IF SIX WERE TWELVE
How about an issue dedicated to the 12-string guitar - both acoustic and electric? Ross DeAeth Well that’s what I call a short but sweet letter, Ross. But it does get sharply to the point! It would be very easy to reply that the fingering for six and 12-string guitars is exactly the same, so what would be the point? But anyone who’s played a 12 for any length of time will know that certain shapes and fingerings take on a completely different sound when compared to a six. Gary Moore showed me what George Harrison showed him he’d played on the Hard Day’s Night track. On the little fade-out Fadd9 arpeggio figure on the top strings that goes G-C-A-C, F-C-A-C it sounds like the F that starts the second part of the lick is played 1st fret, first string. But George told Gary this note was actually the octave of the fourth string, at the 3rd fret. This is just one of many quirks that I’m sure we could find that really did separate the six and 12 techniques. And when you think of the players that have made great use of 12s, both electric and acoustic – Harrison, Roger McGuinn, Leo Kottke, Gordon Giltrap, Pete Townshend, Paul Weller, Leadbelly, Tom Petty, Peter Buck, even Hendrix - there’d be a wealth of stuff to dig up, I’m sure. However, dedicating an entire issue to 12-strings is unlikely, but we know many readers have one pugged away in a closet, so an article might be a nice reason to bring it out and stick a new set of strings on.