Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

An interesting photo is posted below showing Richard Thompson with a 360/12 or perhaps not when you consider the unique headstock. It would seem that some claims are made that this "Rickenbacker" was once owned by Roger McGuinn. This should provide for some interesting discussion.

The picture looks a little grainy, but the headstock looks sort of Gibson-y....could the entire neck be a replacement? It sort of takes away from one of the key-design features, the perpendicular machine head arrangment. Interesting, nonetheless....possibly from an ES-335/12 with a fretboard mod?? A late April Fool??

It's amazing what a creative person can do with Photoshop software. The things we dream of can become visually real. I suspect this is the case with this instrument pictured above.

So where is the ES-335/12 with the Rick headstock??? (HA!!!)

Lefty: I too had this impression initially. Not to go against the grain, but it is my understanding that this was scanned from the Encyclopedia of Rock published by Marks and Spencer in 1983. I have not seen the book, but perhaps someone who has will be able to offer comment. It is conveniently a poor scan? Let's see what develops.

My take on it[as good as anyone elses?] either the
pic was "doctored", or if it Is real, the original headstock broke off and a luthier "spliced" a new headstock onto the neck stump.And if that is the case, perhaps whosever
Rick it was didn't like the std. Rick 12 string
headstock layout, and wanted "more conventional".
I bet it wouldn't fit in a stock Rick case anymore!

Dr. Do you think that a headstock this size could be added given all the tension on it. So is it from the Byrds or for the Birds then?

Peter, this doesn't look to be any bigger a headstock than say, the Gibson ES-335-12.I don't see a structural problem, but you definitely want to be more careful with a big head like that; even a small whack into something could crack it off.I have No answer to the 2nd question you posed.

Dr: I was referring to your comment about "a luthier "spliced" a new headstock onto the neck stump." I thought that such a repair would be a difficult one and may not be stable with all that tension.

I am told the 1983 Marks & Spencer Encyclopedia of Rock book is "basically a collection of articles taken from a series of magazines published in weekly parts." The Richard Thompson Rick photo is said to be © Ralph Denyer, a UK music journalist. Here is the book's caption which was cropped out of the above photo.


Evidently, it's quite fashionable for celebrity guitarists to own an old "McGuinn" Rick of one sort or another. Johnny Marr is said to have an old "McGuinn" Rick by way of Phil Manzanera. Andrew Gold is said to have an old "McGuinn" Rick by way of Jeffrey Foskett. RichardThompson is said to have an old "McGuinn" Rick (by way of whomever). Some or all of those guitars may indeed have been owned, or used, by McGuinn at one time or another. However, that in itself is certainly no guarantee that such guitars were ever actually played in The Byrds -- Henry McGuinn's Rick 325 and Toshio Sogabe's old Rick 370/12RM being prime examples of such guitars.

Terry: Glad to see the detective is on the case, as always. A very interesting post.

Since this particular guitar would be hard to forget if once owned maybe Roger McGuinn himself could shed some light on this if he happens to stop by The Rickenbacker Forum. Help!! AAHHH!!!

I might also add that this guitar seems to be a marriage of two different approaches to 12-string manufacture. Why Bother??? Unless the owner liked the looks of the Rickenbacker body and sound but found the Rick headstock confusing....I find that much of it to be just the opposite. It is much easier to tune a Rickenbacker 12 than any other,IMO. I am with Peter on the tension issue; I am not a luthier but it would seem more logical to install an entire neck rather than graft a headstock on to a broken neck. One thing of note in the pic is the 'absence' of the Rickenbacker logo.

Peter,
Regarding the possibility of "headstock
splice", this is something a good luthier can do.
In fact, this is one way of making the headstock angles on some classical guitars.Arnquist could elaborate on this one, I'm sure.

This came from his Q&A on gear on his website:

There seems to be a hint of 12-string on every album I've ever done. There's a solo on 12-string on "Mr. Rebound" - that was some weird guitar of Rob Schnaps'. I used to own a Rickenbacker, early model, reputed to be one of McGuinn's old ones which he broke and left in the UK - the neck was repaired by Steven Sobell - I got divorced from it, alas. I've mostly used Fender '12's on record. "