2015 Richard Wylie Robson 12-String Parlor Guitar

My friend Dick Robson finished up his second guitar the other day: this painfully-pretty 12-string. It's spruce over 50-year old Brazilian rosewood, features Regal-style "transverse" ladder bracing (angled mid-brace), and a tailpiece/floating bridge load. It sounds like an outsized, velvety-bass Portuguese guitar to my ears. That's Dick playing it himself for the soundclip, above!

Ebony fittings are throughout: bridge, tailpiece "stop," fretboard, nut, and backstrip. Dick's done a superb job dressing it up with pearl and ebony bird inlays, as well.

The "pill" in the center of the headstock is the truss rod access. Of course, the headstock veneer is rosewood as well, and this guitar also sports a zero fret.

Pretty, pretty, pretty.

The 12-fret join is complemented by a shorter 24" scale (like an old parlor) which also means that tuning this up to standard pitch E-E doesn't feel over-tense. It feels perfect and also, because tension is reduced on the shorter scale, the lighter top bracing means this thing sounds really, really big compared to its size.

Don't you love the wild pearl in the "medallion" of the fretboard extension?

Dick bolted (double hanger-bolt style, like I use when I repair bad neck joints) the neck and this afforded him some leeway when he was doing final setup and adjustments. Bolts sure make life easy.

Isn't that stuff killer? I especially like the classical-guitar influences: "pinstripe" purfling and the wide, ebony backstrip.

The neck is mahogany and the tuners are those StewMac Golden Era repro 12-string types. These are always a little stiff when first used, but get much better with a tiny bit of lube.

I mean, it's simply a looker, isn't it?

The side depth is +/- 4" as well which adds some extra bass response.