David Bowie 12 String Guitar For Sale (2024 Update)

This is my Long Term Review. I have had this guitar for a bit over two years now and can give a more complete picture of it. First, the good. This is a very well made guitar. Under the pros, you will notice I mentioned Good Construction. This is particularly important in a 12 string. The biggest issue with all 12's is that they tend to come apart very quickly. You will have bowing, warping, separation of glueing, etc. All this is because of the tremendous extra pressure 12's suffer. After 2+ years, this guitar is still solid as a rock, and I leave it strung all the time. So I would say construction and bracing are very good on this instrument. Along with this is the fact that it Stays In Tune. This is another major issue with all 12's. Again, that extra force tends to make them go out of tune quickly. This one holds tune very well, and that is important as tuning a 12 takes some time. As for sound, I would say Not too Bad overall, and Really Good for an budget level guitar. It is a little thin for my taste, but there are ways around that. First, throw on a set of decent strings. I prefer Martin Marquise on mine, but personal choice. Second, I like to play through an acoustic amp, and I put a Seymour Ducan Woody on mine. When adjusted correctly, I can get a really decent, full bass sound, lots of body and still keep a nice jangle expected from a 12. Will it sound like a Martin or Gibson, no, but it gives a really nice sound for such a low price. As for the negatives, very few. First, keep in mind when Epiphone says "Select Spruce Top," they really mean laminated, not solid. But I suppose there varying qualities of laminated woods as well, and this one is great – really good resonance and sustain. It could maybe do with a better set of tuners, but as said before, it holds tune exceptionally well. Overall, for the price, Epiphone makes a really nice and playable guitar. Now am just praying they come out with a Masterbilt version of it.kdw

I bought my JJ 12-string here in England in 2000, 16 years ago. It has given me nothing but pleasure ever since. It's a joy to play – much easier than a six-string in many respects – and its tone, playability and looks are much admired by other players. Mine is fitted with the DSP acoustic preamp which is great, but I gather its has had a few problems along the way and has been replaced. The guitar has been refretted and plays as well as the day I bought it. Some slight bellying when you get the light right, but you'd expect that. There's only one slight downside: the scratchplate will lift at the edges and come off in time. I replaced mine with a transparent scratchplate which is effective but doesn't have the charisma. I also bought, in 2007, the six-string equivalent. Again, a really great instrument – sadly, with the same scratchplate problem, so it wasn't a one-off. I love my 12-string. I have never regretted paying far more for this guitar than I had ever spend on an instrument before. It is worth every penny, and more. I cannot recommend it enough.goosebooer

This may very well have perfect tone, in my ears anyway. Plays great and is very comfortable to hold. Balance is very nice. Pictures do not do this justice at all. I love Bowie and am happy I got one of these. I got number 65 of 432. If you see one available I would recommend picking it up. Came perfectly in tune and the case is really nice as well. Can't say enough about this one.Scott

Loved the look, price, sound, and feel of this guitar. Tried it out in the store and was ready to buy the floor model, but luckily I asked for a 9V battery to test the electronics at the counter. Oddly the battery port fits fine into the guitar when empty, but the moment you put a battery in it it will not stay shut and pops open rendering your electronics useless. Me and the sales rep at the front figured this was had to be a fluke and he ordered a new one to be delivered to my house. Four days later it arrived. I played it for about an hour out of the box without issue (set up was great, sounded great acoustic) and then I decied to check the electronics. Sure enough, the exact same issue occured when I tried to fit a 9V in the battery port. When a battery was actually in it, it would not stay shut. No tuner, no electronics. Ten minutes later I was back at my local GC. The tech inspected it an came to the same conclusion as I did after trying 5 different brand batteries to see if that made a difference- it's defective. He recommended I return it and try another product. In short it plays nice, sounds nice, and looks nice but if it happened on 2 guitars it has to be happening on more of them. I'm sure you could duck tape it or find a way to keep it closed but this should not be an issue on a $350+ guitar. 3 stars.Ryan

This is my second 12 string and I really like it. Sounds great action is outstanding and onboard tuner is great – I could not ask for more.Jim

I've played a fair amount of guitar – and guitars – over 30 years, but never a twelve string. Narrowed my choice (there are a few but not a ton of choices in this price range) to this Martin and Taylor's 150e. The Martin neck just accommodated my uncertain left hand a little better. Laminate sides, so yes, there are some tonal sacrifices a more sophisticated listener than I would recognize. But if you are dipping your toes in the 12 string pool for the first time, I highly recommend this Martin. Well built, easy to play and not a budget buster!msh6691

You won't find better action on a twelve string. Nice combination of woods. Great sound and playability. Sounds good plugged in, miked up and with no electronics. Went shopping for high end Martins, couldn't find one that sounded or played well, saw this gave it a try and immediately said this is it. Saved lots,of money that I can no spend on roses for my wife!Abe

Great affordable 12 string from Martin, Nice punchy tone and it stays in tune well! Great workhorse guitar! The sound is unmistakable Martin and the high pressure laminate back and sides look good and don't ding dent chip or scratch easy. Built in electronics are convenient and easy to use. keep in mind that these guitars still have plenty of solid wood used in the construction so you will still have to humidify these guitars during the dry months. The guitar has a comfortable body shape and a nice feeling neck. This is a hands on review, I am a staff reviewer for Sam Ash Music.JOHN @ Huntington

the neck wasn't leveled the frets were sharp on the edges, the six string neck set up higher than the 12. the electronics were cheap and micro-phonic. either neck didn't seem to have a finish on them. even as a beginning guitar it wouldn't be good without a lot of work.harrisonguitars08

This guitar is very nice in appearance but the playability is a bit lacking. The tuning keys on the 12 string were stiff and binding. The volume knob for the 12 string had a wiring problem. when I would turn the volume up,(10) for the 12 string the 6 string volume would be down quite a bit. So when I switched to the 6 string I had to put the volume knob on 8 for the 12 string to get full volume for the 6. I keep all my volume knobs on 10 and adjust my overall volume from the amp. There's supposed to be separate volume knobs for this guitar but like I said there was some kinda wiring glitch. Other then this it was very nice and the sound was exceptional.merw.tom

I got this for a customer and the neck feels like a 2X4 ,not finished at all, like sand paper ,also the heal is cracked and was shimmied with a piece of plastic. View picturerpcmrsz

Just got this guy….interesting guitar. some of the stock description is incorrect, the nut is steel or stainless steel and sits in a weird half fret area above the first fret (I have an old meazzi guitar with the same arrangement. the saddle is plastic and sits in a metal u shaped holder that you can adjust the height with the supplied alan key, handy, don't have to remove the saddle to lower the action. overall the thing is heavy and well built. had some work getting it playable though, it tuned up easy enough but there was that weird twang on the B string, usually tweeking the truss rod cures that, but it didn't, raising and lowering the saddle didn't fix it, changing the straight plastic saddle to a compensated plastic saddle didn't help either…..maybe one of the upper frets? got a little frustrating, then I decided to just change the strings, usually the first thing to do with a 300.00 guitar and that was that, no twang, weird, but this is an Italian guitar company (not to be racist, I'm Italian) so anyway, the fishman electronics are adequate, not a big fan of sound hole mounted controls but fortunately the 9 volt battery is located at the bottom of the lower bout next to the 1/4" jack as apposed to some guitars with a velcroed holder buried inside the guitar. this guitar is a strummer for sure and after I beat it up at home for awhile I'll do a gig with it.Nick

I took a chance and purchased it sight unseen because it was on sale and the most interesting (to me) in its price range. Color isn't as solidly orange-looking as in the photo. The grain is still visible. Logo on the headstock is a three-d decal, not inlay. Guitar is pretty heavy, too. The bridge is easy to adjust, which was useful, considering there was some fret buzz in the set up. After some tweaking and new strings, it's turned out to be a nice guitar.Manuel

I love the eko ranger guitars And as I hand a 12 string version I was delighted when I found this beauty which can also play through an amp and speaker. The tone is rich and warm. I love it. The price is very good for this quality instrument. Also10 out of 10 For these livery which was well ahead of the estimated delivery date. Fantastic service.jim culbert (

Here are a few things I want to say about the guitar. First, it is a beautiful guitar. It is stunner. The fret work is very nice. No sharp edges. I will also say playing it for the first time put a smile on my face. Above all, it's extremely fun to play. It feels nice in the hands and sits comfortably. The guage strings it comes with are a custom lot. This is what they use: 16-22-30-44-54-70 I know the tuning pegs have been mentioned by others, they do feel a bit flimsy. If you do want to change those here's what I was told "As for the size of the tuner shaft, it's slightly larger than our standard 10mm tuners to accommodate the larger string gauges." Here are some things that I noticed. The guitar is heavily built, so resonance lacks a bit. Thick gloss finish too. The body itself is quite thin. I would expect a larger and wider body and maybe the bridge moved to the lower bout. There isn't much sustain. Once a note is hit, it will somewhat quickly diminish (Fender fat finger didn't help much). The guitar has strong mids, the highs do shine through, the lows get lost. So what the above tells me is that this guitar is begging to be plugged in, which I have not done. I was hoping this would be a pure acoustic style playing guitar. There are four small holes drilled out for the tuner and knobs controlling the pick up and a larger hole for the battery and output jack. Cosmetic wise, there was only one issue I noticed. There are some finish issues along the neck where it feels a bit rough. I wouldn't say it would impact playing at all. One more issue. When I was done playing, the strings left a black residue on my fingers. I wonder how long the guitar was sitting, or if it was the Ernie Ball strings. For the price point, this guitar is competing with Guild, Cort, and Alvarez. There are others including Baton Rouge (go to Thomann). I am keeping the guitar and will use it very often. I got it brand new for more than 20% off so I am happy with that price. Remember, since it's a live version, the pickup adds $150'ish to the price. So the guitar without pickups would be around $300'ish, which is where I would put it and compare with. Would love to see more satin finishes and thinner gloss finishes (let your guitars sing, Orangewood!) and a non-live version of Hugo.Matt N.

I’ve been playing the guitar for around 60 years (yes…I’m old!) and I have around 10 guitars, mostly acoustics. I love trying out new guitars, especially ones that I’ve never heard of. Enter….Orangewood. After reading a bunch of reviews, I figured it was worth a shot. Orangewood was having a Labor Day Sale offering some great prices, so I sprung for the Mason Live. It was less than $400 so I wasn’t sure what to expect in that price range. Right out of the box I was blown away! It was packed in a very substantial gig bag and barely needed tuning. The fit and finish are impeccable, the action is perfect and it sounds fantastic. The Mason Live is a grand auditorium cutaway with Fishman Flex Plus-T EQ electronics. It has a gloss finish which is gorgeous, fret markers and other appointments which are usually found on only more expensive guitars. To put things in perspective, my other acoustics include Martin, Taylor, Guild, Washburn, Fender and a few others. The Orangewood compares with the best of them. Playing is smooth and silky with a boomy yet bright sound. The electronics work very well and the built in tuner is spot on which is not always the case with some built in tuners. I would highly recommend this guitar for all levels of players. You won’t be disappointed.Roy M.

Where do I begin? I am very pleased with this guitar! I've had my eye on this company for like 4 years now when I first heard of the orangewood oliver. This time around looking at sales I noticed the brooklyn model and really liked it, I got myself this torrified edition, and I have to say, I'm very pleased with how great the guitar sounds! Neck feels great, the body feels great, little different at first then a dreadnought shape. Action is great! I've always used D'addario strings, but I really like the ernie ball strings it comes with, I'm definetly gonna get a pack of phosphor bronzes ones and try them out. I'm not familiar with guitar pickups, so I won't go into detail with it. But it sounds nice. All around, I give this guitar a solid 10 The accessories kit, I can't complain it has alot to it that's worth it for anyone needing the few things it comes with. If I could recommend one thing and one thing only out of the kit, I'm not a fan of the picks personally… if they would have one standard sized pick and the other two big ones like they give, I wouldn't say nothing. But for further reference, I think offering a standard sized pick would be a nice add on. But that's my only complaint. I'm very pleased with guitar and it's sound and it's very beautiful!!! I will definetly be getting another one from yall later on, and I'm looking forward to making a public video review to about this guitar!Alex K.

I would like to say that I am very happy with my MacKenzie & Marr Algonquin 12, 12-string guitar. It is indeed a beautifully crafted instrument. The tone is bright and clear and the harmonics go on forever. I am particularly pleased with the balance of tone and volume from the bass all the way to the treble. The intonation is spot on, always a concern with a 12-string. The tuning pegs are top-notch allowing for precise tuning, also especially important. It is indeed comparable to instruments two to three times its price.Phil

My first 12string was stolen many years ago, and I've always wanted a new one to fill out my collection. I've tried many since then and really didn't find one that fit the bill. When I saw MacMarr was making one, I jumped at the chance and was not disappointed. As always with MacMarr works, the guitar is a beauty, but it excels in its playability and sound. The neck and fretboard are smooth and easy to play and the sound really fills out a room. I am so happy that I've found a new 12-string, that I've named it "Twelve Toes" after the old SchoolHouse Ditty (look it up) – like an old friend that came back home.Randy

This guitar has a lovely voice: balanced and bright with an excellent sustain. To my hand the neck is sublime as to be invisible. I would describe it as perfect. The wood is everywhere remarkable. The fine old-growth sacrificed to produce this instrument has found a second life as vital as the first. Detailing on a par with the general excellence of this instrument puts it in an odd class where superlatives turn trite. It simply must be played to be appreciated.Lee