I need a opinion on 12 string alverez

[Dandy Don]

Don't really know much about accoustic guitar's, looked at a used alverez 12 string made in China. The overall cond. is exellent i'd like to put a pick-up in it so I can use it in our band. 1.] Will the old sound hole pick-up's work or is there a better way I really dont want to put holes in this guitar. The guy's asking 200.00 for it with hard shell case:thu: worth it or should I wait for one that was made electric/ accoustic? Thank's for your help

[J.]

Sounds like a pretty good deal. If you like it, buy it. I've been pretty impressed by the Alvarez 12's I've played.

 

A soundhole pickup would probably work, but you might also want to try something like the K&K Pure Western or Pure Western mini. All it would require is an enlarged endpin hole for the jack.

[guit30]

Alvarez 12 string for $200 with case, have you played it, I would go with a NeoD soundhole
Jim

[Freeman Keller]

As much as I love 12 strings, I would caution against making it your first (and only) acoustic. They tend to be slightly harder to play (both the fretboard width and the tension of the additional courses) and they have a unique sound that may or may not fit in to what you are trying to do. Many people tune them down one or two half steps (both for structural reasons and ease of play) which means that if you are playing with someone else you'll have to transpose or capo.

I'll add that less expensive 12 tend to have more issues - higher action, intonation, possible structural problems. I'm not familiar with the Alverez 12's - their sixes have a lot of love on this forum., but for a used one I would check the action very carefully and measure the neck angle. If you like the way it feels, plays and sounds, and it has no structural problems, that would be a good deal. Adding a UST internal mic or soundboard pup would be easy. If you are thinking about the magnetic kind of soundhole pickup (like an electric guitar) it probably will not work with normal acoustic strings.

[DeepEnd]

I rarely disagree with Freeman (for that matter, people who know what they're talking about rarely do either) but most soundhole pickups are specifically made to work with "normal" acoustic strings. The magnets sense only the cores of the wound strings since the windings are magnetically inert. However, the string spacing on a 12-string is wider than it is on a 6-string and the magnet spacing on such pickups is typically optimized for 6-string guitars. The result in your case will be unbalanced tone with the middle strings (D and G) being favored over the E strings. As J. suggested, a Pure Western Mini is a strong possibility since string spacing isn't an issue. If your budget can handle it, get the regular Pure Western since it can be removed and installed in another guitar.

[Freeman Keller]

Good call, DE, and I stand corrected. All I know is a singer songwriter friend tried one in his Guild 12 and it didn't work (might have been the spacing on the pole pieces and I don't even know what kind it was). I'm pretty sure it is a Mini that he put in and it works fine.

I also know that a few string companies like DR make special sets that are more magnetic to be used with a humbucker p/u (I think the DR's are called Zebras), but I've never seen a 12 string set.

[bluehuricane]

hey, so i'm not really in this discussion, but i checked out the pure westerns, those are pretty sweet, am i right in assuming that they'd work with any 12 string?

[DeepEnd]

 

hey, so i'm not really in this discussion, but i checked out the pure westerns, those are pretty sweet, am i right in assuming that they'd work with any 12 string?

 

It'll work on pretty much anything that makes sound, although it's designed for use with acoustic guitars. Theoretically, you could install it on an upright bass, a dulcimer, a harmonica, etc., so a 12-string guitar would be no problem.

[Freeman Keller]

If you look closely at a Baggs M1, you'll see that the pole pieces for the B and high E are recessed compared with the others. The reason is that those strings have no windings so the magnets are responding to the whole (unwound) string and thus producing a stronger signal. In the case of your friend, in addition to the spacing issue, the unwound octave strings were emphasized at the expense of the regular wound ones. And yes, there are strings that are made for A/E guitars. GHS and Black Diamond make them too. But AFAIK they're not strictly necessary.

 

 

Thanks, makes complete sense and I learned some things. I'll pass this back to him.