Wait, let me rephrase that...

Anyway, I bought an Eastwood Sidejack 12-string electric a few weeks ago. It sounds fine, but sometimes on certain songs, the G-strings sound ... lower than I think they should sound. They produce a weird out-of-tune sound to my ears.

But when I tune them (in standard tuning), they register spot on as E notes.

I'm going to compare my guitar with a Rick-12 another guy in my band has.

But I figured I'd throw this open to this board:

Anyone else had a similar problem? Any thoughts?

Maybe it's all in my head--that way I don't have to take the guitar in for some sort of repair.

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Posted by Zappas Stache

Utility Muffin Research Kitchen

Member since Apr 2009

38690 posts

Posted on 8/17/16 at 10:11 pm to Mars duMorgue

I have a 12 string acoustic and it can sound off sometimes. If you don't have perfect finger placement when playing a chord, one of the strings of the pair can be out of harmony. I have the same problem on the mandolin but the mandolin is more forgiving.....unless you are playing with other people.....then they don't forgive you. Doc Watson said Mandolin players spend half their time tuning and the other half playing outta tune.

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Posted by Mars duMorgue

Sunset Dist/SF

Member since Aug 2015

2816 posts

Posted on 8/18/16 at 5:19 am to Zappas Stache

quote:
If you don't have perfect finger placement when playing a chord, one of the strings of the pair can be out of harmony.

True. I've played an acoustic 12-string (a Taylor) for years now, so I'm familiar with the challenges of the instrument.

A couple of odd things with my Eastwood though:
• The out-of-tune sound only happens on some songs and not others--it's quite consistent. But I don't have this problem with my Taylor.
• As I wrote, when I tune the Eastwood, the G's are spot on. ??
• When I pluck the G's alone, or from high to low strings, they do sound a bit off-key to me, just a tad.

Well, the problem is either the guitar--or me. And since I am an ordinary rhythm player and no better--it could easily be me.

My bandmate has a Rick-12, so I can start by comparing sounds with his guitar.

Thanks for the feedback though, especially since you play a 12-string too.

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