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  #1  
Old 07-26-2017, 02:13 PM
Pineapple Pete Pineapple Pete is offline
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Default Pete Seeger's 12-strings

Just love those guitars - they were cannons and had great miked tone.

Anyone ever play one of his? See one up close?

What can you share about when and where they were built, and by whom?

Pete's 12s may be as iconic in his career as his world-famous banjo.
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  #2  
Old 07-26-2017, 07:02 PM
drive-south drive-south is offline
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Fretboard Journal did an article on Petes 12 string in their Jan 2014 issue. It was built by a Liverpool engineer named Stanley Francis and has a 27.75" scale which makes it a baritone.

Martin made their own version of this guitar as well.
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Old 07-26-2017, 07:20 PM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by drive-south View Post
Fretboard Journal did an article on Petes 12 string in their Jan 2014 issue. It was built by a Liverpool engineer named Stanley Francis and has a 27.75" scale which makes it a baritone.

Martin made their own version of this guitar as well.
Right. I haven't played any guitars built by the guy who built Seeger's, but have played a couple of the Martin version. Great guitars; I liked them more than Martin's stock model 12 strings.


whm
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Old 07-26-2017, 07:27 PM
zombywoof zombywoof is offline
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I was at that Hudson River Festival in '73 at Croton Point Park mentioned in the article.

If you wanted a new 12 string in the 1950s, about the only company offering a stock instrument was Harmony.
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Old 07-26-2017, 07:32 PM
Brucebubs Brucebubs is offline
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Martin did make 120 of these;

J12SO Sing Out 60th Pete Seeger 12-strings

They are a baritone 12-string.

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Last edited by Brucebubs; 07-26-2017 at 07:45 PM.
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Old 07-27-2017, 02:19 AM
MancJonny MancJonny is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zombywoof View Post
If you wanted a new 12 string in the 1950s, about the only company offering a stock instrument was Harmony.
. . . and if you wanted one here in the UK in the 1960s, there was the up-and-coming luthier Tony Zemaitis - witness Eric Clapton's "Ivan the Terrible"!
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Old 07-27-2017, 07:31 AM
zombywoof zombywoof is offline
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. . . and if you wanted one here in the UK in the 1960s, there was the up-and-coming luthier Tony Zemaitis - witness Eric Clapton's "Ivan the Terrible"!
In the 1960s, 12 strings were starting to spring up all over the place in the States. Gibson began offering a 12 string B-45 slope shoulder guitar in 1961 and Guild started turning out 12 strings in 1963.
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Old 07-27-2017, 07:42 AM
martingitdave martingitdave is offline
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I'm doing a Pete Seeger social justice concert next week. I don't have a baritone 12 string. So, I'm going to play my new Martin D12-28.
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Old 07-27-2017, 09:17 AM
gfspencer gfspencer is offline
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Here's mine . . .



I tune mine C to C. It has a big bass growl.

From the Sing Out Magazine article that I read, Martin made a total of 120 12-string and 6-string Pete Seeger Sing Out 60th Anniversary Baritone Guitars. (In other words, they did not make 120 baritone 12-string guitars.) (I could be wrong. I have been wrong before.) I'm not sure how that build of 120 guitars was divided.

New strings are a giant pain in the rear to find.
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Old 07-27-2017, 09:22 AM
ManyMartinMan ManyMartinMan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by martingitdave View Post
I'm doing a Pete Seeger social justice concert next week. I don't have a baritone 12 string. So, I'm going to play my new Martin D12-28.
Those, too, are fabulous.
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Old 07-27-2017, 09:29 AM
ManyMartinMan ManyMartinMan is offline
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Here's mine . . . I'm not sure how that build of 120 guitars was divided.
Yours is gorgeous. There were 40 of the 000's made. I had one a few years back.
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Old 07-27-2017, 09:53 AM
ridethewind ridethewind is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by martingitdave View Post
I'm doing a Pete Seeger social justice concert next week. I don't have a baritone 12 string. So, I'm going to play my new Martin D12-28.
Have a great concert, and sing out like Pete did. You'll do him proud.
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  #13  
Old 07-27-2017, 10:45 AM
ohYew812 ohYew812 is offline
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Originally Posted by gfspencer View Post
New strings are a giant pain in the rear to find.
I found a set for you!

But you have to buy the guitar too.

https://reverb.com/item/1604794-mart...ace-of-history
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  #14  
Old 07-27-2017, 10:47 AM
Pineapple Pete Pineapple Pete is offline
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@martingitdave

I second what ridethewind said. Good luck - thank you for carrying on this most important work!

I had the pleasure of meeting Pete many years ago, and I am friends with people who have performed with him. If our nation's documenting of history is as fair to Pete's legacy as it has been to other notable social-justice figures, our children's children's generation will learn of a giant of a human being indeed.
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Old 07-27-2017, 12:00 PM
martingitdave martingitdave is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pineapple Pete View Post
@martingitdave



I second what ridethewind said. Good luck - thank you for carrying on this most important work!



I had the pleasure of meeting Pete many years ago, and I am friends with people who have performed with him. If our nation's documenting of history is as fair to Pete's legacy as it has been to other notable social-justice figures, our children's children's generation will learn of a giant of a human being indeed.


Thank you. But, like I suspect Pete would argue, I'm just there to remind the audience of the lyrics and provide background for them to sing a long. These types of events are very rewarding. Sometimes we have to repeat the words and the message to remind ourselves what they mean.

It's amazing how much impact one man had on music and the movement.

The best part is that we will have a wide spectrum of participants. New people to hear the messages.

Cheers!
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