The string pairs in the bass courses are usually tuned an OCTAVE apart and the Treble course strings (i.e. GgBbEe) are tuned in unison. However some guitar players prefer to tune the higher G in a very high octave to get that high and ringing tone. This guitar is essentially used for getting that Rich and Ringing Tone that is otherwise impossible with a regular 6 String guitar. The subtle differences in the octaves of the strings in bass courses creates a beautiful choral effect to it's sound. There are some guitarists who prefer to take out the strings from the bass courses to ease out the playing bass riffs much easily where as keeping the treble courses as it is for strumming chords.

Rickenbacker 360/12 is the most popular 12 String Electric Guitar popularized by George Harrison of 'The Beatles'. Because of the immense tension on the body of the 12 String Guitar, it usually bends over and breaks in a matter of 2-3 years, so many guitarists prefer to tune their guitars much lower than the usual open string tuning. But few other guitarists prefer to maintain the open string tuning to retain that rich, ringing and near orchestral sound.

The role of this Guitar is in Rhythm and Accompaniment in an orchestra and is used mostly in folk songs and other pop music. Because plucking and playing individual notes on a string becomes quite difficult on this guitar.This guitar is used mainly by some progressive rock and hard rock guitarists use 12 String Guitar in a double necked form to easily switch between a 12 and 6 String Guitar sounds.

Though 12 String Guitars are being used by some rockers for it's deep ringing tone and choral effect, most of them use a 6 string guitar as the primary guitar, because this Guitar can only be used for the role rhythm guitar and cannot be used to play different techniques like bending, tapping and playing bass riffs.

Popular Songs and Guitarists who popularized 12 String Guitar

12 String Guitars became popular in the early 1920s and 30s when Blind Willie McTell in started using it, and in the early '60s, guitarists like Mike Pender of The Searchers and Roger McGuinn of The Byrds, kept it on the spotlight for more than a decade, In the 80s this instrument was used by alternative rockers such as Robert Smith of The Cure, Slash of Guns N' Roses, Dave Gregory of XTC, Peter Buck of R.E.M., Marty Willson-Piper of The Church, and Johnny Marr of The Smiths. The most popular electric 12 string guitar since the 1960s has been the Rickenbacker 360/12, which was first popularized by George Harrison. In modern rock music 12 string guitars took the form of double necked guitars so that the musicians could switch between tones during live performances, for example, when playing Stairway to Heaven, Hotel California or Xanad

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