Acoustics - 6 or 12 strings?

[nosajwp]

For you guys who play acoustics, do you prefer 6 strings or 12? I love the sound of a 12'er, but I'm afraid the extra 6 might get in the way when I want to pick or pluck. Are 12'ers mostly for strumming, or can you pick and pluck them with practice?

[texasdave]

For you guys who play acoustics, do you prefer 6 strings or 12? I love the sound of a 12'er, but I'm afraid the extra 6 might get in the way when I want to pick or pluck. Are 12'ers mostly for strumming, or can you pick and pluck them with practice?

You can do it all... Kirby Kelley even plays slide on a 12-string... You can even finger pick 'em...

Seems like Martin or someone recently (or was it an aftermarket deal) did a guitar that just had an extra string at the third string...so it was 6-string with octave on the G...it was pretty cool to hear how much of the "12 string sound" was suggested by that one extra string.

Of all the guitars I've traded out and sold in the last 15 years, the only one I'd REALLY like back was a beast of a Martin D-12-20. 1971, 12 frets to the body 12 string. I was funding what became my main acoustic for several years, but selling that one was a mistake.

[marks]

You can attempt to do most things with 12 strings but I stick to 6!

[Luke]

You can also remove the extra G B and high E strings, making it a 9 string that gives you most of the fullness of a 12 but the single line ability of the 6. Add a little delay, reverb and chorus and you will have an instrument that be very flexible.

[texasdave]

Here's that "seven string" I was thinking of...

http://elderly.com/new_instruments/items/HD7RM.htm

[stout-hearted]

When I think of twelve string possibilities, Leo Kottke (fingerstyle soloist) and Roger McGuinn (the Byrds) come to mind. 12 String guitar was my main instrument for years and I strummed, finger-picked and even played slide on it. Some of the early bluesman would use a 12 string Stella.

[davess23]

I love to play 12-strings, but I view them as more or less specialized instruments, and somewhat different from 6 string guitars as far as technique and repertoire are concerned. Unless my goal were specifically to be a 12 string player, I wouldn't make a 12 my primary instrument.

[exhaust_49]

I love to play 12-strings, but I view them as more or less specialized instruments, and somewhat different from 6 string guitars as far as technique and repertoire are concerned. Unless my goal were specifically to be a 12 string player, I wouldn't make a 12 my primary instrument.

I agree with you totally Davess23. Some instruments are just better at different things. Twelve strings sound beautiful but to me seem to be more for strummers.

Two things I hate about 12's are tuning them and the extra tension put on the neck.

[fretbuzzard]

i mainly play electric. However, I have both a 6 and 12 string Acoustic. In my opinion, they are as different as night and day. For some applications, I dont think a 12 string would do the job and vice-versa. I have a Seagull M-12 gloss and love it, great guitar. Noice fat neck, and tone to die for...I think every guitarist should have a 12.

[stout-hearted]

I agree with you totally Davess23. Some instruments are just better at different things. Twelve strings sound beautiful but to me seem to be more for strummers.

Two things I hate about 12's are tuning them and the extra tension put on the neck.

I don't know why so many see the 12 string as a strummer's box (a.k.a. folkie). Leo Kottke plays great fingerstyle melodies with a 12. Doyle Dykes will as well. I do agree - a 6 string should be your first buy, but to have a good 12 that stays in tune (and they are out there) is a wonderful alternative to have.

My first 12 was a 1970 Japanese Epiphone and tuned up and stayed in tune like a champ.

[waxnsteel]

12 strings are like flangers, or delay. They're cool, but not for every song. If I could only have one acoustic, it'd be a 6 string, but that's just me.

[waxnsteel]

Two things I hate about 12's are tuning them and the extra tension put on the neck.

It's not like they're 6 strings that someone just decided to strap 6 extra strings onto. They're actually designed to handle the tension from 12 strings.

[Tallhorses]

Will this be your only acoustic? If so go with a 6 string... you'll get tired of playing everything on a 12 string and honestly it's not appropriate for every tune. If you already own an acoustic get one...they're a blast to bring out from time to time... I just can't see playing one all of the time.

[OOG]

how about a Glissentar by Godin
11 string fretless
lots of fun
:crazyguy

[jrincones]

Playing in a three piece band and being the only guitarist I like to pull out my Epiphone model DR 212 12 string on a few tunes like "Horse With No Name" to name one, to help fill out the sound of the band as a whole.

Yes tuning can be a chore but once you get it tuned it does have a heavenly sound. The Epiphone DR212 stays in tune really well.

Having a passive pickup installed I find that going straight into the PA systems give me the sound I like best.

You Should get you one, ever guitarist should own a 12 string! ;)

[The Walrus]

I play my 12 string to enjoy all the clanging and chiming going on. Hell sometimes it harmonizes. ;)
Practicing scales on a twelve string is challanging and rewarding. Just work it in slowly like only the DGBE strings until You get Your hand strength up a bit.

[Pietro]

I HATE twelve-strings. Ugh.

[SGNick]

I love playing a 12 string when the sound blends with a 6 string.

I shall one day own both of course, but until then, I find the 6 string to lack the rich harmonic sound when chording, and the 12 string seems to have too much of that sweet overtone when I want to fingerpick and such (not a "can't" issue, I just don't much like the sound)

[whitenoise]

You can also remove the extra G B and high E strings, making it a 9 string that gives you most of the fullness of a 12 but the single line ability of the 6. Add a little delay, reverb and chorus and you will have an instrument that be very flexible.

could you remove all the extra strings? if you only were getting one acoustic guitar, and purchased a 12 string. then remove the extra strings when you feel like playing a 6 string. probally not too practical, but has anyone here done it?

[A-Bone]

could you remove all the extra strings? if you only were getting one acoustic guitar, and purchased a 12 string. then remove the extra strings when you feel like playing a 6 string. probably not too practical, but has anyone here done it?

It's not a good thing for the guitar. The 12 string neck is set up specifically for the tension produced by all twelve strings. If you remove half the strings and do not have the guitar set up specifically for the six strings remaining, the guitar will get all out of sorts (neck will twist, etc.) leading to problems with tuning and playing. Consider what the likely effect of insufficient string tension relative to truss set up is likely to be. I had this happen to me when I was an unsophisticated 19 year old, and ended up having to spend money to reclaim my twelve string at the time.

This does not mean that a twelve string model cannot ever be adjusted to work as a six string. If you want to take a twelve and turn it into a six string, whether for Nashville tuning or a more typical six string concept, you need to readjust the set up accordingly (or have someone knowledgeable do so). What this really means is that you should not plan to be able to go back and forth between twelve and six strings; this will not work for any real period of use. You need to commit to one or the other.

[royd]

I don't completely agree with A-Bone re: using a 12 string as a 6... but it is a bad idea. The 12 string is built for a lot of tension but in general it doesn't actively fight the tension. Still, the issue is important as the 6 produces a lot less tension which doesn't move the heavier braced top like the higher tension 12 and it will likely sound as dead as a table with only 6 strings unless you jump WAY up in gauge.

I have a love/hate relationship with 12 strings. I love the sound and have had a couple of very good ones but end up being unable to deal with the differences from a 6 string and end up selling them. That said, you can play anything on a 12 that you can play on a 6, it just will sound like a 12. Whether you like that or not is up to you. Personally, I think a good 6 string acoustic is a much more important thing to own but I have a friend who only plays 12s... and mostly electric 12s and he is a fantastic player who uses it for everything.

[A-Bone]

I can only go from my actual experience. Maybe it was the cheapness of the twelve string in question (and it was a very inexpensive guitar), but I removed the strings that made it a twelve and played it like that for several months, and it absolutely deformed the neck -- so much so that I ended up with a spot between the thirteenth and fifteenth frets where the note sounded was roughly the same on each of the top three strings. When I took the guitar to the Starving Musician in Santa Clara to have someone look at it (thinking it was a fret problem), the guitar repairman informed me that it was neck warping that was caused by my attempt to rebrand it as a six string. He said at that point that I should choose if I wanted the guitar as a six string or a twelve string, and then readjusted it accordingly and only charged me a nominal fee to repair the guitar.

[therealting]

I have a twelve string neck on my doubleneck acoustic and always struggled with the string spacings, is it worth getting the nut and bridge saddle re-cut so that the doubled strings are closer together (so there is more separation between courses)?

[RustyAxe]

With practice you can do almost anything on a 12 string. I play my 6 strings the most, but just this weekend I fell in love with a mid-priced 12 string, and brought it home. It's a Guild GAD212 in iced tea sunburst. A real beauty to behold, plays like butter, and is a veritable cannon.

Like others have said, you can't really play a 12 for every song, but when used in the right place and time it really adds to the mix. It's possible to come close to the sound by applying a chorus effect to a six, but it's not the same, really.

[solitaire]

A good 12'er and you won't grow tired of it. My '82 Guild D-212 was built for magic and that's evident in the tone of it. Fretboard is a touch wider than guitars of most other 12-string manufacturers. Makes picking each course easier, I find.

You pick the strings from atop, the fingertip picking one string, the fingernail the other.

[devinb]

I've heard that problems resulting from the extra tension are nearly inevitable...

A lot of people tune down to 'C' and use a capo...

I've also heard about people only using 9 strings a lot...I recently have a lot of thought to a 12 string as a second acoustic, but ended up opting against it...more so because like other people said, it's pretty situational that you'd want to use it...I decided I'd like to have another tonality to play with so I went with a parlour sized guitar to compliment my J-50

[doubleneck]

Do both
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u172/skitchen51/IMG_0547.jpg

[Austinrocks]

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y257/austinrocks/SR_sm_.jpg


A 12 string is really limited in what you can do, technique is generally out of the question, a long time ago I found a Strum Rose Pick, which makes a 6 string sound like a 12 string, and I have no desire for a 12 string, my 6 strings sound better, and I can play them like 6 strings. I am not sure where you find a strummer now. Jim Dunlop had them on his site a year ago, but I don't see them any more, I have several and am glad that I do.

[A-Bone]

A 12 string is really limited in what you can do, technique is generally out of the question...

I'm not entirely sure what "technique is ... out of the question" could possibly mean, as most 12 string players utilize "as much technique" in their playing as anyone else. On some level everyone playing a guitar is utilizing some level and form of technique unless that person is literally flailing about on the instrument (and even then, for some players that it a technique).

If you are suggesting that some techniques are limited or difficult on a 12 string, while this could be true, you really owe it to yourself to go listen to what artists a diverse as Leo Kottke (a 12 string master), Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, and even Nuno Bettencourt have done with a 12.

Assuming the 12 string is set up well, there is no reason to dismiss the technical possibilities of that instrument. They definitely have their own characteristics in terms of sound, but then so do all different guitar models.

[scott58]

May want to consider a variax. You can do both. Only problem with it is the price. May be a bit more then what you want to spend. I've got the electric model, but the acoustic models it has are really nice. Also need an EQ to get the most out of it. Very cool being able to go from a 12 string to a 6 when playing songs like "wish you were here" or anything that requires 2 different instruments.

[JSeth]

I play both and love 'em both dearly... the 12 string is really good for some stuff but not for all...you didn't say what style of music you play (or want to), but I say - get a good one of each! Seriously, you can pick the 12 string and fingerstyle works too; I'm not nearly as clean picking the 12 as the 6 string, can't be as precise. The paired strings on the 12 mean every single note you play is 2; very cool if you're playing a bass line or repeating figure, and nothing beats the fullness of strumming a 12 string, god's own chorus effect! Have fun with your choices!

JSeth

mark angus 6 string
mark angus 12 string

[bunuel]

A 12 string is really limited in what you can do, technique is generally out of the question

Your technique may be limited on a 12 string, but it ain't due to the guitar-- besides those already mentioned, Steve Howe, Ralph Towner, J. Page, W. Montgomery, G. Harrison all used 12 strings with great effect & great technique. Every guitarist should own one, including blues players--Leadbelly, Son House & Fred McDowell all used them extensively.

Also a great way to woodshed. I started on 12 string because it sounded better to me at the time, after that 6 string seemed amazingly easy, though I still have to be careful not to overbend strings when I play a 6!

[Lawn Jockey]

As others have said above, every guitarist should have at least one 12 string. I only have two acoustics, a Larrivee L-03R and a Larrivee L-03-12MT. There is nothing like the sound of a 12 string IMHO.

I am also awaiting delivery of a Rickenbacker 620/12 FG to add to the stable of electrics. With any luck it should be here this Friday.

I disagree with Austinrocks take that a 12 string limits you. I have not found that to be the case in my experience. I fingerpick and strum on my acoustic 12. Granted, I'm not Leo Kottke, but then again, who is?

Good luck to you!

[mc5nrg]

Just in case you don't already do this:
When you tune a 12 string first tune the regular 6 string set all the way across. Then tune the octave or unison pairs to the strings that are already in tune. Follow with minor adjustments.

You can play pretty much whatever you want on a 12. However bending strings is a challenge and the strings don't bend in tune. While this can be an interesting effect in general its not all that tuneful.