12 - string spacing

jaz761

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Does anyone know if Guild 12-strings have uniform string spacing between the various models? I did a bit of googling but almost everything Guild-related comes back here anyway so thought I'd throw it out there to the group.
 

wileypickett

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Are you talking current builds or historically?

String spacing on the 12-strings that came out of Westerly varied, mainly because that site was in operation for so long and Guild experimented as they went along, modifying their various 12-strings and adding new models to the line-up.

Regardless of factory, string spacing will be affected by the width of the nut and how much the fretboard widens as it gets closer to the end. (The string spacing is narrower on my Westerly D15-12-string than it is on my Westerly JF65-12-string for instance.)

I don't have any first-hand experience with 12-strings beyond Westerly.
 

jaz761

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I was talking abut historically, I guess. I just got a 92 D4-12 NT (not sure what the NT stands for yet), which was made in Westerly. I wondered mainly if, generally speaking, a jumbo would have wider string spacing than a dread. Also, I had always measured string spacing at the bridge but maybe that wasn't the best way.
 

chazmo

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I was talking abut historically, I guess. I just got a 92 D4-12 NT (not sure what the NT stands for yet), which was made in Westerly. I wondered mainly if, generally speaking, a jumbo would have wider string spacing than a dread. Also, I had always measured string spacing at the bridge but maybe that wasn't the best way.
jaz,

12-string necks for all the models until 2007 had two truss rods and, I think, not a lot of neck width differences. String spacing could depend a lot on who was cutting nuts, and I'm not sure there's all that much consistency there. Since 2007, and the introduction of one truss rod with two, flanking carbon rods in the neck, narrower necks and different profiles have at least been possible. I think some of the New Hartford 12-strings had narrower nut widths -- not really sure. In any case, sorry I can't give more definitive answers on that.
 

jaz761

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It's actually helpful to know that there is a bit of inconsistency. It's important to try out a lot of instruments. I like my new (to me) D4 12 but feel like it is notably narrower than a 1512 I once had.
 

chazmo

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Oh, er, sorry... FYI, I wasn't commenting on the Asian-built models, jaz. I played a GAD-F212 once (and liked it), but can't remember anything about the neck. No idea how your F-1512 would compare with the US-built models...
 

wileypickett

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Some of the saddle-through bridges on early Guild 12-strings I've owned had wider string spacing.

Guild also experimented with the position of the bridge-pin holes, some having the octave strings close to the saddle; some having the main strings close to the saddle. In the latter instance the thicker strings in the back, having to go around the octave bridge pins in front, affect the string spacing. Because of the bridge pins, the strings can only get so close together and no closer.

Some players get around that probem by sanding the skirt / crown flat on one side of the bridge pins in order to allow the pairs to be closer together. Bob Taylor (in one his "Ask Bob" columns in *Wood & Steel*) even recommended this as a solution in response to a reader who complained about the string pairs on his Taylor 12-string being too far apart for his fingers.

You can also bring the strings closer together by re-routing the position the strings come out of the bridge-pin holes. If you think of them as being designed to come out at 12 o'clock, you can change that to an 11 o'clock or 1 o'clock position by twisting the bridge pin so the string slot (in the bridge pin) forces the string closer to its mate.

If you elect to do this, it'll work better if you cut new string slots. But try rotating the bridge pins and see if that works for you first.
 
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jaz761

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I was actually wishing the courses were a little further apart. I bet I will get used to it.
 
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