Tagged As: 12 String Guitar
Question:
I have little experience playing 12 string, hence the question. I recently was playing a Martin D20-12 and noticed that my usual R hand fingerstyle technique without picks using nails resulted in my often missing the upper string of each pair with upstrokes of i,m,a and the lower string with downstrokes of my p (thumb). This is partly due, I think, to the setup in which both strings need to be equally close to the fretboard so they (3-6) don;t have the same height at the R hand. This is a problem for my playing technique and I wonder how others have dealt with this. Do you just push thru harder and take care not to hit the next course? Or have I completely misdiagnosed my problem?
Answer:
Normally you want the bottom of the strings to all be referenced equally off the 1st fret or you get buzzing, but it is less of an issue at the 12/14th fret. So what one can do is actually notch/lower the saddle very carefully for the heavier wound string of each pair, thereby dropping it till it is more even with the top of the lighter gauge one. Notice that this is not reversible so if you want to go back you need to make another saddle. Not a big deal, I just mention it. If you aren't familiar with saddle compensation, etc, I suggest you let your friendly local guitar tech do it for you.
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