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Double Neck Guitar is the only way to create the music you want when one guitar just isn’t enough.
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Double neck guitars have two separate and distinct necks and a single wider than average body. The benefit of the double neck is that the player can play more than one instrument at a time. The typical double neck has one neck with twelve strings and another neck with six stings. At any point, the musician can switch between the two necks. This makes for great music because the musician can double the kind of music produced. Playing a double neck is playing two instruments back to back instantly.
A Little Double Neck history
The double neck isn’t a new idea. They have been around for hundreds or years. A Russian version was popular in the beginning of the 19th century. Today, most are western style electric guitars. Also the most common is the 12-string on top and six-string on the bottom, some have six strings on one neck and only four on the other. Fretted necks are most common although some have one neck that is fretless. The reality is that just about any combination is possible with these instruments. There are even some that have three, four and five necks. Thos instruments increase the variety of music that is played on a single instrument.
Recently within the last few years, bass double necks have gained in popularity. These guitars are also tuned differently which also widens the musician’s playing range. One set up is to have a double neck with one neck set up as a standard electric guitar while the other neck is set up as a bass.
The double neck’s popularity has increased by the use of it in well known bands. Jimmy Page, Slash of Guns N’ Roses, Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, and Eddie Van Halen all use double necks.
The EDS-1275 is one of the most popular double neck Gibson guitars and was used by Jimmy Page on the live version of “Stairway to Heaven.” The guitar is handmade in Nashville. Each has its own PAF humbucker pickup, has a solid maple neck and mahogany body with a rosewood fretboard.
The first double neck Gibson guitar, the EDS-1275 was built in 1958. Later, in 1962 the design was changed to an SG body style. It’s this version that is the most common and best-known among players and collectors. For a brief time production was stopped in 1968 and then restarted in 1977. Then in 1990 they discontinued making them. This guitar had a cherry finish with a tobacco burst in ebony with chrome or gold hardware or alpine white with gold hardware. The EDS-1275 is no longer a regular production model and is only available in cherry or alpine white through the Gibson Custom Shop.
Another variation by Gibson is the double neck mandolin. The EMS-1235 was in production from 1958 through 1968. Although it was called a mandolin it was really a double cutaway with the top neck shorter and tuned one octave higher than the standard pitch. Both necks had six strings and used thinline hollow bodies. In 1962 the style was changed to the SG style and then production was topped in 1968.
Another Gibson double neck example is the EBS-1250. This was a bass-lead guitar with the top neck a four string bass and the bottom neck a six string guitar. This guitar was in production from 1962 to 1970.
Different Types of Double Necks
The most common type of double neck is one with twelve strings on the top neck and six strings on the bottom. Some also have six and four strings. Most are electric but some are acoustic and some combine a fretless guitar with a regular guitar. The point is to be able to switch quickly between instruments.
There are also triple, quadruple and quintuple necked guitars. Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick uses a custom five neck guitar made by Hamer and John Paul Jones, bassist of Led Zeppelin sometimes played a three neck guitar that had a mandoline neck and strings. Easily the most complex multi-neck guitar was one made by Linda Manzer for Pat Metheny. This guitar, the “Pikasso” had 42 strings. Another famous player of multi neck guitars is Michael Angelo Batio who played a left and right handed guitar joined at the center in the shape of a “V” and a Quad Guitar that was four guitars joined in the center in the shape of an “X”.
The Hutchins guitar company in Essex UK makes a limited number of six-necked guitars known as “The Beast.” This guitar has 40 strings and includes a twelve string guitar, a seven string guitar, a five string guitar, a 4 string guitar and two six sting guitars combined into a single instrument.
Playing a double neck guitar has the advantage of a broader range of sound. The musician isn’t limited to a single instrument.