Rickenbacker 12 Strings

George Harrison was given 3 Rickenbacker 12 Strings in his life. The first was the legendary guitar featured in A Hard Day's Night and used on subsequent albums through to Help! The second was given to him in 1965 and used during the Rubber Soul, and Revolver albums. As previously mentioned, Lennon's 12 String was a short-scale. Harrison's 12 Strings were not. A little known fact is that George was also the proud owner of a Rickenbacker limited issue Roger McGuinn 12 String (370/12RM) issued in 1989. 1,000 of these collectable guitars were issued. George's was given personally by Roger to him.

Part of the sound of these original 12 String guitars was made unique by the use of flatwound strings producing an almost percussive sound upon attack with a pick. I call it a "cluck". As with all flatwound strings, they promote lower action and reduce finger noise. Both of these benefits are especially welcome on any 12 String!

If you are considering flats for your 12 String, do so with serious thought to the following: The bridge saddle and nut on recent 360 and 330 12's are specifically cut for roundwounds.

Installing flats will move your intonation beyond tolerable adjustment on anything but vintage '60s Rickenbacker factory installed 6 saddle bridges - You'd be advised to either have the saddle recut or install the 12 saddle bridge (i.e. The Petty model) to give the best possible intonation and performance. I strongly suggest to get a 12 saddle bridge. It fits perfectly and it will improve your guitar.

Installing flats will also require you to shave the nut slots, as the fatter flats will not sit in the nut properly on the lower strings. Also, the factory-cut spacing designed for Rick roundwounds will be tighter, but by widening out the top-side of the wound slots slightly with a file, this will fix it nicely. Do not go deeper on the slots as you may get buzzing if placed in poorly shaved nut slot(s).

If you do not wish to modify your nut to fit the heavier standard gauge flatwounds, The String Guy offers a custom solution: On special request, we offer Pyramid Strings at the EXACT gauge of the standard Rickenbacker compressed roundwound. If permanently modifying your Rickenbacker 12 String guitar to fit Pyramids isn't an option for you, this is the cheapest solution, and most convenient!