Noob to 12 Strings - what gauge?

simonhpieman

I've been lent a Yamaha APX12 for a tour as I don't own a 12 string and only need it for 1 song. I need to restring it as the tiny G snapped as I was tuning it up.

It currently has green Martins on it - 10s. The tiny G is a 10 itself, I believe.

I'm going to buy some singles as spares. Is it better to go higher for less breakage, say 11 or 12 for the G, or lower like D'Addarios do in similar light sets with an 8?

The goal is for it to ideally not snap when tuning up to pitch across 20 gigs.

ICBM

I wouldn't put anything heavier than 10s on that, unless you're going to tune it down to D and capo it.

The octave G should be an 8 or 9 - a 10 will probably break being tuned up to G, and you definitely don't want anything heavier at all.

simonhpieman

That's exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks!

Jalapeno

Make sure the nut is slippery for the G octave too. use some nut sauce.

Personally I'd downtune the guitar to Eb or D as mentioned above ^^^^^ as from my 12 string days the octave G is always a bastid string