Nope; the Mitchells made the voyage to Hervey Bay!! And Don brought the 2 12s and the PE 1000 to show me, so all good especially as I'm surrounded by my own gear; guitar heaven!!
OK, a few words about the 12s..... bearing in mind I haven't played a 12 in anger for 15 years, these are purely subjective observations, and the sound clips which Don and I made of them back to back are necessarily very amateurish - more on those later!!
The VS696-12 is a translucent black finish and this example is in primo condition with very few marks including a broken switch tip. It has the usual Vantage 3 knob layout - 2V, 1T - and 2 switches under the control knobs, one for coil cut, and one for phase reverse, the control knobs are topped off with notched speed knobs. I measure a scale length of 62.6cm, or 24.64 inches and a width at the nut of 36.47mm and 52mm at the bridge. It has a carved top which adds to its allure a little!!
Unplugged, it is very very resonant indeed, and sustains for a long time; plugged in, well, it is a tone monster; easily the equal of any 12 string electric I've ever played, which I freely admit is not many!! When the sound clips get posted you fellas can pick a favoured tone but mine was the bridge, coil cut which when would out a bit was just beautiful; I wound up sitting there for a long time just strumming on an open G chord....
The VA912 is, to my eye anyway, a much more beautiful guitar, with the light oak finish, brass and gold hardware - including that oh-so-elegant tailpiece - and the alternating tuners. Scale length is the same as the 696 as are the course widths. Unplugged, it is nowhere near as forceful sounding as the 696 and plugged in it is a much more discreet instrument; it simply does not have the "punch" of the 696, which was something of a surprise to me! This is undoubtedly a result of the pickups used; I'm prepared to bet that the 696 has MMK45s, and the 912 has MMK53s, or 61s; until the strings get changed and Don whips 'em out for a look, we ain't gonna know!
On ease of playing, I found the 912 an "easier" guitar to play - no, I can't explain it, either - but the 696 much, much more rewarding from a "sounds emitted" point of view; once again very subjective, but Don concurs, and as a non-player, his views are not coloured by all the garbage that guitarists carry about, so we may well be onto something between the pair of us!!
All of the above notwithstanding, I would have either of these two in a heartbeat and am quite thankful that Don both bought, and brought, them!! I get to play 'em without the expense of buying 'em!! If I was called on to pick just one, well, because I am, or rather was, primarily a player, I would plump for the 696 becasue of it's punch and sound separation; each string rings out and creates a most beautiful cacophony of sound with rich harmonic undertones!! The 912 has these qualities,too, but it does not have the punch...
Beautiful guitars, both, and I'm glad I do NOT have to make a choice!!
Thanks, Don!!
I know Don posted some shots in here someplace, but I felt the need to add more..
....
... the three notches in the saddles...
... I struggled to show the translucent finish; this is the best I could do!
...Go, Johnny, go!!
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
