The Smiley Smile Message Board

So, is that a 12-string Carl is playing, or a 6-string on which he is playing the same notes on the B and high-E strings?
12-string electrics had begun to flood the marketplace in mid-'64, but it doesn't seem that Carl acquired his Rickenbacker-12 until that fall, or August at the earliest. I don't believe the Fender electric 12-string was on the market until that December. It seems that Carol Kaye is playing a semi-hollowbody electric 12 on the '63 version of "Back Home", to they definitely existed prior to '64 - I think it's been said Maton was making them as early as '61? But what's the verdict regarding it's use on "DHMLS"?

Found this:

Fender took the idea seriously, and the Electric XII was a smartly designed, well-built and entirely new instrument. It was introduced in June 1965, four months after CBS ownership of Fender took effect and just as the Byrds’ jangly “Mr. Tambourine Man” single and album were topping the charts and ushering in the folk-rock boom (Gene Clark played a Firemist Gold prototype model when the CBS-signed Byrds played the song on the May 11, 1965, episode of NBC’s Hullabaloo; only the group’s second televised performance and, ironically, one of the very few times Clark was seen holding a guitar instead of a tambourine).  

Source: http://www2.fender.com/experience/guitarchive/fender-12-string-electrics/

As for your question, it sounds like a 12-string to me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWPoRjeZWEM

And, I just contacted a saxophonist friend and he assures me that the sax on "Kiss Me Baby" is a bari.

One more thing: reading your and Alan Smith's discussion of "GTMB", take 9, Alan mentioned the possibility of a nickname for the mystery word. Seems Billy Strange was known as Batman (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0833350/bio). No idea whether this helps.

Thanks - so, I guess Carl must've gotten ahold of a Fender XII prototype in late '64 or early '65 (after his first Rick was stolen in Omaha), and that's what he's seen holding on page 27 of the Preiss book?

Have to enter in, Carl told me one of his guitar's was found in a pawn shop. Thought is was the one you're speaking of.  In Nebraska, after a Hell of a storm, Carl handed me one of his Guitar's and prayed it would make it's way back to the vehicle.  High wind's , rain and mud the trip was made.  It was just fun having it in my hands.

That almost sounds like the big rain and hail storm of '89 (Beach Boys/Chicago tour), outside Lincoln. The storm brought an early end to Chicago's set, and my buddy and I spent the night in my car, stuck in a sea of mud with a few hundred or so other vehicles, waiting to be towed out.

c-man, yes at the speedway, what a mess! The clay field and all the rain, a farmer was pulling car's out for day's after I was told.  Bruce said the guys made some sort of t-shirt about the mess.  Many things were ruined. 

Carl had an early prototype of the Fender XII at least as early as December 30, 1964, when this photo was taken:

(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c312/donnylang/1391609558018-Beach-boys-65-9_zpsc74cf573.jpg)

Carl's particular XII is notably different than the standard models that followed, which weren't on the market until mid-late 1965. Most noticeable differences on the prototype are the Mustang-style switching (compared to the "Chicken-knob" on the standard version), the higher string tree, and the pre-'64 style "Fender" logo without model name designation.

Note the differences on Carl's compared to an early stock model (my own guitar, with a neck date of November '65) shown below:

(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c312/donnylang/xii_zpsqvpa6rnx.jpg)

Listening closely, I'm not sure it's a real 12-string on "Don't Hurt My Little Sister". Almost sounds like a 6-string overdubbed twice.

I hear one lead guitar on the basic track, with each of its notes doubled (you can hear this on each of the 18 takes), and then one overdub to double this.
So the question is, are the doubled notes on each track being played on a pair of 12-string strings, or on two consecutive strings of a 6-string?