A Love Letter to the Double-Neck Guitar

By Will Ingman

“Hotel California.” “Stairway to Heaven.” “Nothing Else Matters.” Besides tormenting Guitar Center employees across the country, these three songs all have one peculiar thing in common: the double-neck guitar. It’s gaudy, it’s cumbersome, and it’s quintessential to classic rockstar mystique. As unsung a hero as an instrument of its size can be, the double-neck guitar has taken up residency in a very special place in my heart, and I take personal offense to its perception as nothing more than a thousand-dollar gimmick. It’s a versatile, undervalued instrument, and it’s got something for everyone.     

Why two necks?

or three, or four, etc.

The double-neck instrument is, at its core, a supremely utilitarian concept. Want twelve-string shimmer and six-string leads on the same song? Get a Gibson EDS-1275. Thundering basslines and ‘60s style jangle? Get a Rickenbacker 4080. The sting of two single-coil pickups alongside the soft thump of a baritone guitar? Danelectro’s got you covered with the Jerry Jones signature Neptune Double-neck. Ultimately, the role of a double-neck instrument is to facilitate easier switching between two different guitars. That’s it. Article over. But, if you’ll allow me to indulge in a bit of creative speculation…

It’s a status symbol.

There is something indescribably cool about a classic-rock axeman with a thirteen-pound slab of concentrated sex appeal around their neck. It should be no surprise, then, that the double-neck guitar was at its apex when stage presence was just as important as technical skill. There’s no “double-neck guitar” sound the way there’s a fretless, or 12-string, or microtonal guitar sound, but there is most certainly a double-neck guitar look:Silk shirt, shoulder-length curly hair, bathed in enough stage-lights to start a brush fire. But, maybe you think $7,000 is too much money to cosplay a classic rockstar - a perfectly fair position to hold. Fortunately, style isn’t the only thing a double-neck guitar has to offer.

It’s a totally new creative landscape.

In addition to the pretty par-for-the-course “12-string chords and 6-string melody” you can wring out of any old double-neck, welding two guitars together opens up a whole new realm of sonic experimentation. 

Take, for example, shredster extraordinaire Michael Angelo Batio. As the guitarist for ‘80s glam-metal act Nitro, Batio sought a way to stand out in a genre defined by its extravagance and flair. So, like a sensible person, he retrofitted two guitars with a flight case latch, strapped them to each other by the body, and played one neck with either hand. Eventually, this already outlandish concept would gain an additional two necks, giving Batio a four-necked monstrosity that had to be mounted on a stand during concerts. Unfortunately, the four-neck guitar was stolen not long after it debuted, but Batio's other awe-inspiring ambidextrous axes still allowed him to play dueling melodic lines not possible on standard guitars. With his double-necks, Batio would set a gold standard for speed-metal that can still be heard in seedy butt-rock nightclubs across the country.

If Batio’s blistering speed isn’t your thing, you might be more interested in the double-double-neck madness employed by Japanese experimental metal group Boris. Integral to the band’s apocalyptic, thundering sonic assault is the fleet of bass + guitar double-necks wielded by member Takeshi Ohtani. Designed especially to handle low tuning, Ohtani’s dual-instrument double-necks let him effortlessly switch between rumbling bass and roaring guitar at will.  Playing in tandem with Ohtani is guitarist and keyboardist Wata, the next crucial ingredient to Boris’ chaotic cocktail of harsh noise. Wata, who alternates between playing guitar and keyboard can be seen at live performances using double-neck bass/guitars of her own, doubling up Ohtani’s bass parts or squaring off with him on guitar. For Boris, the double-neck is a multiplying factor for their abstract, ecstatic thrash - like passing sunlight through a magnifying glass. It’s the accelerant they throw onto an already raging fire, until it burns hot enough to melt the very definition of “metal” into a pitiful pile of slag.

For those who prefer a softer sound, the acoustic double-neck may offer more appeal. Custom-built for legendary country singer-songwriter Thom Bresh, the Langejans Super Dualette is a double-neck guitar by technicality. Rather than two parallel necks, it features two different instrument bodies joined at the back. With one steel-string acoustic guitar and one nylon-string classical guitar, Bresh can blend his world-class thumb-picking and the clarity of a mastercrafted acoustic by simply flipping his guitar around. It’s certainly not the most ergonomic solution, but the cumbersome nature of such an instrument has never seemed to bother Bresh - and the nine charting singles on the Billboard US country charts definitely don’t hurt. 

Double-neck guitars, quite simply, allow for certain creative choices that would not be possible without their extended range or sonic variation. But, with most things in the realm of music, style is often just as important as substance.

It’s an art piece.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the double-neck guitar is the way it toes the line between functional instrument and absurdist artwork. Even the most diehard double-neck aficionado can recognize its inherent strangeness. Guitar artists —guitartists?— took  underlying absurdity and ran with it, designing monsters from Rick Nielsen’s five-neck, to the “Rock Ock,” a 40-pound, eight-neck guitar and bass that’s outright unplayable without a ladder. Multi-neck purists call these “art guitars,” a stringed statement piece rather than something designed to see stage-play. It’s  an interesting division within a category of instrument already subject to ridicule. But, “art guitar” or vaudeville stage prop, the multi-neck instrument has never fully lost the initial outrageousness that made it stand out. 

Where can it go from here?

Surely, by now, humankind has reached the apex of multi-neck madness. We’ve put mandolins on basses, doubled-up ukuleles, and added so many necks to one guitar that it needs to be played with drumsticks. The only place left for the phenomenon to go is beyond the guitar. Lucky for us, it’s already there.   

Take, for example, the Guscott X-10 double-neck violin. A self-described “true testament to artistic freedom and boundless innovation”, the X-10 is effectively two five-string violins joined at the back. One neck spans the range of a violin and viola, while the other is pitched down and serves the role of a cello or even double bass. With a single instrument and some creative thinking, one violinist can play the roles of four stringed orchestra players. It’s a remarkable invention with an even more remarkable price tag, and may be the first step in a new golden age for the double-neck instrument. 

Joining the Guscott X-10 in an all-new class of double-neck instruments is the Ortega Hydra Double-Neck Ukulele, an instrument that does exactly what it says on the tin. Similar to the original double-neck guitar, the Hydra features one normal neck and one with doubled strings, letting the user add brilliant chords to their four-string ukulele passages. As a concept, the idea of two necks on a single instrument has spread beyond the limiting form of the guitar, and made itself a mainstay among creative luthiers and musicians with an experimental streak.

From noise-rockers to country stars, ukuleles to violins, the double-neck instrument has appreciators all across the musical spectrum. It’s got something for everyone: those after a more experimental sound will appreciate its complexity, while more utilitarian musicians will prefer it for its versatility. After all, when you’re trying to stand head-and-shoulders above your competition, it helps to have two necks.