Terminology: Byrd Wiring

Let’s be clear right up front: we’re NOT talking about the onboard effects found on the 1988-1990 Roger McGuinn Signature Limited Edition 370/12RM. That’s a different story altogether—click the link thingy if you want the details on that. This is about the original “Byrd Wiring,” a factory option quietly started offered in 1966.

It wasn’t on the official price list, but enough players asked for it that the factory kinda shrugged and said “sure, why not?” So what the heck was it and why were people asking for it?

1967 370/12 Byrd

Even though we’re not talking about the Roger McGuinn 370/12RM, this story is all about McGuinn—who went by “Jim” at the time—and the very distinctive sound he got out of his Rickenbacker 12-string.

McGuinn started as a banjo player—a pretty good one, actually—and when he switched to guitar he naturally translated banjo-style three-finger rolls to the electric guitar. He also wanted to replicate the banjo’s sharp, articulate tone. When he heard George Harrison’s 1963 360/12 on A Hard Day’s Night, he knew he’d found the sound he’d been looking for. Like many at the time, he was a little disappointed that the new round-top 360/12s in the shops didn’t look like Harrison’s, but it sounded like it and that was good enough.

McGuinn with his 1964 360/12

His first Rickenbacker was a 1964 360/12. And even though it was close to the sound in his head, it wasn’t quite all the way there. Massive studio compressors helped him get it there, but he couldn’t take that expensive studio gear on the road. So he started tinkering with the guitar so he could recreate the unique chime on songs like “Turn, Turn, Turn” and “Hey Mister Tambourine Man” live.

That first 360/12 got stolen in February, 1966 so he ordered a replacement from Rickenbacker with a list of modifications to be performed. He wanted a third pickup, but funnily enough he had to order another 360/12 with an extra pickup added by the factory as there was no official 370/12 model at the time. Indeed, without McGuinn there very likely never would have been!

Invoice for McGuinn’s second 360/12

You’ll also note on the invoice a “pickguard with special wiring”. So what made it so special? Let’s break it down. Here’s the controls of an unmolested 1966 370/12 Byrd that replicated McGuinn’s request:

1967 370/12 Byrd control layout

Four knobs, two switches. Wel’ll cover the knobs first. The “top” knob in the picture is a master volume. The “bottom” knobs are individual volume knobs for each pickup, left to right being bridge, middle, and neck. So no tone knobs at all! Let’s look at the backside…that’s where it gets really interesting.

Byrd wiring harness

That huge Switchcraft switch closest to the knobs—the “top” switch in the previous picture—is a three-way pickup selector. But all it allows you to do is select each pickup individually—the guitar has no “multi-pickup” mode.

The switch with the capacitors on it is where the real magic happens. The two capacitors are a .02µF high pass filter and .047µF high pass filter—the latter being the same as found on a “normal” tone knob. A high pass filter does exactly what it sounds like—it only allows signal ABOVE a certain frequency to “pass”. People sometimes mistakenly call this a “treble boost” filter, but it’s really a “bass cut” filter.

So in position one on the three way switch, nothing happens. The raw signal from the pickup just passes through. Now nobody would ever accuse a toaster of being dark or muddy, but in this position the pickup is as dark as it gets.

In the middle position the .047µF capacitor is fully engaged. This is what YOUR toaster pickups sound like with the tone knob turned to 10–it’s as bright as YOU can make it.

In position three the .02µF capacitor is engaged. Almost all of the lows are being filtered out at this point—it’s brighter than the sun! Welcome to maximum jangle.

Enough dealers called saying their customers wanted a guitar that sounded exactly like the one on those Byrds records that the factory just kinda said “why not”? If F.C. could make a buck, he would do it! And so starting in 1966 you could have your dealer put in a custom order for “Byrd” wiring for your three pickup (and it HAD to be three pickup!) guitar.

1967 370/12OS Byrd

But by 1968 the Byrds’ sound had moved on. McGuinn’s rig had evolved, and fewer players were chasing the jangle. As demand dried up, the factory quietly stopped offering the Byrd wiring option—although they made more for McGuinn in 1970 when he asked, obviously! One offs appeared up until 1972, but at some point it just stopped being a thing that you could do. Which is exactly what makes it so interesting!

1966 370/12 Byrd

Byrd wiring was never a model, never a catalog feature, and never something Rickenbacker tried to standardize. It came from a brief moment when a very specific player, chasing a very specific sound, pushed the factory to say “sure, why not?”—and for a couple of years, they did.

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