I got one about a year ago and it sounds absolutely amazing. I tried other smaller sized 12 strings but the size of this Guild is the key to the HUGE sound. The sound is almost piano like it's so big. Tip: Tune a whole step down, it makes it easier to play and puts less stress on the bridge. If you need to play in standard tuning just put a capo on the second fret.
I bought one of these a year ago and love it. Whilst being a jumbo it does not feel at all awkward to play and in fact I find it is very comfortable and easy to play. I have dropped tuning down a half step and find it stays nicely in tune. Don’t regret my purchase at all.
Excellent review! I'm considering getting one of these 12 string jumbos for my dad. I recently bought him a D-140 and from a non-guitarist point of view I can't fault it. I've replaced the strings and lowered the action (6th string 2.0mm at the 12th fret and 1st string at 1.8mm) and reduced/set the relief so it still has a slight bow as it was considerably bowed from the box (the date stamp on the box says it was boxed up at the factory in September 2022). I had a guitarist try it out and he was impressed (he has an Ibanez dreadnought), so I can only imagine the 12 string jumbo is only going to be a belter. I was going to go with Yamaha as I have a lot of appreciation for Yamaha saxes (except the YDS-150 which is shite) and now I discovered Yamaha now own Cordoba who in turn own Guild, that can only be a good thing. Guild seem to be the distant cousin that no-one mentions, but they have a strong place in guitar history and shouldn't be overlooked by the likes of Fender, Gibson and Martin who seem to get all the glory. I just thought "Why not Guild?" and why not? The D-140 was purely an impulse buy and I don't regret it.
Love my Guild all hog D1212. It has opened up nicely. I put a set of Martin flexible core strings (10-54) on it and tuned it down to D. The extra primary string tension tuned down gives it a deep but resonant tone. Just love it.
Great video. I just got the 12-string bug and ordered a vintage 90s Taylor 555 last night. There are quite a few reasonably priced vintage choices on Reverb right now. Now … there’s where you really need a good luthier to set it up. Fortunately … I know a guy …
@@savedbyJesusgirl93Well … I misspoke (mistyped?). I ordered and am now the proud owner of a ‘92 Taylor 555 which has a spruce top and mahogany neck, back, and sides. It was a lower priced model because of the wood but, oh my, does it make a glorious noise. This guitar was the choice of Leo Kottke in the 80s prior to his signature model with a cutaway. So the pedigree is solid. I put on flatwound 10s by Thomatik-Infeld that are quite easy to fret. I love to just strum a chord and sit back and listen to her. As a first timer with a 12 string, I’m trying all sorts of approaches from thin picks to finger picking. For the moment, I think the pick, used in a downstroke, gives the most consistent striking of each pair of strings. As for your question, I think you are well within your rights to dream about one of these. The craftsmanship is astonishing and every element is top grade, from the tonewoods, to the marbled tortoise shell (faux, I suspect) binding, to the delicate inlays, to the tuning machines, to the case (one of the first made Taylor models). Lastly, in the case was a note from Taylor that the guitar has been designed to play at normal pitch and doesn’t need to be tuned down (as it was pretty normal in the day, and still seems to be, to tune 12 strings down two steps). Happy hunting. There are quite a few of these running around Reverb. Hope you catch one.
I bought the Guild F-2512CE Deluxe Dark Blue Burst, which was even cheaper than this one, but still crazy good!!! It played great out of the box and with one or two turns of the truss rod it played like butter. A month earlier I bought an 8 string Guild baritone guitar and that was very good as well. And that was important. Because, you see, I’m not the youngest (56 yo), but wherever I went as a teenager, there was always a cheap 12-string guitar lying around and I would always play them, but they were terrible!!! ALWAYS! So that 8-string baritone gave me the confidence that their 12-string guitars might actually be okay. but it's better than just okay. they play like butter, they sound wonderful, they're cheap and they stay in tune (!!!), which is very important, because it can be annoying to tune a 12-string. it's not annoying with these though. yes, it takes a little longer to tune the strings, but once you did that, they stay in tune for days! I can't tell you how happy I am with mine. well…., maybe I just did. 😊❤
I have the F1512E. It is a very nice sounding guitar. The sustain when you strum a chord goes on forever. It's also well made and feels good to the touch. The pickup in my E version sounds fine on stage too. It's another Guild winner.
Since my skill and bank account will not allow for several thousand dollars for 1 guitar this one and the D-150 are on my horizon. Love those Guilds. Great review.
The Yamaha LL16/12 retails in Australia for right around $1000. In North America that would put it around $800. Hardly thousands of dollars. And seriously, its a wonderful, easy playing, gorgeous sounding guitar. Try one in a shop near you....
Years ago, 1990ish, I passed on buying a Guild F-512 because I was broke as usual. I had a Yamaha, Red Label FG-225(?) that I wanted to trade in but they didn’t want it. Oh, the price of the Guild was only $750, now it’s $4099. The same exact guitar has gone up over $3200. What a crazy world we live in!🤪🥴🤯
I've had both the 1512e and the 1512. I still have the 1512 as it was a replacement to the 1512e that I bought brand new and the bridge came off guitar after 5 months so I got the 1512 as a replacement. The neck on mine has a little bit of a problem. There is a "Ski jump" on the fret board extension, which causes the neck to appear that there is a lot of relief, but if I check the relief at the 15th fret, there is 10 thousandths relief. There is over 30 thousandths at the 19th fret. I had the saddle lowered to .090 at the bass side and .080 at the treble, and the strings will buzz on the 20th fret. So I have to have the setup at .100 on bass and .090 at the treble side which makes it harder to play. I may need to get the fretboard extension worked on or the frets filed down.
Got mine from Sweetwater and had the Anthem system put in. Awesome guitar! Plays so nice! Boomy and tends to feedback through the PA but holds its tune and is one of the guitars that most of my friends want to play
As a long time 12-string player this sounds pretty sweet. Not as much "jangle" as the Tak I play. Great sounding guitar. You are so right about the set up. A few years ago I spent some serious coin on the Tak and had it plecked and set up. (By one of your biggest competitors.) It definitely plays and sounded much better. Great vid boys!
I've wanted a USA made Guild 12 string for years and years.....but, with a current starting price of $4100, I realized it wasn't going to happen....so, I decided to give this one a try......and holy cow.....it's really a very nice guitar....fit and finish was extremely good...sounds amazing, feels great to play.....the action was just how l like it, right out of the case...it's making me rethink my opinion of Chinese made guitars...oh....it comes with what is probably the nicest gig bag I've seen....but....I wasn't comfortable with that being the primary storage, so I did spring for a hard shell case for it...but, the gig bag probably would have been fine. I'm completely happy with my purchase. I did tune it down to d standard in hopes that will help the longevity of it.
This is a beautiful sounding guitar. Have you ever played the Martin 12-15? It is a jumbo all mahogany 12 string guitar. Wondering if the mahogany top would tame the jangle sound a bit. Love your videos! Thank you.
Got mine from Thomann (Germany) last summer. Straight outta box it was playable, good action, rich sound. Downsides - the wood was dried out, some of the tuning machines were a bit stiff and not easy going. I took it to my luthier, got L. R. Baggs Anthem installed inside, moistured the dry parts and fixed little buggs and it became my main acoustic shortly aftewards. Yes, it lost a little bit of the low end after lowering the action, but still sounds great. Fab option for the money.
Just curious. Off topic but not really. Do y’all ever go live on UA-cam to talk about what’s going on in the music industry/business? I think that would be very informative for average Joe’s like myself.
Beautiful guitar from Guild. Seems to have a very different sound compared to the maple one you tested alongside the Epiphone Hummingbird 12-string awhile back.
Lol I just bought this guitar from reverb after watching your video! I am just realizing that I actually bought the guitar from you guys alamo music on reverb! Is the used-excellent f1512 the one you are holding in this video???
Went in maybe a week ago. The kid said they had a 2512 in the basement. I told him nevermind. Only saw a $2,200 marten 12 string. I'm interested in something nice like this. I'm not rich, I'm not a pro. Could I speak with one of y'all? I live in floresville. Oilfield hours are kina screwy. I want to try this or an Eastman ac 12 string.i think I have to drive to boerne, to try an Eastman. Anyway thanks.
Chinese made: no thank you. If I was going to get a 12 string, it would probably be the Norman B50. Solid Sitka spruce top, solid flamed maple back. Made in Canada. Costs CAD1550 (~ USD1200).
Just looked into this guitar. Very interested in it. Only thing I don't care for is the richlite fingerboard. The bridge is rosewood, don't understand why they didn't just use rosewood for the fingerboard as well.
A very good 12 string should not have that jingle jangle sound it should sound like a very good 6 string..loud , clear..not a muddle sound..if you expect to sound like Mr.Tamborine Man..jingle jangle...you will be bored with it and you will not be playing it and have regrets. Take your time and chose wisely...it should fit like a glove to your hands and ears !!!!
I bought one of these a year ago and love it. Whilst being a jumbo it does not feel at all awkward to play and in fact I find it is very comfortable and easy to play. I have dropped tuning down a half step and find it stays nicely in tune. Don’t regret my purchase at all.
I got one about a year ago and it sounds absolutely amazing. I tried other smaller sized 12 strings but the size of this Guild is the key to the HUGE sound. The sound is almost piano like it's so big. Tip: Tune a whole step down, it makes it easier to play and puts less stress on the bridge. If you need to play in standard tuning just put a capo on the second fret.
Have you also tried the Eastman AC330 by any chance? I'm torn between that one and this one.
I bought one of these a year ago and love it. Whilst being a jumbo it does not feel at all awkward to play and in fact I find it is very comfortable and easy to play. I have dropped tuning down a half step and find it stays nicely in tune. Don’t regret my purchase at all.
Excellent review! I'm considering getting one of these 12 string jumbos for my dad. I recently bought him a D-140 and from a non-guitarist point of view I can't fault it. I've replaced the strings and lowered the action (6th string 2.0mm at the 12th fret and 1st string at 1.8mm) and reduced/set the relief so it still has a slight bow as it was considerably bowed from the box (the date stamp on the box says it was boxed up at the factory in September 2022). I had a guitarist try it out and he was impressed (he has an Ibanez dreadnought), so I can only imagine the 12 string jumbo is only going to be a belter.
I was going to go with Yamaha as I have a lot of appreciation for Yamaha saxes (except the YDS-150 which is shite) and now I discovered Yamaha now own Cordoba who in turn own Guild, that can only be a good thing. Guild seem to be the distant cousin that no-one mentions, but they have a strong place in guitar history and shouldn't be overlooked by the likes of Fender, Gibson and Martin who seem to get all the glory. I just thought "Why not Guild?" and why not? The D-140 was purely an impulse buy and I don't regret it.
I've just this minute ordered an F-1512, so can't wait for it to arrive!
I bought one of these a couple years ago. It has a flawless build and sounds very nice.
Love my Guild all hog D1212. It has opened up nicely. I put a set of Martin flexible core strings (10-54) on it and tuned it down to D. The extra primary string tension tuned down gives it a deep but resonant tone. Just love it.
Great video. I just got the 12-string bug and ordered a vintage 90s Taylor 555 last night. There are quite a few reasonably priced vintage choices on Reverb right now. Now … there’s where you really need a good luthier to set it up. Fortunately … I know a guy …
How do you like it? The 855, especially one from the 90s, is my dream guitar.
@@savedbyJesusgirl93Well … I misspoke (mistyped?). I ordered and am now the proud owner of a ‘92 Taylor 555 which has a spruce top and mahogany neck, back, and sides. It was a lower priced model because of the wood but, oh my, does it make a glorious noise. This guitar was the choice of Leo Kottke in the 80s prior to his signature model with a cutaway. So the pedigree is solid. I put on flatwound 10s by Thomatik-Infeld that are quite easy to fret. I love to just strum a chord and sit back and listen to her. As a first timer with a 12 string, I’m trying all sorts of approaches from thin picks to finger picking. For the moment, I think the pick, used in a downstroke, gives the most consistent striking of each pair of strings. As for your question, I think you are well within your rights to dream about one of these. The craftsmanship is astonishing and every element is top grade, from the tonewoods, to the marbled tortoise shell (faux, I suspect) binding, to the delicate inlays, to the tuning machines, to the case (one of the first made Taylor models). Lastly, in the case was a note from Taylor that the guitar has been designed to play at normal pitch and doesn’t need to be tuned down (as it was pretty normal in the day, and still seems to be, to tune 12 strings down two steps). Happy hunting. There are quite a few of these running around Reverb. Hope you catch one.
I bought the Guild F-2512CE Deluxe Dark Blue Burst, which was even cheaper than this one, but still crazy good!!!
It played great out of the box and with one or two turns of the truss rod it played like butter. A month earlier I bought an 8 string Guild baritone guitar and that was very good as well. And that was important. Because, you see, I’m not the youngest (56 yo), but wherever I went as a teenager, there was always a cheap 12-string guitar lying around and I would always play them, but they were terrible!!! ALWAYS!
So that 8-string baritone gave me the confidence that their 12-string guitars might actually be okay. but it's better than just okay. they play like butter, they sound wonderful, they're cheap and they stay in tune (!!!), which is very important, because it can be annoying to tune a 12-string. it's not annoying with these though. yes, it takes a little longer to tune the strings, but once you did that, they stay in tune for days!
I can't tell you how happy I am with mine. well…., maybe I just did. 😊❤
I have the F1512E. It is a very nice sounding guitar. The sustain when you strum a chord goes on forever. It's also well made and feels good to the touch. The pickup in my E version sounds fine on stage too. It's another Guild winner.
Since my skill and bank account will not allow for several thousand dollars for 1 guitar this one and the D-150 are on my horizon. Love those Guilds. Great review.
The Yamaha LL16/12 retails in Australia for right around $1000. In North America that would put it around $800. Hardly thousands of dollars. And seriously, its a wonderful, easy playing, gorgeous sounding guitar. Try one in a shop near you....
I got an Epiphone DR-212 for $289 with Sweetwater. Amazing guitar.
I have one of these. Incredibly good guitar. And the gig bag is the cherry on top..
Years ago, 1990ish, I passed on buying a Guild F-512 because I was broke as usual. I had a Yamaha, Red Label FG-225(?) that I wanted to trade in but they didn’t want it. Oh, the price of the Guild was only $750, now it’s $4099. The same exact guitar has gone up over $3200. What a crazy world we live in!🤪🥴🤯
I've had both the 1512e and the 1512. I still have the 1512 as it was a replacement to the 1512e that I bought brand new and the bridge came off guitar after 5 months so I got the 1512 as a replacement.
The neck on mine has a little bit of a problem. There is a "Ski jump" on the fret board extension, which causes the neck to appear that there is a lot of relief, but if I check the relief at the 15th fret, there is 10 thousandths relief. There is over 30 thousandths at the 19th fret. I had the saddle lowered to .090 at the bass side and .080 at the treble, and the strings will buzz on the 20th fret. So I have to have the setup at .100 on bass and .090 at the treble side which makes it harder to play. I may need to get the fretboard extension worked on or the frets filed down.
Very helpful review of this guitar as I’m strongly considering buying a used one.
Got mine from Sweetwater and had the Anthem system put in. Awesome guitar! Plays so nice! Boomy and tends to feedback through the PA but holds its tune and is one of the guitars that most of my friends want to play
Something about 12 strings. Bought Epiphone Hummingbird 12 string after you reviewed it. Very awesome guitar.
As a long time 12-string player this sounds pretty sweet. Not as much "jangle" as the Tak I play. Great sounding guitar. You are so right about the set up. A few years ago I spent some serious coin on the Tak and had it plecked and set up. (By one of your biggest competitors.) It definitely plays and sounded much better. Great vid boys!
Hi, love the sound of this guild what about the Yamaha LL16/12 how does it compare?
I've wanted a USA made Guild 12 string for years and years.....but, with a current starting price of $4100, I realized it wasn't going to happen....so, I decided to give this one a try......and holy cow.....it's really a very nice guitar....fit and finish was extremely good...sounds amazing, feels great to play.....the action was just how l like it, right out of the case...it's making me rethink my opinion of Chinese made guitars...oh....it comes with what is probably the nicest gig bag I've seen....but....I wasn't comfortable with that being the primary storage, so I did spring for a hard shell case for it...but, the gig bag probably would have been fine. I'm completely happy with my purchase.
I did tune it down to d standard in hopes that will help the longevity of it.
The Guild 512 is the absolute best 12 string on the market. It’s $4000 but it’s gold
My favorite Guild ❤️ I’m going to own at least one of these someday.
If I haven"t had a Guild F-412 already I ' d probably buy this one.
This is a beautiful sounding guitar. Have you ever played the Martin 12-15? It is a jumbo all mahogany 12 string guitar. Wondering if the mahogany top would tame the jangle sound a bit. Love your videos! Thank you.
Sweet! So which Guild 12-string would work best in C# standard tuning? This jumbo, or maybe the dread?
The Epiphone Hummingbird that you guys have reviewed is also very good, with a pick up on board.
I just started learning “Give A Little Bit”. Makes me wish I had a 12 string. Have to sell to buy though.
Got mine from Thomann (Germany) last summer. Straight outta box it was playable, good action, rich sound. Downsides - the wood was dried out, some of the tuning machines were a bit stiff and not easy going. I took it to my luthier, got L. R. Baggs Anthem installed inside, moistured the dry parts and fixed little buggs and it became my main acoustic shortly aftewards. Yes, it lost a little bit of the low end after lowering the action, but still sounds great. Fab option for the money.
Just curious. Off topic but not really. Do y’all ever go live on UA-cam to talk about what’s going on in the music industry/business? I think that would be very informative for average Joe’s like myself.
Beautiful guitar from Guild. Seems to have a very different sound compared to the maple one you tested alongside the Epiphone Hummingbird 12-string awhile back.
Great video as always. Looks and sounds as great instrument. Furch could be another "budget" all solid body option too. ;-)
Lol I just bought this guitar from reverb after watching your video! I am just realizing that I actually bought the guitar from you guys alamo music on reverb! Is the used-excellent f1512 the one you are holding in this video???
I like my Epiphone DR 212 12 String, but I would love to own a Guild one day.
Sounds nice but has little to much boxiness to it for my taste. Love the reviews; keep them coming! 😊
The Epiphone “inspired by” is another good $800 choice
does the 1512 have a single or double truss rod?? gloss polyurethane finish?
Went in maybe a week ago. The kid said they had a 2512 in the basement. I told him nevermind. Only saw a $2,200 marten 12 string. I'm interested in something nice like this. I'm not rich, I'm not a pro. Could I speak with one of y'all? I live in floresville. Oilfield hours are kina screwy. I want to try this or an Eastman ac 12 string.i think I have to drive to boerne, to try an Eastman. Anyway thanks.
I think the Eastman AC330E-12 sounds superior and comes with PU and case at a similar price point.
I think the yamaha LL16/12 is a better option.
Would love to see them compared.
Your podcast has not been updated since may 2023.
Chinese made: no thank you. If I was going to get a 12 string, it would probably be the Norman B50. Solid Sitka spruce top, solid flamed maple back. Made in Canada. Costs CAD1550 (~ USD1200).
Just looked into this guitar. Very interested in it. Only thing I don't care for is the richlite fingerboard. The bridge is rosewood, don't understand why they didn't just use rosewood for the fingerboard as well.
A very good 12 string should not have that jingle jangle sound it should sound like a very good 6 string..loud , clear..not a muddle sound..if you expect to sound like Mr.Tamborine Man..jingle jangle...you will be bored with it and you will not be playing it and have regrets. Take your time and chose wisely...it should fit like a glove to your hands and ears !!!!
I bought one of these a year ago and love it. Whilst being a jumbo it does not feel at all awkward to play and in fact I find it is very comfortable and easy to play. I have dropped tuning down a half step and find it stays nicely in tune. Don’t regret my purchase at all.