[Salvador Dali]

hey there, how much, roughly, is a 12 string acoustic guitar? in £'s

[dadfad]

The price varies greatly. An entry-level 12-string (like a Fender at musiciansfriend.com) might run about $250 US (£ 150+ or so) to several thousand dollars. And of course there are used ones available in different price ranges as well.

[Salvador Dali]

Thanks. kinda intrested in gettin one see.

[dadfad]

Yes, they're pretty nice to have. A tad harder to play than a regular 6-string but you can't match that sound with anything else.

[Mikky04]

isn't 12 string spanish?

[rayvon87]

I've heard that they don't really know where they came from, Mexico or USA. One theory is that they were created by Italian luthiers in New York or Chicago. Another theory is that the first 12-string was created in the New Orleans by a company called..uhh...Grunewald, and if I'm not mistaken they called it 'The Harp Guitar'. The last theory is that they were introduced from Mexico because Mexican music has such a long history with double-course instruments.

So, take your pick...

This post has been edited by rayvon87: 16 October 2005 - 04:51 AM

[Schneibster]

Having recently gone shopping for a 12-string, I can tell you that Takamine has a really nice one going right now for $600 or $700 (prolly about £400) that I'm absolutely enjoying the heck out of. It's about twice the Fender and Yamaha cheapies, but it's well worth the money because its action is far better, and its top is solid spruce (as opposed to plywood, as the Fender and Yamaha prolly are).

It also comes pre-equipped to plug in to your amplifier, and the controls include a notch filter (for eliminating feedback) and a tuner. The action is particularly important on a 12-string; you're already going to burn your fingers up for the first month or so that you play it, and there's no sense adding bad action to the mix and taking a chance on frustrating yourself.

This is a real step for Takamine, their 12-strings generally go for more like $1000 or more. But it's by no means a "step down," other than the fact that they have to take certain manufacturing trade-offs in order to make it for that price. It's worthy of the name, IMO.

Have fun! Nothing like a new axe. It's been fifteen years since I bought one, and I'd forgotten how nice it feels.

[ramblingman]

u idiot, the yamaha's dont have a plywood top, if they did there would be no noise cuz it would absorb it, GEEZ, they r solid just like anything else

ps i own one

[dadfad]

I wouldn't call him an idiot, because the fact is a great many Fender and Yamaha acoustic guitars do have laminated tops (a more polite word for plywood). For example I know the Fender DG-16 12-string does (my son just got one). Most ads for guitars now (like at Musicians Friend or Guitar Center, etc) are now starting to omit the word "laminated" and just say "spruce top" instead of "laminated spruce top" in their descriptions Some are solid tops, some aren't. They all however do have at least laminated backs and sides. Sometimes you can tell with a mirror on the inside of the guitar because the inside grain doesn't exactly match the top side grain. Sometimes you can look at the edges of the soundhole very closely and see the layers. On a guitar that has a solid color finish instead of a natural finish it can be hard to tell from the appearance. Of course not all Fender or Yamaha acoustics have laminated tops, but quite a few do.