12 String Guitars

Shiminay

I'm toying with the idea of a 12 String Acoustic as my next purchase. Has anyone played or does anyone own one?

If so, what's it like? How do the extra strings work out? It is difficult to get used to and to tune?

Slaanesh

I played a 12 string takamine, beautiful guitar. Wasn't difficult to tune, I just tuned each second string an octave higher than the first(I think, I will probably be corrected). Makes playing the intro of 'Pink Floyd - Wish you were here' that much more enjoyable.

Slaan.

NeMiSiS

My dad has 2 they are pretty kewl great sound and great for studio and stuff for a different kinda sound,more full exactly like a chorus pedal would do i suppose..

as for restringing i aint attempted it yet id say its no more difficult that a 6 string except a little more time consuming and easier to get a bit lost with if ya get my meaning..

playing them is a easy you barely notice the extra strings because they are so close together,and id say you would pick up a lovely yamaha one for around 500 quid ?

so all and all id say go for it if you have the money to spend but realy and truly invest in a decent one its well worth it in the end, play the arse outta a few see which suits

nem

bombidol

i could have got you a lovely fender 12 stringer last week for €200 but i sold it in the for sale forum

bomb

Giblet

Starting from high E the tuning is:
EE: both the same
BB: both the same
Gg: Normal G on top, Octave higher on bottom
Dd:Normal D on top, Octave higher on bottom
Aa: Normal A on top, Octave higher on bottom
Ee: Standard E on top , 1-2 octave higher on bottom (user preference)

You can usually buy these strings in packs anyway.

And Nem, Don't you hate your dads 12 strings !?!

Gordon

Beautiful to play but yes it does take a while to restring and tune and then retune and retune etc. It's a pain if you take it on the plane and have to detune for pressure. But the drawbacks outweigh the the drawforwards...

Also, it is near impossible to bend the strings to get a glissando(?) effect. You can have a nice wee effect by tuning slightly differently the relative octaves to get the gG slightly phasing in sound for example. Also your ability on barree chords has to be well up to scratch as this is twice as hard to do I find.

Another lovely effect is to use a ... I can't remember the name of the thing... spatula... no ... ummm.... the thing that you put on the neck to hold all the strings down at a particular fret. If you put that up a few frets, you can get a nice mandolin type quality, great for fingerstyle.

Go for it, it's a beautiful instrument to have, but don't get rid of your 6 string.

NeMiSiS

Giblet sometimes ya..i didg it when i tune em down to Bb for dirty dirty blues ! :P

and Gordon your talking about a capo ?
nem

Gordon

Capo, that's the puppy.
So are you going for a 12 string or wha?