I'm glad to see Brad spoke up for his experience which tends to confirm their reputation.
In fact part of that reputation's built on the fact that they were the only folks to use dual truss rods, until the late Tacoma period when they introduced the single rod with "side stabilizers".
While I'm not a 12-er owner, I just think it's also important to point out that needing (and being able) to adjust the relief is a not neccessarily indicative of an inherent inability to handle stress overall. That kind of weakness will exhibit itself in the relationship between the neck
as a whole and the top and heelblock as the neeed for a reset as Brad mentions.
I'd need to adjust the relief on any of my 6-ers for example, if I went for heavier strings.
IN some areas even simple seasonal humidity fluctuations dictate the need to adjust the relief.
I do happen to believe that using the strings they were spec'd for will enhance the life of the guitar as far as the need for resets.
Maybe if Brad had stuck with the factory spec he could have gotten another 25 years before needing the reset, and stuck whichever of his kids inherited the guitar with that expense..
:lol:
(Sorry Brad, couldn't resist....
)
