Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

After my 360/6 arrives, I am going to be looking for a 12 string. I don't think I've seen any of the shorter scales Rickenbacker in 12 string and given my small hands, these would be guitars I'd be interested in learning more about. Are the 325 and 350 V63's the only two? Can somebody post pictures of theirs?

I presume these guitars are difficult to find. What is the ballpark price range for a shorter scale Rickenbacker 12 string?

The 350 has the same scale as a normal Rickenbacker, the 325 would be the way to go if you had to have a short scale. That said, the 325 is pretty rare as a 12 string. I may be mistaken, but I don't believe there's a 325/12 in production at the moment.

If you're comfortable with the scale length on the 360, adding 6 more strings won't make much of a difference.

The 325/12 was made in limited quantities, twice. In 1985-86 they made about 25 of them, and in 1999, they made 136. The '80s model is known as the 320/12V63, and the '99 model, the 325/12V63. The '99 has scatterwounds and is, in general, the most accurate reissue of the one-off made for Lennon.

I think the 350V63/12 is available. In fact I believe some have shipped recently. I dig mine and it has a great sound. I have smaller hands as well, but I still prefer the full scale.

Any pics anyone?

I would post mine but my f&*#ing pictures won't post. Even when it says they are within the acceptable limits. No I'm not frustrated. POS!

Courtesy of RIC:

There have been some other "short scale" 12 strings made but they were not regular production models.

http://homer.netmar.com/~muscon2/r505.jpg

http://homer.netmar.com/~muscon2/r507.jpg

These are two of the so-called "test body" 325's, part of a batch of 10 built for evaluation during early stages of the C58 project and later completed at the behest of Nick Thiel.

Am I correct that only two of these ten were 12-strings?

Paul, you are correct sir!

Ah, the "word" from one of the half-dozen people on the inside of this fascinating "test body" story...

I had one of the '99 325/12v63 guitars. It was totally awesome but I couldn't get used to the dimensions. Part of me wishes I hadn't sold it but if I still had it I probably wouldn't play it too much.

Jason highlights the differences in thinking between the personalities of collectors and players. If some collectors used frequent playing of their entire collection as a criteria for ownership, their fingers would be bloody stumps...

Those of us who fence-sit (play a fair amount but also own a medium-sized collection) usually deal with a certain amount of guilt as well. You can see it if you read between the lines in some of our posts.

(I wonder if there exists anywhere the Rickenbacker equivalent of the Studebaker junkyard? This is the guy--there are a few in every state--who owns a piece of land on which he keeps a fair number of eyesore/oddball cars which are in undriveable condition, but which he will never sell because he plans on "restoring" them someday.)

Dream on...

Paul,

I'm haeinving diffirulty typingg with theese bloody stumps maaate!

And I've just decided to "let go" of the guitar I was planning to "restore".

Paul: I suppose I fit your definition of a 'collector'. I've usually got about (35) guitars in the collection. It's not possible to have them all set-up properly and ready-to-play at any given time. Some of them need to be refinished, others need repairs. Quite a few could use new strings, but I'll get around to that when and if I decide to play them again. With this many guitars, some guitars have been played less than an hour in the last (15) years. Others get played a lot.