12 string hankering

Epsilon

All comes down to price! In my experience, Guilds remain King of the 12 strings. If you can find an F-412 or F-512 you can't go wrong...though certainly not cheap! I have a 70s F-412 which has a truly remarkable tone.

On the more affordable side Breedlove do some excellent 12 strings for a very reasonable price. They have a more contemporary tone and feel when compared to Guild - slightly more ergonomical in terms of design (e.g string spacing). They usually also have very good in-built pickups.

I have both a Guild and Breedlove for 12 strings. One used for standard and the other for open tunings. Taylors are obviously very nice but at the cheaper end of the range I don't think you're getting that much more than a mid-level Breedlove (e.g Atlas studio) to justify the extra cost.

The main things to look out for on a 12 string is the action/neck angle. If there is plenty of saddle left to lower then high action isn't a problem. However if you've got high action combined with low saddle then you're looking at neck reset territory, which is not cheap.

With vintage 12 strings I often think it's better to find one that has already had a neck reset, as after 40 years or so most 12 strings, if used in standard tuning, will end up needing one.

guitarplucker

I suggest with a 12 string you buy the best you can afford Guild with their history in this type of guitar and their double truss rod feature remain the king i feel even with their Chinese range ,,My current 12 string priced at the lower end market although strung with 011-048s is now suffering from a lifting bridge and yes it was tuned open D Because of the bridge design its impractical to repair without taking the top off So save pennies and go upmarket is best i feel 

guitarfishbay

I have a Simon & Patrick 12 string.  I think it sounds great but I haven't really had much use for it for ages.

It has been out on loan for a long time, more than a year.  I bought it new so resale would be terrible, and I might want another 12 string one day so I figured I'd be better off loaning it out than selling it.

guitarplucker

I have to say i loved the 12 string Parlour thats now suffering a lifting bridge as i go for slotted headstocks and parlour acoustics which it has and is But will spend more money on the next one thats for sure