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Posts: 17
| My Ovation 12 string is like a cheese grater to my fingers,anyone recommend a make and grade of string thats easy on the fingers for a 12 string beginner? |
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June 2012
Posts: 2303
Location: Lake Forest, CA | caferacer - 2012-10-30 2:55 AM
My Ovation 12 string is like a cheese grater to my fingers,anyone recommend a make and grade of string thats easy on the fingers for a 12 string beginner?
I like the D'Addario lights. (EJ38)
The lower the action, the easier it's going to be to fret the strings. If the action is too high, it's going to be harder to fret the strings, even with the lights. Also, a combination of high action and light strings, there could be intonation problems.
So, before changing out your strings, make sure the verify the height of the strings at the 1st and 12th frets and adjust the nut/bridge saddle accordingly.
If the saddle end is too high, take out a shim or two to lower it at the 12th fret. If it's too high at the nut end, then you'll need to either deepen the slots or pop the nut off and shave the bottom. |
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Posts: 2985
Location: Sydney, Australia | +1. Every millimetre of action on a 12 string is twice as bad as the same millimetre on a 6 string. |
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Posts: 4221
Location: Steeler Nation, Hudson Valley Contingent | Setting the action is fairly straightforward, unless you've never done it before. If you are not comfortable doing it yourself, take it to any decent guitar tech and they can handle it, often very quickly. I was lucky years back when I decided my 12-string Ovation could use an adjustment. I didn't know how, so I asked around about local guitar techs. The unanimous advice was to go to Randy Woods, who was local for me at the time.
He looked it over and told me he would be glad to charge me for a set up, but he could show me how to do it myself faster than he could get it in the queue at his shop. He didn't charge me a dime, but he taught me not to be too afraid to fix small things on my guitar. He's a good guy, is Randy.
This past summer, I picked up a custom 12-string from the factory. John Budny told me on the phone that I wouldn't believe how easy it played. Boy, was that an understatement! We don't know what the boys did differently, but it is one of the easiest fretting guitars I've ever picked up, 12-string or not.
The moral of the story is that a good set-up is worth its weight in gold. 12-strings should not be so different to play from 6-strings. |
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June 2012
Posts: 2303
Location: Lake Forest, CA | I recently repaired a broken neck on an Ibanez project guitar I bought off eBay. Because the nut was missing I decided to make my own from bone. Because this guitar was going to one of my daughters, who'd already laid claim even before I finished fixing the neck, I wanted the action to be much lighter than my Ovations.
I used the information about making a new nut at Frets.com. (A New Nut) The end result is that the action on this guitar is the best I've ever played. I just have to breath on the strings to fret them. In fact, I have to be careful when playing it because it's so easy to fret the strings that if I play it like I do my ovations, then I start getting unintentional hammering effects. So, it sounds like the guitar techs at Ovation made the nut height on your new 12-string as low as what it would be if it had a zero-fret. If you want to check the nut action, use the guide at Frets.com. (Checking Nut Action)
Edited by DanSavage 2012-10-31 10:32 AM
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May 2012
Posts: 17
| Great advice,Im getting a demo in setting up as suggested by a local tech. |
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September 2008
Posts: 1281
Location: Ohio | Silk and Steel are a good place to start, but you WILl get a softer tone. |
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12 string newbie
