Monday, October 26, 2015

Fender Stratocaster XII - Electric 12-String Guitar

Some people may tell you this guitar does not exist but the Fender Stratocaster XII is still in production.



You can read through all the specs at Chorder.com.

Notice in the specs the 'C' shaped neck and this is where the six-string 'designer' Stratocasters differ from a stock American-made Strat.  'Designer' Stratocasters may cost a $1000 or more above the selling price of a stock Strat and the neck contour is the only substantive difference between stock and designer.

To save the money, buy a stock American-made Strat for maybe $600 or get it used on eBay because you're going to buy a custom neck from whomever you like and then get a luthier to mount it for you for about fifty bucks.  Save big bucks and you can still sell the standard neck.


In play, the 12-string Strat is not so different and no more than any 12-string differs from a 6-string except there is much more potential for two-string bends.  Where this one goes to the Moon for flat-picking, tho, is when you use a slide ... and an echo.  If you play a guitar, you've got to try this at least one time before they pry your last guitar from yer cold dead fingers.  It's extraordinary and doesn't cost too much.

Some places claim the Fender XII was only made between '68 and '69 or so but that's not true.  The originals of that vintage are expensive and may easily top $5000, assuming you can find one.  However, the guitar is still in-production but it's still hard to find.  Assuming you do locate a current model, it should retail for about $900.

Yamaha makes at least one model of acoustic / electric 12-string and that's a gas for using in twisted setups with distortion, echo and whatever other deviant effects you like.  Just as with the Stratocaster, it gets fascinating tonalities ... but ... the advantage of the electric 12-string is the bridge sends the string through the body for additional sustain and very few, if any, acoustic guitars can touch that.  Sustain is one of the biggest reasons for electric ... and the New School promptly obliterated that in favor of speed.  Ho hum.

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