Hi Dave,

I don't play blues or even listen to it much so I can't help you there. In my search yesterday I found this:

You can download the pdf file. It's 33 pages of liner notes on an The 12 String guitar as played by Leadbelly: an instruction record by Pete Seeger

It came up in the Google search with a reference by Seeger to Fred Gerlach's tuning. I didn't download the file but I tried to skim the text for the reference to Fred Gerlach and couldn't find it. It looks like a useful reference and I also found in my Googling that Gerlach and Seeger knew each other or played together sometimes.

I also read this comment by someone called Bobby on the Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum

"Fred was one of Leo Kottke's earliest influences and in fact, lent Leo His Roy Noble 12 string for Leo's album "Mudlark". Fred was a craftsman and a player. He built huge 12 strings that matched his powerful strength. He said that, (quote) "anyone can put 12 strings on a guitar, but that isn't a real 12. A 12 has to be big. It has to be big bodied to carry the sound. Big to carry heavy bronze strings, like Leadbelly used to play. It's special. Nothing like it. Alot of people just play a 12 because it sounds pretty. The extra strings give you 'instant arrangement'. You know, it makes all the chords sound new and different without any effort. It just isn't like that. The 12 should be played because it's demanded. Because no other instrument will do. Leadbelly couldn't play on a 6 and be Leadbelly. A 12 is for 12 music, a 6 is for 6. Nobody today wants to make the effort." (quoted from Baxter's Guitar Workshop) Bob Baxter himself, tried to play one of Gerlach's 12 string creations and had this to say about it: " I discovered one key that gives a hint of his special ability. His 12 string is almost too big to play. The large body cut off the blood under my forearm when I tried it, and my hand started to fall asleep halfway through the tune. The fingerboard was so wide I had to execute the chords in segments. And as for fretting the extra heavy bronze strings, I wished I had a pair of vise-grips. The neck was like a telephone pole and my fingernails were immediately chisled away to nothing by the double strings. All in all, Fred's talent is directly related to Fred's physical ability. No little girl is going to play 12 string according to the gospel of Gerlach. No 6 string picker is either, unless he's as powerful and dedicated as Fred."


If you Google for Fred Gerlach 12 string guitar there is a lot of information out there. Good luck!