Fender Electric XII

Last updated

Fender Electric XII
Fender Electric XII.jpg
Fender Electric XII
Manufacturer Fender
Period1965–1969
2019–present
Construction
Body typeSolid
Neck jointBolt-on
Woods
Body Alder
Neck Maple
Fretboard
Hardware
Pickup(s) 2 split single coil pickups
Colors available
Sunburst (standard), candy apple red, olympic white, Lake Placid blue, firemist gold, Alternate Reality series: Sunburst, Lake Placid blue, olympic white

The Fender Electric XII is a purpose-built 12-string electric guitar, designed for folk rockers. Instead of using a Stratocaster-body style, it uses one similar to a Jaguar/Jazzmaster body style. It also departed from the typical "Stratocaster"-style headstock, instead featuring a long headstock nicknamed the "hockey-stick" headstock to cope with the twelve tuners. The original Electric XII employed a unique split pickup design and had a 4-way pickup rotary selector allowing for neck, neck & bridge in parallel, in or out of phase, and bridge only options as opposed to the Alternate Reality version which sports a standard 3-way toggle switch for pickup selection. It also used a string-through-body design similar to a Telecaster to help increase sustain.

Contents

Designed by Leo Fender, the Fender Electric XII was introduced in late 1965 with the bulk of the production taking place in 1966 before it was discontinued around 1970. Unlike its competitors' electric 12-string models which were simply existing 6-string guitars with six extra strings, the Fender Electric XII was a purpose-built 12-string designed to capture a part of the folk-rock market. The bridge has an individual saddle for each string making precise intonation possible. The Electric XII was not particularly popular during its run, and by 1969, it was dropped from the Fender line before being reintroduced as a part of the Alternate Reality series in 2019. The body overstock was used for the Fender Custom (a.k.a. Fender Maverick).

Notable players

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric guitar</span> Electrical string instrument

An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickups to convert the vibration of its strings into electrical signals, which ultimately are reproduced as sound by loudspeakers. The sound is sometimes shaped or electronically altered to achieve different timbres or tonal qualities from that of an acoustic guitar via amplifier settings or knobs on the guitar. Often, this is done through the use of effects such as reverb, distortion and "overdrive"; the latter is considered to be a key element of electric blues guitar music and jazz and rock guitar playing. Designs also exist combining attributes of the electric and acoustic guitars: the semi-acoustic and acoustic-electric guitars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leo Fender</span> American inventor and founder of the Fender company (1909–1991)

Clarence Leonidas Fender was an American inventor known for founding the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation and designing the company's early models, the Fender Telecaster, Fender Precision Bass, and Fender Stratocaster. In January 1965, he sold Fender to CBS, and later founded two other musical instrument companies, Music Man and G&L Musical Instruments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Stratocaster</span> Solid body electric guitar

The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously manufactured the Stratocaster since 1954. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top "horn" shape for balance. Along with the Gibson Les Paul, Gibson SG, and Fender Telecaster, it is one of the most-often emulated electric guitar shapes. "Stratocaster" and "Strat" are trademark terms belonging to Fender. Guitars that duplicate the Stratocaster by other manufacturers are sometimes called S-Type or ST-type guitars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender (company)</span> American musical instrument manufacturer

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Jazzmaster</span> Electric guitar

The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in the early 1960s. Its appearance is similar to the Jaguar, though it is tonally and physically different in many technical ways, including pickup design, scale length and controls.

The Fender Jaguar is an electric guitar by Fender Musical Instruments characterized by an offset-waist body, a relatively unusual switching system with two separate circuits for lead and rhythm, and a short-scale 24" neck. Owing some roots to the Jazzmaster, it was introduced in 1962 as Fender's feature-laden top-of-the-line model, designed to lure players from Gibson. During its initial 13-year production run, the Jaguar did not sell as well as the less expensive Stratocaster and Telecaster, and achieved its most noticeable popularity in the surf music scene. After the Jaguar was taken out of production in 1975, vintage Jaguars became popular first with American punk rock players, and then more so during the alternative rock, shoegazing and indie rock movements of the 1980s and 1990s. Fender began making a version in Japan in the mid-1980s, and then introduced a USA-made reissue in 1999. Since then, Fender has made a variety of Jaguars in America, Mexico, Indonesia and China under both the Fender and Squier labels. Original vintage Jaguars sell for many times their original price.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Precision Bass</span> Model of electric bass

The Fender Precision Bass is a model of electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrument usually equipped with a single split-coil humbucking pickup and a one-piece, 20-fret maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Telecaster Deluxe</span> Electric guitar

The Fender Telecaster Deluxe is a solid-body electric guitar originally produced from 1972 to 1981, and re-issued by Fender multiple times starting in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Mustang</span> US solid body electric guitar

The Fender Mustang is a solid body electric guitar produced by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. It was introduced in 1964 as the basis of a major redesign of Fender's student models, the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic. It was produced until 1982 and reissued in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson Marauder</span>

The Gibson Marauder was an electric guitar model produced by Gibson between 1975 and 1979. Designed to compete with guitars made by Fender, it had limited success and was discontinued after only 7,111 had been sold.

The Fender Lead Series was produced by the Fender/Rogers/Rhodes Division of CBS Musical Instruments. The series comprised Lead I, Lead II, Lead III and Lead Bass models.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Coronado</span>

The Fender Coronado is a double-cutaway thin-line hollow-body electric guitar, announced in 1965. It is manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The aesthetic design embodied in the Coronado represents a departure from previous Fender instruments; the design remains an uncharacteristic piece of Fender history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Stratocaster XII</span>

The Fender Stratocaster XII is the 12 string version of the Fender Stratocaster electric guitar made by Fender. It was introduced in 1988 and briefly re-issued 20 years later after a discontinuation in 1996. Unlike the Fender Electric XII, it uses a Strat-style body. Fender discontinued the Strat XII in 2009. It was reintroduced in 2019 with either a Sunburst or Olympic White finish

The Fender Bullet was an electric guitar originally designed by John Page and manufactured and marketed by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. It was first introduced as a line of "student" guitars to replace the outgoing Mustang and Musicmaster models.

Electric guitar design is a type of industrial design where the looks and efficiency of the shape as well as the acoustical aspects of the guitar are important factors. In the past many guitars have been designed with various odd shapes as well as very practical and convenient solutions to improve the usability of the object.

The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele, is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it was the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful solid-body electric guitar. Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Root Telecaster</span>

The Fender Jim Root Telecaster is a signature model of the Fender Telecaster electric guitar customized for American musician Jim Root. In January 2010, Jim Root's Signature Fender Telecaster was unveiled on the Fender website, similar to the one he has been seen using on stage. As of March 2009, the difference being the headstock. The prototype originally made for Jim came with the 1970s style Stratocaster headstock, which Root had shaved down to a standard Telecaster shape. This made the 1970s Fender Telecaster logo go to the very edge of the headstock. With a mahogany body, a fast neck and active EMG 81/60 pickups, it is a guitar designed for the heavy metal/hard rock guitar player.

References

  1. Whotabs (December 27, 2006). "1965 Fender Electric XII | Pete Townshend's Guitar Gear | Whotabs". www.thewho.net. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  2. 1 2 Price, Huw (September 7, 2020). "Vintage Bench Test: 1965 Fender Electric XII". Guitar.com | All Things Guitar. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  3. Horsley, Jonathan (December 13, 2019). "Jimmy Page's guitar gear: everything you need to nail the Led Zeppelin legend's sound". guitarworld. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  4. Frost, Matt (January 25, 2021). "Thurston Moore: "Writing music is about stepping away from the ego and creating something that's selfless"". www.guitarworld.com.

Sources