GALLERY: South by Southwest 2011

No matter what kind of guitarist you are—even if you never plan to own an acoustic 12-string—a session with a Guild F-series jumbo is an essential playing experience. It’s a guitar that you feel as much as you hear—both for its size and its rib-rattling resonance. 4 latest big 12-string, the F-412 reviewed here, deviates from the formula in a few ways. Most fundamentally, it has solid mahogany back and sides, rather than the maple or rosewood back and sides that are Guild F-series 12-string signatures. It also boasts a satin finish, which makes this U.S.-made F-412 a little more accessibly priced. But playing the F-412 is such an immersive sonic experience—and so easy on the hands—that you tend to think about little else. One rarely considers tonewoods and bank balances when they’re drowning in beautiful overtones.