Acoustic Guitar Magazine | 6 years ago
BY PETE MADSEN
Guild’s jumbo 12s, like the F-412 (maple back and sides) and F-512 (rosewood back and sides), made quite an impression in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Now, after a few years of settling in and delivering new US-made versions of many of its desirable 6-string guitars, Guild is ready to bring out the jumbo 12-strings that guitarists have been shouting for since the company moved into its new factory in Oxnard, California, in 2015.
Introduced in 1968 as a special-order version of the 6-string F-50R, the Guild F-512 had varying appointments, including Brazilian rosewood backs and sides, before it became a regular model in 1974—and a go-to instrument for players such as Pete Townsend, Brian May, Tim Buckley, John Denver, and Dan Fogelberg.
Twelve-string guitars have always been niche instruments, but their popularity took off with players like Pete Seeger using them during the folk-music boom of the late 1950s and 1960s. The nearly orchestral flavor of a strummed or picked 12-string adds an extra dimension to an intimate sound. Guild’s bargain 12-string line consisted of the F-212 and F-312, but with the F-412 and F-512, they upped the ante with a more sophisticated sound, mother-of-pearl inlays, gold-plated tuners, and other nice touches, such as using real bone for the nut, saddle, and bridge pins.
FULL REVIEW: acousticguitar.com/gear-review-guild-f-512-12-string/
