Interesting 12 String Instructions

Nuuska, that's funny. This was definitely a "Memorex" advertisement from either the '60s or the '70s. That's a "Memorex Moment", just like Al remembers I said I had when I first played my F-512 in the music store. It felt exactly like that ad. Oh, and apparently it was Maxell, not Memorex.... Maybe Maxell bought Memorex, Al??? Dunno.

chazmo said:

Nuuska, that's funny. This was definitely a "Memorex" advertisement from either the '60s or the '70s. That's a "Memorex Moment", just like Al remembers I said I had when I first played my F-512 in the music store. It felt exactly like that ad. Oh, and apparently it was Maxell, not Memorex.... Maybe Maxell bought Memorex, Al??? Dunno.

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I think we're having the same false Memorex, er, memory.
:glee:
What's funny is that image comes back multiple times if you do a google image search for "Is it Live Or Is It..." so I just grabbed a nice-sized image without reading the print on the full ads.
While that's all percolating in my brain I'm having a vague recollection of thinking to myself "Oh, now Maxell's trying to outdo Memorex" when I first saw it.
Both campaigns were active at the same time***, just in time for "CD's to Kill the Cassette Star." (early-mid '80's: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxell)



***Correction: you were right about Memorex, that campaign did start in '72.
Now I'm realizing I wasn't watching enough TV then to remember it that far back.

So, maybe it was a Maxell moment then. In any case, easy to confuse them.

Hello

Then it must be that while I had JBL L-100 Century speakers that I bought in spring 1973 - and they were VERY expensive - I have seen that ad and remember nothing else but the sound blast image and naturally it was the JBL regardless of amp or sound source. . .

Of course later I had a 10kW pa-rig with just itsy bitsy more SPL - now it is downgraded to about 1kW

adorshki said:

I'd have to go check (it's not here where I post from), but I seem to recall the owner's manual that came with my '96 D-25 said it was ok to tune 'em (12-ers) to standard due to their construction, but by then the only strings they offered were the lights which that early manual says is ok, anyway.

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Apologies for veering back on topic but I did check my '96 D25's owner's manual last night.
It also had a dedicated page on 12-string tuning and while it didn't say that they were built to handle standard tuning, it did suggest using light gauge (B1240 or B1250) strings due to the high string tension of 12-strings, and then showed how to tune to C (EADGBE) (whew, vindicated on that point, at least), with a note that one could also opt to tune 1/2 step lower and use a capo.
I think the manual itself was a bit out of date since at the time the standard 12-string set was L1250, .010-.049 pb's.
Not sure what the B1240 was, I'm guessing it was even lighter than the B1250 since it shows up between the B1200 Silk'n'Steel's and the B1250's on '87 and '88 price lists

Tuning down and capoing up a fret or two is fine but even with the best of set-ups I've struggled with finding a 12 string capo that applies just the right pressure to each string. I always seems to encounter some "dead" strings usually in the A and low E string positions, which is really frustrating. I've used Kypers, G7's, Shubbs, and a couple others and still get the problem. As a result, if I tune down to Eb or D (standard) I pretty much forego the capo and go with barre chords up the neck (which can take it's toll).

Grassdog said:

Tuning down and capoing up a fret or two is fine but even with the best of set-ups I've struggled with finding a 12 string capo that applies just the right pressure to each string. I always seems to encounter some "dead" strings usually in the A and low E string positions, which is really frustrating. I've used Kypers, G7's, Shubbs, and a couple others and still get the problem. As a result, if I tune down to Eb or D (standard) I pretty much forego the capo and go with barre chords up the neck (which can take it's toll).

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My best buddy got a first year JF30-12 when they came out which suffered bridge lift in less than 5 years.
After the repair he mentioned he was using silk'n'steels for the low tension and was tuning down a 1/2 step.
At the time I didn't realize those were originally shipped with silk'n' steels and I didn't mind adjusting my own playing when we jammed, it allowed me to practice some modes I wouldn't usually work with otherwise.
I did think it was always surprisingly under-volume for a Guild, though.
Anyway the real point of the story is that over the years he's gone to tuning down a whole step just because it's easier for most other players to transpose to.
To me a capo would be like wearing something that restricts arm movement: I've got too much time invested in using the whole neck and I'd get thrown off running into that thing on my fretboard.