Official Luthiers Forum!

A few questions for you 12 string builders out there. First, what are the widths of your necks at the nut & 12th fret? Also, what is the radius on your fretboard? And, finally, do you set your necks at the same angle as for your 6 strings. In other words, if a straight edge laid on the neck (not fretbd) is 1/8" above the top at the saddle location on your six string models, is it the same on your 12's?

thanks in advance,
J

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michael propsom
www.propsomguitars.com

I've only built one 12 string so far, (actually, I built a six string and converted it to a 2 string) so I don't have much experience to share, but these pages give some specs:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/J1240E/

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LKSM12/

I'd have to check, but I think the nut width on mine is 2". Next one will be 1-7/8"

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Regards,
Phillip Patton

http://www.pattonblades.com

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price has faded.

https://hoosierbladesmith.wordpress.com

Thanks, Phillip. That does help.

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michael propsom
www.propsomguitars.com

Not in the shop, so I'm shooting from a failing memory.
1 7/8" at nut (I'm actually sure of that one)
2 7/16" at 12th fret.

Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

About the same as Steve. Use around 12-14" radius and neck angle is the same as my 6's.

Thanks, Steve and Haans.

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michael propsom
www.propsomguitars.com

Oldish topic but I'm new to the forum and thought I'd throw my comments out. Have built two 12's (and own an old D12-28). One build is a pretty normal short scale OM body designed for downtuning two steps, the other is a long scale ladder braced 000 (basically a Stella clone) and downtuned 4 or more.

I used 1-7/8 nuts on both, don't remember the spacing at 12 but I shoot for 2-5/16 string space at the saddle so I lay out the string line and add 0.100 to the edges of the f/b. Neck angle is exactly the same as a sixer - top of fret line to a hair above the bridge. Because I'm a slide player I like 20 inch radius on the f/b (I think my Martin is 16)

The Stella clone is a tailpiece guitar so I have a little wiggle room when cutting the slots in the saddle, the OM is a pinned bridge so the string spacing is set by the ramps to the pins. Lots of the playability of a 12 comes from the way the courses are set up. Hope that helps

Thanks, Freeman. I appreciate your input.
J-

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michael propsom
www.propsomguitars.com