Tuning of 12 string?
Colin Lyne
strings?
Thank you in advance of help.
Colin Lyne
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anita.gordon
"D"
Gauge now really does depend on quite a lot of things
1. Type of Music Played
2. Style of Music Played (Strumed or Picked)
3. Action of Your Guitar
4. How much volume you want
1) If you are into electro accoustic then Medium Gage
if you are into TRUE accoustic then Heavy
If you play a electric then Light Gauge
2) If you thrash your guitar then Heavy gauge
If you pick with a plectrum Medium
If you finger pick Medium or Light
3) If you have a good action Medium
If the action is bad then Light gauge will get the stings down to the
frets easier
But the sound will not be all that
4) If you are playing a Accoustic or Electro then Heavy guage string will
always give the best sound with lots of volume
If you play a Electric Guitar then I would recomend Light Gauge (For 12
strings) as your amp/FX should take care of the sound for you
Note this is just my opinion there is no hard and fast rule on strings I
play a YAMAHA APX4-12A Electro with a fair action and I tend to thrash the
living daylights out of it as we play wild stomping Irish music I play
concert pitch and for the most part play with my capo between the 2nd and
7th frets as playing Bar chords on a 12 string is not that comfortable also
open chords sound better so I use Heavy Gauge (When I can get them) most
shops stock XL/L and M gauge
Brand that is up to you I use Martin
I hope this has been of some help to you
BTW I use a plectrum rather than pick with my fingers and when I have the
capo on the 7th fret I get a nice warm Mandolin sound
Kenn Gordon
Colin Lyne <coli...@colinlyne.co.uk> wrote in message
news:994571594.82825@dionysos...
Steve Dix
<coli...@colinlyne.co.uk> wrote:
>What is the recommended tuning of a twelve string acoustic and what guage of
>strings?
>
>Thank you in advance of help.
>
Well, I can't inform you about gauge, because I usually use the martin
acoustic 12 pack, and I haven't got a clue as to the gauge. On My
rick 12, I use D'Addario 10s, as opposed to 9s as on a Rick you really
need heavier gauge strings otherwise the strings feel all floppy and
go out of tune really easily.
Twelve string tuning is basically to standard concert pitch like a six
string, except you have the six extra strings which are also tuned to
one octave above concert pitch - EXCEPT the final top two strings,
which are tuned in unison (The top b and e) The octave G is the
thinnest string on the guitar, and so try and leave tuning that until
last - it's a bugger to tune and because its so thin the chances are
it'll snap.
To replace all the strings, go through the standard gauge ones one by
one first, then replace the octave strings. Remember a 12 string has
considerably more tension to it than a 6-string -most acoustic 12s die
by pulling the belly of the guitar out, ruining the action. This is
correctable by fitting a tailpiece to effectively move some of the
tension to the end of the guitar rather than having it all through the
bridge.
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Mike Whitaker
> Well I tune mine to concer pitch but I know a lot of folk who tune down to
> "D"
Me for one. I know people who tune right down to C - it makes barre's much
easier.
> 2) If you thrash your guitar then Heavy gauge
> If you pick with a plectrum Medium
> If you finger pick Medium or Light
I'd disagree, but it's purely taste, I think. I finger-pick mine a lot, a
fairly bare two-fingers-and-thumb technique, and I find the heavier strings
help to make the sound richer. I'd also be inclined to match (or invertedly
match, if you see what I mean) heavy strings and a light pick, or vice
versa, for strumming, depending on how hard you strum and how deaf you want
to make your audience.
--
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Stan Barr
>What is the recommended tuning of a twelve string acoustic and what guage of
>strings?
Mine is strung with Martin Bronze medium guage. Not sure of the exact guages
but look like 12 - 56. Tuned in C - or occasionally B if I'm playing with
other people (who tend to play in keys like E).
Tuning an acoustic 12-string down is common practise - Leo Kottke for example.
Try C:- C F Bflat Eflat G C, bottom to top. Gives a nice fat sound.
--
Cheers,
Stan Barr st...@dial.pipex.com
The future was never like this!
Templecaff
not, in my opinion a good idea, the tension is too low to energise the top
properly, particularly as the build of a 12-string teends to be pretty beefy,
& they strings just feel "sloppy" For really low tunings a custom set of
something like 16-65ish works much better. The greater mass of the strings
means they drive the top more efficently while feeling tension-wise like a
regular light to medium set. Newtone strings & several other companies
produce custom sets of this type.
Many manufacturers are building 12-strings designed to be tuned to
concert pitch (with light-gauge 12-52 strings, they generally print a warning
about heavier gauges) Though recieved wisdom used to be to tune down a tone.
With laminated tops this is less of an issue.
Stan Barr
>anita.gordon wrote:
>
>> Well I tune mine to concer pitch but I know a lot of folk who tune down to
>> "D"
>
>Me for one. I know people who tune right down to C - it makes barre's much
>easier.
And, given a good big-bodied guitar, it gives a fat, piano-like sound.
Listen to Leo Kottke...
steve_cobham
(Templecaff) wrote:
>A twelve string guitar tuned down to B, with regular light guage strings, is
>not, in my opinion a good idea, the tension is too low to energise the top
>properly, particularly as the build of a 12-string teends to be pretty beefy,
> & they strings just feel "sloppy" For really low tunings a custom set of
>something like 16-65ish works much better. The greater mass of the strings
>means they drive the top more efficently while feeling tension-wise like a
>regular light to medium set. Newtone strings & several other companies
>produce custom sets of this type.
> Many manufacturers are building 12-strings designed to be tuned to
>concert pitch (with light-gauge 12-52 strings, they generally print a warning
>about heavier gauges)
AFAIK, most 12 string acoustics are designed and produced to be played
at concert, and have been for many years now.
The use of C tuning - eveything two steps down - seems to date from
the time that twelve strings were first produced, and I suggest that
this lower tuning was first used because:
a) The construction of 12 string guitars was of such a rudimentary
nature that that's all the tension they could withstand. Stellas were
amongst the first 12s made, and they were really rather cheaply made.
The fact that they had a tailpiece - a fairly rare fixture on a
standard acoustic body - seems to indicate that conventional bridge
construction - glued direct to the top - wasn't up to the tensions
involved in standard pitch tuning.
(The first widely-available 12s in the UK - Framus and Eko mainly -
had tailpieces and floating bridges, but these were soon superseded by
guitars with conventional bridges.)
b) Light strings weren't an option in those days.
c) Possibly a combination of a) and b) above.
>Though recieved wisdom used to be to tune down a tone.
I've never heard that widely touted.
Steve.
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Templecaff
one time believed that the 'correct' tuning was a tone down. Stellas were
utility instuments, but I have seen several owners manuals from major makers
which recommended tuning to D. Admittedly this was in the late '70s and as
you said, many, if not most contemporary 12 strings are quite happy with
standard tuning. I would suggest that the practice of tuning down a tone was
encouraged by manufacturers in order to minimise warranty work on
lightly-built instruments, which was why both Gibson & Martin beefed up the
bracing on their instruments during the early '70's.
Mark Lawrence
of the strings to E and the other to D (dom 7) or Eb (major 7). You'll have
to be a little careful with your voicings, but the effect is _nice_! (c8
cheers,
Mark (m_jkl at hotmail....etc)
steve_cobham
(Templecaff) wrote:
>Really? Just about everbody I've ever spoken to re 12-string tuning has at
>one time believed that the 'correct' tuning was a tone down.
I haven't been aware of any restrictions on stringing a 12 string to
below standard pitch since about the time I became aware of a 12
string in the mid-60s.
A friend of mine bought a Framus, the first 12 I ever handled, and I
was surprised when we played together that his was tuned to a "C
standard" tuning.
Since then, with the arrival of conventionally constructed 12 strings
- and also the first electric 12s - I've never heard of them being
tuned to anything other than standard, although I have heard of people
tuning a half-step down to make life easier for the octave third and
then capoing up to fret one so as to be in tune with everybody else.
>Stellas were
>utility instuments,
Mailorder guitars in fact.
>but I have seen several owners manuals from major makers
>which recommended tuning to D. Admittedly this was in the late '70s and as
>you said, many, if not most contemporary 12 strings are quite happy with
>standard tuning. I would suggest that the practice of tuning down a tone was
>encouraged by manufacturers in order to minimise warranty work on
>lightly-built instruments, which was why both Gibson & Martin beefed up the
>bracing on their instruments during the early '70's.
And why Guild 12 strings of a similar vintage were built like brick
outhouses..........
I got rid of mine because acoustically it had a lot in common with a
privy.
Stan Barr
>b) Light strings weren't an option in those days.
>
Not an issue, not all (or even many, that I've met...) acoustic 12-string
players use light strings even now. You can't get the tone...
>c) Possibly a combination of a) and b) above.
>
>>Though recieved wisdom used to be to tune down a tone.
>
>I've never heard that widely touted.
Many 12-string players tune down. It's certainly widely used.
It's not for any practical reason, but simply to get a particular
sound. It was well-known when I started playing guitar in the '50s.
Leo Kottke even went to the trouble of having a Martin Dreadnought
converted to 28-inch scale to go down to B or, I think, A.
Mark Lawrence
course...
Mark Lawrence wrote in message
<99469451...@igateway.postoffice.co.uk>...
steve_cobham
wrote:
>It can be cool to mess around with the top E. For instance, try tuning one
>of the strings to E and the other to D (dom 7) or Eb (major 7). You'll have
>to be a little careful with your voicings, but the effect is _nice_! (c8
Check out Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West's "Stratosphere Boogie" where
JB plays a twin neck guitar with the 12-neck courses tuned to
intervals to get a harmony effect.
Available by PNP on the client of your choice.
Steve Dix
>On Mon, 9 Jul 2001 16:53:31 +0100, "Mark Lawrence" <m_...@hotmail.com>
>wrote:
>
>>It can be cool to mess around with the top E. For instance, try tuning one
>>of the strings to E and the other to D (dom 7) or Eb (major 7). You'll have
>>to be a little careful with your voicings, but the effect is _nice_! (c8
>
>Check out Jimmy Bryant and Speedy West's "Stratosphere Boogie" where
>JB plays a twin neck guitar with the 12-neck courses tuned to
>intervals to get a harmony effect.
>
So-named because the electric doubleneck he played was made by
Stratosphere. Allegedly the first electric 12, but interestingly
(given this thread) they were unusually strung - ie not like a
standard 12-string.