help me choose a 12 string guitar

[Dove Histronic]

 

Had this jumbo maple Westerly Guild back when I was gonna be the white non-blind Blind Willie McTell

 

The fancy Westerly Guilds are beautiful with power and tone to match

 

I get into 12 strings from time to time, but there's only so much of that swirly chorus

octave tone I can take --- but YMMV

[Murph]

 

Had this jumbo maple Westerly Guild back when I was gonna be the white non-blind Blind Willie McTell

 

 

I'm going out on a limb' date=' and am guessing that didn't work out for ya.......

 

[milod]

I've had 12ers off and on for 46 years, everything from Stella up and back again...

 

The best 12 is one that feels good when you go back to the store the third or fourth time and the flames of lust have been banked a bit and you're thinking a bit more clearly.

 

String gauge seems to make a lotta difference; bridge setup ditto for finger picking of various sorts.

 

Never cared much for Martin necks.

 

m

[yaz1009]

Gord and the the 1960's B45s! How about that for an endorsement of 12 strings?

[Taylor Player]

Well... I know I said Guild and Taylor were my standards, but 12 strings have come and gone from my collection because even though I had nice expensive ones, I never "Bonded" with them and all were tough for my fingerstyle playing (with the exception of my old Taylor 454 ltd. which was very nice for fingerstyle.) A few days ago, I saw a cool old guitar on Craigslist and even though the owner said it was in horrible shape and likely would not play again, I offered the owner a trade for a Boss Blues Driver pedal I had. He accepted and I went to look at what he had. It turned out to be a 1969 Framus 5/297 12 string built in Bavaria, West German. It has a solid German Spruce top that is almost orange with age, a laminated and arched mahogany back and sides and a beautiful Ebony Fretboard. It was all original, but the neck was so bad it had pulled forward and broken through the body just under the end of the fretboard. The guy still had 12 strings on it and had tried to tune it to some pitch, but the strings were a full 2 inches off the fretboard at the 12th fret. The bridge looks like something from the 3rd Reich, but it is solid and actually bolted through the top to a metal plate below the metal string holder on the bridge.

I still thought it looked cool, and didn't use the Blues Driver so I made the trade thinking it was just going to be some Guitar Art for my music room. When I got home, I pulled the four bolts holding the neck onto the body out and found that the screws for the upper part of the neck were not holding as the wood was stripped. I decided to try the toothpick trick with some wood glue. I actually had some small pine dowling that was smaller than the holes but bigger than a toothpick so I used that. It worked great and after re-attaching the neck, I threw an old set of 6 strings on the guitar and was actually able to tune it up to pitch! Over the weekend, I grabbed a set of light gauge 12 strings and put them on. I currently have it tuned D to D instead of E to E, but it has held all weekend and stayed pretty much in tune!!! A quick check of the neck angle after the strings were at pitch indicated a perfectly straight neck. The neck itself will likely never break or warp. It is a lamanated neck with over 30 laminations!!!

 

 

I am amazed that even though the neck is only 1 3/4", it is by FAR the easiest playing 12 string I have ever played for a 12 string. Now don't get me wrong, the tone is not beautiful and shimmery like my old Taylor, but it is mellow and jangly which to me is just like a 12 string should be. The tone suits my songs perfectly!

 

This thing has some very poorly repaired cracks in the sides and top, but it seems to be holding and now I think I finally have a 12 string that I will keep. It was the right price, plays easy and has MOJO written all over it.

 

So, take every thing you get here as good advice, but play a bunch of them and you will find one that speaks to you like I think I just did. It is in only slightly better shape than Willie Nelsons guitar "Trigger", but I hope to be able to nurse this guitar along for the next several years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bkharmony]

The gang pretty much covered my .02, but I'll reinforce what's already been said:

 

• Guild or Taylor (I went Taylor and I'm very happy)

• Dread 12s don't work IMO

• There's a reason those B45s are so easy to find