12 string guitars - recommendations?

[oktapod]

I quite fancy buying a used 12-string and wanted recommendations about what to look out for. Budget is modest as I don't know how I'll get on with one (having never owned one before) so I want something that will be easy to pass on should it not work out.

Ones I'm vaguely looking at include Simon & Patrick and old Ekos, but perhaps there are others I should look out for?

Thanks,

John

PS. Also interested if anyone has one to sell - drop me a PM, might not come to anything but worth the asking...

[Sim89]

Hi, my dad and I have a few guitars, recently sold an Eko Ranger 12 string that he had for some time, pretty much this one.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06...

It is a nice enough guitar, its the only 12 string I have played so I cant comment on the others.

It sold for 80 on ebay, but have seen some go for around 100-120. So anything around that range is ok, obviously depending on condition etc.

Sorry about the limited information, I can ask more about it when he gets home and if theres anything worth posting I will.

Sim

[garycat]

Go for a quality make, the extra strain on the neck from 12 strings and cheap tuning heads will mean you spend all your time retuning if you go for a budget model.

[esselte]

Sim89 said:

Hi, my dad and I have a few guitars, recently sold an Eko Ranger 12 string that he had for some time, pretty much this one.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06...

It is a nice enough guitar, its the only 12 string I have played so I cant comment on the others.

It sold for 80 on ebay, but have seen some go for around 100-120. So anything around that range is ok, obviously depending on condition etc.

Sorry about the limited information, I can ask more about it when he gets home and if theres anything worth posting I will.

Sim

I have one of those, I bought it new 35 years ago for around £120.....

[Alfanatic]

I've got a second hand Cort 12 string. Can't remember the model but it was around £150. It seems OK to me, but I either have it tuned down one tone or tuned to open C, so there is a bit less stress on the neck.

The same shop also had a 12 string Yamaha for a similar price, and my head was saying get the Yamaha because, as above, I've also heard that you should only buy a 12 string from a quality producer because they are just under a lot of stress. But the Cort just had a really interesting sound.