Overview: The 1993Plus

Inspired by, not a reproduction

Quick: picture a prominent Rickenbacker 12-string player from the 1960s with their guitar. Got it? Odds are you pictured George Harrison striking that first chord to “A Hard Day’s Night” on a 360/12 or Roger McGuinn fingerpicking his way through “Turn! Turn! Turn!” on a 370/12. But for a handful of you—myself included—it’s Pete Townshend brandishing a Rose Morris 1993 like a weapon.

Pete Townshend with 1964 1993 prototype/360/12 Export

“That’s not a 1993!” you say. “It has triangle inlays!” Well, you’re partially right. It’s the prototype for the 1993 (click to learn more)—effectively a 360/12 like Harrison’s, but with a Rose Morris f-hole—and it would be the first of several 1993s for Townshend. These guitars can be heard across The Who’s earliest recordings—most notably “I Can’t Explain”, the band’s first single. As for what became of them…well, you probably know the answer to that.

Townshend with damaged Rickenbackers (1964 prototype far left)

Why all the focus on Pete Townshend? Because without him there is no 1993Plus. But before we get there, we need to take a quick look at the original 1993. Developed with and for Rose Morris and produced from 1964 to 1965, the original version (internal designation 330S/12) featured a bound body, an unbound neck with dot markers, two pickups, a trapeze tailpiece on early examples and an “R” tailpiece on later ones, and of course the distinctive Rose Morris f-hole.

Original 1965 Rose Morris 1993

With only 100 produced—and at least a few of them meeting an untimely end—an original 1993 is an exceptionally rare and valuable guitar today. It has long ranked near the top of many collectors’ reissue wish lists, no production reissue has ever appeared apart from a special order of twelve for Sam Ash in 1987 (click to learn more) and a handful of one-offs. None were “exact” reproductions.

Which brings us to the 1993Plus. While the finer details of its development aren’t completely documented, the broad story seems clear. Although Townshend has only used a Rickenbacker 12-string on stage very sporadically since the mid-1960s, he appears to have retained a soft spot for those early Rose Morris guitars. So in 2014, John Hall and Alan Rogan—Townshend’s longtime guitar tech and a fellow 1993 enthusiast—developed a guitar to meet Townshend’s own specifications: his idealized version of the Rose Morris 1993.

Townshend with 1993 in 1981 “Don’t Let Go the Coat” music video

Which is exactly why it isn’t an exact 1993 reissue. It incorporates three significant departures from the original design, each tailored to Townshend’s preferences.

The body uses the same template as the 360/12C63, complete with binding and x-bracing. The only obvious difference is the Rose Morris f-hole in place of the standard cat’s-eye/slash soundhole. Most of the hardware and plastics also carry over unchanged, with two exceptions. First, because the 1993Plus is neither a vintage or reissue model, it uses modern Schaller-style strap locks instead of vintage reeded edge strap buttons. Second—and this is Townshend spec No. 1—it gains a third pickup.

2015 1993Plus

Why? Because Townshend’s first—and by all accounts favorite—Rose Morris model was the three-pickup 1998—the same guitar that inspired his 1987 1998PT Signature Limited Edition (click to learn more). It is said he bought one of the first five to arrive in the UK in 1964—and several more followed.

Funnily enough, one of the rejected Rose Morris proposals was a three pickup 12-string that would have been carried the model number 1994. Seems like a missed opportunity.

Pete Townshend Signature Limited Edition 1998PT

The second Townshend change was the bound neck and triangle inlays his first “1993” had sported. I put 1993 in quotation marks because the official factory designation for that one-of-kind guitar was actually a 360/12 Export. Built as the prototype for the upcoming 1993, it was sent to Rose Morris for approval in early 1964. Rose Morris ultimately rejected the neck binding and triangle inlays to help keep costs down.

Instead, the guitar ended up hanging on the wall of Jim Marshall’s shop where Townshend bought it—his first 12-string—on an installment plan in mid-1964. Sadly that one-of-a-kind guitar can be seen on the far left side of the photo of destroyed Rickenbackers above.

Townshend with 1964 360/12 Export/1993 prototype

The final Townshend spec was the neck itself. Traditional Rickenbacker 12-string necks have long been criticized for their narrow width, and apparently Townshend agreed. As a result, the 1993Plus received the 1/8-inch wider neck first introduced on the Tom Petty Signature Limited Edition 660/12TP (click to learn more) and now standard on the 660/12. It also features a more modern 10-inch fingerboard radius instead of the vintage 7.25-inch radius found on the 360/12C63.

And so the 1993Plus was born.

2019 1993Plus

Fun fact: the 1993Plus is the only full-scale semi-hollowbody guitar in the lineup to feature a two-piece maple neck, like the 660/12, instead of the traditional three-piece maple/walnut/maple neck.

The 1993Plus initially received a mixed reception. Collectors hoping for a faithful 1993 reissue were disappointed by its deliberate departures from the original, while the wider neck wasn’t to every traditionalist’s taste. But as players came to understand what it was—a vintage-inspired 12-string with modern playability—it found its audience. In fact, over the decade since its introduction, the 1993Plus has outsold both the 330/12 and the 360/12C63.

There have been very few changes to the 1993Plus since its introduction. The manufacturer of the “Ric Deluxe” Kluson-style tuners has changed a couple of times, but otherwise the specs and components have remained essentially unchanged. There was a “Santa Ana Skyglo” special run (click to learn more) in 2016, along with a handful of one-off customs such as a purple one for Little Steven Van Zandt. Otherwise, the 1993Plus has quietly continued doing exactly what it was designed to do.

Little Steven with custom 1993Plus

As far as the man the guitar was designed for, his signature Fender Stratocaster remains Townshend’s live go-to. But when The Who digs deep into the back catalog for songs like “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere” that originally featured a 1993, there’s a 1993Plus waiting in the rack for just that occasion.

Townshend with 1993Plus, 2023

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