Who also plays guitar as a hobby?

[halo71]

I've been playing for 22 years. Got a Fender 12 string acoustic that has been in standard tuning for years and its held up very nicely. This guitar is very easy to fret to. Maybe its the build up of calluses on my fret hand. What you say about the way a 12 string "should" be tuned makes no sense to me at all.

 

[captaincranky]

I have an Emachine T-5026 which is over 3 years old and going strong. People tell me that shouldn't be so.
I had a guitar teacher, Eddie Paffett, who had a fender acoustic tweve 12, bought it new, kept it tuned up to concert pitch. I saw him 5 years later and asked him if he still had it. "No, it fell apart", said he. As always, individual results may vary. There are a lot of factors involved, obviously, string gauge, string height, body size, and neck width (for playability).

Manufacturers, suggest the more extreme down tunings. 3 or 4 half steps. (Ulterior motive, they have to enforce the warranty). I use 2 down since I don't try and play that often. Muscles and callouses go away. If you fool around with an electric constantly and then jump to a Guild Jumbo 12 with .056 low "E" I'm pretty sure you'd think it's a slug. I had a Guild Jumbo 12 and an Ovation Matrix 12 at the same time and there was no comparison in the playability of the two guitars. When I tried to put a very light string set (.047 bottom E) on the Guild, the beautiful sound of the all maple body just went away. Beautiful sound with the heavier strings, but it was a slug. I always kept the ovation at concert pitch.

Roger McGuinn tunes his Rick down to F# for "Turn, Turn, Turn, but I'm sure he's accommodating his vocal range, not the guitar.

I saw Gene Clark play "Malaguena" on an Ovation 12 String. That was years and years ago, to this day I'm still impressed.

 

[halo71]

You are a lucky man with that eMachines still kicking!

But for an acoustic to fall apart? Never in all my years have I heard of that, or the tunings you spoke of. My Fender acoustic is as nice now as it was when I got her years ago. I take care of all my guitars, dont even let anyone else play, much less touch them. Especially my Kramers! I even have a Ibanez AE10 6 string acoustic that is maybe 10 years old and its still kicking, and a Godin A6 acoustic that is in pristine shape. And believe me, I am not a Fender or Ibanez fanboy at all. Never cared for their electrics either. Both acoustics were great deals when I ran across them is the only reason I have them now. I would like to have a nice Taylor or Martin acoustic one day though.

What guitars do you currently have?

 

[captaincranky]

Was it Built on a Monday or a Friday.......

I suppose that guitars as well as cars can have lemons, built with pride and a heavy hangover. Plus, you never what those musician types are smokin'.

Anyway, when the man said "fell apart" I think he meant warped badly. My Ovation 12 string started to crack along the soundboard braces, but I never found out if it was just the finish or it went deeper into the wood.

Anyway, I'm still amazed that you've never heard of tuning 12 strings down. (Just as much as you're amazed that I have). It is in every instruction booklet I've ever seen. Granted that the 3 or 4 step down is too extreme, but 2 is nice, and when you capo up two, you get the added benefit of the capo reducing the overall action height. Well, there is a drawback, when you capo up, you run out of neck on the high end real quick. And if you capo on an odd key, the position markers, are out of sync. So, for people such as myself, who are "tonally challenged", you lose the ability to "play by eye".

I'm hard core lefthanded, so it's difficult for me to find guitars "off the rack" as it were. Right now I have an Epiphone Acoustic 12 string that I found in CC Philly at Eight Street Music. Once upon a time, there was the "Left Handed Guitar Store",, but I think they've been under for years. I'm suffering from "Googleus Interruptus" at the moment. or I'd tell you for sure. (Not down, just lazy).

IMHO, the trouble with many acoustics is that the luthiers set the neck directly in a straight line with the sound board, wheras I believe it should be set at a slight angle, with the headstock dropping slightly toward the bottom of the guitar. This then requires a higher initial bridge setting, and as the axe settles in, (read the strings pull the neck upward), you still have plenty of room to drop the bridge and set a nice action height. I've just seen too many of them with the string riser buried deep into the bridge proper to think otherwise.

As I frequently state, "your results may vary", and good luck luck with all your "babies".

 

[halo71]

Oh I never said that I'd never heard of drop tuning a 12 string. I also never looked at an instruction manual for a guitar! lol Alls I was saying is stating that 12 strings should always be dropped tuned was a little far fecthed to me. But there are only a few songs that I play where I would have a need for a 12 string, a few covers and a few originals. I love playing "She talks to Angels" and "Uncle Tom's Cabin" on a 12 string. And "When the Children Cry" sounds really sweet on a 12 even though it was written for a 6 string.

Is the Epi your only guitar now? You never said.

 

[captaincranky]

I don't suppose you'd go as far as "it's not a bad idea" in the spirit of compromise?

Guitar manuals are sort of like DVD player instruction manuals in that you read the first one, the all the rest are just skimmed for quirks. Well, not quite as complicated.

 

[halo71]

How about agree to disagree maybe?!? Just kidding, yeah I guess its not a bad idea. Just not a requirement.

 

[saioke]

i played for 4 years and i still suck. i have a epiphone les paul special 2 with gold hardware and they dont even sell them anymore with a basic 10 watt fender amp.

i play everything but i like appegio songs like house of the rising sun the most.

 

[Nick Lee]

I bet that looks like a pretty sweet axe. ^_^

 

[mercenary10]

I used to play electric bass, quit a year ago though

 

[captaincranky]

The British are Coming, The British are coming,, Well, Not Alice Though....

i played for 4 years and i still suck.

I know the feeling

i play everything but i like appegio songs like house of the rising sun the most.

Since we're talking about really old stuff here, you might want to get with, The Beatles, "Norweigen Wood" (Rubber Soul), "Paint it Black", The Rolling Stones (High Tides and Green Grass), and or "Desperado", Alice Cooper (Killer) All of these songs have the melody played as an arpeggio while the rhythm is played simultaneously. Great fun, and you don't have to sing them to make it recognizable. Well maybe, a little in the choruses:grinthumb

 

[Nick Lee]

I used to play electric bass, quit a year ago though

Why did you quit?

 

[BrentR]

i play guitar, but i play alternative/rock/punk stuff, but i'm not in a band: i dont have the time.

 

[Nick Lee]

i play guitar, but i play alternative/rock/punk stuff, but i'm not in a band: i dont have the time.

Thats cool, I'm not in a band either nor am I good enough to be in a band. I play for fun, to relieve stress and well I love it and its fun.