douBLe The Fun

I’ve been a fan of Rush since the age of 15 or so and one of the first singles I ever bought was Tom Sawyer (Live) which had Alex and Geddy pictured on stage with their doubleneck guitars on the picture sleeve. Ever since I’ve hankered for a doubleneck myself, coming close on one occasion but never taking the plunge. Everyone I speak to either sees them as some kind of monster from the dark days of prog, or bemoans the hassle of tuning a 12-string. I don’t ever recall seeing a feature on doublenecks in Guitarist, so how about a round up of what is available, and for you guys to give your expert opinion on their versatility (or lack of) and any technical issues? Looking at the market there are a variety of doublenecks out there, for example the 6/12 Gibson/Epiphone – classic Page/Lifeson/Eagles – plus the Gretsch 6/6 baritone, plus 6/4 lead/bass, electrics, acoustics, etc. I think it would make a really interesting article. Dave Leask, via email Nice idea Dave, and just to go one better we should add that our resident bass brain Roger Newell sported a tripleneck bass when he played in Rick Wakeman’s band – sadly no longer in his possession. In the meantime, check out the pic of an unusual Gibson doubleneck in Steve Howe’s famous guitar collection – prog, moi?