 The Power Of The
12 String Electric Guitar
It hits you like a sledgehammer. It's
just two notes, one an octave above the other, played over and
over again. It thunders on for nearly 30 seconds, and it's been
a centerpiece of many a mosh-pit over the past 15 years.
It's the opening to Rage Against the Machine's "Bulls on
Parade," and it's a great example of what a 12 string
electric guitar can do.
Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello is one of the most
accomplished guitarists making music today, and many will
contend that his greatest work is on that particular track. In
it he uses the 12
string electric guitar to create a furious, driving beat
that moves the song into dangerous, vibrant and some would say
violent territory. It's what Rage Against the Machine was going
for in much of their music, and Morello knew how to set the
tone.
The 12 string electric guitar is somewhat different than its
acoustic cousin. It's more often used, for one thing, but it
also is used differently. While the acoustic 12 string tends to
be melancholy, the 12 string electric guitar tends towards the
power and precision of a RATM, or The Who.
Pete Townsend of The Who was one of the first to make good
use of the 12 string electric guitar. He did so on everything
from "The Kids are Alright" to "Who's Next?", two of the
masterpieces of that great era of music. The Who’s live shows
were particularly powerful exhibitions for Townsend, who once
contended that “We may not write songs that are as good as the
Beatles, but we’d blow them off the stage.” Few would
argue.
Jimmy Page also made the 12 string electric guitar his own,
especially live and in concert. The song "Dazed and Confused"
is 9 minutes long on the album "Led Zeppelin"; in concert it
could go on for as long as 45 minutes as Page used his 12
string to put together some of the most remarkable solos anyone
has ever performed. Sometimes he'd use the bow of a violin to
play, stretching the boundaries of what the instrument was
capable of.
Of course, that left Page open for a bit of mockery, which
came in the form of the 1984 comedy "This is Spinal Tap."
Christopher Guest plays Tap's lead guitarist and songwriter,
and in one memorable scene he goes from playing his guitar with
a bow, to his shoe, to actually using a violen to play the 12
string electric guitar. It was a hilarious bit of filmmaking -
and what's more, it actually sounded good!
You might also be interested in this article:
The 12
String Acoustic Guitar
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