Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I think I already know the answer, but is there any reason why you couldn't just string up a Rickenbacker 12 string as a 6 string. That way you could have the option of both on one guitar.

pocaloc wrote:I think I already know the answer, but is there any reason why you couldn't just string up a Rickenbacker 12 string as a 6 string. That way you could have the option of both on one guitar.

I'd say it's no big deal to do that.

However, when this question has come up on the board in the past (and it seems to come up quite regularly), there are normally posts that will tell you that if you do it the neck can have all sorts of possible issues because of the difference in neck stresses for 6 vs 12 strings. Personally, I have done it from time to time and I've never experienced any issues..and even if there were, I would imagine it would just require normal truss rod adjustments to address.

If you are able to remove 6 strings and still play it, your action was not as low as it could have been to begin with! And if not, your neck ain't as straight as it could be. Just my 02c! Of course I understand every guitar is different and people like different adjustments... so that just applies to me for sure.

I've seen some used ones strung that way in music shops, but I agree that long term you'd want the neck adjusted for it.

Matt: I think that it is a great question. Tension issues aside, you will also have to change the nut otherwise the strings will not be spaced comfortably across the fretboard. Could you learn to play it that way? Yes. Would you want to leave the 12 string spacing as it is and play it as a 6 string? No.

Rickenbacker produced the 366/12 from approximately 1967-1968 which attempted to capture the best of both worlds. A very intriguing and interesting idea. We have more than 50 of these in the Rickenbacker Register. I think that it is fair to say, however, that the model did not catch on as I am not aware of any additional years of manufacture. Perhaps someone from the Factory could add additional information with regard to this model.

Perhaps those who own a 366/12 would comment on how comfortable a player the 366/12 is and whether it is difficult to get used to the difference in the string spacing between the 6 string and 12 string modes.

*chime*

I have a December 67 366/12 FG... well I'm babysitting it until the sale is complete when I deliver it to the UK later this year. It's a great player and stays in tune when converted. Nice tiny thin skinny small cozy neck like I like. Since the strings all stay in place under the fretting hand, I've never had a problem. I suppose bends could be tricky, but I don't do a lot of that.

I have a '98 360/12v64 FG that I've added the converter assembly to and it works okay, but it needs more reinforcement in the form of stabilizing blocks inside the body, so I'm converting it to a lightshow, so I can hack it up enough to get the wood in there without being left with something ugly or in need of a refin.

Thanks Jason. Great information. I hadn't though about the additional need to reinforce the body in the case of a conversion.

admin wrote:Thanks Jason. Great information. I hadn't though about the additional need to reinforce the body in the case of a conversion.

Interestingly, there are a great many hollow body 12s(non convertible) of the 67-68 period with the extra blocks , presumably so that any guitar could accept the hardware
should a convertible be in the production line....

This thread just keeps getting better. Thanks John.

Here's a youtube of the comb in action. . .




I have to say. .. when I heard of this thing, my first thought was "no _ffing way it will work. . . " but. . . check out the vid. Pretty cool.

Kingbreaker wrote:Here's a youtube of the comb in action. . .
I have to say. .. when I heard of this thing, my first thought was "no _ffing way it will work. . . " but. . . check out the vid. Pretty cool.

This guy is a great player and the guitar is fabulous, but his constant "RickenBOCKER-RickenBOCKER" was driving me NUTZ!!!

fabandgear wrote:

Kingbreaker wrote:Here's a youtube of the comb in action. . .
I have to say. .. when I heard of this thing, my first thought was "no _ffing way it will work. . . " but. . . check out the vid. Pretty cool.

This guy is a great player and the guitar is fabulous, but his constant "RickenBOCKER-RickenBOCKER" was driving me NUTZ!!!

Yeah, seems like a majority of those yootoob doods say it that way. Drives me nuts, too.
JimK

jimk wrote:

fabandgear wrote:

Kingbreaker wrote:Here's a youtube of the comb in action. . .
I have to say. .. when I heard of this thing, my first thought was "no _ffing way it will work. . . " but. . . check out the vid. Pretty cool.

This guy is a great player and the guitar is fabulous, but his constant "RickenBOCKER-RickenBOCKER" was driving me NUTZ!!!

Yeah, seems like a majority of those yootoob doods say it that way. Drives me nuts, too.
JimK

Nutz? Well where was Adolph's family from?
Correct me if I err, but is not the town of Richenbach pronounced
with a long A?
That said, when the spelling was anglicized did
Adolph pronounce it differently?
So then, when did the short A replace the long A?
And if the short A is now correct, then would not the current owners
name be pronounced Hal?

...uh...

Can't answer your questions directly, except to say, that there's Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker, Adolph's distant cousin, as I understand it. That may have had something to do with the vowel shift. And I hear that JH is diplomatically insistent that the brand name is pronounced Rickenbacker. And that's the way I heard it pronounced when I had the opportunity to talk to a customer service rep. a few months ago over the phone. Names are funny that way.
JimK