Twelve-string guitar

The twelve-string guitar is a steel-string guitar with twelve strings in six courses, which produces a richer, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in octaves, with those of the upper two courses tuned in unisons. The strings are generally arranged such that the first string of each pair to be struck on a downward strum is the higher octave string; however, Rickenbacker usually reverses this arrangement on its electric 360/12 model. The gap between the strings within each dual-string course is narrow, and the strings of each course are fretted and plucked as a single unit. The neck is wider, to accommodate the extra strings, and is similar to the width of a classical guitar neck. The sound, particularly on acoustical instruments, is fuller and more harmonically resonant than six-string instruments.

Structurally, twelve-string guitars differ from six-string guitars in the following ways: