I’ve just got myself this baby:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v118/turquoisemoleeater/guitars/StratocasterXII.jpg

It’s so nice to have a playable 12-er! I think the fact that it doesn’t have a wide fingerboard helps. (Actually, the American Standard Strat has a fingerboard which is wider at the nut by a whole millimetre!)

I’ve played Rickenbacker 12s before now, and they are indeed fabulous, but I didn’t have the budget for one of those. I don’t care, I’m very happy with this Strat XII from Fender Japan.

Here’s an oddity though… You’ll notice it’s a nice bright Candy Apple Red. According to the Fender website these Strat XII’s are only available in Sunburst, Lake Placid Blue or Burgundy Mist. And no, it’s not one of the earlier shorter-scale Strat XIIs (you can tell those at a glance by the HUGE bridge and the 22-fret neck). Possibly it’s a Japanese Fender that was not intended for export?…