Model 331/12 and Model 341/12--
Rickenbacker made a handful of light show
electric  twelve  string  guitars.  One  three
pickup   Model   341/12,  made   for   Roger
McGuinn  in  late  1970, was  just about  the
zaniest Rickenbacker ever.  It had the built-
in light show, twenty-two slanted frets, and
special Byrd wiring.                                    

                                                                       The instrument
proved unpredictable,  especially as a result of over-heating,
and has since been likened to playing a toaster with pickups.
Roger McGuinn had a special 12-string light-show guitar built
with slant frets  and three pickups,  which he  used for  ‘Eight
Miles High’ at the end of The Byrds’ shows in the early 1970s.
It was perhaps the most bizarre Rickenbacker ever made -- a
rare prize indeed, given the number of oddities that have been
made at the factory in Santa Ana.                                           

 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
Receives Byrds Collection 

 • A one-of-a-kind 12-string Rickenbacker guitar with psychedelic 
 lighting effects -- the lights in the guitar’s body would change
as different chords were played.  The guitar also has unique
slanted frets.  This guitar was used by McGuinn in the early
 '70s during encore performances of the song “8 Miles High.”

Press Release • Wednesday, January 25, 1995

SONIC TEMPLE
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Roger McGuinn coughed up two of his Rickenbacker
12-strings, including one with lights embedded in the
body that used to change colors in tune with the vary-
ing frequency of the notes played on the instrument.

Guitar World, October 1995, page 52
“Special Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Issue”