New guitar - Rickenbacker 360/12 12-string electric

I've tried a couple different electric 12-strings this year, knowing well in advance that they'd probably never see the stage but would be a great studio tool to have on hand. I started out with a PRS Custom 22/12, which was the first (and only) 12-string I'd ever owned that played like a six-string--amazing guitar, but a lot of $ to be tied up in a single guitar that would likely see low usage. So I traded the 22/12 for a Gibson EDS1275 doubleneck... while not as tonally versatile or visually stunning as the PRS, I thought it might be a bit more useful for gigging purposes. Needless to say, it's a complete beast... playing it for more than 10 minutes brings on the back pain and getting around both necks (particularly to the high frets on the 6-string neck) has turned out to be more of a chore than I bargained for.

So the latest decision has been to sell the EDS-1275 and pick up a Rickenbacker 360/12. The Ric is definitely the "industry standard" 12-string electric. This one is a late 90's model in FireGlo finish. The guitar arrived tonight, and after spending a bit of time messing around with it, here are my initial thoughts:

Unique. I've never seen another guitar quite like it from a construction perspective... From the headstock design to accommodate 12 strings worth of tuners in the space of 6, the "stacked" pickguards, the felt under the pickup mounting rings, the body binding on the back (vs. the front), the clearcoated fretboard, the dual output jacks, and the mysterious 5th knob. (even the case has unique latches...)

Tone. Plug it in... immediately obvious why it's a classic. All the jangle I'd ever need... played it through the Egnater Vox module with the bridge pickup selected and volume & tone knobs turned to 10, and it was bright enough to peel paint off the wall. :) But the combination of neck/bridge pickups with dual volume/tone controls gives a wide range of tones, from warm & mellow to thin & bright... I expect there will be no problems dialing in the right tone for recording projects.

Feel. Overall, the guitar is pretty easy to play for a 12-string... the neck is relatively thin & the action relatively low. The challenge is that the fretboard is extremely narrow for a 12-string. I have relatively small fingers, and even I'm finding it hard to precisely fret chords. I expect I'll get used to it, but I must say that the profile caught me a bit off guard. (I checked the specs on the Ric website... looks like all the 12-strings have the same narrow nut width except for the 660/12.) As always, time will tell...

Of course, no "new guitar" post would be complete without some pictures...

--B