Any serious 12 strings players left?

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Apr 15 - 02:35 AM

the twelve string is pretty much as easy as a 6 to play .
Its qualities are so much more .
   I have an 1984 Ovation ballarder deep bowl -ooh the richness of it all.
I play with it in standard tuning but have been known to tune it to alternate tunings -such a fun guitar...
This ovations sound has just improved over the years ,the guitar gets better with age and I have never had an issue with it .
I am using it on new songs and I will never give up the 12 shes so right ...GUy from Unison ....

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Mooh
Date: 09 Jun 13 - 08:22 AM

A couple of songs with my contemporary Irish/Canadian singer friend and band were in need of a change and the simple solution was the sonic addition of a 12 string. There was room in the mix, and the jingle-jangle sound isn't enough to sway the strong singer. Complacency and laziness sometimes makes me ignore the sonic advantages of changing it up, but in truth a 12 string (or dobro, or alternate tuning, or baritone, or nylon, or bouzouki...) can be just what the doctor ordered.

One thing I like is the occasional zouk-like tones one can get by using just the lower courses, or the occasional mando-like tones one can get by using just the higher courses in the higher positions. I wouldn't likely use these for a whole song, but for some embellishment, it's useful.

I'd rather use a 12 string than electronic chorus effect, and I'd rather use a 12 string than a second guitarist for select songs.

Peace, Mooh.

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST,Rick Masters
Date: 08 Jun 13 - 08:55 PM

link
https://soundcloud.com/rick-masters/infinite-journey-avocoder?in=rick-masters/sets/man-shall-follow-album

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST,Rick Masters
Date: 08 Jun 13 - 08:13 PM

Hi all, I enjoyed reading this thread. I have also had a love affair with 12-strings for many years. My first was a brand new acoustic Harmony I bought after saving my money all summer back in 1970. It was the very same model Ringo Starr used on is debut album. Three assholes with knives took it from me a month later. Then somewhere around 1980, I picked up a beautiful sounding Takamine that is still my choice for recording today. And I just got my old rosewood Guild F-312 back from a crack repair yesterday and I am struggling to become friends with it again. It is SO different than the Takamine!! The Guild growls and roars while the Takamine purrs and sings. The Takamine has a Roland G3 synthesizer pickup and an ancient 6-string in-hole pickup for the FX. I actually dislike the sound of acoustic 12-strings and would rather play a 6-string when there is no electrification. But with an amp and FX, the 12-string becomes very unique and I never tire of it. The sustain is wonderful. There is an entire universe in any two chords. I have a strange style that utilizess the string tension of the 12-string to bounce on -- I call it "trampoline" -- and sometimes I take off a few accompaniment strings to get the sound I want, so I guess I'm turning it into an 8 or 9 string guitar -- except it's still really a 12-string, I think. I use a bare hand with a long thumbnail. I'm not sure what my right hand is doing. I can't see it or my thumb -- it's just a blur -- because it moves to fast or my mind works too slow or something. And if I try to force myself to play, the result is horrible. I have to just let my hands take over and kick back, then it works. It's like somebody else took over my body. It's like the opposite of what most 12-string players do, I think. I mean, I don't even know what chords I'm playing, I had an accident when I was a kid and I think in shapes, not symbols, when I play music, so it's really hard to explain. You can find me on Last.fm or Soundcloud if you want to freak yourself out.

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST,999
Date: 13 Jan 13 - 10:47 AM

If you are re-learning to play after 30 years off, the Ovation will be just fine for a few years. As usual, I've heard great 12s made by many manufacturers. When a pair of jeans fit you the way you want, them's good jeans.

(Strings do make a difference, but not all that much of a difference, assuming they are the correct gauge for the style you play. If strings made that much of a difference, they'd be the answer folks are looking for, but they alone ain't the answer.)

I had an Ovation (six string) for about a week and I gave it away. Wasn't for me. I have also met players who swear by them. Good guitars are good guitars. Great guitars are rare, and people will let you know their favourites. BUT, one man's cordon bleu is another man's gruel. It has always been thus.

Best wishes to you.

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Jan 13 - 01:13 AM

Oops, sorry! That guest was Fossil, at work, sans cookie

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST
Date: 13 Jan 13 - 01:12 AM

Guest - sling the Ovation 12 into the bin (or sell it on) and go buy that Martin. I have owned in my time an Eko 12, an Ovation Celebrity 12 and now the love of my life is an early Japanese Sigma/Martin DR 12-28. Believe me, the Ovation 12 sounds OK if you only ever play it amplified, but unamplified it is unacceptably tinny. I also had going-out-of-tune issues with mine, as well.

The big, resonanant sound of the Martin is completely different and you will never, ever make the two sound different. Chalk and cheese.

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 12 Jan 13 - 08:45 AM

GUEST, the strings may have something to do with it. Before falling too deeply in love with that Martin 12, slap a new set of strings on the Ovation you already have and see if it doesn't sound much better. A $12.00 set of strings is much cheaper than a $2,000 guitar.

That doesn't mean the Ovation with new strings is going to sound like the Martin. Generally speaking, an Ovation 12 is going to have a little less sustain and 12-string jangle than a Martin, and much less than a jumbo-bodied Guild or Taylor. How much sustain you want depends largely on your playing style. A chord strummer may want maximum sustain while a single-note picker may want less.

Personally, while I don't care for Ovation 6-strings, I like their 12s. You can actually play fiddle tunes on them without it sounding like mud.

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Abdul The Bul Bul
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 02:30 AM

Oh yes, I was listening to a Martin 12 last night at Faversham Folk club when Chris and Dave of Porchswing Blues turned up.
Al

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Abdul The Bul Bul
Date: 11 Jan 13 - 02:25 AM

Hi Guest, You'll soon see that the site is very active, I'll leave the tech reasons to the experts but will say it's not the strings although strings do make a difference, it's the way the instrument is constructed, what it's made of and how it's 'set up' and tuned. Look at the threads listed at the top of this one. Welcome back to playing and to what sounds like the start of your guitar collection!!.
Al

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Jan 13 - 09:13 PM

Not sure if this site is still active but, I am looking for help. Started playing a 12 string recently, and haven't played guitar for over 30 years. I bought a 2nd hand Ovation Celebrity and think it sounds pretty good. Then, I went into a Guitar Center store to buy a capo and wandered into the 12 String section, picked up a Martin 12 string and fell in love with the sound. I understand there is a difference in the instruments/price but was curious if it could possibly be a function in the strings?

Any insight would be great.


GMoney

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: RTim
Date: 02 Jun 12 - 08:12 AM

The great American musician and singer - Tim Eriksen plays
the - BAJO SEXTO which is a version of the 12 string,
see - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bajo_Sexto

Tim Radford

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: matt milton
Date: 02 Jun 12 - 05:58 AM

here's a serious 12-string player:

Serious Sam Barrett

http://serioussambarrett.bandcamp.com/album/close-to-home

Sam's from Leeds

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST,mando-player-91
Date: 01 Jun 12 - 11:04 PM

I own a 12 string but I'm sad to say I don't dig it out much because I feel like it's swallowing me. ( I'm a very small Irishman)

- Shepard

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Stringsinger
Date: 01 Jun 12 - 10:48 PM

I play 12 string a lot. I used to play Pete's old 12 string until he had his new one made.
He would listen to my playing.. We used it on our Nonesuch.

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST,GUy---unison/laughing stranger
Date: 01 Jun 12 - 10:30 PM

yeah, there are.
I have been playing the ovation 12 string since the 1970's.
listen to "so many miles" and "again" on this site

http://www.myspace.com/guyvaniderstine

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Bernard
Date: 30 Sep 11 - 03:57 PM

Yup!

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 29 Sep 11 - 10:34 PM

I do what I can when the mood takes me, Al.

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 29 Sep 11 - 09:39 PM

Are there any light-hearted trivial minded 12 string guitarists out there?

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 29 Sep 11 - 08:56 PM

Doc Watson picked some mean 12 string on The Train that Carried My Girl From Town, Beaumont Rag, and Rising Sun Blues back on one (or two?) of those old Vanguard LP's.

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST,Alan Kershaw
Date: 29 Sep 11 - 06:31 PM

Greg,

Have you heard Dan Crary?

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: greg stephens
Date: 02 Apr 11 - 02:34 PM

I would think the lack of 12-strings in bluegrass is down to speed. The particular wonderful heavy sound of a 12 just gets muddied up at the frantic tempos used by modern bluegrass players. Things need time to ring to get the full effect of those octaves I think.

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST,jimlee337
Date: 02 Apr 11 - 02:29 PM

I got my first 12-string in 1966 and have had a love affair with that lasted longer than the one I had with my wife! Over the years I've had a number ofthem "JG", Yamaha, Martin (D12-35 and DM-12). When I started playing the coffee house scene in the Seattle "U-district" the lead guitar would make me sit at the back of the stage so I wouldn't drown him out.

Since that time I've gotten married, widowed, grandfathered, and old. Tendonitis/arthritis...it makes it difficult to play as often as would like, but the love affair continues...

The point of all this is that I've found myself becoming increasingly "bluegrass" over the years and thought that the 12-string was doing a fine job on some of the ballads like "Down in the Willow Garden" so I was suprised to hear that the 12-string hasn't had a place in bluegrass.

Why is that?

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST,Sean
Date: 06 Dec 10 - 04:51 PM

Thanks for the kind words. Any criticism is appreciated, too; I'd rather it be blunt internet anonymity than patronising smirks from people concerned with feelings and all that. Just shoot me a message or something.

-Sean

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: fat B****rd
Date: 06 Dec 10 - 02:42 PM

4 good jobs, Sean.

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: olddude
Date: 06 Dec 10 - 02:15 PM

Sean
"in the Pines" very nice job

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST,Sean
Date: 06 Dec 10 - 01:48 PM

I happened upon this thread sifting through posts about Snaker Ray. At the expense of committing the inexcusable crime of shameless self promotion, I thought this would be the place for it. Here goes.

I haven't played out often, barring acting as an opener a few times for psychedelic bands who's fans cast disconcerted stares, but I'd like to consider myself a 12-string player...serious depends on the context. Opinions from folk/blues enthusiasts such as yourselves would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

-Sean

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Lowden Jameswright
Date: 26 Oct 08 - 09:36 AM

I had a Daion 12 string for 20 years - great sound, loads of volume - played it as a 12, then a 6, then a 9 string before getting hold of a 6 string Norman and realising there were much easier guitars to play out there. Now I have a 12 string Norman to go with it - absolutely brilliant guitar.

I'm still tempted to ditch the octave strings on the E, A and D though as it gives loads of bass punch and a very distinctive sound that sets it out from the crowd.

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST,Terry
Date: 26 Oct 08 - 09:25 AM

I'm a lefty ragtime picker and came across a 12 on ebay so I just had to get it. it's a Daon (rebadged Yamaki).Got a great sound but I think the trebles are a bit thin.
Now I had an LP of Mississippi John Hurt. the photo showed him holding a 12 string and the unusual thing is the trebles had a wire wound string like the bass's. this would give a richer sound to the thin end. but what string could it be? They were strung opposite of the bass's.
I suspect the E would be an extra light wire wound and the B might be
an extra light A wire wound. I dunno, any clues anyone before I file a bigger slot?.But aint it easy to play a six after playing a 12?
MJM's Casey Jones goes real well on a 12 by the way.
Leo Kotke plays some kind of open tuning

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST,jeff
Date: 28 Feb 08 - 02:52 AM

Used to have a very nice 69 Martin D-12-35 which I sold years ago. Recently, I've been rehearsing for an upcoming traditional recording using my wife's 'Martin label' Takamine 12 string. All solid mahogany. The tuners are original and though they're a fairly lowgrade set they hold pitch very well. The 3 songs selected so far for 12 string are 'Flora, The Lily of the West', 'The Last Rose of Summer' and 'Wildwood Flower'. It's like falling in love. I find myself getting lost in the shimmering tones just sitting and playing G and C back and forth for 1/2 an hour.

The one thing I've really had to work on is 'sounding' both strings when doing melody/rhythm solos. There's practically no such thing as an 'upstroke' while playing a melody because the smaller 'octave' string wont ring on the upstroke. I'm also at the same time trying to do arrangements of 'Wade in the Water' w/a 'dropped D' and 'Wafaring Stranger' w/t same tuning. Neither of those songs will be played on 12, but it's whipping me into shape, that's for sure. What it's forcing me to do is to re-develope my finger picking w/finger picks instead of bare fingers. She's stern taskmaster, this Miss Tak and isn't giving up her music easily, but I've a feeling when I've earned it she'll reveal she's had a heart and soul of pure gold the whole time.

When I get a keeper take on any of the aforementioned songs I'll post them on my myspace page and let you all have at it...and in true Mudcat fashion I'll expect to be called on it if I cut any corners.

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST,Britt
Date: 27 Feb 08 - 11:07 PM

I play finger style 12-string guitar. I think the 12-string is the best acoustic instrument to practice on, because it is harder. On the left hand, bar chords, pull-offs and hammers are more difficult. And on the right hand, it takes a lot of practice to accurately play between the narrower courses of the 12-string, and more finger strength and control to attack two strings, instead of one.

The good thing about a 12-string guitar is that they're easier to sing with. With all those strings, even a poor singer like myself, can sometimes be in tune with one of them.

The guitar I play is a National steel-bodied 12-string Delphi. I play blues and ragtime, and when I'm on top of it, this guitar is something to hear.

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 20 Feb 08 - 04:18 PM

Thanks, Manfred

I should also have credited a few other influences when I was starting out. A whole bunch of us at school all seemed to find guitar at the same time, so there was that helpful rivalry/copying thing going on. Already interested in folk music through the Clancy Brothers, Spinners, Corries, Islanders, Robin Hall & Jimmy MacGregor etc, I roomed with a guy at Strathclyde and competed over who could master Anji or Classical Gas first - it seems amazing to me now that you could buy the sheet music for Davey Graham's Anji in any music store in Glasgow back then ( I still have it somewhere)- try finding it now! Discovered the Glasgow Folk Centre in the top of a tenement opposite the old Anderson's University building. They had a library of LPs you could borrow for very little, found the Incredible String Band in amongst their collection. Strathclyde University Folk Club used the rooms on Wednesday evenings - Barbara Dickson and Rab Noakes played some of their earliest gigs there, others I remember were Alan Tall and old Davey Stewart. Brian Miller seemed to be running the club (one of the other residents I remember was Artie Tresize) and also taught folk guitar on Wednesday afternoons when we had no classes and were supposed to be engaging in athletic pursuits. I learned claw-hammer from Brian and I guess that still forms the basis of how I play (though you might not recognize it!) The last I heard of him he had joined the folk/traditional teaching staff at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama under Brian McNeill (Battlefield Band). I somehow missed the ISBs, either they had moved on before I reached Glasgow or I was asleep for my first couple of years at Uni (a real possibility). Archie Fisher and the East Fife Road Show stand out in my memory, and Archie later became a regular visitor (and poster-boy!) at the Fylde guitar factory in Kirkham. His first album was and remains one of my favourites. It's one of the few that Dave Bulmer (Celtic Music) got around to re-releasing. A long-gone guitar hero from that time was Hamish Imlach. Notorious back then for drug busts, "Cod-Liver Oil and the Orange Juice" and other songs of real life in central Scotland that your mother and father would prefer you didn't know (or sing), he could get some great blues and ragtime licks out of his Guild guitar. Gordon Giltrap was another Fylde customer (and another of those magicians who can make a six-string sound like a twelve-string and a twelve-string sound like a quartet). Still haven't got my head round Rizraklary (sp?) forty years on. That was on an album of acoustic guitar (The Guitar Sampler) which also featured Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Ralph McTell and a host of others, all of whom I followed up for tunes and playing-styles.

Some of these guys are still playing forty years on, but where are the players of today? And who are they? Any nominations?

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Leadbelly
Date: 20 Feb 08 - 02:06 PM

RossCampbell, was a real pleasure, to read your contribution!

Many thanks,

Manfred

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 05:14 PM

I've always (it seems) finger-picked instruments, starting on six-string guitar, five-string banjo (I blame Billy Connolly and Pete Seeger). Never figured out flat-picking on guitar to my satisfaction, so I don't do it. For a while I played tunes on a Portuguese mandolin (or Thueringer waldzither) - four double courses and a single bass fifth - with a plectrum, but went back to finger-picking that for song accompaniments. When I finally arrived at a twelve-string I liked (and now my instrument of choice after concertinas), it never occurred to me that there could be problems with finger-picking - so I never found any!?

When I'm not fingerpicking concertinas I fingerpick a Fylde Falstaff 12-string. I use a dropped-D tuning, but tune the whole thing a tone flat ie C Bb C F A D and capo at the 2nd fret to get back to D A D G B E. This capo (a Jim Dunlop) stays in place more or less permanently, and I use a Shubb capo to move around the fretboard. This seems to keep the intonation fairly well in line, and only occasional corrections to one or two strings are ever required. So I can't see where the hard work comes in. Or maybe I've just been lucky with the guitars I've found - having Roger Bucknall of Fylde Guitars just round the corner when he started off may have helped - I have always found his instruments a joy to play.

When I started getting interested in guitars (around 1965) there was a late-night programme on one of our two UK TV channels called "Hold Down a Chord", presented by John Pearse. He took a half-dozen beginners through the basics of song-accompaniment, and introduced them and audiences to the likes of Leadbelly, Reverend Gary Davis, Big Bill Broonzy and others. The series was followed by another on finger-style guitar which I think introduced the idea of guitar tablature to help figure out fingering. That's what got me started, and I've just kept going from there - if you stop learning, you might as well just stop!

Today, even with umpteen digital channels, you couldn't find such a programme in the listings. How do you learn these days?

I guess some things like guitar tabs are more readily available with the Internet, and a few YouTube videos I have seen could give you pointers to how to play stuff, but seeing people playing live was always the best for me - in the '70s you could go to a folk-club every night in a twenty-mile radius from here (and I occasionally tried!), but now there's only one club in the North-West booking guests on a weekly basis (the Clarence, Blackpool). And twelve-string players are pretty rare in the line-up - but that wouldn't decide for me whether to go to a gig, anyway. A good player of whatever instrument is always worth hearing/seeing. You can always take some little thing away to try - I'm still trying to figure out some of John James' ragtime guitar pieces for Anglo concertina!

Ross

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Leadbelly
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 01:07 PM

Which technique do 12 stringers prefer to play this instrument? Finger-picking or do you use a plectrum? Or purely a "shaking hand"? Surely, most times this depends upon the tune (and your abilities). But apart from this, what's your personal preference?

Manfred

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Waddon Pete
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 11:36 AM

I love when these old threads come back to life! I read the thread then got my 12 out of its case and we had a great time together!

I use my Yamaha 12 on the songs it suits. It is in normal tuning and keeps in tune. If you haven't tried a 12-string...........


Best wishes,


Peter

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST,baz parkes
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 11:19 AM

The esteemed Bill Caddick does a fine job on a Framus

Baz

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST,banjoman
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 11:01 AM

I bought a Stella 12 string about forty years ago but lost it in a fire- Fantastic instrument but an action so high I needed a step ladder to play it.
Now own & play regularly an old Washburn with a cut away body which I did a bit of rebuilding on.
Tuned to E and used regulary when a banjo wont suffice. Stays in tune even when stored in its case for weeks, and has an action as low as my six string Lakewood.
A great guitar

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST,Laptop - no cookie
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 10:34 AM

No one mentioned open tuning yet! I was gonna get shot of my Hyundai (yes the same company) 12. Then one evening I tried it in open G. It sings!!

Try Linda Thompsons "NO telling" in open G.

Alan Clayton

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: folktheatre
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 09:04 AM

Check out Serious Sam Barrett (no joke) as a serious 12 stringer. www.myspace.com/sambarrett

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Grab
Date: 19 Feb 08 - 08:01 AM

Anyone who doesn't try "Anji" on a 12-string doesn't know what they're missing. :-) One of these days I'll stop buying PA gear with my spare cash and buy an F212 instead...

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: NormanD
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 04:16 PM

OK, Ledbelly's gonna get a good looking at. I'll probably try Fannin Street via John Koerner. "Irene" is a little bit too campfire-ish, though straightforward to play.

Sod it - "Irene" will be the first!

Thanks
Norman

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Mark Ross
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 02:21 PM

You be Serious, I'll be Roebuck. I love a 12, tuned Leadbelly style(down to B, double octave on the bottom, unison 3rd), but tendonitis is making things a bit difficult at the moment.
Mark Ross

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Leadbelly
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 02:21 PM

Yeah,NormanD, according to Wesley S take an easy start with Irene and come to the end with Fannin Street, for example. Could be a fantastic journey with Huddie.
Or try to do Stop that Thing (version of John Koerner!) resp. Take your Hands off it which is relatively simple to play.
There are so many tunes suited for a 12 string.
While writing this my Guild 312-Special on the wall gently weeps,haha

Manfred

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: irishenglish
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 02:16 PM

Lonesome EJ-funny you mention that about having a 12 string made you hip! Simon Nicol of Fairport has said that mere possession of a 12 string (which he claims he couldn't really play) gave him a usefulness for one of Ashley Hutchings' pre-Fairport ventures, which eventually led to Fairport's formation! So you are spot on!

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Lonesome EJ
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 01:51 PM

A good old thread!

Nothing rings like a 12 when flat-picked or finger-picked, or has that rolling sustain. I have always been a sucker for any recorded music that has a twelve string jangling along in the rhythm, which is possibly why I'm stuck on the recorded music of 1965-1966. You HAD to have a 12 to be hip! Oh that those times should come again!

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: Wesley S
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 01:37 PM

Rock Island Line - or any other Leadbelly song.

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: kendall
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 01:09 PM

Farewell to Nova Scotia works on a 12.
Duncan % Brady
Lonesome Robin
Patrick Spencer

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: NormanD
Date: 18 Feb 08 - 12:51 PM

Just checking out this (and other) old 12-string thread. I've just borrowed an old 12-string which had failed the dusty fret board test (see above). It was a bugger to get in tune - awkward but not insurmountable - and my automatic pilot / default song was - you guessed it - "Walk Right In". And "Mr Tambourine Man".

I've tuned it down a semi-tone, but might try a whole tone as others have advised.

Any tips for songs that'll sound good for it? I don't mind if they're campfire-ish, I just want to develop a bit of confidence and more direction around the fretboard.

Norman

Subject: RE: Any serious 12 strings players left?
From: GUEST,APB
Date: 31 Aug 06 - 11:48 AM

I have a Bradbury 12 sting from the early 1930s...it is a tiny guitar...say around 34"-35"...but HOLY WOW, it is the loudest guitar you will ever hear. Unbelievable how light the guitar is for being so loud...I keep it tuned two steps below concert pitch (C to C) and it is really just unreal. I love the fullness of 12 string whether finger picking or flat (though I honestly can't use a flat pick much on this guitar cuz it really does get too loud). I also have a pretty crappy Epiphone from the early 90s, though it's an okay sound.
Anyone know any good 12 string makers these days? I played a new Guild and they don't hold a candle to the old ones...any suggestions?