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Can I string a 12 string...


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The wrong way...

 

I'm sick of on every downstroke hearing the higher octave E first and when I do fingerpicking on a 12 I often hit the upper octave strings instead of the low ones. Can I string it with the low ones first and the octaved ones next? Do any of you do that ever??

 

I can't really think of why I couldn't do that just wondering about it.

 

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Originally posted by daddymack

aside from the fact that the nut is cut for standard, there shouldn't be a problem.

 

 

 

He may run into more playability issues that that. I cant help but think there is a good reason why 12 strings are strung the way they are. The way your chording fingers and picks contact the strings may be the reason why the high string is first. If the big string is first ,, your guitar pick may well just skip over the higher octive string. That said string it up and see how it works ... the worst that could happend is you end up buying another set of strings.... rat

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Originally posted by Lee Flier

You must be talking about the saddles. The nut is a single piece of (usually) bone, between the neck and the headstock. It has a notch in it for each string. You'd have to cut a whole new nut to change the order of the strings, in all likelihood.

 

 

exactly.... and the notches *should* be cut to fit the strings that would normally occupy that notch. Just putting the strings on in a different order on a standard 12 string nut will likely cause some problems there.

 

The suggestion to use a Rickenbacker nut in an earlier post is the only one that I have seen that would work.. and even then you might have to make some adjustments to make it fit the neck. Another possibility would be to get a luthier in your area to make a nut that would fit and have the string order that you want......

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Originally posted by scott_335

get a nut for a left handed 12 string wersion of your guitar

 

that won't help...the string diameters are still relative, and a left handed nut is a mirror image of a right handed one. He will need to make a new nut. I actually did this on an old Fender 12 string years ago, which is why I immediately knew he would have an issue with the nut.:wave:

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Originally posted by Lee Flier

What kind of guitar is it btw?

 

It's a Takamine 12 string acoustic electric...the model escapes me. But from the advice given here I think I should just learn to upstrum when I want the boom and as far as fingerpicking goes I'll just stick with the 6 string for accurate fingerpicking passages and do some on the 12 string when it doesn't really matter what the octave order is. I think when I have money I will get a luthier to redo the nut or just buy a new 12 string ... Thanks for all the replies though I really didn't think this thread would last this long :D

 

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