Canard
Senior Member
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2020
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I have always loved Ralph Towner's playing ever since I first heard him on classical guitar with the Paul Winter Consort.
Apparently he did not pick up a 12 string until after he had left the Consort. It was an F-212, which did not prove satisfactory because of its narrow nut width (42 mm) and fret board radius.
So he had a number of F-212 and F-512s custom made for him with a setup that more closely matched his classical guitars, wider nuts (52 mm) and flatter fret boards.
The custom guitars would go a long way to explaining how the man seemingly so effortlessly adapts classical technique to 12 strings.
I had at one time tried (and failed miserably) to emulate aspects of Towner's style on various 12 strings. The major part of the explanation for my failure is that I am not Ralph Towner, but perhaps the narrow nut and rounder radius share some of the blame.
twogoodears.blogspot.com
The writer of the above blog, my source of info in this post, found an F-312 (1965), F-112 (1974) and F-212 (1964) which had 52 mm nuts, which he says helped clean up his finger picking. The writer doesn't mention the radius on these guitars.
Apparently he did not pick up a 12 string until after he had left the Consort. It was an F-212, which did not prove satisfactory because of its narrow nut width (42 mm) and fret board radius.
So he had a number of F-212 and F-512s custom made for him with a setup that more closely matched his classical guitars, wider nuts (52 mm) and flatter fret boards.
The custom guitars would go a long way to explaining how the man seemingly so effortlessly adapts classical technique to 12 strings.
I had at one time tried (and failed miserably) to emulate aspects of Towner's style on various 12 strings. The major part of the explanation for my failure is that I am not Ralph Towner, but perhaps the narrow nut and rounder radius share some of the blame.
Music and its tools: Ralph Towner's Guild 12 strings guitar(s)
This TRULY changed my life! Ralph's 12 strings changed me from a guitar player into a twelve strings guitar player;-))) Beside I now ow...
The writer of the above blog, my source of info in this post, found an F-312 (1965), F-112 (1974) and F-212 (1964) which had 52 mm nuts, which he says helped clean up his finger picking. The writer doesn't mention the radius on these guitars.
