NGD: Orpheum 12/12 SHRW NAT

Hey, so I do my first ever NGD thread. First I had to figure out what NGD means, of course. Now, the eye candy.

I'm drooling, can't believe you found one as I thought they all had been sold about a year ago.

Ok so why is the orientation all weird now? I guess Photobucket has changed the way it displays images. Oh well. Now to my impressions of the guitar.

My mum passed away a few months ago so this guitar is what I said I'd get when what she left me came through. I was originally going to get the F512 but this Orpheum line caught my eye and I got seduced by the promise of such a responsive guitar. I remember the utter amazement when I first played my Martin HD-35. This was my first every quality guitar and the jump from the amateur laminated guitar line was very noticeable indeed. "Ahaaa, this is what a real instrument is like!"

In this regard, the Orph does not disappoint. It is just as light as I felt it should be, just as resonant. I think. Actually it's hard to tell because there's so much going on with the 12 strings and I have no particular reference for that sound. I'm going to change the strings soon to ones I want rather than the ones that came with the guitar so I'll first remove all the treble strings and use the guitar as a 6-string for a bit to really listen to the wood talking. Then I'll be able to tell what this guitar is really all about. But for now, well, no complaints over the sound!

It's beautifully finished and that purfling is just exquisite. Those little blue highlights and that hint of a blue strip in the binding really set it apart. I mean, blue??? Who'da thunk? And it smells lovely in the soundhole. Not so keen on the lacquer smell but that's just a new guitar for you. I think this is my only nitro guitar. Dunno. Do Martins use nitro too?

The two things I find less than great about this generally wonderful tone machine are the tuners and the neck. I do have small hands but they have been able to navigate all necks I've encountered so far. Even the massive Brian May guitar neck which was made to have exactly the same dimensions as the original. I thought I was safe after that. But this Orph neck for 12 string is seriously wide. Or maybe it's the profile. I don't know, I just know that I would actually now say the neck is too big for me.

I can play it and it's great, but my hand gets very tired quite quickly. I'll keep at it and hope that I develop more strength in the hand as I go along. But the combination of having to press a bit harder for the 12 strings anyway plus the width and profile are proving a bit difficult. I may also adapt around this by just playing differently. One does have to approach a 12-er differently from a 6-er anyway. Maybe I just need to get used to it more.

The tuners are rubbish. There. I said it. This is not at all what I expect from a guitar of this price. If I decide to keep this guitar I will absolutely be changing them. I hope they are at least of a standard size so I can drop in a better set. They feel weak, I don't know what the material is on the pegs but it feels bad too. The concept of the guitar was retro 30s but I think they used better tuners back then!

So that's what disappointed. But back to the good parts. The sound. And it's all about the sound, really. It does just leap out from the body. The irony of playing a guitar is you don't hear as good a sound yourself as others who are directly opposite the soundhole, but move up near to a wall to reflect some of that back to your own ears and wow it is spectacular. I'll record it with my good mics too so I can gauge his it performs properly.

So I really would love to keep this guitar and learn to adapt to its little ways. If I don't then it will have been because of the neck.

merlin6666 said:

I'm drooling, can't believe you found one as I thought they all had been sold about a year ago.

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Well I'm in Europe so I just looked on "Europe's favourite music site" Thomann in Germany and there it was at the top of the list of all their 12-strings. So I thought, ok, I'm having that!

CONGRATULATIONS, HT!! That's a beauty to be sure!! I hope you can work with the neck on that guitar. Thanks for the photos. Play it in good health!! :encouragement:

That is definitely a Beautiful and Rare Orpheum 12 String. May you enjoy it every day in the spirit of your Mom.:applouse:

I can feel myself slowly adapting to what it wants, I think. I've been playing 6 string so long that changing it up is bound to feel unusual at first.

Give it some time Happy Tree, It took me a day or so of playing mine to realize that it can take a very light touch to get the guitar going but it will run with the best of them when played with more of a heavy style. Once I figured that out it opened a whole new world of playing for myself finding the happy medium between the two. Also once that Adirondack top gets to breathe and settle in to it's environment it should blossom nicely.

Talking about coming in with a bang !
Tuner thing is bummer very odd to me that would an issue ...

But I can say it looks awesome and would love to hear it rock !

Congrats

Anyone found a good capo to use with a 12-string? I have straight and curved Dunlops and the G7 clutch one which all work great on 6-string but can't quite cope with this wider neck. I sing mostly with the capo on 5th fret as it seems to suit my voice's range. Cheers!

I have one for my F512 which has a tad narrower neck than yours. It is a Kyser Quick Change for 12 strings. It should work on your Orpheum as my F512 is a 1 7/8" wide neck and there is plenty Hanging over the edge. The string coverage measurement is 2 3/8" across the top padded part of the capo. I bought mine at Guitar center and they should have them online somewhere.

happy,

Your guitar may need some adjustment. My action is a little high, with a mile of saddle available for adjustment. I suspect the guitars were made that way to allow owners to set them up as they like.

That could account for your discomfort with the playability.

Happy Tree said:

Anyone found a good capo to use with a 12-string? I have straight and curved Dunlops and the G7 clutch one which all work great on 6-string but can't quite cope with this wider neck. I sing mostly with the capo on 5th fret as it seems to suit my voice's range. Cheers!

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I have tried a few 12-string capos for my Ovation Legend and the one that works best for me is the regular (not lite) Planet Waves NS. IT's also quite affordable here.

Went to get a 12-string capo in an actual physical shop! And lo and behold they didn't have any. In a country of just over 1m people there will be less choice and, as far as I can tell, no master luthiers. But the action is fine for me so I don't need any adjustment there.

I did buy some phosphor bronze strings to put on. Will do that when I can face it. It seems to have some tuning stability issues. Would this be "settling in" or the strings or tuners?

The guy tried a capo on a 300€ Yamaha 12-er and it fitted fine. But it had a very slim neck. Was definitely easier to play. I was thinking, hmm, maybe I should let the Orf go. Then I came back and played it to compare how the sound felt. Night and day. The Orf does sound much, much better. Where the Yamaha sounded a bit thin and "alright" the Orf sounds very rich and multidimensional. It's a keeper. I will just have to get used to the combination of wide neck and rather deep profile.

Maybe if I ever find that luthier he could slim the neck down for me a bit. I might ask Mr Guyton if he'd advise doing such a thing. But once I've decided to keep it I don't care about resale value so I'll ponder that while my hand tries its best.

It's interesting that the different Orpheum models also have such different neck profiles. I was really worried about the wide nut on my Jumbo as I also have small hands, but once I got it I found it super easy to play (probably because of the neck profile) and actually prefer it to a regular dreadnaught neck. Oh and the NS capo works well on the Jumbo too. I got it from strings & beyond (http://www.stringsandbeyond.com/plwanedstdes.html) which also sometimes has free international shipping - just sign up for their newsletter.

I've ordered the Shubb and Keyser 12-string capos to see if they'll be ok. If not it's all good as I use capos all the time so they won't go to waste. Went with Amazon as I have a few gift certificates on there as credit. Thanks for the suggestions!

It also took me a lititle while to acclimate to my Orpheum 12-fret D's neck, having played a standard Guild 1 11/16 my entire "adult" life.

But once I did...hard to go back to a narrower nut, especially for fingerstyle.

Went out and bought an Orpheum 12-fret 000 before they were all gone! Addictive little bast*rds.

Neal

chazmo said:

happy,

Your guitar may need some adjustment. My action is a little high, with a mile of saddle available for adjustment. I suspect the guitars were made that way to allow owners to set them up as they like.

That could account for your discomfort with the playability.

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When mine arrived I had to shave the Saddle a bit as it looked as if it had not been set up at the factory. Shaved the saddle and tweaked the truss rod as it had too much relief in it and Bingo! plays like butter.

Ah, capos and 12 strings...the one in my avatar has a flat fretboard radius...most capos won't fit it...you need to have a capo whose radius matches the fretboard...that is the main issue...G7th, by the way, has a couple of 12 string versions, including the newer lighter version...the Kyser, when new, has a very stiff spring...as you use it, it will loosen up...I use the 12 string version on a 6 with a narrower profile neck until it does and then switch it to the 12...while having played the proto version of the Orpheum 12 at NAMM, I didn't use a capo on it so can't tell you which would work the best...the best capo's to try would be the ones with adjustable tension.


I tune everything down to D standard...And tuning down lowers the string tension...more playing comfort...and, yes,, as wisely suggested, look into a set up...final bit of advice: it's not necessary to mash the strings down to the fretboard with a death grip...you only need to contact the fret...if you get a chance, try practicing on an electric...you'll lighten up your touch real quick.

Good luck and enjoy your new beautiful guitar.

Tiring on the hand, but I just need to suck it up and get some strength into it. Cos the sound seems to be well worth the effort. I may look at adjusting the truss rod a bit if I find a key that is long enough.