Due to overwhelming demand created by this post (okay - two requests), I had some time this morning to tune up my three Goodall 12-strings and play them back-to-back so that I could offer some tonal comparisons. When I say "tune them up", what I really mean is that I verify that they are in their "normal" tuning for me. That is, one whole step down from standard (D to D). I have just entered my Medicare years, so my hands have decided that playing 12-string acoustics in standard tuning is not recommended. Plus, to my (worsening) ears, they just sound better tuned down. And, I may be old-fashioned, but I think that tuning down is a better option for the neck health of these guitars for future lucky owners.
After putting in a good hour of my precious retirement time playing these three 12s (and delaying today's job of vacuuming the house), what I found is that they are more similar than different. That may sound like a cop-out, but I think two factors are at play here. One is the obvious similarities of the three: all are Goodalls, all are Jumbos, and, most importantly to my mind, all have Sitka Spruce tops. (All even have Goodall's "Master Grade" Sitka Spruce tops.) As we all have been told over the years on the AGF, the top is the most important generator of sound on an acoustic guitar.
The second factor in making these guitars sound similar is their nature of being 12-strings. All those vibrating lengths of varying diameters of string create so much sound and overtones and "jangliness" that potential differences created by the various back and side woods are obscured.
For anyone disappointed in this "evenness" of sound that I discovered across the three guitars, I will admit to hearing a few minor differences by transferring quickly from one guitar to another. The Koa 12-string had a bit more of the brightest "jingle-jangle" treble output. The Indian Rosewood 12-string sounded a bit "warmer" and "rounder". And the Maple 12-string fell somewhere in the middle of the other two, as it sounded more "balanced", with a bit more mid-range focus and note articulation. But if you played the three in succession blind-folded, with 30 seconds of rest between each guitar, I doubt if you could tell the difference.
Okay, that's my report. The dustballs and tracked cat litter are calling to me. On to the vacuum!