Solid Body
Rickenbacker Twelve-String

This Fireglo 13-inch-wide solid-body 12-string with a 'cresting-wave' shape weighs just 7.30 lbs. has a nut width of just under 1 5/8 inches and a scale length of 24.50 inches. Double cutaway maple body with neck-through-body construction. One-piece maple neck, rosewood fretboard with 21 original medium-to-thin frets and white dot position markers. Serial number "QE 2152" stamped onto bridge/tailpiece assembly. Headstock with opaque white plastic, crescent-shaped plate lettered in white "Rickenbacker" and secured with three screws. Individual dual-line Kluson Deluxe tuners with oval metal buttons. Two Rickenbacker 'High-Gain' Single-Coil pickups, both with two height-adjustment screws and outputs of 12.38k and 12.40k. Single-layer opaque white plastic pickguard with eight screws. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way pickup selector switch and jack socket, all on pickguard. The potentiometers are stamped stamped "137 763X" (last number obscured by solder) and 137 7642" (CTS, October & November 1976). Seven-sided black plastic knobs with metal tops with black lettering. Rickenbacker pre compensated aluminium bridge with two height-adjustment screws which in turn sits on a Rickenbacker chrome-plated tailpiece secured by five screws. Inside the control cavity, written in pencil is "R-450/12". There are a few very minor surface marks on the edges but this thirty-four year old solid-body twelve-string guitar is still in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition. Housed in the original Rickenbacker three-latch, rectangular Silver-Gray case with black leather ends and blue plush lining (9.00).

"The 450/12 (introduced in late 1964) was the first production model solid body electric twelve string by Rickenbacker. It was simply a twelve string version of the Model 450. The 450-12 was discontinued in 1985."

According to Richard Smith's book, just twelve Fireglo 450-12's were shipped in 1964; three-hundred and thirty-six (all colors) in 1965 and four hundred and eighty-four (all colors) in 1966. After that it would appear that these fine solid-body 12-string guitars were made in rather smaller numbers - probably to order.