Cool Vintage Gibson 12 String Guitar

Features: 1969 Gibson B45-12N: solid spruce top, solid mahogany back and sides, Kluson tuners. All original parts; one top crack, professionally repaired.

Notes: One nice touch is the trapeze tailpiece. Most twelve string guitars use the standard acoustic guitar pin-hole bridge. Because of the higher tension on a twelve string, those bridges can pull up from the top, or split across the pin-holes. By using a trapeze tailpiece to transfer the tension from the top to the side, Gibson made sure those problems wouldn't happen on this guitar.

Up to the mid 70's, acoustic guitars left the factory with the action set higher than we expect today. That gave them more volume: think Bluegrass rhythm guitar or Hootenany singalongs. When the Beatles started the guitar boom, younger players began to have their strings lowered for easier playing. This reduced the volume of the guitar and soon performers were miking their guitars or adding pickups. (See John Lennon's Gibson J160E with the neck mounted pickup in the movie HELP.) Gibson’s response to the string height issue was to put an adjustable bridge on this guitar so you can adjust the action for ease of playing, or for different string gauges; all without a trip to the repair shop.

All in all, this is a great guitar for the hobbyist, collector, or for coffee house gigs. It has the volume and the “chime” you want in a twelve, the Gibson name and best of all, 40 year old tone wood. Vintage at an affordable price. Contact Cadenza by email or by phone at 651-644-3611.