I know they are still used by lots of people, so not exaggerating and saying they're "dead", but is it just me or are they less common than they used to be? Seems to me like they were a bigger deal in the early 90s, like if somebody was going to own three or more acoustic guitars, one would probably be a 12-string. So I thought I'd ask, especially those who remember decades before that... have 12-strings always seemed to more or less have the same-sized niche, has it been gradually shrinking for a long time, or was there a specific moment when all the cool kids started only playing 6-strings?
I can come up with some vaguely plausible hypothesis that being able to make a bigger, richer sound with one instrument isn't a big deal in an era of easy overdubs, reverb/delay/chorus effects and even octavers and live loopers that solo/duo acoustic acts can use... but that's just a vaguely plausible hypothesis.
Musical intermission. These days they're also often set up with 11 strings strung in unison. Here's a nice example that's in English and 4/4.
Well, ese, that looks/sounds to actually be a Bajo Sexto…
en.wikipedia.org
..similar, but an entirely different application, seen/heard in Mexican Norteno music. The tiple is a South American cousin.
The 12-string is just a sonic tool in the instrumental toolbox, a specialty sound, and not every guitar player is going to be interested in it just like not all play open tuning slide guitar. And yes, due to it being somewhat high maintenance when it comes to technique, and that now you can emulate the sound with pedals and such, it's no wonder that you may not see it as much.
It's always faded in and out of fad and fashion…Leadbelly's use of it trickled down to the folk boom of the late 50's/early 60's, with "Walk Right In" being the major moment of exposure, plus Glen Campbell's use of it as a session player, but obviously The Beatles' early use really established it in rock/pop, then Roger McGuinn picked up on it, making it an essential component of the Byrds' sound, with many other bands following suit. He was perhaps the only player that fully committed to the instrument(aside from Leo Kottke in the acoustic world).
Harrison soon left it behind, and as the mid-60's folk-rock sound became passe' just a few years later, you didn't hear it as much. It's all over the third Velvet Underground album, and then of course Led Zeppelin(especially on
that song which is forbidden in guitar stores), although Page used it earlier in the Yardbirds. As well, it was a major part of Genesis' sound, and Steve Howe utilized it in Yes, but it kinda faded away in the 70's, although David Byrne used it a little bit in the early Talking Heads.
Eventually, after guitars came back in the 80's following the synthpop wave, the 12 string was revived, R.E.M. being major instigators with their Byrds-influenced sound(although Buck didn't stay on it like McGuinn), as well as Echo and the Bunnymen, The Church, The Smiths, and so on. As for the last 30-40 years, its use has been intermittent. Maybe it will take a band coming from out of nowhere to make it hip again.
