Why did they invent 12 strings???

willem
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Tue Jun 25, 2013 3:04 pm

Suddenly this Q/wondering came in my mind,,I really don't know,,was it a need for volume in an orkest or something like that??

Willem


haoli25
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Tue Jun 25, 2013 3:26 pm

I don't really know, Willem. I have heard that some Italian luthiers developed the 12-string as a guitar version of the mandolin. (I'll have to ask Mandolin Mike about that.) I have also heard that the 12-string originally came from Mexico.

Bill



Edit: Maybe one of the resident TG musicologists, Prof. Neil, Jack, or Steve would have some better information about the origins of the 12-string.


thereshopeyet
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Tue Jun 25, 2013 3:51 pm

Thanks.


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Music Junkie
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Tue Jun 25, 2013 4:03 pm

thereshopeyet wrote:
Willem Wrote:
Why did they invent 12 strings???
Eh, because they didn't have 13, more or less !!!

:ohmy: :blush: :S
:woohoo: :silly: :woohoo: :silly:


willem
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Tue Jun 25, 2013 4:05 pm

thereshopeyet wrote:
Willem Wrote:
Why did they invent 12 strings???
Eh, because they didn't have 13, more or less !!!

:ohmy: :blush: :S


B) B) B) B) :) :ohmy: Image


Why did they invent the guitar uberhaupt!!! lol


wiley
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Tue Jun 25, 2013 4:10 pm



Lavallee
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Tue Jun 25, 2013 5:13 pm

Great find Wiley (by he way, I hope you are doing well). I wonder who sets up the action on his 12 strings as he is playing it like an electric guitar (like if the strings were made of fishing strings).

Marc


BigBear
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Tue Jun 25, 2013 6:19 pm

I think Europeans always had a love of paired string instruments like the lute, autoharp, bandurria, cetera, cittern, bouzouki, Laúd, Mandriola & Mandolin, Waldzither & Zither, and many others. Paired string instruments gave every instrument the ability to place in unison, or different octaves or even notes. Back then, I think it was just more interesting music. And certainly richer sounding.

The 12 string is just the natural progression of all these paired string instruments. I gotta say I truly love mine and the sound it makes.

From Acoustic Guitar Magazine:

"The modern 12-string guitar made its first appearance in America just before the turn of the century. The name of the first luthier to double the strings of a standard six-string guitar is unknown. There are two theories about his background.

The first is that the 12-string guitar was developed by Italian luthiers laboring in the guitar workshops of companies like Oscar Schmidt, Harmony, and Regal in New York and Chicago. Italian music has a long history of wire-string, double course instruments like the mandolin and because many of the builders were of Italian descent, it would be a natural experiment to double the strings of a standard six-string guitar. One of the most famous 12-strings in the world has a strong Italian connection. According to family legend, Leadbelly custom-ordered his famous Stella 12-string from Fulvio Pardini, Who worked for the Oscar Schmidt company in New Jersey.

The other theory is that the 12-string arrived in the U. S. from Mexico. Latin America has a long history of double-course variants of the standard six-string guitar. These include instruments like the tiple, the charango, and the cuatro. Mexico has a particularly large number of guitar variations ranging from the diminutive guitarra de golpe to the massive guitarron."

Great question willem!! Dag!


willem
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Wed Jun 26, 2013 3:44 am

BigBear wrote:
I think Europeans always had a love of paired string instruments like the lute, autoharp, bandurria, cetera, cittern, bouzouki, Laúd, Mandriola & Mandolin, Waldzither & Zither, and many others. Paired string instruments gave every instrument the ability to place in unison, or different octaves or even notes. Back then, I think it was just more interesting music. And certainly richer sounding.

The 12 string is just the natural progression of all these paired string instruments. I gotta say I truly love mine and the sound it makes.

From Acoustic Guitar Magazine:

"The modern 12-string guitar made its first appearance in America just before the turn of the century. The name of the first luthier to double the strings of a standard six-string guitar is unknown. There are two theories about his background.

The first is that the 12-string guitar was developed by Italian luthiers laboring in the guitar workshops of companies like Oscar Schmidt, Harmony, and Regal in New York and Chicago. Italian music has a long history of wire-string, double course instruments like the mandolin and because many of the builders were of Italian descent, it would be a natural experiment to double the strings of a standard six-string guitar. One of the most famous 12-strings in the world has a strong Italian connection. According to family legend, Leadbelly custom-ordered his famous Stella 12-string from Fulvio Pardini, Who worked for the Oscar Schmidt company in New Jersey.

The other theory is that the 12-string arrived in the U. S. from Mexico. Latin America has a long history of double-course variants of the standard six-string guitar. These include instruments like the tiple, the charango, and the cuatro. Mexico has a particularly large number of guitar variations ranging from the diminutive guitarra de golpe to the massive guitarron."

Great question willem!! Dag!
Thats a story Rick,,thx have fun..





willem
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Wed Jun 26, 2013 4:58 am

Copy and paste wikipedia


Performers who use acoustic 12-string guitars span a range of genres, from folk (Bob Dylan, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Arlo Guthrie, Keith Potger, John Denver, Gordon Lightfoot, Ben Woodward, Pete Seeger, Noel Paul Stookey, and Warren Zevon), through reggae (Bob Marley), traditional blues (Lead Belly, Blind Willie McTell, and Guy Davis), folk rock (Paul Simon, Neil Young, Tim Buckley, Gerry Beckley, John Allan Cameron) and country (Pinmonkey's Michael Reynolds, Taylor Swift and Mike Nesmith), to rock bands (Mark Tremonti of Creed and Alter Bridge, Jimi Hendrix on "Hear My Train A-Comin", Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Richie Sambora of Bon Jovi, Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys, George Harrison,[3] John Lennon of The Beatles, Robert Smith of The Cure, David Bowie for his "Space Oddity" live performances, Pete Townshend of The Who, Roger Hodgson (ex-Supertramp), who used acoustic 12-string on "Give a Little Bit", "Even in the Quietest Moments", "C'est le Bon" and "Know Who You Are"; Melissa Etheridge, Tom Petty and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Greg Lake on "Lucky Man" and "Still... You Turn Me On", Brian May of Queen, Andy Partridge[4] and Dave Gregory[5] of XTC, and Nick Valensi of The Strokes).[6] Dave Matthews (Dave Matthews Band) uses one for several songs in the band's catalog. Numerous other musicians use it as their main instrument, including Robbie Basho, Leo Kottke, Roger McGuinn of The Byrds, Marvin B Naylor, Matt Nathanson, James Blackshaw, John Butler, both Justin Hayward and John Lodge of the Moody Blues, David Arkenstone, Neil Jacobs, Cory Stuteville and former Genesis guitarist Anthony Phillips. Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford and Steve Hackett all played the instrument on Genesis albums in the 1970


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