This 1960s Bartell St. George XK12 is one of John Frusciante’s lesser-known guitars. He mentioned it only once in an interview with Guitarist & Bass (FR) in March 2009, while discussing The Empyrean album. The guitar also appeared in a few photos taken at John’s home in the mid-2000s.
Specs
The Bartell St. George XK12 is a 12-string electric guitar designed by Paul Barth, who was one of the pioneers of the electric guitar. Before starting his own company, Barth worked as a designer for Rickenbacker, where he helped develop the first-ever electric guitar, the Rickenbacker “Frying Pan.” Frusciante’s guitar was made sometime between 1964 and 1968, during the period when Barth partnered with Ted Peckels to produce guitars under the Bartell brand.
The guitar is equipped with two single-coil pickups, a non-adjustable aluminum bridge, individual switches for the pickups, a phase switch, and control knobs for volume and tone.
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