I heard "On The Beach" recently and was reminded of how well-recorded it was - for me, it's a much tougher, in-your-face sound than some of their previous records. Brian's drums are really upfront, there's some really deep bass coming through at certain points (was this Licorice playing?) and of course the rich sound of the Burns Double Six.
Now here's the thing. I had always assumed that Hank's use of the Double Six was influenced in some way by George Harrison's use of the Rickenbacker 360-12 on 'A Hard Day's Night'. I was therefore surprised to read that the songs for Wonderful Life were recorded in November 1963 and there is a separate posting on this forum which states that Hank acquired the Double Six before the Burns Marvin went into production. I wonder if it was to enable him to play Don't Talk To Him live - I've always heard that riff as being two 6-strings playing an octave apart.
I'm probably stating something very obvious here so please be a bit patient with me but it seems that Hank should really get some credit as a pioneer of the electric 12 string in the UK. It's just unfortunate that 'On The Beach' came out in the UK after 'A Hard Day's Night'.
(I almost bought a reissue Double Six once - incredible sound but such a formidable guitar in terms of size and weight. I have an Eastwood Sidejack baritone that is almost comparable in size!)