Ricardo "Duo" antique/vintage doubleneck acoustic guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Unfortunately the eBay seller does not give us even an approximate date for this Ricardo doubleneck acoustic guitar but it does look to be quite old; it's certainly seen better days and had lots of use judging by the wear and tear, plus the cracks in the back.

When I first saw these pictures I thought that because the necks are mounted quite closely together that this would effectively be a harp guitar with the upper neck fitted with sub-bass strings meant for open playing only (i.e. not to be fretted). However, the seller tells us that the upper neck is actually intended for "steel" (or slide) playing and that the nut and bridge are higher on that side of the guitar (see the first photo above), allowing for a slide-friendly high action.

What we do know is that these Ricardo guitars were made by Edward Richardson and that this doubleneck is thought to be one of perhaps 20 such examples built. Richardson apparently claimed these were the first doubleneck guitars to share a single headstock (which, having seen many museum instruments, I can attest is almost definitely untrue). It may however have been the first doubleneck to incorporate a neck exclusively for slide playing.

Currently listed on eBay with a Starting price of US $650 and a Buy It Now price of US $1,250.

G L Wilson

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