Fender Electric XII Model 12 String Solid Body Electric Guitar (1965), made in Fullerton, California, serial # 106244, sunburst lacquer finish, alder body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case.
The "Electric XII" is not one of Fender's best-remembered creations but is a superbly designed and extremely practical 12-string guitar. Introduced at the July 1965 NAMM Show at the dawn of the CBS era the Fender XII married the popular Jaguar/Jazzmaster style offset body to a new neck with a distinctive extended headstock, quickly nicknamed the "hockey stick" for obvious reasons. Prototypes and pre-production examples were built earlier in 1965, but as with many Fenders the main production seems to have begun in the fall, with the great bulk built in 1966.
The XII's electronics are unique for a guitar with two pickups each with two separate coil units, as pioneered by the Precision Bass wired to a 4-way selector setup. The elaborate bridge is a marvel of Leo Fender's design prowess; it strings through the body with 12 staggered-height, intonation-adjustable saddles and is generally considered the best of its kind.
This early sunburst example has no date stamp on the neck heel (unusual but not unknown in the early CBS era) but the pots are coded to the 16th and 30th weeks of 1965. The neck itself has a 1 11/16" nut width and feels slightly chunkier than many later examples we have had, the tuners were originally Kluson Deluxes not the Fender-made "F" tuners seen on most examples. This guitar has a wiring quirk we have encountered with other early XII's from 1965; the selector is mis-wired not effecting one of the two pickup combinations. This is a factory error and can be corrected if desired, but for now we have left it untouched original.
Despite a well-thought and harmonious out design Fender missed the boat a bit on the electric 12-string fad and by the time the "Electric XII" came to market in quantity Rickenbacker had already mostly reaped the benefit of the Byrds and Beatles popularization of the sound. For all that, the Fender is often considered the best-playing electric 12 of the 1960s, an excellent sounding stage or recording instrument albeit without exactly capturing the Rick's trademark jangle. Led Zeppelin, the Velvet Underground, The Move, The Kinks, Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass, the Baja Marimba Band and many others have made classic recordings with this model, and much of its potential is perhaps still untapped.
Overall length is 42 7/8 in. (108.9 cm.), 14 in. (35.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 1/2 in. (3.8 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This XII is relatively clean overall with some light wear, mostly minor fade to the sunburst with dings, dents and scrapes scattered around, heaviest as usual on the body edges. The back of the neck has a few small dinks but nothing major. The tuners were once changed to mini-Schallers but have been restored with repro Kluson Deluxe machines; there are light compression rings on the headstock face but no errant screw holes. All other components including pickups and pots remain original.
This one has a very good straight neck and the original frets have been crowned with just a bit of wear showing. This is a very supple playing and fine sounding example of this distinctive Fender creation, not the absolute cleanest but about the best player we have had. It rests in a later modern black Tolex HSC. Overall Excellent Condition.
