NGD! Electric 12 String....for TWICE the fun! 6-14-23 Demo Added

MichaelW

Well-known member
I'm conveniently blaming @Harry Klippton for this one.

I've been wanting an electric 12 string for some time but had a hard time justifying spending any "real money" on one.
In the running was the couple of Danelectro 12's and this Harley Benton.
After listening to some side by side demo's of budget electric 12's I thought this one sounded the best.

Once again, very impressed with the build quality at this price range. Frets are well done, just need a final polish. UPS shipping charges have gone up lately it seems. This came out to about $325 shipped from Germany. Tuners are smooth and very serviceable.

The pickups look like some sort of Filtertrons but they don't sound like them. In fact they sound like pretty hot hum buckers. I haven't measure them yet but they're up there.

The tone pots are scratchy and don't work very well, not much range. Like most guitars I'm planning to gut the electronics.
Debating how deep I want to go with this. I don't want to spend TV Jones money on this but I may try some GFS filtertrons.
Of course re-wiring everything and swapping all the pots, caps and toggles.

The BIG decision is whether or not to convert it to a Ric style stringing with the lower course strings on top instead of on the bottom. I'd have to cut a new nut for it but the saddles look like they can be swapped around pretty easily.

Obviously styled with a Ric vibe yet not a clone. I'm actually very fond of the shape of this guitar and the dimensions. It looked like it would be neck dive city but it's actually relatively well balanced.

Stay tuned for the mods.....

Oh and I broke a string tuning it up......so technically it's an 11 string at the moment....... :ROFLMAO:

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considering who they... 'borrowed' from on the design, go to CME and get a real set of p-ups from the original company. they cosy me only $150+ shipping for the pair IF in stock. they sell out quick because the maker sends via Fed-Ex only and starting at $40 for just a single p-up or front half of the pickguard 🤬
 
considering who they... 'borrowed' from on the design, go to CME and get a real set of p-ups from the original company. they cosy me only $150+ shipping for the pair IF in stock. they sell out quick because the maker sends via Fed-Ex only and starting at $40 for just a single p-up or front half of the pickguard 🤬
Got a link?
 
Interesting, I put gfs filtertrons in a 12 string electric like 12 years ago for my brother. It's been so long I don't have anything meaningful to say about the pickups but I was pretty happy with that instrument upon completion. Curious about what you're going to think of them.
 
no, the 300 assy's guess they jumped a little but with the other cost increases of life not bad... I need to find other stuff to add on to get a l/h 620 guard set myself for this short scale bass project... costs more to ship than the product :ROFLMAO:
 
Ok, I'm going to try these first. They sound pretty darn good in the demo and dirt cheap.

 
We're 12 string twins! Yeah I really don't like the pickups. Somewhere around here, I mentioned the pair of firebird pickups I bought for mine but I think the mounting holes are slightly off and they don't fit. I haven't actually tried yet though. No big deal cuz I got them for $30 😳 I'm gonna let you do the experimenting and see where you land 😉

Also somewhere around here I detailed the bridge fix I did to mine. You might wanna do that as well. I broke the high G out of the box too but I had a spare.

I'm actually really excited that you bought this guitar. I don't know that I've had the same guitar as someone else I know before. You're gonna have to build a byrdhouse compressor now
 
We're 12 string twins! Yeah I really don't like the pickups. Somewhere around here, I mentioned the pair of firebird pickups I bought for mine but I think the mounting holes are slightly off and they don't fit. I haven't actually tried yet though. No big deal cuz I got them for $30 😳 I'm gonna let you do the experimenting and see where you land 😉

Also somewhere around here I detailed the bridge fix I did to mine. You might wanna do that as well. I broke the high G out of the box too but I had a spare.

I'm actually really excited that you bought this guitar. I don't know that I've had the same guitar as someone else I know before. You're gonna have to build a byrdhouse compressor now
Did you flip the lower strings to make it more like a Ric?
 
Are you going to angle the nut slots so it stays in tune? On second thought, not much bending with a 12-string.
Of course we're all waiting for a demo with all the fuzz pedals you got.
I think I'm going to have to cut a new nut either way. One big issue with cheap (and not so cheap) 12's is that most setups have the 2 course octave string pairs not on the same plane but relative to the height over the first fret. On the (very few) 12 string setups I've done I've found that if you cut the nut so that the octave pairs are on the same plane it plays a lot easier. You have to kind of split the difference between the two string heights over the first fret.
 
¡¡¡SCHWING!!!
Interesting, a Ric 620 style horn, with 325 style pickups and a Rose Morris F hole! Who, me? Looking at a shitload of Ric's for the last year? Why, yes, that was me.

My 2023 RIC 620 came a month ago today, but so did my Superior court jury duty summons which rained on my parade. I have a PTSD issue with courts, super long story about a 1975 weed incident with THELAW. I'm gonna be posting my NGD soon. Still kinda freaking out over the summons even tho I got my doc to sign a PTSD excuse for me.

Ok, just a peek:

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$55 bucks for both of those filtertrons?!? I’d say I will wait for your thoughts on them but at that price I might just jump. Im they would be a nice upgrade to my Electromatic.

Nice 12 string btw looking forward to the demo
 
The BIG decision is whether or not to convert it to a Ric style stringing with the lower course strings on top instead of on the bottom. I'd have to cut a new nut for it but the saddles look like they can be swapped around pretty easily.
Stay tuned for the mods.....

Oh and I broke a string tuning it up......so technically it's an 11 string at the moment....... :ROFLMAO:
Cool!
I think I prefer this style of Headstock over the Ric 12 string coz you need a Degree in Physics to try and put a new set of strings on the Ric!
 
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