High Stringing

High Stringing like in Nashville Stringing? You might want to get a new nut made, but try it without it first. As far as the tention, no, it'll actually be lower tension. Just string it first and see if anything buzzes. You might have to take a half a turn off the tension rod but maybe not.

well I did it! I've got to say I really like the sound. Kind of a cross between a mandolin and a guitar. A word of caution the G string breaks easy so buy 2 or 3 extras!!!!

Just go out and buy some discount 12 string sets, then you use the octave strings for Nashville, and you have a spare set of six string strings left over.

well I did it! I've got to say I really like the sound. Kind of a cross between a mandolin and a guitar. A word of caution the G string breaks easy so buy 2 or 3 extras!!!!

Hey, great! Good idea from Nick too. I tried a 'double' Nashville once, on a 12-string, using some old strings I had laying around. It sounded just like a huge mandolin. I checked on juststrings.com before I experimented and found a couple of manufacturers who offered Nashville sets. I was going to get two if the sound was different enough from the regular 12-string but I wound up not doing it.

That's the thing about 12-strings though, and from what I hear, that's why the Nashville studio guys did it: when you do a 12-string track, unless it's the featured instrument, it usually gets pushed back in the mix and reverbed a bit, and then the bass freq's get rolled off so they don't interfere with everybody else, and so what you wind up with is mostly the sound of the high strings of the octave pairs and the doubled 1st and 2nd. And so I guess they figured they might as well just play something with the high strings and save their fingers during long sessions.

It's a cool workaround I think.

Cool, art&lutherie!