Capo on Friend of Mine??

byrddog · Post by **byrddog** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 8:19 am

Ok, I'm not sure if it was ever determined if the TTT albumn version of "He was a Friend of Mine" was done with a 6 or 12 string...I think someone said a 12..doesn't sound like it to me ..but that might just be my hearing?..so my next question is..does anyone know if a capo was used on the 2nd or 3rd fret? Still stumped on the picking in D.

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 10:39 am

A person I know plays that song without a capo; IIRC, when I tried to play along, I found that a capo on the second fret made it easier for me personally.

mcd220 · Post by **mcd220** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 2:54 pm

Everytime I've seen Roger do it; live in '86, Monterey, Roy Orbison tribute he does it open in A. But I could see how nice it would feel capoed at the second,using a C add9, etc. Christian Bryan

byrddog · Post by **byrddog** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 4:09 pm

So...there's no real set way on how to do this? I was hoping someone had an idea on how it was recorded...or had figured it out.

rick12dr · Post by **rick12dr** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 5:45 pm

The song was done Without a capo. And it Is on an acoustic 12string, a Martin that Croz let Roger use for the song. Apparently, this 12 string is the same one Croz refers to that was originally a D-18 6 string, later "converted" to a 12, by someone in the 60s.I emailed Roger about this a few years back, and later, Croz as well, who verified the account.

doctorwho · Post by **doctorwho** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 9:10 pm

Great info, Don, thanks for sharing that with us.

byrddog · Post by **byrddog** » Fri Feb 02, 2007 3:29 am

Don thanks for the clarification. The trick to how this was played must be with McGuinn's finger picking style, because I can't seem to hear the octaves or second strings.