple-neck or two....

[gellkeller]

I think the term "PRODUCTION" probably dismisses Mosrite's claim, hence the "custom" reference

[heinpete]

To my knowledge the double neck is an old principle, already from the 19th century (at least).
Here is a pic from an instrument 20th century:
and here is one from 19th century:
Usually the upper neck was a kind of bass with strings in a certain tune, so the player did not have to pick it in certaun frets, just the open string.

[guitfiddle]

How about one with an EB-6?

[jps]

As much as harp guitars were around since the 1800s, at least, I don't think they fall in to the current discussion of double neck instruments as HG are played in a different manner than "modern "DN instruments.

Of course, if I had thought of it first, I'd insist they be included.