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Fender / Electric XII / 1966 / Olympic White / Guitar

White Fender, what more do you want? A 1966 Olympic White Fender Electric XII

Admittedly late to the 12 string party (you can’t be at the vanguard of every innovation!), Leo Fender designed his 12 string guitar from the ground up, incorporating the offset look and shape of the flagship Jazzmaster and Jaguar and took some characteristicly brilliant design decsions (even if the hockey-stick headstock isn’t everyone’s cup of tea!).

Often manufacturers looking to include a 12 string guitar in their stable chose to simply add 6 more strings without factoring in the intonation challenges that this method presents. Leo’s bridge design incorporated 12 individually moveable saddles that could be intonated seperatly and adjusted (within reason) to make best use of all 12 strings. Add this to a comfortable C Profile neck, low action, string-through constuction and a pair of split coil pickups and you have yourself a guitar that came to define the 12 string sound of the 70’s. Think Stairway, Tommy, Dylan, Petty the list goes on!

A common feature with all nitrocellulose clear coats is the yellowing that occurs when its exposed to UV light. This can vary depending on year of manufacture and to what extent the finish is exposed to these environmental factors. In this case, what was once white is now more akin to a cream or butterscotch. You can see the difference under the tortoiseshell pickguard. Having said this, the finish is still glossy and apart form some nice checking and a few minor dinks the finish is fantastic.

The headstock has also changed colour to match and the lacquer on the neck itself has taken on a slightly richer hue. Again, this is as glossy as the body with very little sign of wear. The fretboard and fresh are in great shape too. At some stage the nut has been replaced. As you might imagine they can be notoriously fragile with such close string spacing. The new replacement has been well made and cut beautifully.

The hardware is in good condition showing very little signs of wear. The Fender ‘F style’ tuners work really well. It has had an expertly made and fitted new nut to it which is often the weakest part of the originals. 

The tortoiseshell pickguard shows no real signs of shrinkage and is free of any cracking and electronically everything looks correct and all the solder joint as undisturbed.

Te guitar comes with its correct Fender black Tolex hardshell case.

There is a good reason why this guitar was the go to studio 12 string when it was introduced. The feel of the neck and the action are just a joy and the instrument has such vibrant tone when played acoustically. The tonal scope offered by the split coil pickups is always surprising, making the job of coaxing out a variety of lush sounds a dream.

This is a lovely example of an Olympic White custom colour Electric XII. If you’ve been hankering after one or are in the market for something different you can’t go wrong with this one. It plays as good as it looks. Grab it before it gets away.

Instrument sold

ATB Guitars, UK  

Contact name:
Mike Long
Brands:
Languages:
English
Specialties:
Vintage Gibson, Fender and Martin from 1940's-1970's
Opening hours:
24 hours

Hello we’re ATB Guitars.


We are one of Europes leading sellers of vintage and rare guitars. We only sell vintage Gibson and Fender electric guitars from 1950 until 1975 and have an extensive inventory to browse in our bricks and mortar store in Cheltenham, UK or in our online web store.

Payment and p/x:

All prices are in UK GBP £ Sterling. Payment can be made by Paypal, bank transfer, cash, or money order cashiers cheque etc. 


Should you not be absolutely delighted with your purchase you may return it to Cheltenham, at your own expense, within 7 days from the date of delivery for a full refund. The item must not have been altered or tampered with in any way, and it must arrive in the same condition as it left us.

Postage and shipping:

We ship within the UK by Royal Mail Recorded (small items under 2Kg), TNT or UPS and Worldwide by Royal Mail Airmail Signed For (small under 2Kg) Parcelforce, UPS or FedEx. All shipping prices include expert packing, cartons and packing materials but not insurance which is typically around 2% of items value. Currently approx shipping rates for a single guitar are as follows:

UK excluding Northern Ireland and Highlands £29
Most of mainland Europe £49
U.S.A. £129
Asia £149 - £190
Rest of World including S. America £149 - £275

 

 
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