12-string question

[Gerry C]

Following on from the "12-string slide" thread, I've been inspired to do a little myself but the strings I have on my Freshman FA200E12 are, as Robert Johnson would say, most too light. (010 top strings). I believe most players use a medium gauge set for 12-string when tuning down to get the McTell/Leadbelly sound. My query is: what constitutes a medium set for 12-string? Any recommendations as to maker/brand? Thanks in advance.

Cheerily,

Gerry C

[Mark Makin]

Hello Gerry
I've had these gauges pinned on my wall for years - haven't tried them though!

Tuned down 2 steps to C
35/60, 26/48, 16/38, 12/28, 18/18, 14,/14

Tuned down 1 step to D
32/53, 24/42, 16/32, 10/24, 16/16, 12/12,

Leadbellys gauges
14/70, 19/48, 19/38, 22/22, 19/19, 14/14

Dell'artes recommendation
14/64, 19/46, 16/36, 25/25, 18/18, 14/14

Don't know if these are any use Gerry, I'am afraid it didn't mention which brands to choose.

[Deleted]

Hey Gerry, here's what's on my Harmony Stella 12:

.014/.014
.010/.018
.014/.025
.016/.036
.019/.046
.025/.064

I usually tune it to A, B flat or B and those strings seem to be a happy medium that work in all those tunings. They get pretty floppy in A but the guitar's tall action makes it work. Before I'd just buy a set of 13s and match up the other courses with individually bought strings, but it was just too floppy.

You can hear what it sounds like here:

[blueshome]

I get my strings via Todd Cambio at Fraulini, he has La Bella make up sets for him:

13/13;17/17;26/12;38/17;48/20p;66/26

These work great on my Angelina which came strung with these gauges except a 26 instead of the octave 3rd. I swap around between these now and then and have also tried 10 as octave for the 2nd course when down to A or Bb.

I find that I can play quite comfortably tuned to C,B or Bb. A is doeable but the volume starts to go a bit. I would not tune this guitar above C, neither is it recommended to do so, but with a modern X-braced guitar I'm sure D would be OK with these gauges. I normally play tuned to B as it makes transposition easy when playing with others - just like cross-harp.

(BTW I am not referring to open tuning here - the highest I go for Vastapol is Bb and for Spanish Eb)

There is quite a bit of info on 12-string tuning and stringing on the Fraulini site www.fraulini.com