In the life of a guitarist there always comes a moment when a familiar instrument no longer delivers its former pleasure. Inexorably the desire to experience something new, hitherto unknown, breaks through. Trying to diversify their musical life, some buy a classic guitar with a wide neck and nylon strings. All kinds of electric guitars, bass guitars and even double basses are used. In this case, a twelve-string guitar is an excellent choice. This exotic instrument will brighten up the leisure time of any guitar fan, and its deep sound can win the musician’s heart for many years.
Occurrence
For the first time, American craftsmen from the Regal and Oscar Schmidt factories began producing 12 string guitars. They took as a basis the standard models of guitars produced in these factories, but added a pair to each string. At first, this innovation was not particularly successful, but over time the situation has changed. In the 60s of the last century, many eminent musicians began to experiment with sound, including musical instruments. As a result, the twelve-string guitar appeared in the songs of Beatles, Queen, Led Zeppelin and many other star bands.
Since many took the example of rock idols of that time, then the twelve-piece soon became a common tool. Its rich sound is perfect for accompaniment. On the domestic stage, this instrument appeared much later than abroad. One of the first to play the 12-string guitar was Yuri Shevchuk, Alexander Rosenbaum also successfully performed with it. Unfortunately, in the USSR it was not easy to get such an exotic version of the guitar, so they began to use it many years after the appearance.
Sound
The sound of a 12- string guitar is much richer than that of a regular six- string guitar . This is due to the fact that another string has been added to each string, which is clamped with it. Thus, a greater number of overtones are obtained, the sound becomes more voluminous and diverse. At first, the unearthly sound of the twelve-string simply amazes the musician, who is accustomed to the usual six-stringed instrument.
However, do not forget that extracting sound from a 12-string guitar is much more difficult than from a regular one. The fact is that her neck is made a little more to fit so many strings. Yes, and clamping two strings instead of one is a difficult and unusual task. But, having trained for two or three weeks, the musician can perfectly adapt to the new instrument and reveal its full potential.
Structure
Externally, the 12-string guitar is hardly different from the usual one, but in reality it is slightly stronger, as it is forced to withstand the tension of as many as 12 strings. In this case, mainly internal springs suffer, since they bear the main load. Of course, you can make the upper deck thicker, but then the sound of the guitar will completely deteriorate, become flat and high. Thus, Chinese manufacturers make such guitars, but playing on these dubious fakes is a joyless and useless activity.
The twelve-string guitar also has twice the number of tones for tuning and some subtleties in the structure of the neck. The peculiarity of this tool is that the strings on it must be installed in a strictly defined order, since each groove is specially machined for a pair of strings. Despite all the tricks of the manufacturers, twelve-strands rarely live happily ever after. Only expensive and high-quality guitars live to old age, their less valuable colleagues usually become worthless after only a couple of years of use.
Twelve-String Guitar Tuning
The strings of the main strings are no different from a regular guitar, but small, extra strings are not so easy to tune. To set them up without special equipment, you need to have a good ear, which not everyone can brag of. Therefore, it is best to use a special tuner. The first and second pair of strings are tuned in unison, while the rest are constructed so that one string is an octave lower than the other. So it seems that two instruments are playing, while only one twelve-string guitar sounds.
Thanks to the standard system, you can use the usual tabs for guitar on a twelve-string. The song will sound as it should, but deeper and more diverse. Often 12 string guitars are built according to an alternative system, lowered by half a tone or tone, they begin to sound simply amazing.
Should I buy a twelve-piece?
If you buy your first instrument, then a 12-string guitar is definitely a bad choice. It only makes sense to buy it if you have already mastered the usual guitar and want to try something new. Do not rush to purchase such a tool. For example, if you have mastered an acoustic guitar, then you can begin to master the electric guitar, instead of a twelve-string. Often, such guitars become just a temporary hobby, if it is not a professional musician who decided to brighten up his work. In any case, 12 string guitars are usually an additional instrument, hardly even one guitarist will leave the game on a regular guitar for the sake of such exotic.
Another problem with acquiring a twelve-string guitar is the high cost. It is believed that normal guitars cost at least $ 200. But the prices for twelve-bars are higher than for a regular instrument. So if you do not want to buy a Chinese log that emits terrifying sobs instead of notes, you have to fork out properly. For those who like to play through an amplifier, there is an electro-acoustic twelve-string guitar, but they are found somewhat less often than a purely acoustic version.
Interesting tool
This is not to say that the twelve-tyrunka revolutionized music or at least somehow influenced it. However, there are musicians who often use this instrument and are able to extract incredible sounds from it. Altogether, 12 string guitars are not that different from regular ones. If you can play a 6- string instrument, then it will not be difficult for you to perform anything on a twelve- stringed instrument . Fortunately, the tabs for the guitar are used the same. Perhaps the peak of popularity of this interesting instrument has not yet arrived, but today we can safely say that a 12-string guitar is waiting for a bright future, filled with the magical sounds of music.