Why Guild’s 12-string design is one of the greatest engineering feats of the 20th century – and how it became a go-to acoustic for Jimmy Page, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Brian May
By Chris Gill
published 2 days ago
We chart the history and innovations behind one of music's most popular 12-string acoustics – a guitar that can be heard on classic tracks from the likes of Led Zeppelin, Supertramp, Simon & Garfunkel and more.
I personally consider the Guild jumbo 12-string acoustic guitar one of the greatest engineering feats of the 20th century, right up there with electricity, the vacuum tube, personal computer, interstate highway, space shuttle, jet airplane, television, etc. Sure, it may simply be a flattop acoustic guitar model developed rather late in the game during the ‘60s, but to many players the Guild jumbo 12-string is to the acoustic guitar what a Steinway Model D concert grand is to the piano.
Jimmy Page rather eloquently described his first encounter with a Guild jumbo 12 (a very rare early ‘70s F-612 model) in his book Jimmy Page – The Anthology: “I was in Manny’s guitar shop in New York when the guy working there said, ‘There’s a guitar here you’ll want to buy, a Guild 12-string.’ I told him that I already had a 12-string Harmony, but he insisted: ‘No, you’ll want to buy this.’
“He went to the other side of the shop, which was quite a considerable distance, played a few chords on it, and the sound projected right across the shop. There was no question about it. I should have it.”
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