EKO Cobra XII - Offset 12 String Electric - Mid 60s

Discussion of vintage Jazzmasters, Jaguars, Bass VIs, Electric XIIs and any other offset-waist instruments.
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mikefiction
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EKO Cobra XII - Offset 12 String Electric - Mid 60s

Post by mikefiction » Mon Jan 27, 2020 10:38 am

Mid 1960s EKO Cobra XII twelve string electric. I’ve had this for a few years, picked it up for a song.

It needs some fretwork at this point and I’m not sure I love the black pickguard, it looks better in this photo than real life.
The pickups are microphonic and the neck pickup sounds like it has 3 blankets over it.
The bottom switch doesn’t seem to do anything.

I’m going to get this turned into a guitar that’s a pleasure to play again.

Overall not bad for a guitar that’s close to 60 years old.

Does anyone have a wiring schematic for this? Or know what the bottom switch is supposed to do? It's a 2 position toggle switch (the top 4 position rotary switch is the pickup selector)

Image
Last edited by mikefiction on Mon Jan 27, 2020 1:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
OFFSETS:
Fender American Original '60s Jazzmaster - Ocean Turquoise
Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII - Lake Placid Blue
Fender MIM Mustang - Shell Pink
Fender MIM Jazz Bass - Sunburst
Squier Bass VI - Sunburst

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Re: EKO Cobra XII - Offset 12 String Electric - Mid 60s

Post by Wil_66 » Mon Jan 27, 2020 1:41 pm

The bottom switch supposedly emulates the sound of an acoustic guitar... I can't find any information on how it works though.

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Re: EKO Cobra XII - Offset 12 String Electric - Mid 60s

Post by mikefiction » Mon Jan 27, 2020 2:27 pm

Maybe it’s a series/parallel switch like the Fender electric XII?
Wil_66 wrote:
Mon Jan 27, 2020 1:41 pm
The bottom switch supposedly emulates the sound of an acoustic guitar... I can't find any information on how it works though.
OFFSETS:
Fender American Original '60s Jazzmaster - Ocean Turquoise
Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII - Lake Placid Blue
Fender MIM Mustang - Shell Pink
Fender MIM Jazz Bass - Sunburst
Squier Bass VI - Sunburst

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Re: EKO Cobra XII - Offset 12 String Electric - Mid 60s

Post by mikefiction » Mon Jan 27, 2020 5:59 pm

So I'm also thinking of having a celluloid tort guard made to replace the black, I know it's not vintage correct for this guitar, but I'll keep the old pickguard if I ever wanted to change it back.

I made some photoshop renders to see what the change would look like.

ORIGINAL:
Image

WHAT I'M THINKING (This is not the real tort, just an example tort):
Image

What do you folks think?
OFFSETS:
Fender American Original '60s Jazzmaster - Ocean Turquoise
Fender Alternate Reality Electric XII - Lake Placid Blue
Fender MIM Mustang - Shell Pink
Fender MIM Jazz Bass - Sunburst
Squier Bass VI - Sunburst

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Re: EKO Cobra XII - Offset 12 String Electric - Mid 60s

Post by Singlebladepickup » Mon Jan 27, 2020 6:10 pm

Hell yea, that looks awesome. Do the tort

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Re: EKO Cobra XII - Offset 12 String Electric - Mid 60s

Post by Wil_66 » Mon Jan 27, 2020 6:46 pm

mikefiction wrote:
Mon Jan 27, 2020 2:27 pm
Maybe it’s a series/parallel switch like the Fender electric XII?
Wil_66 wrote:
Mon Jan 27, 2020 1:41 pm
The bottom switch supposedly emulates the sound of an acoustic guitar... I can't find any information on how it works though.
Could be, if you take the pickguard off and take pics (assuming the wiring is original) I'm sure someone could identify what's going on under the hood

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Re: EKO Cobra XII - Offset 12 String Electric - Mid 60s

Post by Wil_66 » Mon Jan 27, 2020 6:47 pm

BTW, I do like the tort, but the black is my favorite... Looking forward to seeing this guitar get the TLC it deserves!

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Re: EKO Cobra XII - Offset 12 String Electric - Mid 60s

Post by surfin_bird » Thu Jan 30, 2020 2:00 pm

Hi,
I had one of these and I think I sold it to a friend now. (He didn't return it yet.)
It sounds like your and mine sound like it was intended. The switch barely did something for me and the neck pickup was extremely "Weak".
I did like it a lot when I had both pickups on.

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Re: EKO Cobra XII - Offset 12 String Electric - Mid 60s

Post by Pacafeliz » Sun Feb 02, 2020 12:22 am

Oh wow I had completely forgotten that I also used to own one of these. Can't exactly remember why, but I remember I hated it for some reason. ???
i love delay SO much ...that i procrastinate all the time.

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Re: EKO Cobra XII - Offset 12 String Electric - Mid 60s

Post by surfin_bird » Sun Feb 02, 2020 12:44 am

Pacafeliz wrote:
Sun Feb 02, 2020 12:22 am
Oh wow I had completely forgotten that I also used to own one of these. Can't exactly remember why, but I remember I hated it for some reason. ???
Probably the neck pickup (it almost sounds acoustic) and the necks are quite wide but also thin, I like that but I like all those skinny Japanese and European 60's necks.
Still not a bad guitar but it they made some funny decisions when designing it. I do miss it but I have an other 12 string I enjoy more. (And how much do you really play a 12 string in reality that one need two?)

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Re: EKO Cobra XII - Offset 12 String Electric - Mid 60s

Post by mgeek » Tue Feb 04, 2020 8:34 am

I tried one of these without plugging it in and thought it played brilliantly. Nice and light too. Shame if the pickups are a bit duff- a problem with loads of Eko gear I think. That said...imo electric 12s are best suited for one particular (trebly and jangly) sound, so lots of stuff you'd seek in general guitar pickups doesn't really apply. I've never used the neck pickup on my electric 12 for anything really, may as well not have one ;)

Maurice Gibb seemed to like his!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcS-PNTFq5A

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Re: EKO Cobra XII - Offset 12 String Electric - Mid 60s

Post by SignoftheDragon » Tue Feb 11, 2020 3:39 pm

surfin_bird wrote:
Sun Feb 02, 2020 12:44 am
Still not a bad guitar but it they made some funny decisions when designing it. I do miss it but I have an other 12 string I enjoy more. (And how much do you really play a 12 string in reality that one need two?)
Biiitch, pleeease!
Image

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Re: EKO Cobra XII - Offset 12 String Electric - Mid 60s

Post by SignoftheDragon » Tue Feb 11, 2020 3:41 pm

And i use the neck PU on all of mine about 75% of the time.

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