Do 12 string classical guitars exist?

[BigDaddyLH]

... just wondering ...

Lutes with courses (pairs of strings) are common, but I've never heard of a classical guitar with 12 strings. Why?

 

[24 track]

Godin produces a Glissantar an 11 string fret-less classical they claim its modelled after a Turkish aud

 

[BigDaddyLH]

Godin produces a Glissantar an 11 string fret-less classical they claim its modelled after a Turkish aud
this one has frets the one I saw is fretless

View attachment 1043710

Hmmm... I only recall a fretless version, and I failed arithmetic but that sure looks like 12 strings to me!

 

[24 track]

Hmmm... I only recall a fretless version, and I failed arithmetic but that sure looks like 12 strings to me!

I typed in glisantar . and that came up I went back and corrected it ( I'm on my PC right now so I'm slower at responding etc )

 

[sloppychops]

I typed in glisantar . and that came up I went back and corrected it ( I'm on my PC right now so I'm slower at responding etc )

It's 11 strings. The low E is a single course.

I tried one of these years ago and couldn't do a thing with it. Love the sound of it, though.

 

[BigDaddyLH]

I typed in glisantar . and that came up I went back and corrected it ( I'm on my PC right now so I'm slower at responding etc )

I'm more interested in the instrument that came and went there! Was it a Godin?

 

[24 track]

I'm more interested in the instrument that came and went there! Was it a Godin?

yes the 12 string Godin is on reverb for 1000.00 ( a great price) and is on the island
I'm southpaw or I would have been all over it

 

[BigDaddyLH]

yes the 12 string Godin is on reverb for 1000.00 ( a great price) and is on the island
I'm southpaw or I would have been all over it

Was that a Godin A12? I think those are steel string guitars.

 

[Dan German]

yes the 12 string Godin is on reverb for 1000.00 ( a great price) and is on the island
I'm southpaw or I would have been all over it

Phew, you had me worried there… I thought you meant a glissentar for sale, and I thought you meant MY island. It’s just a regular(ish) 12 string, and it’s on Galiano, which helps me make an excuse not to go look at it. Close call, though.

 

[24 track]

Was that a Godin A12? I think those are steel string guitars.

It was.(it popped up when I typed in Glisantar) I counted the machine heads and then there were 12 with frets , you could call Godin in Montreal and see if the could make you one , I had called them about the lefty Multiac nylon string I talked to Godin directly, and a year later they were available , I bought one of the first ones made.

 

[24 track]

Phew, you had me worried there… I thought you meant a glissentar for sale, and I thought you meant MY island. It’s just a regular(ish) 12 string, and it’s on Galiano, which helps me make an excuse not to go look at it. Close call, though.

they never made Glisantars in lefty I would have been on it, still beautiful guitar for sure, I love my Multiac

 

[nojazzhere]

... just wondering ...

Lutes with courses (pairs of strings) are common, but I've never heard of a classical guitar with 12 strings. Why?

I suspect making a nylon string that could be tuned up an octave might be a problem?
My Godin Multiac can sound like a 12 string if I step on this. I haven't gigged with it yet (the pedal) with my Godin, but I hope to.

 

[badscrew_projects]

Baroque Luth and Archluth

 

[BigDaddyLH]

I suspect making a nylon string that could be tuned up an octave might be a problem?
My Godin Multiac can sound like a 12 string if I step on this. I haven't gigged with it yet (the pedal) with my Godin, but I hope to.
View attachment 1043760

If it's a problem, the added G string could be in unison.

 

[Freeman Keller]

Some of the very early gut strung guitars had paired courses, either 5 or 6, but were not true 12 string guitars in the modern sense.

The courses were tuned in unison rather than octaves. Some of these old guitars have been converted to single course, there are a few builders today replicating them.

There are also some modern guitars with doubled courses including the bajo quinto and sexto, but these have wire strings.
I don't believe there are any gut or filament strings that can be tuned to D4 or G4, the octaves of the 3rd and 4th string, so as far as I know there are no modern 12 string classical guitars.

 

[Tim E]

Years ago there was a local luthier who had a 12 string classical(?) on the wall of his own making. It was pretty ornate and I think it was mostly a demonstration of his skills. His instruments were very much in the Mexican tradition, and this particular 12 string was tuned in six unison courses. Never saw anyone play it.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a similar instrument that exists in the Latin American/Iberian Peninsula traditions somewhere. There are dozens of hybrids and designs that turn up in regional folk traditions with all kinds of neat tunings and sizes. But I've never seen one that was like a 12 string classical other than the one hanging in the luthier's shop. The shop is long gone, and being that this was over 30 years ago, I doubt he's still active or even alive.

 

[Dave Hicks]

Not to answer a question with a question, but is a charango just a 10-string uke?

 

[24 track]

Phew, you had me worried there… I thought you meant a glissentar for sale, and I thought you meant MY island. It’s just a regular(ish) 12 string, and it’s on Galiano, which helps me make an excuse not to go look at it. Close call, though.

an absolute steel at that price even my multiac has gone considerably in price since I bought it

 

[Dan German]

an absolute steel at that price even my multiac has gone considerably in price since I bought it

You, sir, are a s*** disturber. La la la la I’m not listening…

 

[Trenchant63]

I think the nylon strings are thicker typically so that might be part of reason in addition to doubled strings likely being very difficult for the classical player’s technique to cross doubled strings.