Amicus players
 

i've got 2 issues. one being, baselor joint arthritis that is affecting my playing. touching the back of the neck in certain positions cause intense pain spasms. I had my X20 set up by my Taylor authorized repair (from advice from my teacher) even though i don't think it was necessary. So it frets very easy now, I can play this guitar for 15 minutes until my hand hurts too bad to continue. I have played my Amicus about 3 hours at once, with some pain , but not enough to stop. I am really enjoying my
Amicus due to many reasons, but I wonder if it would benefit me any to lower the action. I am trying to learn open chords without my thumb touching the neck, which helps. barre chords are not necessarily what i am after, but more an easy player for old hands. I don't think i could barre a G# anyway because my fingers won't fit! any input on the setup would be welcomed. also, my Amicus 'rings' through my ribs FOREVER it seems. It's has much more 'feelings' than my top of the line Taylors, or even my x20. all the things i love about this little guitar are not mentioned anywhere. i guess it just 'fits' me.

I tune mine b to b. I find it easier to play and easier to match the most common singling keys (g or c).

When I got mine, it felt very 'tight' in the standard D tuning. I tried C, and then went down to B, each getting progressively easier to play, but I felt as if I was rather missing the point of the Amicus. B to B is much closer to guitar tension, but it seemed as if I was missing the sparkle, so I went back to D.

It was still a bit hard to play, though, so I did a little checking. I realized that the nut slots were a tad high, so I took it to St Paul Guitar Repair for adjustment. They did their magic, and it now plays so easily, I barely notice that it's a 12-string. I don't see any need to lower the action - that nut adjustment was all that was required.

I can see G being easy with B-B tuning - but C?

I have owned two amicus.. or is it amicusies :-). If it is any consolation I always found that open cords sound best on this little 12 string. This little baby likes to ring out!!!

Hope you enjoy!!!

Amicus is the singular masculine noun for friend. Plural would be amici...

I loved the scene in the movie Scarface where Al Pacino says, “Let me introduce you to my little Amicus.” Scarface, of course, was no amicus curiae. And @Fixedgear60 might have to amicuse himself.

Every once in a very long while I find and seize the opportunity to utilize six years of public school Latin classes. O tempera, o mores.....

I thought there would be more than one amicus owner here.

There are at least two :)

Plus one, if not two, former owners - and that’s just from this thread.

3!

I just got mine yesterday, and I also have about that many minutes on it thus far. I will be trying the suggested tunings myself.:)

Here is another - tuned in DADGAD which works well for open chords. And yes, it rings forever.

Dave

Splendid! How about a picture or two? :D

Mine arrived on Friday and I'm a full-time DADGAD player, Dave, so I've been toying with that and what string gauges I'll need to do what I think it's capable of being. I'd love to bring it down to GDGCGD (DADGAD version of A to A standard) which worked well on my 19.1" scale Papoose, but would be happy with AEADEA (from B to B standard).

On arrival I immediately tuned the "bass" D pair down to C and the two treble coursed down to G and C respectively (so CGCFGC). The 042 pair and the 011 and 085 courses are fine down a full step. They're also OK but a bit slack if it comes down to BF#BEF#B, another half step down from CGCFGC. but they're far too floppy down to AEADEA. The drop in tension for the inner 3 pairs of strings makes play a bit easier. They also do pretty well down another full step but could need slight up-gauging.

So, my next step, at the first string change, will be to up-gauge some strings, specifically the 2.5 step-down ones. I think I'll need a pair of 045 for the low A and 013 and 010 for the two high pairs. I'll likely also boost some of those inner strings (eg the 029 pair to 030, the 020 to 022 and the 015 to 016). Not a major gauge change in the grand scheme of things (but I may be happy I invested in those nut files!).

In the meantime, in between time, I'm enjoying playing it in B to B (DADGAD intervals, of course)...very intriguing sound with interesting possibilities!

Phil

I’ll be interested to hear what you end up with for strings, Phil. I’m happy with mine in D-d, but I haven’t started playing with open tunings yet. As I mentioned, I thought it lost its sparkle going down to C-c or B-b - but that’s with the stock strings. Having something a tad heavier to restore the tension should restore that brilliant voice.

For those who don’t know, the Amicus is an 18” scale instrument. That’s roughly equivalent to a 25.5” scale guitar capo’d at the 6th fret - but it’s tuned to the equivalent of the 10th fret, so you can imagine the extra tension. The stock strings are .042-.0085, so very light to start with by guitar standards - which mitigates the fact that they’re tuned 2 full tones higher.

I really like the Newtone strings for the Amicus:

https://newtonestrings.com/shop/emer...son-12-string/

Cheers,
Dave

I'm trying to do my string homework before I change them. I'm not getting a lot to go on. I don't understand the reasoning for changing out the 6 string pair... I'm thinking i will go with elixir, and order a single string x 2 if i need to, after the fact (@$6 ea) I did this morning re tune to DADGAD and I DON'T get it. every chord I played sounded really out of tune! was this a joke? haha i fell for it, or there something I'm not getting.

You’re going to have to play some games to get Elixirs in the right gauges. Closest I can find is an electric ‘Super Light’ set, which is .009-.042. Either that, or you’ll be buying lots of strings just to get what you need.

Or you can just buy the Newtones, which will actually come out cheaper than two sets of the Elixirs, and be delightful to play. Plus the fun of getting something in the mail from the UK :)

David, i have ordered a set from Stringjoy. they have a 'custom' set . i know nothing about them other than a FB add and made in Nashville.

What gauge strings are in the set you ordered?

Interesting. I don’t see anything on their website - is this a set that they put together for you, or something they already had, but didn’t advertise?

I’m going to ask them as well - I’ll be asking them about strings for my X20-7 also.

David. their custom sets allow you to pick the size for each string. they offer a wound or unwound string for #3. i have reservations....i ordered on thursday and a shipping label was created. as of saturday, they still have not shipped. prompt shipping is a requirement of mine.

Understood. Newtone offers the same facility. Many times, their custom sets are made to order, however, so shipping is best described as leisurely.

I just posted a NGD in the General section here...

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...06#post6872006

Here is a teaser...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...28722925_b.jpg

Amicus pickup help needed
 

Hi,

I recently bought a used Amicus (model which still has bridge pins), and am enjoying it so far. Acoustically it sounds beautiful. Plugged in, however, the low D strings are louder than the others, and the high d strings are barely heard through the amp at all. Is the pickup bad, or is it simply positioned incorrectly (off center or something)?

Where is the pickup located? When I shined a light and looked inside, I see a wire running into the body around the bridge, didn't see a pickup itself. Is the pickup actually under the bridge on the outside of the guitar . . . meaning I (or someone skilled in this stuff :D ) will need to remove all the strings and the bridge to get access to the pickup to see what the issue is?

Thank you.

Amicus P.U.
 

Aaronkn, I too just purchased a used Amicus and I'm a happy camper. Sorry to hear you're having a pickup problem. The stock Amicus pickup is an LR Baggs Element (https://www.lrbaggs.com/acoustic-gui...ystems/element). It is an under saddle pickup with the volume/tone control and the 9V battery bag accessible thru the sound hole. The Endpin contains an active preamp. Because the pickup itself runs the length of the saddle slot underneath the saddle it probably isn't positioned incorrectly. My first move would be to confirm you have a stock pickup by checking with the seller you purchased from. Next a fresh 9V. Once you know what's in there you can check with Emerald and LR Baggs via email and ask if they've seen this issue. Both companies are mega-responsive. Failing all of that it might be time to take it to a qualified repair person. Please let us know how it turns out.

Buzz, thanks for the response. I've confirmed the guitar has the LR Baggs Element pickup, and it has a good battery inside. So I guess the next step is to reach out to the companies in case there's a known issue. Cheers.

Hi David...MY Amicus is also too "tight" for my liking. I'm going to try the same fix to stay with the D tuning. I sure hope I can find a tech in San Diego with the same "magic". Thanks for the tip; otherwise, I really love this guitar!
William

the stringjoy strings i bought last december are still on my Amicus and still sound good. I only play it on Fridays. i meet 2 guys and one plays a banjo and the other a guitar. the amicus is a great bluegrass instrument! I only wish there was a way to play it without the capo...

There is :)

Seriously, I know what you mean - you’re probably capoing at 2 to play regular shapes. But, transposing for what I would assume to be common bluegrass keys (C, G) is really easy, with a bit of practice - give it a try!

Amicus
 

As mentioned drop down a step and see if that helps.

Another thing to consider: I bought my Amicus used from a dealer and when it arrived it was strung with a set of 12 string light gage strings tuned A to A. Like playing a normal 12 guitar at Capo 5 etc. At first I was kind of irritated but it sounds so good and plays so nice I'm rolling with it.