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Of course, it takes twice as long to tune. What’s more, the 12-string guitar is not the lowest-maintenance instrument. After all, doubling their number is pointless if they are not great strings with excellent tone.
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Choosing Twelve Strings for 12-StringsĪs you might imagine, when it comes to 12-string guitars, it’s all about the strings. It’s no coincidence these songs share a lush, saturated, billowing sound.
#10 VS 11 GUITAR STRINGS FREE#
The subtle tuning imperfections create power and size.) The result? Well, just listen to Hotel California or Free Fallin’ and hear for yourself. (This is the same reason a choir or string section has a different tone than a solo singer or violinist. Since the strings are guaranteed to not be perfectly in tune with each other, the instrument has a natural “chorus” effect which sounds like multiple people playing at once. The 12-string guitar has, by it’s nature, a massive, shimmering tone. The result is an instrument that sounds enormous.
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But with a unique twist: a 12-string guitar usually has the E and B strings tuned in unison, but the other four lower strings are paired with an upper octave with a much thinner gauge. In the mid 20th century, the idea became popular for guitar. Classic folk instruments like mandolins and bouzoukis have doubled strings, 4 courses of 2 strings each tuned in unison. The idea of doubling strings in “courses” is nothing new. Twelve-String GuitarĪnd this “more is more” approach leads us to the 12 string guitar. Little wonder that piano players can’t just tune their instruments like guitarists can. And have you ever seen inside a piano? As if 88 keys was not enough, each key gets 2-3 strings to strike, for a total of around 230. The cello is a bigger viola, which is a bigger violin. The alto sax was expanded into the tenor, then baritone, then bass sax. As subtle and complex as music can be, sometimes it’s really as simple as “the same, but more!” Or in the hilarious words of Frasier, “if less is more, then just think of how much more more will be!” What’s more gorgeous than the lush tone of an acoustic guitar? How about an acoustic guitar that’s two acoustic guitars? It’s slightly more complicated than that, but that’s the basic idea of the 12-string guitar.