Any 12 stringers in here?

[Loud Librarian]

Just picked up a used Larrivee D-12, strung it up "heavy and low" style - open C and/or F with heavier gauges.

Fingerpicks, a bit of slide here and there, good times. I used to have a LKSM-12 but sold it to fund electric guitar GAS. This Larrivee makes me want to save up for another Kottke model, although it's not a bad guitar itself.

I tried this one in standard and even down a half step or more, but open tunings really ring out on 12s in a cool way. I just am not bonding with a 12 in standard tuning I guess.

Any of you GPers into 12s?

 

[JSeth]

Oh yeah! When I had Mark Angus build me a 6 string in 1979, I figured that someday I'd get a 12 string by him as well... turned out that 3 years later, I was in the guitar shop he was working out of, waiting for him to finish with another client... amused myself by playing a few guitars in the "high-priced" room - one of those was a really nice 12 string, but the price tag was high, $2500... I went in and talked to Mark for a minute, then as I was leaving, he said "I need to get y property taxes together, so if you want that 12 string you were playing, I'll sell it to you for the same price as your 6 string"... I didn't even realize it was his guitar when I played it - but for $800 (he gave me a GREAT price on my 6 string!), I had to have it! Ended up having to give another $160 to the store, but I've had her for 27 years now! She's a wonderful bitch ( and I say that with all respect... compared to a 6 string, a 12 string is just a lot ... more work to play, LOL!) - the only thing I would've had different if he had made it to my order would be a cutaway for better high fret access.

I keep it in standard, A 440, tuning... just too much of a pain in the ass to change tuning on her, especially on stage. I love how you can get the octave sound from fretted low strings - many tunes can be outlined from a bass run alone...

Anyway, I am truly a fan of the 12 string guitar... hard to believe that any serious player of acoustics would not have one. There's just a lot of music that you can't do without it! (IMHO)

Cheers!

play on......................................................>

John Seth Sherman

ps. Finally got a digital camera, so when I have time to clean 'em up and photograph 'em, I'll post pix here...

 

[george4908]

Here's a cool tuning I fool around with that splits two of the courses.

Put it in standard tuning. Now detune one of the paired high E's and one of the paired B's down a whole step.

So instead of E/E and B/B, you have E/D and B/A.

You can produce some very lush chordings, and also some wacky angular stuff.

 

[ABKB]

Interesting tuning there george4908, will have to try that!

Another 12 stringer here. Keep mine in standard tuning, until I try the tuning above anyway lol. Total PAIN to tune up, but once ya do, what a lovely sound!!!

My 1 beef with the 12 string though, and I have had this happen to me live, is where 1 string slips out of tune, there's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, it just throws the whole song off. So I make darn sure I have my 12 tuned up and ready to go b4 the song starts!

 

[JSeth]

LOL, ABKB! True enough - when one string goes out, you definitely hear it! I'm really lucky that mine stays in tune really well - took it from the north calif coast to southern calif over xmas - did not play it - came back home and took it out of the case and it sat around for a week... checked the tuning and only the paired low E had gone a bit sharp on me! Got to love that!

Although I had always liked the sound of a 12 string, I wasn't really "mad" for one; since I've owned mine for so long, I can't imagine NOT having it, to perform, play and write on...

A good friend of mine described the 12 string as "God's own chorus effect"!!! I'd have to agree with him... love the fullness, the shimmer... not to mention, what else are you gonna play to cover "8 Miles High" and "Feel a Whole Lot Better"?!!!!!

 

[ABKB]

Oh yeah, you cannot play 8 miles high w'out a 12 string, it's just,,,wrong! Same with some of the Beatles stuff.

 

[newswede]

I bought a Danelectro 12 string about 10yrs ago and still play it, though only a lot recently. Lots of fun and I've been lucky to get a good one that rarely slips out of tune. Only problem lately is that the neck is bowed more than ever before and I'm not sure it has an adjustable truss rod. Guess I have to take the neck off and see. If so, I was thinking of changing out the pots. The main thing I was thinking of changing is to reverse the order of the octave strings to be like a Rickenbacher, but the aluminum nut won't allow it. Does anyone make a replacement?

 

[seantk]

I have always loved playing 12 string acoustics. I don't know what it is about them, but some of my best stuff that I have written has started from screwing around with a jumbo acoustic 12 string that I owned years

ago. Unfortunately, I had to get rid of it. One of my goals this year is to get another one to record with.

 

[rjbee]

Picked up a used Yamaha FG 240 a few months ago for $250, and it sounds just great. I can't believe how well the stock tuners are also. Funny thing though, instead of resetting the neck, another fingerboard was put on top of the old one. Fat neck but no problem with that. For $250, it matches my 40 year old FG180 real well. Put a JB Electronics Pickup (similar to K&K) and it sounds great.

 

[alberob]

I have a Taylor 12 string and a Danelectro 12 string.I always wanted a Rick 360-12 but never found a Rick with a neck I liked.The Dano sounds killer with a compressor. That was the secret to the Byrds classic sound.

 

[Steve L]

I have a PRS electric twelve...been undecided about getting an acoustic 12 for YEARS now.
I've looked at Breedloves and Taylors, for the most part. And I saw/heard a beautiful Hoffman when I was in Minneapolis (at Podium) a year ago.
Now there's a Martin 12 that looks appealing, but I've never found one to try....J12-40E.

 

[ScottR]

Just got a Breedlove Gilewitz Sig 12 string today. I'm loving it. I have a gig saturday so I'll see how it sounds plugged in

 

[kludge]

I just recently got into 12 string. I'd never owned one, but a friend gave me an early 1980s (Japanese) Sigma dreadnaught. It's getting tons of play now, and has been gigged. Still needs a permanent pickup!