'I just always liked the natural wood tone for its appearance,' McGuinn opines. 'Rickenbacker later told me that the Mapleglo ones are made from the wood with the best grain structure, because there's no way to hide any blemishes or imperfections under stain or paint.'

"They've got extremely narrow necks and some people find them hard to play, but I feel very comfortable with them -- you just have to re-educate your fingers. I use fingerpicks and a flatpick at the same time, playing banjo-style picking. Rickenbackers make you think in melodies rather than blues scales."

"The Rickenbacker 12-string with the aid of electronic compression gave us the distinctive 'jingle jangle' sound that we would later be known for."