No 12 String? No Problem

When I sat down to record the 12 string guitar parts for the Original Stairway Project I wasn’t sure how I was going to pull it off. I considered renting and electric 12 string from a local music store but when I inquired they did not have any in inventory.  My next thought was to use a chorus pedal and fake it, but the sound of a chorus pedal just doesn’t give you the note clarity that that part demands. As I sat and thought it over I had the thought that if 2×6=12 I had two guitars at hand, and a pack of strings made for a 12 string guitar might do the trick if I split the pack between the two guitars then doubled my part.  I started reading about this and found a reference to something called Nashville Tuning which is essentially stringing a regular guitar with the strings of a 12 string set so that the E, A, D, & G strings all sound an octave higher.

This isn’t done necessarily to try to emulate or replicate a 12 string sound, it’s usually done to achieve a different tonal palette for ringing strings in open position or just to add a general sparkle or shiny top end to a guitar part or mix.

But that didn’t stop me from making my own 12 string simulation and I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. I had to use two different guitars for this because I knew I’d be tracking this several times so I need to be able to switch between the two for an  indefinite period of time. One of my guitars had fairly hot single coils pickups (the famous Fender, The Strat model X-1 pickups from the very early 80’s) and the other had some Seth Lover, designed for Fender, humbuckers (also from the early 80’s)

Here’s a snippet of the 12 string part just featuring the Nashville tuned guitar and the X1’s. This has been pulled out of the original track and centered here to make it easier to hear (it is panned left in the master track mix).  On its own it’s pretty naked and exposed.

Here’s the same snippet showing the part played by the regular tuned guitar with the Seth Lover’s. It too is presented here in the center and untreated. (As I listen to both now I cringe and want to re-do them!  And perhaps I will!)

And now here’s your combined parts simulating a 12 string guitar (also centered in the mix). When this is panned left and presented  with the full tracks around it, and properly mixed an EQ’d the simulation is much more effective but this should give you an idea.

Later, when doing some more web sleuthing I found all kinds of folks doing this exact same thing so it seems to be a pretty widely distributed practice for those of us without 12 string guitars.

It’s definitely worth experimenting with Nashville tuning – especially if you have a few guitars. I’ve used it now in a few recordings all on its own and it’s brilliant (not just for country pickers as the name implies but for anything that wants a little more sparkle in the mix). I believe that DAddario even makes a set of Nashville strings so you don’t have to buy a 12 string set and cannibalize them like I did. If you try this yourself let us know how it turns out for you.