Image: Eden, Janine and Jim from New York City, CC BY 2.0 — via Wikimedia Commons

Gibson EDS-1275

Category	Strings
Country of origin	United States
Classification	electric guitar, multi-neck guitar
Wikipedia	en.wikipedia.org
Wikidata	Q608223

Editorial note: The Gibson EDS-1275 is a specific guitar model, not a generic instrument category. This page documents that model and links to the broader electric guitar category. WP publication is recommended subject to CEO review.

Overview

The Gibson EDS-1275 is a double-neck solid-body electric guitar with a 12-string upper neck and a 6-string lower neck on a single SG-style body. Introduced by Gibson in 1958 and re-introduced in modified form in 1962, it became one of the most visually iconic guitars in rock through its association with Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, who used it from the early 1970s onward to perform songs such as Stairway to Heaven and The Song Remains the Same live without changing instruments mid-piece.

Origin & History

Gibson introduced the EDS-1275 in 1958 as part of a small family of double-neck instruments designed for studio and stage musicians who needed two distinct guitar voices in the same song. The original 1958 model had a hollow body with carved arched top, but the design was reissued in 1962 with the SG-style solid body that has been standard ever since.

The instrument was a niche product through the 1960s. Its rock-music breakthrough came when Jimmy Page ordered a custom EDS-1275 in 1971 to perform Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven live, where the song’s structure required both 12-string acoustic-like accompaniment and 6-string solo lead playing. Don Felder of the Eagles followed with his use of the same model on Hotel California. Other notable players have included Steve Howe of Yes, John McLaughlin, and Pete Townshend.

Design Features

The EDS-1275’s distinguishing features include:

Two necks on a single body – a 12-string upper neck and a 6-string lower neck
SG-style mahogany body (since the 1962 redesign), with characteristic deep cutaways
Two pickups per neck – four humbucking pickups in total
Three-way pickup selector for each neck, plus a switch to choose between necks
24-fret necks, set into the body
Significant weight — typically 5.5–6 kg, much heavier than a single-neck SG

Cultural Significance

The EDS-1275 is one of the most visually recognisable rock guitars of all time, owing primarily to Page’s stage use of it during Led Zeppelin’s 1970s tours and to its appearance in the band’s 1976 concert film The Song Remains the Same. It has come to symbolise the ambitious, multi-section composition of 1970s progressive and arena rock. Despite its visual fame, it remains a niche instrument because of its weight, expense, and the limited number of songs that genuinely require both necks at once.