charlie brown Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 Dang CB' date=' Those are beautiful. Just a couple of problems. I can't (or at least the wife won't let me) afford them and my fingers are too fat for the skinny fingerboards. Other than those two things, I would be very interested. [/quote'] Thanks, DB I know what you mean, about "pricey!" Wow! "Who'd a thunk it?!" And yes, Ric's do have somewhat narrow necks, but I adopted some playing techniques, years ago, that helps me get around that problem, for the most part. A lot of those fingering techniques are on Roger McGuinn's DVD, about the Electric 12-string. But, I had already learned/adopted several, before I ever saw his DVD. But, it was nice to know, I was doing it "right,"...LOL! Now, if I could just PLAY the way he does...all would be right with the world...that way, anyway. ;>) CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarpBoy Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 Yes Korea as far as I'm aware. What I meant by that was: Alden was a UK company with guitars built in Korea. Eastwood is a USA company with the same guitar - built in Korea. Didn't want to confuse anyone so thanks for pointing that out. Eastwood is a good 'ol Canadian company, located in Toronto. Just settin' the record straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkuss Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 Oops! Sorry... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbirchett Posted April 29, 2009 Author Share Posted April 29, 2009 I just got an Alden 12. Neck is pretty big but not too big to be able to get used to. I think eastwood make an equivalent in the USA. Lovely low action and a good variety of sounds plugged in. Clark, how wide are they at the nut? Are they 1 3/4" or 1 7/8". I have seen some pictures of those that are just striking. I wish that the f holes were not so large. They appear to be larger than anything that Gretsch ever put out and they have huge ones. I guess size does matter. (Did I just say that out loud?) Is it made in Korea? My understanding was that they were made in China but I've been wrong before and will be again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJPJ Posted April 29, 2009 Share Posted April 29, 2009 I play an electric 12 in one of my duos. I began with a Danelectro DC12 (a couple of pictures of same model in earlier posts). Pros: Clear strong tone. Superb neck, wide enough for easy chord fingering and noodling. Fender style bridge is good (ie saddles are adjustable for height and intonation) Affordable. Cons Small tone range. The tone you get (particularly from the combined pickups) is very fine but each pickup by itself is only slightly distinct. I kept using the combination live as that's the only one that could cut through. Neck heavy. I needed a thick leather strap with a rough texture to keep the guitar neck from diving. Strap button at the neck very badly placed. I needed to cut a chunk out of the strap to get it to fit. No longer produced. You need to find a second hand one (though they don't get insanely expensive for all their rarity). Neck adjustment by screw at heel end, requiring removal of neck itself. A pain. Nevertheless, I highly recommend these as a good start. As with any good start you might well just stick with it. The sound and playability of the Dano are both pretty danged good. However, I finally bought one of these: http://www.maton.com.au/electrics/ms500-12-std.html Pros The most playable electric 12 I've ever tried. Neck good thickness and depth with a flat radius, very comfortable. Short scale like a Gibson or Epi allows for easier fingering but also freer choice of available string sets. These are shipped with Elixir .010s which are a dream to play. The Dano needed a smaller guage of string to be playable. Heavy neck balanced by well designed body that prevents neck dive (clever use of chambering) Lots of tonal variation with P-90ish neck pup and a coil tap bucker in the bridge goes from big chime to acoustic sounding neck pup. Good high output from both pups. Small body design, very sleek and easy to lug. Cons Possible limited availability due to it being Australian in origin and (I think) produced in smaller numbers than more popular models (Maton do most of their business with their acoustic ranges). This could drive the price up in some areas. Tuneomatic style bridge involves more of a compromised setup than Fender style with individual saddle adjustment. Neck adjustment at heel but does not require removal of neck (still not as straight forward and accessible as a headstock adjustment as on a Fender, Gibbo or Epi). Narrow fingerboard at headstock end might be of concern to anyone more used to acoustic 12 string spacing. It took a little while for me to adjust but I now find it easy. The Dano, once again, is a very good choice to begin with, takes very well to a bit of compression and will serve perfectly well. They turn up second hand at shops and ebay more frequently than a lot of other electric 12s and sell for pretty much what you bought them for. The Maton, though, is pure heaven as an electric 12. It sounds sensational, plays easily, sits very comfortably against the body and feels very solid and reliable. If you can get to try one out consider it recommended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Buffalo Posted April 30, 2009 Share Posted April 30, 2009 Oi' date=' does it have to be Semi-Acoustic? Here's a nice one for ya... [/quote'] I think it should - years ago, I had a teardrop shaped Vox solid body electric 12, and in my opinion, it had a little too much sustain. I don't regret getting rid of it & getting a MIK Riviera 12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbirchett Posted May 3, 2009 Author Share Posted May 3, 2009 OK, I just got one. Mine is a 330 clone by UnSung. Got it off of Ebay. The Seller had a sunburst listed and then he listed this one. I was the only bidder and got it cheap. The seller still has 3 of the sunburst but Ebay won't let him sell any more. I think someone got their nose a little bent out of shape. Anyway here is the one I got. If anyone is interested in a sunburst (Fireglo) at a great price, please contact me off the list and I will give you contact information. If you want to get an idea of what the sunburst looks like, I have attached a picture from the UnSung web site a few posts up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stig Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 My (Electric) 12-strings: (with a little "Miami" 320' date=' in-between) [img']http://i461.photobucket.com/albums/qq333/charliebrown1949/MyRickenbackers001.jpg[/img] CB Charlie, I just want you to know that I hate you for having those guitars. And I mean that in the nicest way possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 Wow, Stig...that's weird, thinking I should thank you, for "hating me?" LOL! But, they ARE fun! Just something about Ric 12-string tone. I like the Epi Riviera 12-string, a lot...too. May have to get one of those, someday? But, there's just something unique, about the Ric's. Not sure if it's the pickups, the body construction, unusual string placement(?)...but, it's probably a little bit of all of that, I would guess. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkuss Posted May 4, 2009 Share Posted May 4, 2009 I'm at the university Libarary at the moment but wil get the infor for you tomorrow. There are no makers stickers/serial on the guitar as far as I'm aware. I thought Alden guitars were Korean made. Not sure about Eastwood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stig Posted May 5, 2009 Share Posted May 5, 2009 Wow' date=' Stig...that's weird, thinking I should thank you, for "hating me?" LOL! But, they ARE fun! Just something about Ric 12-string tone. I like the Epi Riviera 12-string, a lot...too. May have to get one of those, someday? But, there's just something unique, about the Ric's. Not sure if it's the pickups, the body construction, unusual string placement(?)...but, it's probably a little bit of all of that, I would guess. CB[/quote'] I've always wanted a Ric, but every time I went shopping for one, I came home with something else. My Guild Starfire's a prime example of that. I certainly don't regret that decision! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkuss Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 Nut width is 48-49mm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzybutt Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Oi' date=' does it have to be Semi-Acoustic? Here's a nice one for ya... Danelectro DC-12.... Very Nice sounding guitar, very vibrant and zingy... Peter Buck got one (pink sparkly, lol) [img']http://i14.photobucket.como/albums/a304/Nirrik/DSC02231.jpg[/img] out of all my guitars the dc-12 is my favourite these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbirchett Posted May 9, 2009 Author Share Posted May 9, 2009 Nut width is 48-49mm Thanks' date=' Clark. That's the same as on the Unsung that I just got. That translates to 1 7/8" for the metrically challenged among us, like me. My gauge has both metric and imperial measurements on it so it is easy to convert back and forth. [img']http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v497/dbirchett/My%20Guitars/UnSung%2012%20String/PICT1394.jpg[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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