Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

So, aside from from Murph
http://www.pawnplex.com/Musical-ins/07/ ... index.html and the Charvel Surfcaster (fuggedabout the el cheapo Jackson version)
http://www.motorcrazy.com/geetSurf12.html I've been able to find another guitar which uses the wonderfully ingenious RIC style 12-string tuner configuration.
The Duesenberg Cat 12-string retails for a mere $2,908.00
http://www.duesenbergusa.com/index2.html Is anyone aware of others that use RIC's 12-string headstock design??

The Chandler 555, which is built under Rickenbacker's permission, uses a Rickenbacker-style headstock.
I'm not sure that this style of headstock was invented by Rickenbacker.

It was dreamed up for the 12er, by Rick's own Richard Burke, I believe.

WIDTH AT NUT

Rick 620/12 = 1.63"
Rick 660/12 = 1.75"
Charvel Surfcaster = 1.63"
Chandler 555 = ?
Duesenberg Cat = ? ......... but it looks like it might be more like a 660/12 than a 620/12

dpowell wrote:The Chandler 555, which is built under Rickenbacker's permission, uses a Rickenbacker-style headstock.

555.gif

Not any more. I have one of those older 555s. The new ones look like this:



Frank Grubisa uses the channel method for his 12s, with a rather different headstock shape. Here's a link to the flash page:

http://www.grubisaguitars.com/site/prof ... string.swf

interesting...
slightly narrower nut width than a 660/12, but wider than the 620/12

Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers has a custom-made Ferrington doubleneck...the 12-string neck has Rickenbacker-style 12-string headstock

Here it is from: http://www.mattwolf.com/guitars1.htmSo what's the leagal deal? Do all these manufacturers have to get permission from RIC?

The 12-string has a toaster, too!

I recall John Hall stating that as a slot-head tuner arrangement has been around for centuries, it can't be "trademarked" so to speak, even if Rickenbacker was the first to use it for 12s. The same can be said of the cat's eye/tear drop/slash sound hole used on the Rickenbacker 330, 360 and 4005.

brammy wrote:interesting

merlin.jpg

...
slightly narrower nut width than a 660/12, but wider than the 620/12

Frank does great work. His bread-and-butter work is reparing and restoring. Jackson's, the biggest vintage guitar shop in Sydney use him as their primary refin man. The Merlins are made "in background" and come out in batches when he has a break in his schedule. He currently has about 10 bodies (including a 12-string from memory) in various stages of construction. Most are ordered by clients but he usually has a few in each batch that go to a dealer.

Gottta say I really like that Murph...

antipodean wrote:I recall John Hall stating that as a slot-head tuner arrangement has been around for centuries, it can't be "trademarked" so to speak, even if Rickenbacker was the first to use it for 12s.

Interesting.... I could have sworn that RIC had a patent on that design. I know I read it somewhere..... doesn't make it accurate, but it has been stated. If there is no patent on it, I wonder why all 12-string guitar makers dont use it. What a beautiful design. Sooooo much nicer than the 6+6.

Totally agree - those mega-long pegheads are a pain. I do, however find myself having to think carefully when tuning up the G, B and high E strings given the reversal of the tuner/string arrangement from the E, A and D strings. This possibly reflects how stable the 660 is, and how seldom I play 12 relative to bass or 6.