Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII 12-String

Discussion of newer designs, copies and reissue offset-waist instruments.
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SignoftheDragon
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Re: Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII 12-String

Post by SignoftheDragon » Wed May 20, 2020 7:50 am

BUY IT BEFORE I DO.

I don't want to fight with my wife about it, but I WILL BUY IT as soon as money is available.

As far as a comparison- I have both, and the ARXII is a better guitar. The Gotoh-style bridge is more adjustable.

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Re: Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII 12-String

Post by javier-san » Wed May 20, 2020 8:24 am

SignoftheDragon wrote:
Wed May 20, 2020 7:50 am
BUY IT BEFORE I DO.

I don't want to fight with my wife about it, but I WILL BUY IT as soon as money is available.

As far as a comparison- I have both, and the ARXII is a better guitar. The Gotoh-style bridge is more adjustable.
ha! If you got the funds, i’d say go for it! I’m a few days away...I was planning on buying an ARXII, but this popped up.

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Re: Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII 12-String

Post by SignoftheDragon » Wed May 20, 2020 8:42 am

Sent an offer on it- we'll see if I end up with it or not...

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Re: Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII 12-String

Post by javier-san » Wed May 20, 2020 8:45 am

Siq!

I’ll buy the next one that comes around. :blush:

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Re: Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII 12-String

Post by SignoftheDragon » Wed May 20, 2020 9:30 am

Didn't get it. I should be glad that someone offered more than me, but now I'm second-guessing my offer.

No fight with the wife this week, though!

(Fart sound)

Back to the Alternate Reality XII!

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Re: Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII 12-String

Post by javier-san » Wed May 20, 2020 8:02 pm

I actually ended up with it... ::)

I thought I was too late, but I threw him an offer of the most I would spend on it...I guess it was slightly more than yours? I was certain that I was too late and wasn't gonna get it. My bank account isn't happy about it, though.

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Re: Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII 12-String

Post by eskmsaul » Wed May 20, 2020 8:26 pm

I also put in an offer, and the seller gave me a very good counter offer, but I couldn't justify it right at this moment. (My heart still wants an ARXII more, I think.) Enjoy!!

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Re: Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII 12-String

Post by javier-san » Wed May 20, 2020 9:58 pm

Don't get me wrong, I would still love an ARXII in LPB, but this was at a price point that I couldn't say no to...especially since the ARXII I was eyeing sold today!

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Re: Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII 12-String

Post by Severed Hand » Sat May 23, 2020 5:42 pm

Got my ARXII from Sam Ash came out to $935 after shipping and sales tax.

Overall I think this guitars gonna rock. I ordered Pyramid Gold flat wounds and it’s being set up and seen by a tech on Tuesday. Are the Curtis Novak replacement XII pickups a major improvement? Or should I leave the original pickups in for a while? I can’t really tell how great the originals sound because the actions pretty high and the pickups are set low out of the box.

Probably will get a blue spitfire guard made at some point.

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Re: Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII 12-String

Post by bessieboporbach » Sat May 23, 2020 6:23 pm

Severed Hand wrote:
Sat May 23, 2020 5:42 pm
Got my ARXII from Sam Ash came out to $935 after shipping and sales tax.

Overall I think this guitars gonna rock. I ordered Pyramid Gold flat wounds and it’s being set up and seen by a tech on Tuesday. Are the Curtis Novak replacement XII pickups a major improvement? Or should I leave the original pickups in for a while? I can’t really tell how great the originals sound because the actions pretty high and the pickups are set low out of the box.

Probably will get a blue spitfire guard made at some point.
I can't speak to the quality of the replacement pickups, but I really like the stock ones. The bridge has a very Rick-y voice and the neck has a nice shimmer. I actually like the neck the best although the bridge is more Byrdsy.

I have tried them with just 6 strings and they are similar to Jazzmaster pickups but not as noisy.

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Re: Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII 12-String

Post by javier-san » Sat May 23, 2020 7:31 pm

Severed Hand wrote:
Sat May 23, 2020 5:42 pm
Got my ARXII from Sam Ash came out to $935 after shipping and sales tax.

Overall I think this guitars gonna rock. I ordered Pyramid Gold flat wounds and it’s being set up and seen by a tech on Tuesday. Are the Curtis Novak replacement XII pickups a major improvement? Or should I leave the original pickups in for a while? I can’t really tell how great the originals sound because the actions pretty high and the pickups are set low out of the box.

Probably will get a blue spitfire guard made at some point.
Ahh you musta bought the one I was looking at forever!

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Re: Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII 12-String

Post by Severed Hand » Sat May 23, 2020 8:16 pm

Yeah it was on reverb and eBay for a while. I had my fingers crossed it didn’t have any noise issues or some of the other stuff people experienced buying them new and luckily enough this ones great outside of needing a setup. I figured worse case scenario I sell it for what I got it for. If the world doesn’t end I think these will appreciate seems like less are popping up online etc from retailers.

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Re: Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII 12-String

Post by javier-san » Tue May 26, 2020 10:46 pm

Got the Squier Venus XII...actually in pretty damn good condition. Not a scratch on it and barely any fret wear. It almost looks new.

One thing that does bother me. Someone who owned it previously changed two of the saddle/intonation screws from a phillip head interface to a allen head interface. While I don't particularly mind allen head screws (and actually prefer them overall!) they only changed two and changed them for ones that are too short. There is only about 1/4 thread engagement into the saddle. Now, as a machinist this bothers me to no end and would like to swap these for the appropriate length.

To save me the trouble of having to unthread these screws and take them to work (and potentially lose them in the process) and measure the thread tpi (if they are metric or not ,etc)...does anybody know what thread pitch and diameter these screws meant to be? Any help is greatly appreciated.

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Re: Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII 12-String

Post by UlricvonCatalyst » Wed May 27, 2020 3:05 am

javier-san wrote:
Tue May 26, 2020 10:46 pm
Got the Squier Venus XII...actually in pretty damn good condition. Not a scratch on it and barely any fret wear. It almost looks new.

One thing that does bother me. Someone who owned it previously changed two of the saddle/intonation screws from a phillip head interface to a allen head interface. While I don't particularly mind allen head screws (and actually prefer them overall!) they only changed two and changed them for ones that are too short. There is only about 1/4 thread engagement into the saddle. Now, as a machinist this bothers me to no end and would like to swap these for the appropriate length.

To save me the trouble of having to unthread these screws and take them to work (and potentially lose them in the process) and measure the thread tpi (if they are metric or not ,etc)...does anybody know what thread pitch and diameter these screws meant to be? Any help is greatly appreciated.
The Vistas were made in Japan, where they use the metric system, so they will be metric....unless the bridges were USA ones sent over to Fuji-Gen, which seems unlikely, but not impossible.

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Re: Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII 12-String

Post by SignoftheDragon » Wed May 27, 2020 9:04 am

UlricvonCatalyst wrote:
Wed May 27, 2020 3:05 am
The Vistas were made in Japan, where they use the metric system, so they will be metric....unless the bridges were USA ones sent over to Fuji-Gen, which seems unlikely, but not impossible.
There are small differences in size and hole placement between the Vista & early CIJ Strat XII hardware vs. the vintage US ones, so I'm sure they were a recreation, not old USA stock parts. Metric vs. standard though- I couldn't say.
Severed Hand wrote:
Sat May 23, 2020 5:42 pm
Are the Curtis Novak replacement XII pickups a major improvement? Or should I leave the original pickups in for a while? I can’t really tell how great the originals sound because the actions pretty high and the pickups are set low out of the box.
I do have experience with this though- I'd say with a good setup and proper placement, etc. the stock pickups are great in the ARXII. My LPB one is dead quiet on all switch positions and sounds great & sparkly- very responsive & versatile/usable in all switch/volume/tone knob variations.

On the other hand, My Texas Toast XII build with Novaks is maybe 5-10% more lively & sparkly. That might have to do with other components as well- the 4 way rotary switch gives another position (series, i believe) to mix in, and all USA grass-fed handcrafted awesomeness probably factors here as well. It is also nearly a full pound lighter (AND Fiesta Red, AND has a matching headstock!)

A/B comparison has the custom build edging out the Fender in every way, but not by much- get your ARXII set up nice, and it should take good care of you.

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