JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Guitars and Guitarist Forum Pros and cons of playing 12 string guitar.

I play twelve string guitar and love it for the full sound I get, but there are drawbacks. I hate the extra work when I have to change the strings, not to mention the extra cost. I also find it harder on the fingers, what else do you find as drawbacks in playing 12 strings.

The 12 string sound is important to the Blue Island Beer Club. Bruce plays one a lot and I play one occasionally. They place a lot more stress on the neck and are consequently harder to keep in tune. You have to watch out that the bridge/belly does not bulge up as the guitar ages. Some people tune down a half or whole step to reduce stress.

In order for me to be happy playing one, I want the action set as low as possible. Lowering the bridge saddle and nut slots is a requirement. There is no point in fighting it.

I got my Seagull C-12 used about 6 years ago and I play it now almost exclusively. You can't beat the full sound. The main drawbacks for me are tuning (the joke in my band is "How do you know when a 12-string is in tune? Nobody knows.")and my fingers start to hurt by the 4th set or so. Other than that I wouldn't give it up for nothing.

Thanks for the replies. I too find tuning to be a pain, especially where the tuning keys are so close together.

12 strings are cool to hear. I have loved them since the 1960s. My hands are not strong to play them.

The fretboard is too wide for me. I try to cross pick on the six string to get that full sound.

Hi Everett,

The best thing about playing a Martin 12 String for about ten years was that it made playing my next main guitar, a Takemine 6 string, feel like I was playing air guitar, and I could then concentrate on singing well. My memories of singing while playing the 12 string are of finger pain and mental strain from focusing on singing with good intonation, and making it all ..."appear" effortless, LOL.

A nice recording alternative I use is having another 6 string with the higher set of strings on it, and I then play a second track that is identical, in terms of what ones hands are doing, with the first track. Instant 12 string. If it is done with precision, it can sound very clean and effortless.

Mike

I use a 12 string Rickenbacker electric in a lot of my recordings of my songs. I absolutely love the sound of the 12 string Ric, especially through a Vox-type amp. But it is a pain to tune. It is also hard to capo.

I also don't really like playing it too much, partly because the string tension, but mostly because my fingers really feel scrunched up on it. This is partly because of the 12 strings on a standard width neck. But mostly because it only has a 24.75 inch scale. My short, fat fingers feel too scrunched up on all 24.75 inch scale guitars, including all Gibsons I tried and most acoustic guitars. I feel most comfortable and enjoy playing guitars with 25.5 inch scales, like most Fenders (Strat and Tele, for example) and my Gretsch Country Club. It is odd that 3/4 of an inch would make so much of a different in the feel of the guitar, but it does to me. This may also be a contributor to why I enjoy playing bass, which is my primary instrument.

But, man! What a great, jangly sound!

My biggest drawback is not so much with the instrument as it is with my fat stubby fingers touching more strings than they should. Also, my 12 string is a little different:


I wanted the "mandolin sound" but wanted any guitarist to be able to pick it up and play it in the studio. So I made this little one. The locking tuners help keep it in tune, and they are spaced far enough away that it's not tough to tune it. But it makes the headstock look about the same size as the body - which is cool in a way. Still, to play this 12 string, one cannot have fat stubby fingers like mine, so I'm going to be selling this one on ebay probably. I can't play a regular mandolin either because of the tree frog pads.

Maybe that is why I'm so painful to listen to when I sing, I'm in pain and it's reflected in my voice.LOL

LOL, Everett.

Well my opinion is that the 12 string is not only for pros. I think cons should be able to play one regardless of the time they did.

Oh ya, one of the pros nobody mentioned yet, is that you can break strings and still go on with the show. One night, I started out playing a 12 string, but ended up the encores playing a 9 string.

Good one Jean.LOL Maybe if I was a con for a while(having lots of time on my hands) I could learn to play it well. No, don't wanna go there.LOL

I have no complaints, in many ways playing a twelve is beneficial. Specially for developing callused fingertips, and hand strength.

Adversely, the callus develops over a wider area so when playing a sixer the strings seem to cut into your finger tips until you adapt to the change and feel of the different instrument.

The biggest problem I had was when you break a string the extra time it takes to get the thing back in tune. There also pretty hard to play lead guitar on. {Although the late Buddy Miles played lead guitar on my 12 string UPSIDE DOWN, and it didn't faze HIM!}

I played acoustic 12 string back in the 70s and 80s. I subscribe to the Low-tuned method, tunning it down 1 1/2 to
2 full steps for that throaty-roar of a sound (ala Kottke or Preston Reed) for solo playing. Problem is, keeping it in tune, with decent intonation is difficult when you tune that low. Plus, for me as an instrumentalist, the whole issue of just hitting the octave string or bass string (for effect) and not the pair in unison. This can be hard on the right hand. So I don't play the 12 these days. These issues may be non-issues if you play electric 12 string as a rhythm instrument.

The belly bulge on my 12 string Ovation wasn't a huge issue, apart from the cosmetics...

But I did experience all the ills everyone spoke of.(Bob, playing LEAD on a 12?? ...cool) so when I was playing it at a garage sale we were having, and when the kind lady went gaga over it and offered me $225 for it, well, it was an easy parting...

I may spring for another one, because yes, the sound!!, but it is not a priority...