[ridethewind]

I got turned on to 12-strings after seeing Fred Neil play (on a triple bill with the Youngbloods and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band). I loved the chiming, shimmering quality Neil got out of his instrument and thought they'd be fun to try, but I had my Gibson 6-string and didn't see guitar as my best instrument, so the thought languished.

Many years later, after reviving my guitar interest and taking it more seriously and shortly after trading the Gibson in for the Martin I have now, I saw a Norman (Godin) 12 used in our local guitar shop. The price was low and it sounded good so I bought it to see if I'd really like playing one. It turned out that I did. I'm not used to dreads, however, and the size was too much so I looked for a smaller body. I tried out a Taylor auditorium sized that sang and was way above my price range. I test-drove a Breedlove Pursuit 12 at another guitar store. It felt like the Taylor to play and I liked the sound well enough. On a chance, I bought a lightly used Studio-12 on eBay and lucked out. The sound shimmers, just as I'd wanted it to. My wife loves it and likens the sound to a waterfall.

I use light, round-core low-tension strings on it, which allows me to bar chords. It's a beautiful guitar for my use.

Mostly I play my 6 strings, but I pull out that 12 a few times a week. It takes about 20 minutes of playing for my hands to adjust to the different string placement but it's worth it, I still love the sound, it's unlike anything else. I'd say I play it about 20-25% of the time.


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