Paul Schmidt, musician, teacher, designer and author of The Art and Times of Steve Klein worked with Jason Harshbarger of Highland Strings to build this Klein inspired 12 string guitar.

It started with a Klein Spruce top, bridge and solid Brazilian Rosewood Neck. The body was bound in Holly wood which frames the Mahogany body beautifully. Paul enlisted inlay artist Larry Robinson to create a simple and artistic fretboad inlay in copper. Inset into the headstock is a fossil-like Fern carving. On the back is a bloodwood Asian character that stands for ‘awareness’, “something the world needs much more of” says Paul Schmidt.

To complete the project a hand-made wooden case was created featuring vintage latches and handle and a Jade Oroboros adorns the interior. Paul used this guitar with heavier strings tuned down to D. It has a loud and deep voice that remains beautiful at all times. Not harsh some some 12 strings can be. It plays very easily and the Rosewood neck feels amazing.

This guitar has enough presence to fill two rooms. Del Langejans’ career was characterized by so many different kinds of guitars, and his 12-strings were among some of our favorites. This BR-12 is a beauty from 2008 with a Brazilian Rosewood and Bearclaw Spruce body, Rosewood neck, and an L.R. Baggs Anthem pickup system. The well-rounded neck profile feels smooth and comfortable in hand, and with a venetian cutaway to boot, this 12-string is a smooth operator from zero fret to soundhole. Figured Koa bindings tie it all together, and this Langejans comes wrapped up in its custom Cedar Creek case.

Other keywords: Other keywords: flat picking, flatpicking, lutherie, luthier, guitarbuilding, langejans guitar, 12 string, lr baggs, 0 fret, brw

This is a lovely Lowden S25 12-String with custom upgrades including the Abalone rosette, gloss top and neck. Back and sides are satin. This guitar was made for recording artist Michael Card by George Lowden himself. This guitar was on the cover of one of Card’s albums. There is also a Baggs Pickup installed and it comes with the original Lowden case as well.

Like new! And ready to mingle. Here we’ve landed a 2013 Martin D12-28 that’s so minty it’s still got the plastic cover on the pickguard—and it sounds fabulous. Indian Rosewood back and sides with Sitka Spruce on top and a short scale neck to warm it up a bit makes for a voice that’s enveloping and energetic. The neck is finished in satin for a silk-smooth play feel (and the setup is slinky and low to boot). White body bindings set off the creamy Spruce top and chocolate-brown Rosewood sides, with MOP position markers along the fretboard.

Other keywords: cf martin, 12 string, stika, c.f. martin, fingerstyle, double string,1689916

Now here’s a guitar to fill the room. What a joy it is to this 1968 D12-35; it’s got enough under the hood for two guitars. 1968 was one of the last years for Brazilian Rosewood on stock instruments from Martin, and this 35-style Dread with three-piece back boasts exceptionally straight grain for the times (they’d burned through most of their best quarter-sawn stock by the late 60s, which is why you see so many Martins from this period with slab-cut BRW). Sitka Spruce on top with a 12-fret neck join and a warm amber patina to the Nitro finish. The lions share of vintage 12-strings suffer from bowed necks and sky high action, but this ’68 D12-35 is easy peasy with a slinky setup. We just can’t decide if we like it more for the lush projection for strumming, or the whoomph! and presence of individual notes when fingerpicking or flatpicking.

Other keywords: cf martin, 12 string, 12 fret, vintage guitar, brazilain, stika, c.f. martin, fingerstyle, double string

Jim Olson enjoys a reputation unlike any other one-man custom shop: he has built many, many guitars, each one to exacting standards which yield an instrument that’s anything but standard. However, of that multitude of guitars, only a handful have ever been Jumbos, and an even smaller handful have been 12-strings–and the Indian–Rosewood-and-Sitka–Spruce Olson we’re offering here is both. To make this 2000 Olson even more unique, Jim is no longer taking orders for either 12-strings or Jumbos! And that’s not even taking into account the Celtic knot and cross inlay work with which famed inlay artist Larry Robinson (of Martin’s D-100 fame) has adorned the fretboard and headstock.

As if all of that wasn’t enough to put this guitar at the top of your list, the playability and tone of this 12-string Jumbo isn’t like any 12-string you’ve played before. The balance is surgical, the string-to-string articulation pronounced, the voice simultaneously complex and controlled. Set up to play like butter on a hot iron skillet, this Olson 12-string has an immense projection that manages to avoid the wall of sound pitfall of a lesser 12-string guitar, instead remaining clear and well-defined even when driven hard with a flatpick. Rigged with an undersaddle pickup and Calton flight case, this rare Jumbo gem of a Jim Olson is ready to soar.

This is one of the best sounding and playing twelve string guitars we have ever heard! This is an R.Taylor style 1 made from Red Spruce and “The Tree” Mahogany. Tonally this twelve strings is sweet and powerful, not at all brittle like twelve strings can tend to be. This is a showpiece guitar, the woods are top notch, and the inlay work is exquisite. This is a lifetime guitar!