Gibson Double Neck Gutiars

Jimmy Page with Gibson EDS-1275

Whenever I think of Gibson double neck guitars, the first thing that comes to mind is Jimmy Page's EDS-1275, which had a six and a twelve string neck.

17th Century
multi neck guitar

However, multi neck guitars have been in existence since the 17th century.

1937 Gibson ESH-150

In fact Gibson guitars started making double neck electric guitars with a “Spanish” style neck as early as 1937. This was their ESH-150 double neck, and it had a six string Spanish style neck on top, nearest the performer, and an eight string lap steel, on the lower neck.

1937 Gibson ESH-150

Both necks came with one “Charlie Christian” pickup for each neck. Gibson had developed an electromagnetic pickup in 1935 (the now-famous "bar pickup", named for its shape), which was initially factory-installed only on lap steel guitar (EH) models, then offered as an accessory and finally installed on acoustic guitars (the L-00 and L-1 models).

Charlie Christian did not begin using his Gibson ES-150 with the "Charlie Christian" pickup until 1939.

Junior Brown and his Guit-Steel

This guitar is reminiscent of Junior Brown’s Guit-Steel made by luthier Michael Stevens. (Brown’s original Guit-Steel utilized a Fender neck from a 1981 Fender Bullet guitar.)  I wonder if Brown got the inspiration from the Gibson ESH-150?

Gibson did not make any further multi-neck electric instruments until 1957. These included the Gibson EMS-1235, the EDS-1275, and the EBS-1250.  All of the semi-hollow models were were produced until 1963.  Later models featured solid bodies.

1959 Gibson
EMS-1275 Mandolin

The EMS model had an eight string mandolin neck on the upper section, and a six string guitar neck on the lower section. To accommodate the differing scales the upper cutaway was remarkably shorter than the lower cutaway. This instrument came with one PAF humbucker for the mandolin, and two for the guitar.

1959 Gibson EMS-1275 Octave

Another variant on the EMS-1275 was pairing it with an octave neck, which featured a short neck with six strings on the top that was tuned an octave above the lower neck, which was on the instruments lower side. This was most likely the most popular version of this instrument.

Perhaps the most unusual, and rare variant was a tenor with a banjo neck.

An even rarer find is the EMS-1235 with a 12 string mandolin neck.

All of the EMS-1235 instruments had double cutaway bodies with Florentine cutaways on each side. The bound maple bodies, bound on both sides, were arched, and of course the necks were set-in. The fret boards were bound. The guitars came with dual  PAF humbucking pickups for the guitar neck, and generally a single humbucking pickup for the mandolin/banjo neck. Occasionally of few of these guitars have surfaced with P-90 pickups.

1959 EMS-1275
with Bigsby

These guitars came with or without a Bigsby vibrato unit on the lower six string guitar section.The bodies of the guitars were semi-hollow, but did not feature any “F” holes.

Semie Mosley with
1954 Mosrite triple neck

I have to give Semie Moseley a nod for being Gibson’s inspiration. Moseley was making double and even triple neck guitars as early as 1954.

Joe Maphis with his Mosrite guitar

This was about the time he presented Joe Maphis with his first Mosrite double neck, which featured an octave neck, and a regular guitar neck. He also made another for Larry Collins.

1959 EDS-1275

The Gibson EDS-1275 was also created in 1957, and offered in the catalog in 1958. This instrument featured a twelve string neck on the upper section, and a six string neck on the lower section. Each section came with two humbucking pickups.

Generally both necks featured a stop tailpiece. This was a semi-hollow electric guitar, which made it lighter, weighing around 10.5 pounds.

If you look at the body shape of these instruments, you can tell where the idea for the SG shape originated. In fact the SG style was introduced by Gibson in 1962.

Jimmy Page's Gibson EDS-1275

The 1962-63 EMS-1235, and the EDS-1275 were now solid body guitars. The most recognizable is the EDS-1275 that was used by a number of artists, most notably Jimmy Page of Led Zepplin.

1971 EMS-1235

Both the solid EMS-1235, and the EDS-1275 were available with Sunburst, Cherry, Black, White, Pelham Blue, Walnut, or Natural finishes.

The headstock came with a Black veneer with several differing logos, from flower pot, to none at all.

Unusual EMS-1235
Mandolin and Tenor Guitar

The EDS-1275 and the EMS-1235 available until 1969, but due to the popularity from Page and others, they were offered again in 1971.

1964 EBS-1250

In 1964 Gibson introduced the EBS-1250, and the EBSF-1250 double neck guitars. These were solid body bass/guitar double neck instruments. There is at least one EBS-1250 made in 1961.

Gibson had featured an earlier model, that had an unusual shape. However the 1966 models featured the SG shape.

1965 EBS-1250 with a
six string bass. Owned by Elvis

The upper bass neck featured only one pickup, which was the same one found on Gibson’s EB-3 bass guitar.

1964 Custom EBS-1250
 by Gibson designer Jim Ramage

The lower section was the six string guitar with twin humbucking pickups, and a Bigsby vibrato unit.

Gibson EBSF-1250

The only difference between the EBS, and the EBSF was the addition of a built-in Gibson fuzztone unit. Gibson had introduced this feature into some of their EB-3 bass gutars as early has 1966. These double neck instruments were offered through 1970.

These instruments are quite rare, since only around 30 instruments were produced.

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