1975 Guild F512 Jumbo 12-String Guitar

My friend Jim owns this giant old 12 and it's quite the beast. I've been nonplussed (as a player, but not as a listener) with maple-backed Guild 12s of this size but this rosewood-backed one certainly does it for me. It's got that growrm sound on the bottom that I like from a 12-string when banging-out bass runs.

Work included regluing the bridge, a fret level/dress, some extra compensation to the saddle and string ramps behind it, and a good setup. The guitar is otherwise in good health and is crack-free throughout. It has a little extra custom inlay at the bridge that was used to hide some pickup sensors that had to be disconnected for regluing the bridge. The sound is wide, full, and delicious.

Specs are: 25 9/16" scale, 1 13/16" nut width, 1 5/8" string spacing at the nut, 2 3/8" spacing at the bridge, 17" lower bout, 12 5/8" upper bout, and 5" side depth at the endblock. I set it up for 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE action at the 12th fret and the strings are a custom, extra-slinky set I like to use gauged 22w/46w, 15/36w, 10/26w, 8/18w, 13/13, 9/9 low to high. This gives it an almost electric-guitar feel and still has plenty of oomph when tuned to pitch.

The top on this is x-braced solid spruce, the back and sides are solid Indian rosewood, the neck is two-piece mahogany with a center strip, and the board and bridge are both ebony. This has the cool triangle-insert pearl inlay in the neck and extra-ply binding around all its edges.

Dual trussrods lurk under the cover.

The pinhole tops had been rudely cut-up a bit, so I had no qualms string-ramping behind the saddle to get a better break-angle on the saddle. This always improves a 12-string's tone and projection quite a bit.

I love that milk-chocolate rosewood look!