electric xii!
- MKR
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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- Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 9:06 am
- Location: Toronto. East end.
electric xii!
here's my new guitar. a lake placid blue alternate reality electric xii.
Back in december i bought myself a cheap epiphone 12 string acoustic that i really enoyed playing. Took a bit of time to adapt my playing style for a 12 string, but once it clicked, i began to pick it up more than my 6 string acoustic. I have always liked electric xii's. Carl Wilson with a xii always did it for me.
So these guitars were always on the wish list in the back of my mind. When i heard that fender was reissuing them i got pretty excited, but i never came across any in toronto. They were never listed for sale on long and mcquade's website. in general they seemed very ellusive.
well i lucked out and came across one and i must say i am VERY glad i did. Also thanks to the people who were recommending this model in my poll thread earlier. It was clearly the right decision.
my quick review is that it's an awesome instrument. build seems high end. pickups sound perfect. pots have a real smooth effect.. I really like the witch hat knobs (looking through a fender book i own, i can see that some early models came with the same knobs). Bridge seems great with lots of adjustability. Mine plays really well out of the store. I did a quick truss tighten and that did the trick. Action is good despite the E saddles being at their lowest... i might add a shim to give myself more wiggle room with the bridge height, but honestly the action is fine so i am not in a rush).
I love the neck. my 12 string acoustic has a huge neck. Very much a baseball bat and very wide. This neck feels so much more comfortable and basically feels like a normal electric 6 string. body shape, weight, everything is perfect and make this a very comfortable guitar to play. Also i will say that i don't mind the pau ferro neck at all. I hate the pale fretboards that are so common now with pau ferro, but this one doesn't seem too different from rosewood in person. it's a bit lighter, but it's close enough i am fooled.
All in all i can't recommend these xii's enough. for anyone who is thinking of adding a 12 string to their arsenal, do it!
Back in december i bought myself a cheap epiphone 12 string acoustic that i really enoyed playing. Took a bit of time to adapt my playing style for a 12 string, but once it clicked, i began to pick it up more than my 6 string acoustic. I have always liked electric xii's. Carl Wilson with a xii always did it for me.
So these guitars were always on the wish list in the back of my mind. When i heard that fender was reissuing them i got pretty excited, but i never came across any in toronto. They were never listed for sale on long and mcquade's website. in general they seemed very ellusive.
well i lucked out and came across one and i must say i am VERY glad i did. Also thanks to the people who were recommending this model in my poll thread earlier. It was clearly the right decision.
my quick review is that it's an awesome instrument. build seems high end. pickups sound perfect. pots have a real smooth effect.. I really like the witch hat knobs (looking through a fender book i own, i can see that some early models came with the same knobs). Bridge seems great with lots of adjustability. Mine plays really well out of the store. I did a quick truss tighten and that did the trick. Action is good despite the E saddles being at their lowest... i might add a shim to give myself more wiggle room with the bridge height, but honestly the action is fine so i am not in a rush).
I love the neck. my 12 string acoustic has a huge neck. Very much a baseball bat and very wide. This neck feels so much more comfortable and basically feels like a normal electric 6 string. body shape, weight, everything is perfect and make this a very comfortable guitar to play. Also i will say that i don't mind the pau ferro neck at all. I hate the pale fretboards that are so common now with pau ferro, but this one doesn't seem too different from rosewood in person. it's a bit lighter, but it's close enough i am fooled.
All in all i can't recommend these xii's enough. for anyone who is thinking of adding a 12 string to their arsenal, do it!
- sal paradise
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- bessieboporbach
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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Re: electric xii!
Congratulations! My story is very similar to yours, from the Carl Wilson part to the Toronto part. I got my Olympic White one a year ago (wish I could have had it in blue like yours!) and it's a delightful player. I agree that it feels pretty high end.
I do wish the pots had more of a taper to them. Easy fix though.
I do wish the pots had more of a taper to them. Easy fix though.
- SignoftheDragon
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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- Location: Utah, USA
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- SignoftheDragon
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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- Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 11:06 am
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Re: electric xii!
Always awesome to have a new Twelve-a-naut emerge! Great score- The LPB is my favorite of the options on these.
I have 2 of these (a white one and an LPB like yours) and am still quite happy with them 100% stock.
Welcome to the club- excited to see what you do with it!
I have 2 of these (a white one and an LPB like yours) and am still quite happy with them 100% stock.
Welcome to the club- excited to see what you do with it!
- jakeisjake
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Re: electric xii!
Awesome! They are great guitars.
I'm loving mine, too.
I'm loving mine, too.
If I was a byrd, I'd be mighty sore every time they shut the door and I don't think I'd sing...
- N0_Camping4U
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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- Location: Houston Texas
Re: electric xii!
Huge huge huge Beach Boys fan. Borderline obsessive. You can't nail that California Girls intro without a Fender XII
"I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again, at last. The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner, now I am the master."
- MKR
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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- Location: Toronto. East end.
Re: electric xii!
out of curiosity where did you get yours from?bessieboporbach wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 10:03 amCongratulations! My story is very similar to yours, from the Carl Wilson part to the Toronto part. I got my Olympic White one a year ago (wish I could have had it in blue like yours!) and it's a delightful player. I agree that it feels pretty high end.
I do wish the pots had more of a taper to them. Easy fix though.
- MKR
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 1727
- Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 9:06 am
- Location: Toronto. East end.
Re: electric xii!
MKR wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 6:13 pmout of curiosity where did you get yours from? I really don't understand how these weren't listed on L&M's website. They list a lot of stuff that's out of stock as it is...bessieboporbach wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 10:03 amCongratulations! My story is very similar to yours, from the Carl Wilson part to the Toronto part. I got my Olympic White one a year ago (wish I could have had it in blue like yours!) and it's a delightful player. I agree that it feels pretty high end.
I do wish the pots had more of a taper to them. Easy fix though.
help me rhonda is currently getting a lot of play around the living room.N0_Camping4U wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 5:52 pmHuge huge huge Beach Boys fan. Borderline obsessive. You can't nail that California Girls intro without a Fender XII
- bessieboporbach
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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Re: electric xii!
I had to order it from a store in Vancouver (Rufus Guitar Shop) via Reverb. This was in March 2020.MKR wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 6:13 pmout of curiosity where did you get yours from?bessieboporbach wrote: ↑Mon Jun 14, 2021 10:03 amCongratulations! My story is very similar to yours, from the Carl Wilson part to the Toronto part. I got my Olympic White one a year ago (wish I could have had it in blue like yours!) and it's a delightful player. I agree that it feels pretty high end.
I do wish the pots had more of a taper to them. Easy fix though.
- MKR
- PAT. # 2.972.923
- Posts: 1727
- Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 9:06 am
- Location: Toronto. East end.
Re: electric xii!
bessieboporbach wrote: ↑Tue Jun 15, 2021 3:42 pm
I had to order it from a store in Vancouver (Rufus Guitar Shop) via Reverb. This was in March 2020.
oh wow that's not the answer i was expecting. Pretty crazy that this was your best option for what should have been a more readily available guitar. It's not like Fender is some boutique manufacturer.
The availability of these here in canada has been really baffling. It's not like we're some small remote country which has a shortage of consumer goods.
I guess i really lucked out finding mine in the manner i did. I was going through the L&M website and there's a section for unique items specific to each store called "geargunter"- this is where they list used stuff and demo products. I was going through the stock at the store nearest my house and that's where i saw this listed. I waited for the lockdown to end and then i called to see if it was still there. Got to try it out at the store the first day the opened for in store shopping.
- Larry Mal
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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Re: electric xii!
Yeah, that was the right call. You can always get a Les Paul later. This isn't going to be around much.
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.
- bessieboporbach
- PAT. # 2.972.923
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Re: electric xii!
Nice! If I'd known there was one in Toronto, I probably would have snapped it up, lol. But no regrets -- the guys at Rufus took good care of me. But yeah, I agree that its insane L&M never formally set it up on their website. It's not like it was a surprise release -- it was announced six or seven months before it appeared. I'm sure they got a bunch in various stores across the country. Oh well.MKR wrote: ↑Tue Jun 15, 2021 6:24 pmbessieboporbach wrote: ↑Tue Jun 15, 2021 3:42 pm
I had to order it from a store in Vancouver (Rufus Guitar Shop) via Reverb. This was in March 2020.
oh wow that's not the answer i was expecting. Pretty crazy that this was your best option for what should have been a more readily available guitar. It's not like Fender is some boutique manufacturer.
The availability of these here in canada has been really baffling. It's not like we're some small remote country which has a shortage of consumer goods.
I guess i really lucked out finding mine in the manner i did. I was going through the L&M website and there's a section for unique items specific to each store called "geargunter"- this is where they list used stuff and demo products. I was going through the stock at the store nearest my house and that's where i saw this listed. I waited for the lockdown to end and then i called to see if it was still there. Got to try it out at the store the first day the opened for in store shopping.
I had been saving up for it for months and carefully watching Reverb listings for it dwindle down to nothing.
I'd be curious to know how many, in total, Fender made of these. Based on what I've seen online, it seems like the sunburst ones are the rarest.
- SignoftheDragon
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Re: electric xii!
I actually passed on 2 or 3 of these in sunburst early on in the run- now my OCD is kicking me for not having one of each color.
- hexes
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Re: electric xii!
congrats! i like the lake placid blue on these. there was a white one at a local GC. i drove home to grab my credit card and an amp to trade in and 2 hours later it was gone. i should have put a deposit down…