HI Bobby. I discovered Leadbelly when I was about 14 years old (I'm 58 now) and he literally changed my life. The most powerful music I'd ever heard....and SO original.

Here's a couple of suggestions from a total Leadbelly fanatic.

You can approximate Leadbelly's sound by getting a used Yamaha or Takamine, or even Fender 12 string guitar . These are all well braced, cheap, and can handle the string load. Write to La Bella strings (surely they're on the net) and get them to send you a "heavy" Pete Seeger silk and steel set. The big bass is 68, and with a C to C tuning, they sound great.

I've played Leadbelly's model Stella and the current "absolutely authentic" re-issue from that Mexican company Del Arte. They are fine guitars but sound awful on anything BUT Leadbelly songs. The necks are like telephone poles! The necks are cranked WAYYYYY back and they have tail pieces. They sound VERRRY LOUD and very tinny to my ear.

I love playing Leadbelly's wonderful licks pretty much as he played them (although the rest of my music is pretty improvised) and after owning Guilds (3) Gibson, Epiphone, Martin, and Stella 12 strings, I've come to the conclusion that my big (cheap) Takamine Dreadnought, strung with that heavy Pete Seeger set and tuned to C or B gives a great sound.....and is still easy enough to fret for several hours at a time.

You can e-mail me at rfield@interlog any time for info. Plus, you've got a fine and helpful group of pickers here, and some of the most generous are in this thread. ONE Mudcatter KNEW Leadbelly, but that's another story.

Cheers

Rick