Hi everybody
I'm a lucky Rickenbacker 370/12 strings owner.
I think that flat strings should bring me a better playing comfort, m'I wrong?
In the event that I decide to mount flat strings, will I have make my guitar adjusted by a luthier?
Thanks in advance for your answers.
Bye
Christian
Flat strings on Rick 370/12
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RickChrisfromFrance
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Re: Flat strings on Rick 370/12
Welcome!
Bonjour!
Avoid the Pyramid brand - they will increase tension and could require serious adjustment. The popular ones seem to be TI flats (Thomastik-Infeld). Yes, they will be more comfortable for your fingers. They will not require any major adjustment. Maybe a minor tweak of the truss rods, but that's no big deal. You'll find the flats give you that classic 60's jangle when paired with a good compressor like a JangleBox.
Bonjour!
Avoid the Pyramid brand - they will increase tension and could require serious adjustment. The popular ones seem to be TI flats (Thomastik-Infeld). Yes, they will be more comfortable for your fingers. They will not require any major adjustment. Maybe a minor tweak of the truss rods, but that's no big deal. You'll find the flats give you that classic 60's jangle when paired with a good compressor like a JangleBox.
Re: Flat strings on Rick 370/12
There are two "solutions" to the inherently more difficult action on a 12-string. This is not an RIC issue. It is a physics issue. Without going through all the math to explain why, to fret a note on a pair of 10's e-strings together is roughly similar to playing a single 14 e-string set on a 6-string. So yes, a little bit of conditioning of the left hand is necessary to become fluent on a 12-string. Most of us consider the conditioning process as simply a rite of passage to play 12-string guitars. But as I get older, so do my wrist, hand and finger joints, if you know what I mean. So...
First, to answer the immediate question, I have a friend who plays the T-I set on his 12-string. I helped him set them up. Great strings. Yes, the feel is smoother, and if your neck is straight and your frets level, you can set the guitar up to get an amazingly close action that feels good, so long as you don't pick so hard you get fret slap.
The other solution is to lighten the overall gauges. That's what I do. I use D'Addario Singles (and yes, they make the half-gauges I list):
9-9; 11 1/2 - 11 1/2; 18w-8; 24w-10 1/2; 32w-14; 42w-22w. If you have trouble getting your fingers to fret the lower strings cleanly, you can go up to a 11 octave D string and a 15 octave A string. Yes, you could go heavier overall, but that defeats the purpose of the thread: trying to get an easier action on a 12-string.
The set I use gives the feel of somewhere between a conventional set of 12's or 13's as a 6-string (remember that acoustic guitars conventionally use a set of 12's), but are still heavy enough to hold tuning stability. I did have to file a custom saddle for the low E string with offset witness points for the unison and octave strings, since the cores are different diameters, and therefore require different compensation. You can get saddles from the RIC boutique. But on the other strings, the tension is not only similar, but the cores of the wound strings are similar to the plain octave strings so that they intonate better on the traditional 6-saddle bridge.
And as above, if you change make and/or gauge of strings, you might require a tweak on the setup, including both the bridge saddle compensation, the truss rods, and possibly a half-turn of the pickup height adjustment screws to retain balance, especially since the RIC strings are nickel plated steel and the T-I's are pure nickel ribbon wrap, which have a little bit different magnetic characteristics. And finally, if you do retain the traditional 6-saddle bridge, always use a wound unison G string so it will intonate properly along with the octave G string, for example: 8 with 18W; 9 with 19w or 20w; and 9 1/2 or 10 with 20w or 22w.
And now for something completely different: if you get to where you don't like the stock wiring of neck & mid together, PM me and I'll send you a wiring diagram that rewires the guitar, keeping stock controls doing their stock functions, but with more flexibility, all the way from vintage jangle to modern drive, with sweet tones in between. See this link to my thread on the RIC forum:
http://rickenbacker.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7928
First, to answer the immediate question, I have a friend who plays the T-I set on his 12-string. I helped him set them up. Great strings. Yes, the feel is smoother, and if your neck is straight and your frets level, you can set the guitar up to get an amazingly close action that feels good, so long as you don't pick so hard you get fret slap.
The other solution is to lighten the overall gauges. That's what I do. I use D'Addario Singles (and yes, they make the half-gauges I list):
9-9; 11 1/2 - 11 1/2; 18w-8; 24w-10 1/2; 32w-14; 42w-22w. If you have trouble getting your fingers to fret the lower strings cleanly, you can go up to a 11 octave D string and a 15 octave A string. Yes, you could go heavier overall, but that defeats the purpose of the thread: trying to get an easier action on a 12-string.
The set I use gives the feel of somewhere between a conventional set of 12's or 13's as a 6-string (remember that acoustic guitars conventionally use a set of 12's), but are still heavy enough to hold tuning stability. I did have to file a custom saddle for the low E string with offset witness points for the unison and octave strings, since the cores are different diameters, and therefore require different compensation. You can get saddles from the RIC boutique. But on the other strings, the tension is not only similar, but the cores of the wound strings are similar to the plain octave strings so that they intonate better on the traditional 6-saddle bridge.
And as above, if you change make and/or gauge of strings, you might require a tweak on the setup, including both the bridge saddle compensation, the truss rods, and possibly a half-turn of the pickup height adjustment screws to retain balance, especially since the RIC strings are nickel plated steel and the T-I's are pure nickel ribbon wrap, which have a little bit different magnetic characteristics. And finally, if you do retain the traditional 6-saddle bridge, always use a wound unison G string so it will intonate properly along with the octave G string, for example: 8 with 18W; 9 with 19w or 20w; and 9 1/2 or 10 with 20w or 22w.
And now for something completely different: if you get to where you don't like the stock wiring of neck & mid together, PM me and I'll send you a wiring diagram that rewires the guitar, keeping stock controls doing their stock functions, but with more flexibility, all the way from vintage jangle to modern drive, with sweet tones in between. See this link to my thread on the RIC forum:
http://rickenbacker.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7928