Here’s an excellent lesson on how to fingerpick a 12-string. I feel like I have a lot more to learn before going too far down this rabbit hole.
Today I changed the Twin Six strings from the Dean Markley 11-50 round cores to La Bella 9-48 PB, and what a difference! I’d balked at paying $15 for a set of La Bella strings, but sometimes you get what you pay for. I am so far truly impressed with these strings.
Eventually, I tuned the DM 11-50s down a full tone, which is a practice I’ve resisted, but they still sounded lush and were moderately easier to play. Nevertheless, after years of experimentation, I’ve discovered that I far prefer 9-gauge sets. For 12-string, the extra-light string gauge makes a significant difference in ease & clarity of playing, particularly with barre chords, and sacrifices nothing in terms of tone or timbre.
I ordered four sets of 9s for 12-string: D’Addario EJ41 9-45, Dean Markley round core 9-46, and Ernie Ball Earthwood Silk & Steel 9-46. The last set of the D’Addarios I ruined by snapping strings, but they deserve another chance.
Anyhow, more boring string geek talk.
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Well, I have made an important discovery about why I was so rubbish at playing electric. I borrowed my brother’s Telecaster that he never plays, cleaned it up, and restrung it with Ernie Ball Slinky 10-46 strings, then plugged it in and gave it a go.
The important discovery was turning the gain way down from full to about a third, and turning every other parameter down to about half. My playing no longer sounds horrible with unpredictable dynamics. My other problem, as an acoustic player mainly on the 12-string, was pulling strings over the edge of the fingerboard. A heavier gauge of string has solved this problem.
Here’s a mediocre photo of the guitar in question.
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I continue to experiment and make minor breakthroughs on electric that have got me excited about it for the first time. I’ve been reading and re-reading the Owner’s Manual for my Vox VT20X, which has a vacuum tube and models the sounds of many classic amps. So far, I prefer the clean sound of the Vox AC30 – good enough for Sir Brian May, good enough for me. My latest discovery is that turning up the volume on the guitar gives me just enough distortion that I feel in control of it rather than it being an accident.
It just so happens that a distant relative of mine, Lee de Forest, invented the vacuum tube. Like him, I am a descendent of Jessé de Forest, on my mother’s side, but there the similarity ends. From what I have read, Lee de Forest strikes me as a bit of a crank, and I can’t imagine being fond of him as a person, but thanks to him we have vacuum tubes, which still have their uses after all these years.
So, what am I learning and how am I progressing anyway?
I’ve worked my way up to Grade 3 Module 15, but now find myself going back to Grade 2 modules that I feel I didn’t quite digest fully.
Grade 2 Module 13 is an introduction to the Blues, which I merely dabbled in and that I want to learn more thoroughly. I approached the Blues cautiously because I feel like once I start down the Blues path, there’s no way back. The other day, I got frustrated at not being able to play a song I always play, and found myself muting the strings and strumming a shuffle rhythm without even thinking about it. I know the Blues will consume me, and resistance is futile.
Then there’s Module 14, starting with Essential Slash Chords, which I hardly even remember and therefore need to relearn. It’s a good example of how progress is not linear, and sometimes requires going back to review material you thought you knew.
Also, I’ve been reading the Home Recording Guide section because I’m no closer to recording myself in a way that does justice to my marvelous guitars. I now have a home studio wish list, but there’s no GAS allowed until I build bookshelves, which involves a substantial investment in materials, time, and effort.
Meanwhile, I do the usual technique-intensive practice on 12-string and have made significant progress playing fingerstyle on the six-string, including House of the Rising Sun and Sound of Silence, and sometimes Lou Reed’s Heroin (which is simply D & G with a constant D drone on the open D string), even though it sounds better picked on 12-string.
Anyhow, onward and backward.
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It recently occurred to me that I haven’t even told a fraction of my musical history. I know I mentioned starting with French horn and then learning piano, but much more came before picking up the sitar and then guitar.
My parents sent me to a truly awful private school, where one of the only good things was an annual production of a Gilbert & Sullivan comic operetta. In my senior year, I played Sir Despard Murgatroyd in Ruddigore, and one of the duets I sang, as a baritone, was with an operatically trained tenor. It took a lot of rehearsal for me to learn to sing harmony with someone so far out of my league, but it taught me to be less shy about singing.
Not long after high school, I came into a modest inheritance, with which I purchased a Hohner Clavinet, a Crumar organ that modelled the famous Hammond B3, and a Micro Moog, along with two powerful instrument speakers. Using this setup, I once played with some musician friends in a makeshift studio, where we recorded some covers and original songs. Sadly, I never got copies of those recordings. Later, I sold those instruments to the bassist.
That fills in the gaps.
Late last week, I went to the local music store to get some stuff and try out a few acoustic guitars. I tried out a Guild M120, which is all solid mahogany, and played nicely. I kept picking it up again and again. The other guitar that impressed me was a Takamine GN93-CE, which was nice and loud with a boomy bass and great tone.
The only Guild 12-string had a Sold sign on it, and the only other 12-string was a Fender that was out of tune, and honestly didn’t interest me.
I also tried some Alvarez guitars, but was not impressed. I think they were from the Regent series, which is the entry-level line.
I’m not in the market for a new guitar, but it costs nothing but time to lick the windows, as it were.
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Quite harmless if you are well endowed with self-control, Jonathan 
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David, Ha ha, yes, I am well-endowed, with self-control at least. This is the only time I’ve spent time at the shop playing guitars, and though there are some nice ones, when I came back and played my own guitars, I realize how contented I am with what I have.
Besides, the Mrs. would not let me buy another guitar until I build bookshelves, which involves numerous sheets of veneer plywood and hardwood for facing. It’s an expensive and complex undertaking with the construction methods I envision, but once it’s done, it will not seem like a lot of effort.
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I borrowed my brother’s Stratocaster to restring it and play a little. To get the old strings out, I had to disassemble the bridge/saddle unit and poke the ball ends out with a long pin, and then reassemble it. Then, I had to learn about the vintage Strat slotted tuning pegs. When all else fails, watch the Youtube tutorial.
So, I had to go back to the music store to get another set of strings, DR Pure Blues 10-46, and saw that they had a Guild 12-string in the acoustics room. The shop guy said it had come in that morning. I grabbed it and played the Wish You Were Here riff. Then my wife hurried me along because we had more rounds of shopping and had to get on with it. Later, she told me that she thinks the Twin Six sounds better than the Guild. I think it’s at least as good, so I’m content with the guitars I already have. But it costs nothing to dream.
Anyhow, the Strat is now strung and I’m slowly figuring out settings to make it sound good. I’ll post a photo later. I really prefer the Telecaster.
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Dealing with this Strat has been a lot of work, and I’ve complained that it’s made out of pure evil. On the back of the headstock it says “Crafted in China” with a serial number beginning with CGF, which a bit of lazy research has revealed to mean C for China, G for a facility called Grand Reward, and F for Fender. The first two numbers of the serial number indicate the year, which is 2013. I thought it was older, but apparently Grand Reward built Player Stratocasters between 2011 and 2014.
It has a spring-loaded bridge with a hole for a whammy bar, but no evidence of it. My brother says it should be on the guitar or in the case, but unless there’s a separate case for it that I haven’t found, I’ll have to get one, but there are so many iterations on the Fender website that I have no idea which is correct.
Considering how little I play electric, this guitar is taking an inordinate amount of my time and attention. All because I want to play Frank Zappa’s Joe’s Garage, which includes the lyric, “. . . and a second-hand guitar, it was a Stratocaster with a whammy bar.”
Jonathan, years ago I had a work friend who is a more thand ecent guitarist. Of all his guitars, he said he found the strat the hardest to get decent sound from . . . but when he found the magic, it was . . . magic.
David, On the face of it, this guitar should sound great and be more versatile than a Telecaster; it has five pickups and a five-way switch, and two tone control knobs. But with the spring-loaded bridge, it’s harder to tune than a 12-string. The action was too high, so I pressed down on the bridge, which snapped down and all of the strings went twang!, and it took me another five or six passes before I got it tuned up again. Now the action is properly low, though I don’t know how or what’s changed to bring it down.
When I fired up my amp, I had to turn the volume up to maximum just to hear it at all, so I’ll have to turn up the volume on the amp to be able to turn it down on the guitar. I never imagined this guitar would entail such a learning curve. But it’s a beauty, and at least it’s forcing me not to neglect the electric.
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While at my brother’s place dealing with car things, I searched for another guitar case that could contain the whammy bar, a tremolo arm by any other name, and found a gig bag that contained it in a pocket along with a redundant assortment of Tortex picks. The whammy bar simply screws into the side of the bridge, and has made a huge difference in the playability. I spent about half an hour experimenting, and must admit that this guitar I started to curse has got me excited about playing electric. Who knew that was possible?
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Do the HBs coil-split that you say it has 5 PUPs, rather than just being a 3 PUP HSH strat with options to (typically) combine bridge & middle and neck & middle.
Glad you found the whammy bar and are starting to enjoy the instrument.
It took me a lot of time and messing around to switch from my teles to a Strat type guitar. If it feels nice to play then it’s worth persisting. You can get an amazing range of tones out of a Strat. I’m still am learning about the different tones you can get out of a Strat. Even though I prefer teles for their simplicity. It’s curious what you said about the volume as those pickups would likely have more output than those on your tele.
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David, Yes, it has 5 pickups and a 5-way switch, so I can switch to either of the top & bottom pickups and combine them or choose all of them.
Ian, I also prefer the Tele. The Strat has been quite a learning curve, but I’m starting to enjoy it and am getting an amazing range of voicings out of it. I certainly thought that with more pickups it would be louder, so I was surprised that it was initially so quiet at full volume.
Man Jonathan, you sound a lot like me. I get to module 13 and just get stymied. I progressed to the first couple modules in grade 3 but didn’t properly learn the module 13 Blues stuff and improvisation. Unlike you though, I haven’t been practicing due to work. I am just now getting back into proper practice and intend to spend an appropriate amount of time on the Blues pieces and improvisation since that is my favorite genre.
I get you on the GAS also. I was going to ask for new tuners and electronics in my Sigma 12 string until I realized the cost of that is more than the guitar is worth. I think I need to focus on my skills until I can justify a higher end guitar.
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Joe, Although I have most of the 7th chords under my fingers, I’ve barely scratched the surface of Blues progressions much less improvisation, and I knew I’d have to go back and review. Clearly, I absorbed something of that module, but need to go back and concentrate.
Work now also keeps me from practicing as much as I’d like, and because I work in construction, I end up cutting or bashing my fingers or breaking nails without even noticing, and that rarely helps my guitar playing.
As for GAS, the more guitars I get my hands on, the more I appreciate the ones I have.
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