So, may we introduce to you...TheBeatlesGear.com

[fabandgear]

Oh, JOY! Oh, RAPTURE! I've just purchased the George Harrison 12 string from the Harrison family! I think I'll convert it to a Suzi Arden guitar!

[Hotzenplotz]

...
That thread is chock full of (now bizarre) quotes.
Here's a quick link to all the laughs:
viewtopic.php?f=68&t=403347

Beginning at page 3 of the above mentioned thread, the last four quotes of that page start a very interesting conversation.

Who said that about this so "important" guitar?:

Why would I want to buy an OLD and USED guitar? Icky!

Oddly enough, even though I have something like 300 vintage guitars, I've never set out to collect them and never really gone out of my way to buy one. In fact, the only instruments I recall buying were the upright bass and electric violins, as it just seemed those needed to be on display.

In fact, in the case of Suzi Arden's guitar, I'm the one that pointed Jeffrey Foskett to her in the first place, since I wasn't interested, and I don't think he paid much for it either.

Right: The CEO of RIC.

[Grey]

Congratulations Josh,its's good to see that someone knows the significance of such a historical guitar.

Hahah....ha .... haha...

[Ivan3000]

A new string layout is to players preference and also, swapping the parts will help preserve the vintage parts, no harm no foul.

Who's preference? Yours? George's? This is THE ONLY Rick 12-string to ever leave the factory that way. And it's the fracking FIRST RICK 12-STRING. The VERY FIRST EXAMPLE of what is one of THE quintessential electric guitars. UGH! Where's the Tylenol?

Most Rick players preference, you know the Jangle.

[Grey]

Most Rick players preference, you know the Jangle.

Ivan, you either get it or you don't.

Just like guitars are meant to be played, Art is meant to be appreciated. But some objects have value beyond their basic purpose. If you could, would you buy the Mona Lisa and hang it on your bedroom wall next to a poster of The Who? Maybe put some band stickers over parts of it, (hey, you can always remove them later right?) and you fancy yourself an art enthusiast so you figure "it's doing what it was made to do, I get to look at it and appreciate it every day".

Or would you recognize the signifigance it holds as the only one of its kind, and preserve it so that we can appreciate the importance it holds to works that came after?

[stsang]

Here's a quick link to all the laughs:
viewtopic.php?f=68&t=403347

Thanks for the pointer, Tommy! I see alot of the same names and faces in that thread, but in some cases, their attitudes toward the Arden Rick 12-String appear to have totally changed in this thread?

[egosheep]

WWGD?

[Ivan3000]

The webpage appears to be updated, and My! Is it looking nice!

[Hotzenplotz]

Can't wait for comments!




They remind me of an advent calendar and christmas in general. - Behind every door a victim.
Fortunately just half the quantity of doors.
Phew!

[chefothefuture]

Gentelmen (and ladies if present...),
It pains me to see our forum in a continuous
argument over the Arden 12.
We all are in agreement that it is and ever shall be
increadably cool and historic , mods or no.
After that, the argument(s) are a veritable "Kobyoshi Maru"
scenario...

No, I'm not trying to be sanctimonious or anything,
but the rancor is getting to the level of Talk Bass, and
I would like to think that we are a cut above.

Just my two Rupees....

[deaconblues]

[johnhall]

Why didnt John Hall buy this one? John...I heard you were trying. True?

You're misinformed. I have no interest in buying vintage guitars.

[sys700]

A few years ago I bought a 12-string that used to be owned by New Colony Six. I bought the guitar to play, not for its historical significance. Within weeks the neck joint cracked and the guitar became unplayable, which is the reason I bought it in the first place. So I sent it out to Paul W. who refinished it and reset the neck. While he was at it, I had him double bind it and add pearl inlays. In essence, I destroyed the historical significance of this guitar, but it now lives on to play another day. Some may have a problem with that, but to me it was just a guitar, and wouldn't be heard again unless I had it refinished. Were it possible to reset the neck without a refin, I would have done it, and would not have had the additional mods done to the guitar. Then again, I'm not what you would call a fan of New Colony Six and never pretended to be when I bought the guitar. But it was my guitar so I did what I wanted to it to make it playable, and then some.

A few years ago I bought Phil Collins LM-1 drum machine, the one used on Mama and other famous Genesis tracks. He had modded it from stock, replacing the tempo pot with some aftermarket pot and had drilled a hole in the face of the machine in the process. This is a very rare machine, probably one of under a dozen in existence with all the desirable features. After I bought it, I performed some pretty extensive, but reversible mods to it to make it more playable, adding extra sound chips and tunable pots to the front panel, and added a sync switch where the hole in the panel was. I still have all the original parts should I desire to return it to its original state, but to me it was more important to remove some of Phil's mods to make it play better. I also swapped out the original battery, which was dying, so that is not really reversible. I'm not a huge Genesis fan, so for me, playability trumped collectibility, but I made sure the mods were reversible.

Some may think I'm hypocritical, but my view on the Suzi Arden guitar is different, mainly due to the purpose for which it was modded. It was obviously bought from a collector's standpoint, not primarily to restore it to its original playing condition, not to collect for it's own historical value, but to collect as part of some Beatles tribute collection so it could appear to be something it's not. That is the rub for me. I see no purpose in this site, and I find the concept quite ridiculous. With this site, you've managed to pi$$ off both true collectors and true musicians and generate a ho-hum from Beatles fans who would rather just look at the original instruments than those pretending to be. If the Arden guitar didn't play well and it was carefully restored to a playable condition without altering it much, for the sake of its own history, that would be one thing. But had the seller known that the very first Rick 12 was going to be starring in some Beatles tribute project that would cheapen its historical significance, I wonder if he would have sold it?

The Arden guitar, in my opinion, trumps Harrison's in terms of historical significance because Harrison's would not have existed had the Arden guitar not been made. The mods made, we are told, are not permanent. True, but if you lose the original parts, it will be very permanent, and to me the significance of the Arden guitar as the very first Rick 12 places it above the Harrison 12, and she deserves to be in her original state, despite who owns her, or at the very least restored to playable condition so we can hear it once more. I think most Rickenbacker enthusiasts on this forum have a problem with someone taking something they consider to be highly significant and collectible in its own right and making it appear to be something else when something cheaper and less historically significant would have done the trick. I liken it to dressing your wife up to look like Marilyn Monroe when your wife has her own beauty and significance. It's just bad taste and cheapens your wife. Use a 12V64 instead.

[BuddyDog]

I see no purpose in this site, and I find the concept quite ridiculous. With this site, you've managed to pi$$ off both true collectors and true musicians and generate a ho-hum from Beatles fans who would rather just look at the original instruments than those pretending to be. If the Arden guitar didn't play well and it was carefully restored to a playable condition without altering it much, for the sake of its own history, that would be one thing. But had the seller known that the very first Rick 12 was going to be starring in some Beatles tribute project that would cheapen its historical significance, I wonder if he would have sold it?

The Arden guitar, in my opinion, trumps Harrison's in terms of historical significance because Harrison's would not have existed had the Arden guitar not been made. The mods made, we are told, are not permanent. True, but if you lose the original parts, it will be very permanent, and to me the significance of the Arden guitar as the very first Rick 12 places it above the Harrison 12, and she deserves to be in her original state, despite who owns her, or at the very least restored to playable condition so we can hear it once more. I think most Rickenbacker enthusiasts on this forum have a problem with someone taking something they consider to be highly significant and collectible in its own right and making it appear to be something else when something cheaper and less historically significant would have done the trick. I liken it to dressing your wife up to look like Marilyn Monroe when your wife has her own beauty and significance. It's just bad taste and cheapens your wife. Use a 12V64 instead.

Well said!

[Moped10]

As they stated on their page, they KNEW it would be a controversial move, and really, if I had that guitar, I wouldn't give a rat's *** who was grumpy about it- I'd just stay inside all day and gaze away! If they tossed the original parts and pieces out, that'd be another matter, but from what I read, they preserved the parts- So you can either look at a photo of it with it's original parts, or look at a photo with the swap-outs- Either way, you're just looking at a photo right?