12 String Tips?

[Daniel Grenier]

Denise, Blue Chips are awesome picks. You’re good there.
Shubb 12 string capo is passable. G7th Heritage is so much better (I have both).
Tune down a half or even a full step. Easier to play.
Explore alt tuning. DADGAD, Open C, Orkney are so, so impressive on 12string.
Try Elixir light phosphor bronze strings. Easy on the fingers, less “string noise”.
Make sure it is properly set up. Makes a big difference.
Most importantly, Have fun and enjoy.

My 2 cents. Cheers.

[jemartin]

Congratulations on that new Taylor 358e... that looks like a keeper.
I can’t offer any advice here that hasn’t been covered.... and most of these players are far more knowledgeable than I am.
I will say that after getting a new nut with a little wider string spacing (matches Taylor’s), and a complete fret job on my old 79 Guild F512... that barre chords are easier to play, as well as fingerstyle being easier (my real love on a 12 string).

If you get to the point of wanting a different breed of string one day... you may want to give the (expensive) Thomastik Infeld Spectrum strings a try. The Guild sounds great with any 12 string set, but the Thomastiks have a little extra, with gauging choices and string composition that is unique... and designed for clear playing and recording. I have only used 1 set so far, and am impressed.

Just as a 12 string side note... I sent my Taylor 6 string to the factory for a service package last year, for a period of about 1 month. In the meantime I had played the only other guitar that I had then, the Guild 12 string. I enjoyed it so much that when I got the 6 string back from Taylor, I took it out of the case and made sure everything was up to snuff, put it back in the case and didn’t play it for at least 2 or 3 weeks!
Enjoy that 12 string!

[donlyn]

Originally Posted by Guitars+gems

Donlyn, I especially thank you for taking the time to type all that valuable advice up! Are you a teacher? If so, you must be a very supportive one. I can't wait to try Pretty Woman. And yes, I do keep in mind that people are giving me what works for them, and that we all have different drummers.

Denise,

You are very welcome.

Went to school to be a teacher, but got drafted into the army after finishing college. Never did do any professional teaching, but I did teach myself how to play guitar. Mostly play 'by ear' 'cause I can't sight read music or tabs. I can translate standard notation from a 'G' clef, but still want to hear it.

While the intro to Pretty Woman is no chords over drums, I use staccato E major chords to mimic the opening drum beats when not playing the 'E E G# B D . . .' notes part, which start on the open bass E string. A quick muting of the fretted strings (creating the staccato part) leaves a drone of the bass E octave course along with the B and E treble unison courses, over which to play the intro notes. Verse chords are A, F# minor, A, F# minor, D, E (at "believe you, you're not the truth"), and stays on E for a few measures. So work on that F# minor.

Don

[Oldguy64]

Originally Posted by donlyn

Haven't tried that capo yet, but now I will. Thanks, Oldguy64.

From another old guy,
Don

I got a lot of that good advice here.
Love paying it forward.

And now my big Takamine may have to come out and play in the morning.

[MikeBmusic]

I've got a cheap(er) Ibanez 12 string, have had it for 5 years, keep it tuned to standard tuning with Lifespan 10s. No neck issues yet.

When I use a capo (not often on 12), I just a Kaiser spring-clip style, only thin I have that is wide enough. It pushes the strings with octaves out of tune, though, so retuning is needed.

Although a full strumming can give a good sound, I prefer to play in the Roger McGuinn electric style, with a slower pick across the strings, and hitting the high strings back and forth in a picked method, gives it that proper jangly 12 sound - if you don't want that., play a 6 string!

[OmpDog]

As others have mentioned, I also tune down a full step. I find it a little easier to play. Between the cedar top on my Takamine P3DC-12 and tuning it down, the sound is a little less bright (maybe slightly eerie), which I really like. I bought the guitar from Sparky up in Chicago and he did such a great setup that I find a barred F chord easier to play on this guitar than on my 6 strings. That works out well for me since the version of Hotel California I play requires an F.
The other songs I enjoy on my 12 string are
Early Morning Rain and Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot
Free Fallin' and Learning to Fly by Tom Petty
Seminole Wind by John Anderson
City of New Orleans by Steve Goodman
plus, a lot of stuff sounds good on a 12.
Happy playing.

[Silly Moustache]

Loves me my 12 strings.

I have a Harmony H1270 and a rebuilt '64 D-12-20

see them here:

I use 12-54s on both - currently Martin M190 Bronzes on the Harmony (maximal jangly) and D'addario Ej37s on the Martin.

Both are tned down one tone (1st and 6th courses - D).

And i tend to prefer both played with a Wegen TF-140, although the Martin also has a BC TAD-60 which I find a little too "smooth".

As far as songs - well you just have to play this:



and I've always thought 12 string on this worked well :

[FrankHudson]

Folks have already weighed in with a great many good tips or approaches. Here's the one I'll add:

Simple is best. You've got a lot of overtones on a 12, so playing at a slower tempo and adjusting chord voicings can make that feature your friend.

[Dreadfulnaught]

I have two 12 strings, a Giannini Craviola and a Supreme, don’t play either very much. I have two pieces of advice: 1) Have a custom compensated saddle made, pay a competent person to do it. You are otherwise stuck with cowboy chords. A 12 string can’t be in tune with itself without a good compensated saddle.
2) Use a Foote capo on the second fret, first 5 strings, then play a D chord and hear how rich it sounds!

[Guitars+gems]

Originally Posted by Silly Moustache

Loves me my 12 strings.

I have a Harmony H1270 and a rebuilt '64 D-12-20

see them here:

I use 12-54s on both - currently Martin M190 Bronzes on the Harmony (maximal jangly) and D'addario Ej37s on the Martin.

Both are tned down one tone (1st and 6th courses - D).

And i tend to prefer both played with a Wegen TF-140, although the Martin also has a BC TAD-60 which I find a little too "smooth".

As far as songs - well you just have to play this:



and I've always thought 12 string on this worked well :

It so happens, Andy, that I watched the top video and several of your others on your You Tube channel, which I then subscribed to, the other night. Good stuff! And I'm glad to know that 12's are not unrealistic. 'Course I'll work my way up to them. Why are there no 11's, like a custom light gauge, I wonder?

[Guitars+gems]

Originally Posted by FrankHudson

Simple is best. You've got a lot of overtones on a 12, so playing at a slower tempo and adjusting chord voicings can make that feature your friend.

This is a good reminder. I am definitely a more is more type of person, and I'm having a lot of fun with all the intensity and wall of sound effect of this guitar right now. I forget that subtlety and a lighter touch can convey a musical idea with more sophistication. Thank you!

Originally Posted by Dreadfulnaught

I have two 12 strings, a Giannini Craviola and a Supreme, don’t play either very much. I have two pieces of advice: 1) Have a custom compensated saddle made, pay a competent person to do it. You are otherwise stuck with cowboy chords. A 12 string can’t be in tune with itself without a good compensated saddle.
2) Use a Foote capo on the second fret, first 5 strings, then play a D chord and hear how rich it sounds!

This guitar has a fully compensated saddle. The first couple of days I had to retune a bit, but yesterday and today required it very little adjustment. As for the Foote capo, I'm gonna go look that up right now! Thanks!

[piper_L]

How does the Grand Orchestra (GO) size feel to you? (Taylor 358e). I'm not familiar with the sizes of your other guitars - does the 358 feel particularly different (apart from the 12 strings, etc)?

I've been considering a nice 12-string Taylor and find myself drawn to the GS size at least - the larger Taylors seem to bring in something to the bass side, sound-wise. The only GO I could play was interesting as well.

[Dreadfulnaught]

Originally Posted by Guitars+gems

This is a good reminder. I am definitely a more is more type of person, and I'm having a lot of fun with all the intensity and wall of sound effect of this guitar right now. I forget that subtlety and a lighter touch can convey a musical idea with more sophistication. Thank you!



This guitar has a fully compensated saddle. The first couple of days I had to retune a bit, but yesterday and today required it very little adjustment. As for the Foote capo, I'm gonna go look that up right now! Thanks!

It’s not a brand, just a Kyser or whatever springy clothespin type capo, I turn it upside down and only capo the first five, leave the low E open. Playing a D chord comes out as E, sounds great on 12 strings. Also, partial chords and inversions sometimes come out beautiful, sometimes duds. Half the fun is finding a new guitar’s voice.

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by Guitars+gems

And I'm glad to know that 12's are not unrealistic. 'Course I'll work my way up to them. Why are there no 11's, like a custom light gauge, I wonder?

Newtone Heritage Low Tension strings are available in 4 different gauge 12-string sets - including 11's.

.010 - .043
.011 - .047
.012 - .051
.013 - .055

Here's a link to the page on their site; https://www.newtonestrings.com/shop/...tic-12-string/

[BT55]

Originally Posted by jaybones

Wish You Were Here is a great 12 string song, as is most of the Byrds catalogue and even a little Tom Petty.



And technically no different than your 6’er, just a little harder possibly to press down to get clean notes when building a chord.



Properly setup a good new 12 shouldn’t be a whole lot harder than a 6.

Totally agree.
My Taylor’s setup was perfect from the factory. I tune it to C with no problems and use the recommended Elixir Light strings. No problems with barre chords. I settled on the Shubb 12 string capo as it worked better than the G7 Capo.