I have had some low end models, Epiphone Texan about 50 years ago, and then a Takamine, which I still have as a backup. A couple of years ago I decided it was time to get the dream 12-string acoustic. I'm a Martin guy when it comes Steel string, but despite their incredible sound, they are often difficult to play relative to other brands, mostly, IMO, due to a relatively low fretboard radius. So the bottom line is that I bought a Guild F512E, and just love it. fairly easy to play as a 12 string goes, low action, huge low-end due to the jumbo size body, and it just chimes and chimes. I look forward to checking out more of your videos, thanks.
Great review of an amazingly well thought out 12-string. Sounds like you are suffering a cold. Hope you are feeling better soon. Always enjoy your playing and enthusiasm. Rock on, Mark
I certainly will recommend this guitar to players looking for their first 12 string .At that price its sounds great Mark and of course your playing top level .
Thanks for making this video. A very impressive guitar at a nice price. Keep giving Vangoa advice. As they took your suggestions they obviously value your input.
Hey Mark - the reason I subscribed was because of your 12-string expertise. And it continues! While I missed your live "review", this YT review of this new Vangoa shows us yet another fine entry in a budget guitar. It sounded awesome. Great review. I wanna buy 'em all but there are no more closets or beds where I can hide them!
Stop!! You're starting to make me wish I hadn't bought the previous Vangoa 12, and instead waited for this one! Seriously, thanks for another great review, demo'd with some wonderful riffs, several of which seem to be absent from your previous riff-repertoire. Speaking of which, it occurs to me that a nice addition to that repertoire might be _Southern Cross,_ by CS&N. What say? Fred
Hey Fred. Southern Cross sounds great on a 12 but I did extensive research (I take that back, I spent about 2 hours tooling around google) looking for any instances in which CSN used a 12 string and I Wooden Ships is the only one that I've gotten positive confirmation on (a custom made Alembic 12) but even that bit of info is missing from Alembics history page so who knows. Somebody asked me why I've never done Question or Sloop John B. I've covered both in about 5 videos each. It's starting to get a bit tricky to find ones that I haven't covered or at least referenced. The gauntlet has been thrown my friend. LOL.
@@8MinuteAxe Yeah, this question was in the spirit of 'songs that sound great on a 12, whether or not the original was done on a 12.' And I've actually heard Southern Cross more on a 12 than not, because I've played it more times than I've listened to the recording ;-) One neat thing about it is that you can play the bass line along with the chords, which I guess you could do on 6, it just seems more convincing on the 12. And I appreciate the gauntlet, but I'm unlikely to pick it up, because you know so many more songs than I do. Although there are a few I might stump you on. That is, until you did a little research . . . Maybe, _No Milk Today_ by Herman's Hermits (not much of a "rocker," but it has a fascinating structure to its lyrics), or _Cheryl's Goin' Home_ by Bob Lind, or _What a Girl Can't Do_ by The Hangmen, or . . . . . . in any event, hang in there, and keep crankin' out these wonderful videos!
@@8MinuteAxe There is video.... David played a Guild acoustic12-string in Drop D on Southern Cross during the Daylight again tour. (You can also see him playing some kind of 12-string 335-style guitar on Wooden Ships - maybe that's the Alembic??).
This guitar looks great and sounds good. With the changes made this should make for a great 12 string beginner or otherwise. And as always great playing and video.
Hey Don. Thanks so much for checking out the video and my apologies for the delayed reply. I've been under the weather and I'm playing catch up. Vangoa really stands behind their product. For a minute, they talked about my interest in a signature guitar. I laughed. And then I thought about it and laughed harder. Why on God's green earth would anybody want...anyway, yeah, the Rok-Lok was three years of really hard work...and then I brought it to market and the work really began. But it's been the 2nd best selling strap lock on the market since its debut so fingers crossed. I really appreciate your time. I hope you have a great weekend. Mark
VERY nice! I could go for that one pretty guitar all around. Vangoa is really stepping up their game with this one, thanks again Mark! Oh and for easy memory . . . Mother of Pearl is also known as "Mother of Toilet Seat", Abalone will always have color.
Mark: I'm sorry I missed the Premiere on Sunday. This was a great demo, as always. By the way, I purchased the RokLok a few days ago and I'm using it on my go-to guitar, a 6-string Martin. It was easy to install and works great.
It's sounds a little thin, but just noticed it's plugged in so it has the typical piezo brightness. Sounds very electric. Would have liked to hear it through a mic.
hi mark - are you ok? you sound like you have a bit of a cold? i wish you well, if you are, my friend! that guitar does sound great, but, as a canuck, by law, i can only own seagull acoustics 😉 as always, your videos are so inspirational - i have to pick up a guitar to practice every time you come out with another! love from canada! 😊
Couldn't attend live... Helping grandson to build his brio train track! Fabulous playing as ever and guitar looks very impressive. Shame we couldn't compare it to your own one just behind you... Makes comparisons easier....
confession. I did. I was running out of time and I couldn't match the video clips so I scrapped the entire part. I will definitely do one in the near future. Sorry. :)
Hi. great review. I am wanting to purchase one of these for my 60th Next month. But I cannot find any online store that will ship to me in Melb, Australia. bit of a downer I recon.
This may not be helpful but one my viewers in Brisbane has been wanting a Vangoa 12 string and he told me that they just started shipping to Australia. My good friend and fellow youtuber Simon Morel is in Sydney. Tell him that I referred you to him. He will know all about what you can get down under. An early happy 60th to you. Please take care and be well. Mark
@@8MinuteAxe Hi thanks for the reply. A few days ago 30th Oct I contacted them directly on their web site and ended up ordering one directly from them and they had to change the shipping to Australia just for me as it was not available. as they said they do not ship to Australia yet. and they did it specially for me so they say, as I was unable to make an order until they changed that . But only thing is I was a bit disapointed in is that they can only ship it free via SEA SHIPPING! 20 to 30 days! or Air shipping cost is about USD $140-$200. extra! sO it will arrive more than a month after my birthday! So very dissapointed in that! as I may not see it until 2025 as they are always late with delays sea shipping! Simon Morel is actually in Sydney N.S.W. Im in south east Melbourne, lower end of the map near tassie. Cheers.
@@dozzgio.871Hey brother happy 60th. I would really appreciate it if you could update how this all goes for you and your total costs in the end. I’m in Traralgon and I like the look of this thing.
@@alexinanalogue2645 Hi there mate. quiet a long story here So please take your time and read this all. And let me know what you think? It cost directly from their official web page USD$330 which after conversion currency at the time deducted AUD $519.47 Total from my account as they dont have the AUD option on the order page. I Put the order through 30th October, and It finally arrived 16th December as they could not air ship it free. Free shipping it was sent by SEA ! thats why it took so long! They said in my email, "If you want to ship by air, we cannot offer free shipping. Air shipping cost is about USD $140-$200 It was very well packaged no damage at all, but after I unpacked it, I noticed a discoloration on L/H wooden bridge and i touched it up with black texter for now until I buy proper stain when i remove the strings eventually. I was disappointed with that because it should not of passed QC as well as the tuners they look good by a bit dodgy they way they turn they dont turn smoothly!. Anyway at the end of the day the guitar looks really good, sounds good but still not as near good as my 30 year old 12 string Takamine , but when you use it plugged in an amp with effects it sounds great. I entrained people at a Christmas lunch with it,. and they loved it.. I did notify Bob at Vangoa & complained about the problem. and they try to say it must of been from shipping that caused the situation on the bridge, which is complete bull! as it was way too well wrapped and packaged. Anyway they refunded me $19.95USD and sent me 3 sets of 12 strings to make up for that. as they can accept returns because it will cost too much send it back! So really there is no warranty for Australia! I hope that answers your questions.
I JUST got my Vangoa 12 string 4 days ago. The frets are so jagged and sharp that the guitar is dangerous to play. Waiting to hear back from Customer Service.
Solid top and better fret end finish were two things I pointed out in my old video review of the Vangoa 12-String, too. They were wise to take your advice!
Very well done, Mark!!! It has a great sound. Have you ever tried open D minor tuning on an acoustic 12 string? I tried it recently on my A&L Legacy 12. What a delicious melancholy sound if that makes sense.
I received this 12-string from Amazon a couple of days ago. Straight out of the box, the action was high, the frets and bridge were bone dry, and the guitar would not stay in tune after tuning it up. I gave it to my former guitar teacher for a setup, and it now plays and sounds acceptable. In all honesty, despite the upgrades that Vangoa made to this 12-string, it is a mediocre instrument, at best. I’ll probably hold onto mine for a little while, but it’s definitely not a keeper. My advice to anyone looking for a good quality first 12-string is to look elsewhere and spend a bit more money. You definitely get what you pay for. Just my two cents.
Hey Jim. I'm so glad you let me know (and I apologize for the delay in responding, I've been under the weather). I sent your message to Vangoa. If you contact them they will do right by you. Maybe send you something comparable in price to what you spent to have it set up. They don't pay me anything and I give all the guitars away so my "endorsement" is based on the fact that vs other entry level guitars, they've been very consistent. That being said, my contact got a promotion and the woman who apparently took over contacting me decided to send me just about every guitar related thing in their product line and I got a couple of 6 string instruments with serious fret sprout and the frets were not polished at all. I think I've been giving them a shout out for entry level 12s for about 4 years and I've only had I think now 3 people tell me they had a bad experience. It doesn't mean anything. I believe you 100%. If you really like the 12-string and want something a little nicer, look for a used Taylor 150e. Very reliable and a great sounding mid priced instrument. Thanks so much for your time. Mark
How's the action? It seemed OK when you played "Dead Or Alive", but without guessing you're way way way, better than me. The 12 string I have at the moment is impossible to play "Dead Or Alive". I'm considering upgrading, and if the action is good this could be a worthwhile choice. I was looking at Takamine 12's around 700/800 $'s AUD. Would this guitar you've reviewed match a Takamine at the 700/800 $'s price range?
I've played over 150 12-string songs on the channel. Everything from Blind Willie McTells "Stateboro Blues", Pete Seeger, Leo kottke, Ralph Towner, Bob Gibson, 12 to 15 Beatles songs, 20 Zeppelin songs, The Smiths, REM, the French Canadian 70s Prague rock band harmonium, zebra, big star, Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, Ozzy comic Pink Floyd, Lead Belly call several Mexican corridos, The Who, Eagles, Genesis, yes, Cinderella, Bon Jovi, let me know what you're looking for
I have had some low end models, Epiphone Texan about 50 years ago, and then a Takamine, which I still have as a backup. A couple of years ago I decided it was time to get the dream 12-string acoustic. I'm a Martin guy when it comes Steel string, but despite their incredible sound, they are often difficult to play relative to other brands, mostly, IMO, due to a relatively low fretboard radius. So the bottom line is that I bought a Guild F512E, and just love it. fairly easy to play as a 12 string goes, low action, huge low-end due to the jumbo size body, and it just chimes and chimes.
I look forward to checking out more of your videos, thanks.
Great review of an amazingly well thought out 12-string. Sounds like you are suffering a cold. Hope you are feeling better soon. Always enjoy your playing and enthusiasm. Rock on, Mark
Great review. Glad you waited until you’d played it for several weeks. Thanks, Mark
I certainly will recommend this guitar to players looking for their first 12 string .At that price its sounds great Mark and of course your playing top level .
Thanks for making this video. A very impressive guitar at a nice price.
Keep giving Vangoa advice. As they took your suggestions they obviously value your input.
Sounds and looks are great!!!
great sounding 12 string!
Hey Mark - the reason I subscribed was because of your 12-string expertise. And it continues! While I missed your live "review", this YT review of this new Vangoa shows us yet another fine entry in a budget guitar. It sounded awesome. Great review. I wanna buy 'em all but there are no more closets or beds where I can hide them!
Awesome review. What an amazing guitar. Great playing as always Mark. Fantastic.
Hey Liam. Much appreciated. Have a great week. Mark
Stop!! You're starting to make me wish I hadn't bought the previous Vangoa 12, and instead waited for this one!
Seriously, thanks for another great review, demo'd with some wonderful riffs, several of which seem to be absent from your previous riff-repertoire.
Speaking of which, it occurs to me that a nice addition to that repertoire might be _Southern Cross,_ by CS&N. What say?
Fred
Hey Fred. Southern Cross sounds great on a 12 but I did extensive research (I take that back, I spent about 2 hours tooling around google) looking for any instances in which CSN used a 12 string and I Wooden Ships is the only one that I've gotten positive confirmation on (a custom made Alembic 12) but even that bit of info is missing from Alembics history page so who knows. Somebody asked me why I've never done Question or Sloop John B. I've covered both in about 5 videos each. It's starting to get a bit tricky to find ones that I haven't covered or at least referenced. The gauntlet has been thrown my friend. LOL.
@@8MinuteAxe Yeah, this question was in the spirit of 'songs that sound great on a 12, whether or not the original was done on a 12.'
And I've actually heard Southern Cross more on a 12 than not, because I've played it more times than I've listened to the recording ;-)
One neat thing about it is that you can play the bass line along with the chords, which I guess you could do on 6, it just seems more convincing on the 12.
And I appreciate the gauntlet, but I'm unlikely to pick it up, because you know so many more songs than I do.
Although there are a few I might stump you on. That is, until you did a little research . . .
Maybe, _No Milk Today_ by Herman's Hermits (not much of a "rocker," but it has a fascinating structure to its lyrics),
or _Cheryl's Goin' Home_ by Bob Lind,
or _What a Girl Can't Do_ by The Hangmen,
or . . .
. . . in any event, hang in there, and keep crankin' out these wonderful videos!
@@8MinuteAxe There is video.... David played a Guild acoustic12-string in Drop D on Southern Cross during the Daylight again tour. (You can also see him playing some kind of 12-string 335-style guitar on Wooden Ships - maybe that's the Alembic??).
I have the older vangoa model 12 string and have really loved it, this new model sounds great . Thank you for the review.
This guitar looks great and sounds good. With the changes made this should make for a great 12 string beginner or otherwise. And as always great playing and video.
Great sounding 12 string. I will look for one of these online and also seek out your guitar lock product thank you so much!😊
Hey Don. Thanks so much for checking out the video and my apologies for the delayed reply. I've been under the weather and I'm playing catch up. Vangoa really stands behind their product. For a minute, they talked about my interest in a signature guitar. I laughed. And then I thought about it and laughed harder. Why on God's green earth would anybody want...anyway, yeah, the Rok-Lok was three years of really hard work...and then I brought it to market and the work really began. But it's been the 2nd best selling strap lock on the market since its debut so fingers crossed. I really appreciate your time. I hope you have a great weekend. Mark
Very nice as always Mark. You are an inspiration to so many! Cheers Mate.
VERY nice! I could go for that one pretty guitar all around. Vangoa is really stepping up their game with this one, thanks again Mark! Oh and for easy memory . . . Mother of Pearl is also known as "Mother of Toilet Seat", Abalone will always have color.
Fantastic video I would love to own a guitar like that🎸😎👍
Mark: I'm sorry I missed the Premiere on Sunday. This was a great demo, as always. By the way, I purchased the RokLok a few days ago and I'm using it on my go-to guitar, a 6-string Martin. It was easy to install and works great.
Love all the information, and the reviews are spot on! Thanks for test driving, so we don’t have to!
It's sounds a little thin, but just noticed it's plugged in so it has the typical piezo brightness. Sounds very electric. Would have liked to hear it through a mic.
hi mark - are you ok? you sound like you have a bit of a cold? i wish you well, if you are, my friend! that guitar does sound great, but, as a canuck, by law, i can only own seagull acoustics 😉 as always, your videos are so inspirational - i have to pick up a guitar to practice every time you come out with another! love from canada! 😊
Wow that looks beautiful, solid spruce top is a nice upgrade, sounds good 👍 and those fret markers look cool too
Looks like they upgraded a lot. I promised myself that I shouldn't get the "need" for more stuff this year but there is a slight issue with that now 🤔
If it results in playing more and doesn't take food out of the mouth of your family, it's all good. :)
@@8MinuteAxe I'm used to a diet of instant noodles and water ;)
Very nice demo, thanks!!
Couldn't attend live... Helping grandson to build his brio train track! Fabulous playing as ever and guitar looks very impressive. Shame we couldn't compare it to your own one just behind you... Makes comparisons easier....
confession. I did. I was running out of time and I couldn't match the video clips so I scrapped the entire part. I will definitely do one in the near future. Sorry. :)
Hi. great review. I am wanting to purchase one of these for my 60th Next month. But I cannot find any online store that will ship to me in Melb, Australia. bit of a downer I recon.
This may not be helpful but one my viewers in Brisbane has been wanting a Vangoa 12 string and he told me that they just started shipping to Australia. My good friend and fellow youtuber Simon Morel is in Sydney. Tell him that I referred you to him. He will know all about what you can get down under. An early happy 60th to you. Please take care and be well. Mark
@@8MinuteAxe Hi thanks for the reply. A few days ago 30th Oct I contacted them directly on their web site and ended up ordering one directly from them and they had to change the shipping to Australia just for me as it was not available. as they said they do not ship to Australia yet. and they did it specially for me so they say, as I was unable to make an order until they changed that . But only thing is I was a bit disapointed in is that they can only ship it free via SEA SHIPPING! 20 to 30 days! or Air shipping cost is about USD $140-$200. extra! sO it will arrive more than a month after my birthday! So very dissapointed in that! as I may not see it until 2025 as they are always late with delays sea shipping! Simon Morel is actually in Sydney N.S.W. Im in south east Melbourne, lower end of the map near tassie. Cheers.
@@dozzgio.871Hey brother happy 60th. I would really appreciate it if you could update how this all goes for you and your total costs in the end. I’m in Traralgon and I like the look of this thing.
@@alexinanalogue2645 Hi there mate. quiet a long story here So please take your time and read this all. And let me know what you think? It cost directly from their official web page USD$330 which after conversion currency at the time deducted AUD $519.47 Total from my account as they dont have the AUD option on the order page.
I Put the order through 30th October, and It finally arrived 16th December as they could not air ship it free. Free shipping it was sent by SEA ! thats why it took so long! They said in my email, "If you want to ship by air, we cannot offer free shipping. Air shipping cost is about USD $140-$200
It was very well packaged no damage at all, but after I unpacked it, I noticed a discoloration on L/H wooden bridge and i touched it up with black texter for now until I buy proper stain when i remove the strings eventually. I was disappointed with that because it should not of passed QC as well as the tuners they look good by a bit dodgy they way they turn they dont turn smoothly!. Anyway at the end of the day the guitar looks really good, sounds good but still not as near good as my 30 year old 12 string Takamine , but when you use it plugged in an amp with effects it sounds great. I entrained people at a Christmas lunch with it,. and they loved it.. I did notify Bob at Vangoa & complained about the problem. and they try to say it must of been from shipping that caused the situation on the bridge, which is complete bull! as it was way too well wrapped and packaged. Anyway they refunded me $19.95USD and sent me 3 sets of 12 strings to make up for that. as they can accept returns because it will cost too much send it back! So really there is no warranty for Australia! I hope that answers your questions.
@@alexinanalogue2645 Hi mate. I'm sure I replied to this message but its seems not to be here. unless its hidden somewhere and you can see it?
Great video love the new Vangoa
Lovely guitar. Awesome value.
Thanks Mark
Hey Steve. I got your email and I've put your name "in the hat" for the current contest. Take care and be well. Mark
I bought a tool from stewmac for finishing frets, it's pretty easy to use. rough frets seems to be a universal issue with the entry level guitars.
“The Trees” ❤❤❤
I JUST got my Vangoa 12 string 4 days ago. The frets are so jagged and sharp that the guitar is dangerous to play. Waiting to hear back from Customer Service.
Thanks for the review video, Mark! And I hope you sell a lot of RokLoks! I love mine! :)
Solid top and better fret end finish were two things I pointed out in my old video review of the Vangoa 12-String, too. They were wise to take your advice!
Gotta say it sounds great, Mark! How is it for tuning/staying in tune compared to other 12 string acoustic-electrics? Great video, again, Mark.
Is that (model) guitar avaialble? The amazon links are for guitars not up to the spec of what you are playing.
Very well done, Mark!!! It has a great sound. Have you ever tried open D minor tuning on an acoustic 12 string? I tried it recently on my A&L Legacy 12. What a delicious melancholy sound if that makes sense.
I received this 12-string from Amazon a couple of days ago. Straight out of the box, the action was high, the frets and bridge were bone dry, and the guitar would not stay in tune after tuning it up. I gave it to my former guitar teacher for a setup, and it now plays and sounds acceptable. In all honesty, despite the upgrades that Vangoa made to this 12-string, it is a mediocre instrument, at best. I’ll probably hold onto mine for a little while, but it’s definitely not a keeper. My advice to anyone looking for a good quality first 12-string is to look elsewhere and spend a bit more money. You definitely get what you pay for. Just my two cents.
Hey Jim. I'm so glad you let me know (and I apologize for the delay in responding, I've been under the weather). I sent your message to Vangoa. If you contact them they will do right by you. Maybe send you something comparable in price to what you spent to have it set up. They don't pay me anything and I give all the guitars away so my "endorsement" is based on the fact that vs other entry level guitars, they've been very consistent. That being said, my contact got a promotion and the woman who apparently took over contacting me decided to send me just about every guitar related thing in their product line and I got a couple of 6 string instruments with serious fret sprout and the frets were not polished at all. I think I've been giving them a shout out for entry level 12s for about 4 years and I've only had I think now 3 people tell me they had a bad experience. It doesn't mean anything. I believe you 100%. If you really like the 12-string and want something a little nicer, look for a used Taylor 150e. Very reliable and a great sounding mid priced instrument. Thanks so much for your time. Mark
Sounds great for a guitar at that price point!
Mark, could you list the actual songs you are playing when you get a chance? I recognize most of them, but there were I could not recall. Thanks.
great new vangoa. man i want one.
Another great one!😂🎉🤠
Sounding a little hoarse Mark, hope all is well! This one sounds very Bright unless it's the way you tuned. Great review Mark!
Great videos about the 12 string! Do you tune this guitar or your other ones
down a half step or more to avoid too
much stress on the neck?
Mark, how was the set up out of the box? Dod it require much work? Also were you using any enhancements? Sounds great btw.
IT sounds great. Was it mic-ed or plugged in?
How's the action? It seemed OK when you played "Dead Or Alive", but without guessing you're way way way, better than me. The 12 string I have at the moment is impossible to play "Dead Or Alive". I'm considering upgrading, and if the action is good this could be a worthwhile choice. I was looking at Takamine 12's around 700/800 $'s AUD. Would this guitar you've reviewed match a Takamine at the 700/800 $'s price range?
Good looking and sounding guitar for that price Mark 🙂
Sounds very "jangly" and very nice.
For the money It sounds like a great deal 🎉
Fretwires. Frets are the spaces between the fretwires.
Do you know if they are going to release this in other finishes?
How much is it?
Don't you 12 string reviewers know any songs besides Turn Turn Turn and Tambourine Man?
I've played over 150 12-string songs on the channel. Everything from Blind Willie McTells "Stateboro Blues", Pete Seeger, Leo kottke, Ralph Towner, Bob Gibson, 12 to 15 Beatles songs, 20 Zeppelin songs, The Smiths, REM, the French Canadian 70s Prague rock band harmonium, zebra, big star, Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, Ozzy comic Pink Floyd, Lead Belly call several Mexican corridos, The Who, Eagles, Genesis, yes, Cinderella, Bon Jovi, let me know what you're looking for
lol I know right! I never play them on mine
Review & demo-lition! 😂
I wish your Rokloc were a darker color! 💦🎶💦🎶💦🎶💦🎶
Sounds like a more expensive guitar foe sure