Mar 03 2009
Building a Stairway to Heaven with a Gibson EDS-1275 Double Neck Guitar
The Guitar That Made Double Neck Guitars Famous
Although the Gibson EDS-1275 double neck guitar was made famous by Jimmy Page, it was actually introduced in 1958 and until 1962 was a twin hollow-body guitar. The new design was based on the Gibson SG solid body electric guitar .
The EDS-1275 features two volume knobs and two tone knobs and a three-way pick-up selector switch, solid maple necks, and mahogany body. There is also a three-way neck selector switch that lets the guitarist switch from the 6-string to the 12-string or allow both necks to active simultaneously allowing the player to create sounds unthinkable in single neck electric guitar models. The EDS-1275 features 490R/498T Alnico II humbuckers.
Gibson has released the custom Jimmy Page Signature double neck that replicates his own 1971 model. The Signature double neck is based on the 1962 model but its necks are tapered. It is available in two colors: Alpine White and Heritage Cherry. There were 250 of these guitars made along with 25 Limited Edition Aged Double Necks. All guitars come with certificate of authenticity, custom guitar case, custom care kit, the 2-DVD Led Zeppelin box set, and private interview with Jimmy Page in which he talks about the Double Neck. Both necks of each of the 25 Limited Edition Double Neck guitars are signed by Page.
The Gibson EDS-1275 Double Neck guitar is hand-made in Nashville. The non-Limited EDS-1275 double neck guitars sell for about $3200. A Limited Edition Double Neck guitar comes with an MSRP of cool $33,500, or slightly less than the cost of building a stairway to Heaven.
So I don’t know much about Double neck guitars and I’m a bit confused. It says the switch turns both necks (pickups I assume) on. Is there any trouble with feedback or noise if one set of pickups is on but not being used? Also, how does turning on both necks at the same time make unthinkable sounds if you can only play one at a time. I mean I understand the difference between the 12 and 6 string variation but ultimately they are still two independent necks that can only be played one at a time. Lastly, how much does a standard SG double neck guitar weigh?
I’m just curious, that’s all. There is not that many blogs or double neck players out there.
Hi Powerslave,
I left out (and have now included in my post) that the guitar has a three-way neck selector switch so you can have one neck or both necks activated.
I don’t actually own one of these guitars (I’m a lefty so I have no shot at one of these), but I’ve read that they can pick up outside frequencies. How true is that? I don’t know. Probably rumor. As far as feedback from the unactivated pickups, I haven’t read any complaints about that. Some people complain about the selector switch, the weight, how the 12-string sounds distorted, etc.
Now when both necks are activated, then obviously both can produce sound. So you could let open strings reverberate on one neck while playing the other, or when when you play a D note on one neck, the open D string on the other neck to ring. Then you have one neck on say the bridge pickup and the other on the neck pickup. Lots of possibilities.
As for weight, I haven’t found any specs that include weight, but I’ve found people saying it gets heavy after a while or the weight balance could be better. Given an SG weight in the neighborhood of 5 pounds, the EDS must weigh at least 10 pounds.