what do you think about 12 string guitar

what do you think about 12 string guitar?
I want to buy one, How much should I invest to have life time
good sounding guitar?
Can you recommend a brand?

I personaly only whitnessed a couple of folks playing a 12 string. I enjoyed both very much. Im couriouse how much harder it is to play than a normal 6 string.... hummmmm. :rolleyes:

I don't know but I think they would be twice the fun of a six string.... :D

It's not any different than a regular guitar. It feels slightly different since you're pressing down on twice as many strings as you're use to... But you still play everything exactly the same...

I own an Ovation 12 string... I'm not a huge fan of Ovations but it was priced pretty well so I picked it up... It plays great and sounds great so I can't really complain.... Fender makes a nice and cheap 12 string as well.

I've got an Epiphone 12 string acoustic. I'm not crazy about the tone and these things can be absolutely hell to get in tune. But the sound is so full, even with its crap tone, it sounds cool. I'd recommend one, but play it before you buy it. If the action is too high or something, its gonna be nasty to play.

I've always found washburn make good quality instruments for the money. More or less any modern guitar you can buy will last you a lifetime if you look after it.

I've still got the 3/4 classical I started on 22 years ago, and it cost my parents $70. It is very unlikely that you'll find THE guitar that lasts you forever - but you might get lucky. I think I'm still looking, but I don't know what for...

I agree with ren, I have a Washburn 12 string acoustic that I only paid $230 for and it plays nicely, quality is very good, and it has a big sound (though it is a drednaught (sp?).) Playing one is different, but doesn't take more than 20 minutes of playing to get used to it, kinda like playing a guitar with a wider string spacing with an extra string filling the gap. Going to a guitar shop will satisfy your curiosity/desiree to get one.

Almost any decent guitar can last a lifetime with proper care. Just depends on how much you want to spend. For low-mid price range, I really like Yamaha (what I own), Takamine, and Alvarez. Of course those brands also make higher priced models, but prolly the 2 main higher range brands are Martin and Taylor.

You might also consider whether you want an acoustic/electric with the onboard pickup, or just the guitar. The pickup would certainly raise the price a tad, but would enable easier recording or playing through an amp at some point down the road, if not now. Also some guitars are specifically designed for amplification and excel at it (Ovation/Applause) but might not be as good acoustically. But if it's just for strumming while sitting on the porch or whatnot, don't worry about it. And if you change your mind eventually, you can buy a sound-hole pickup that slides in or have a better kind installed (although that can be expensive).

As far as compared to playing a typical 6 string, it is quite a different beast. Don't expect to be playing a lot of lead...it excels with melodies, chords, and open strings. Some people say it's way harder, but I say not so much, just different. It takes some getting used to and building tougher callouses and more strength. Although I wouldn't recommend an absolute beginner to learn on one for sure.

:)

One of my buddies in our group plays an Ovation 12 string. I don't have enough finger strength to play one. But they are nice!

:D

oh yes 12 strings sound just so purty...ive tried one before and as most have said its not too hard to get used to...i had a muck around with one at a shop once and didnt want to leave.... :D

My first acoustic was a Yamaha 12 string. It sounded amazing & I was glad to have it. However if I had the choice now I wouldn't have picked it as my first guitar. It's no different than playing a 6 string but it's really hard to fingerpick.
Tuning is a bit of a pain but you get used to it.
The only real negative thing I found was that Yamaha recommended that you tune the guitar down by one step so that there wasn't so much tension on the neck. I did this for about a year but got tired of using a capo all the time to play in standard tuning so I eventually just tuned it up to standard.
About 6 months later the whole bridge had started to pull up and there was a noticable warp in the guitar body. The strings were way off the fretboard too so you couldn't play it in tune anymore.
The only reason I'd use one now is for the sound. There's a certain sparkle you get that you can't duplicate on a six string.

dude, what if they found a tuning that had each string at a different note, making like a super E#970439min#14sus chords all over the place?

bending notes is all but out of the question on a 12 string

Weird i jsut came on the forum thinknig about buying a 12 string this has been infomative

I thought of tuning the strings so when you play a major arpeggio you hear the minor arpeggio that might be interesting

But there is no doubt nothing sounds quite like a 12 string

I've owned five 12-strings. I still have an old Yamaha SA-20 hollow-body electric, and a Washburn Festival Series electric acoustic.

I think the best one I ever had was a Daijon 12-string acoustic that I added a Shadow piezo pickup to. Amazing sound, and really good intonation. I still miss it.

12-strings have a unique sound that is really satisfying as a once-in-a-while thing. I sold all of the 12s that I had before, because they were my only guitar at the time, and the 12-string sound gets annoying as a steady diet. Part of the problem is that the octave strings can not possibly be intonated correctly because the proper setting for them would be wrong for the main strings. So tuning is always a bit of a compromise.

Another thing is the need to tune in D (not E) and use a capo on the second fret. This will prevent the string tension from pulling the belly of the guitar up, ruining the instrument. But it also shortens the neck by two frets.

I love 12-strings, and I'll probably always have at least one in my arsenal, but I will also always have some 6-strings to keep them company.

wow! a lot of response!

Thanks every body :)

Any reliable store, I am in Korea and I am concerned about the delivery
thanks

It's always best to play the actual guitar before making your decision; especially with a 12-string. As I pointed out, the intonation and tuning is definitely a matter of compromise, and you need to be satisfied that you agree with the choices that were made in building and setting up the guitar you audition.