Comb String Converter

This Rickenbacker “innovation” gave players the option of either six strings or 12 strings on one guitar. This was relatively short-lived and was available on Rickenbacker 366-12, 336-12, and 456-12 models from roughly 1966 to 1968. A hooked comb is attached to a fairly long lever on the upper bout of the 12-string guitar. The lever allows the player to use the comb to “hook” and then pull down the extra six strings so that the guitar could be played as a six-string. Unfortunately, it looked awful on any guitar it was installed on, thus partially explaining its relatively short run. While the String Converter did move the extra six strings away from the picking area, the left hand still had to contend with the extra six strings, making it difficult to play certain chords and nearly impossible to bend a string at all.