Octave twelve Octave twelve An octave twelve is a type of 12-string guitar fitted with a short-scale neck and a small solid body. It is tuned one octave higher than a standard guitar giving it the tonal range of a mandolin and enabling a guitarist to achieve a mandolin sound without learning mandolin fingering. The effect is similar to that of capoing a standard 12-string guitar at its twelfth fret. However, unlike a standard 12-string guitar, the courses of strings tuned in unison, rather than in octaves. The octave twelve was invented by engineers at Vox, which sold the octave twelve as
Eight-string guitar and six-string variants. The standard tuning (from low to high) is F#, B, E, A, D, G, B, E. Many prefer to tune the F# to a low E (E1), the same note as the lowest string on a four-string electric bass in standard tuning, and providing the guitar with a fuller sound by having three different E strings. Like the seven-string, the first mass-produced eight-string guitar was made by Ibanez guitars in Japan; the RG2228. The main design issue faced with an eight-string guitar is tuning stability with the lower strings. This is due to the neck being constructed