Here is one of my two B45-12 Strings. My 1967 natural finish is with my son in San Diego - and I do not have a photo available. I will post a photo in the near future.
I guess that a photo of this guitar qualifies this post as a Lightfoot topic!!?

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1104/...e19d39d7_m.jpg

Here is one of my two B45-12 Strings. My 1967 natural finish is with my son in San Diego - and I do not have a photo available. I will post a photo in the near future.
I guess that a photo of this guitar qualifies this post as a Lightfoot topic!!?

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1104/...e19d39d7_m.jpg

Nice one. I had a natural finish B45-12-N from 1964, then a 1967 sunburst like yours. Traded them over the years for other things. They both sounded great, but were tough to play. Had finger surgery so it was really tough to mash down those strings for a while.

I do fingerstyle stuff...Leo Kottke's main axe in early days was a B45 too. These days I pine for a Mossman 12 string, or a 12 string dobro. Taylors are easy to play, but don't have the depth of soul that the old B45s do.

It is amazing though how you can make one strum across thos B45 strings and instantly have the signature Lightfoot sound.

Hello Bill...
Thanks for the comments.
Yeah, they can be hard on the left hand - but like you say, nothing else sounds like them. Kind of like riding an old Indian Chief. Mossman guitars a very nice..as are so many these days. Although Taylor makes a great product - something about many of the models seem a bit cookie cutter to me. Back in 1980 I had two of Bob's first jumbos, a 815 6 string, and an 855 12 string...both with mustache bridges and quite collectible today. Wish I still had them.

Hello Bill...
Thanks for the comments.
Yeah, they can be hard on the left hand - but like you say, nothing else sounds like them. Kind of like riding an old Indian Chief. Mossman guitars a very nice..as are so many these days. Although Taylor makes a great product - something about many of the models seem a bit cookie cutter to me. Back in 1980 I had two of Bob's first jumbos, a 815 6 string, and an 855 12 string...both with mustache bridges and quite collectible today. Wish I still had them.

When I saw Lightfoot in January, I borrowed a pair of low-power binoculars, even though I had 2nd row seats. I was curious to how his fingerpicking was doing. Wow, his guitars are gorgeous.