The 12 String Guitar Shoot Out
Pictures and Videos
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1961 Gibson B-45
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Dell'arte Leadbelly
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Guild JF65
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I thought it would be fun to compare some of the 12 string guitars that are presently in my toolbox by shooting some video of my playing a Rev. Gary Davis tune called the Buck Rag.
First up - my Dell'arte 'Leadbelly' guitar.
This was produced by John Kinnard who only made 35 of them. I've included a picture of what the guitar originally looked like before I had some modifications done by Mike Hauver. The guitar was initially over-braced underneath the top which took away some of the guitar's potential to fully project. Mike also did away with the tailpiece, installed a pin bridge with a compensated saddle and added some vintage toner to the top. The final result was outstanding!!!
Here's what the guitar originally looked like before the modifications:
First up - my Dell'arte 'Leadbelly' guitar.
This was produced by John Kinnard who only made 35 of them. I've included a picture of what the guitar originally looked like before I had some modifications done by Mike Hauver. The guitar was initially over-braced underneath the top which took away some of the guitar's potential to fully project. Mike also did away with the tailpiece, installed a pin bridge with a compensated saddle and added some vintage toner to the top. The final result was outstanding!!!
Here's what the guitar originally looked like before the modifications:
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Here are the modifications
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Now for the 1961 Gibson B-45 12 string guitar.
Photo by Neil Harpe
http://www.stellaguitars.com/
1961 was a good year for Gibson to produce a jumbo acoustic 12 string guitar like the B-45. It was the first of it's kind to have a lightly braced top and a 'slope shoulder' design. In that year they only produced 77 of these and before the next year was up changed the body to a "Hummingbird" square shouldered instrument, most of which had double x-braces and a larger bridge plate...effectively smothering the overall tone of the guitar at the expense of saving the top from caving in, which happened to some of the earlier models. (not this one though)! At the bottom of the page you can see some examples of these.
I am proud to say that I purchased this rare model from Neil Harpe of Stellaguitars.com. Those are Neil's pictures and besides having a better camera than me he's a wonderful musician in the traditional blues genre. He's also an expert in vintage instruments AND is a talented graphic artist.
I am proud to say that I purchased this rare model from Neil Harpe of Stellaguitars.com. Those are Neil's pictures and besides having a better camera than me he's a wonderful musician in the traditional blues genre. He's also an expert in vintage instruments AND is a talented graphic artist.
Finally the 1995 Guild JF65-12
From the Guild Website:
"The JF65-12 has solid flame maple sides, an arched flame maple back, and a select AAA spruce top with an abalone rosette around the sound hole. The ebony fretboard is inlaid with mother of pearl blocks with abalone insets, and it's complimented with an ebony bridge. The JF65-12 is the definition of a beautiful guitar - and it's available in Guild's nitrocellulose lacquer finish."
Guild’s venerable F412 was renamed as the JF-65 12 in the late 80’s, retaining all the original F412 specs and adding an ebony bridge and a mother-of-pearl ring in the rosette. This one has a Fishman SBT-E passive pickup installed.
Some additional specs:
Laminated maple back
Nut width: 1 13/16"
Scale length: 25 5/8"
Neck: Maple
Bracing: Shaved
"The JF65-12 has solid flame maple sides, an arched flame maple back, and a select AAA spruce top with an abalone rosette around the sound hole. The ebony fretboard is inlaid with mother of pearl blocks with abalone insets, and it's complimented with an ebony bridge. The JF65-12 is the definition of a beautiful guitar - and it's available in Guild's nitrocellulose lacquer finish."
Guild’s venerable F412 was renamed as the JF-65 12 in the late 80’s, retaining all the original F412 specs and adding an ebony bridge and a mother-of-pearl ring in the rosette. This one has a Fishman SBT-E passive pickup installed.
Some additional specs:
Laminated maple back
Nut width: 1 13/16"
Scale length: 25 5/8"
Neck: Maple
Bracing: Shaved