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Acoustic
Double-Necks
Q What kind of acoustic
double-neck guitars are available?
Michael Barnhart
Oak Harbor, Washington
A Although custom double-necks
have shown up in the hands of players as diverse as fingerstylist
Richard Leo Johnson (whose double-neck was built by Lance McCollum)
and rock god Richie Sambora (who plays a custom-made Ovation), not
too many companies have ventured into producing this style of guitar
as part of their regular lines. The only noncustom acoustic double-neck
I'm aware of is Washburn's EA220 ($2,099), which features six strings
on one neck and 12 on the other. Fishman electronics round out the
package, making it a stage-worthy attention getter.
—Teja Gerken
Green
Guitars
Q What is a "green guitar"?
What are the most easily renewed types of wood? What kind of guitar
is easiest on the world's forests?
John Dennis
Kanazawa, Japan
A Guitars generally considered
to be "green" are made out of woods cut from sustainable-yield forests
and wood lots. Some makers who take the trouble to use these woods
get certified by an organization like Smart Wood or SoundWood (see
"In Search of the Sustainable Ax," Jump Street, February '97), which
provides the manufacturer with a label indicating that the wood
came from a certified, well-managed source.
Cedar and spruce forests can be well managed and replanted, and
domestic woods like cherry and walnut make good sense, though these
woods haven't been completely accepted by the guitar-buying public.
Indian rosewood is a very well-managed resource-the trees are planted
for shade on tea plantations. Many of the other tropicals are in
real trouble, though. Mahogany doesn't like to be grown in a monoculture,
and fresh-cut Brazilian rosewood has been banned from international
trade. Other woods, such as morado, shedua, and East Asian rosewoods,
show promise for use among luthiers, but guitar players have to
take some responsibility too and be willing to try and buy alternative-wood
guitars.
All that said, I'd also like to point out that guitars aren't the
biggest problem for the world's forests. Population growth, bad
agricultural practices, and the seemingly insatiable desire for
hamburgers (cattle need grazing land) do infinitely more harm than
luthiers do. Think also of all the prime spruce in Alaska that has
been sold below cost by the U.S. government in order to keep lumber
companies in business. Much of that prime, old-growth tonewood was
cut down for pulpwood and two-by-fours.
—Rick Turner
Nashville
Tuning
Q I keep hearing about
Nashville tuning. What is it?
Phillip Vaughn
Oxford, Alabama
A Nashville tuning, also
known as high-stringing a guitar, is often used to create a 12-string
effect when layering guitars in a multitrack studio. Essentially,
you use the octave strings of a 12-string set on a six-string guitar.
The first two strings of your instrument (high E and B) remain unchanged,
and the lower four strings (G through low E) are tuned an octave
above standard tuning. SIT Strings (www.sitstrings.com)
offers a ready-made set for Nashville tuning (P-1025NT), or you
can rob a 12-string set or assemble your own from your music store's
single-string bin. The gauges for a medium set would be .012, .016,
.010, .014, .020, .030, high to low. All strings are plain, except
for the low E, which is wound.
—Teja Gerken
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