Converting a Strat to 12 string

spe111

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I was wondering if I could convert a Strat I have to 12 string easily. Here's what I've come up with so far:

Issue 1 Neck: solution is easy, order a 12 string neck and 12 tuners from Warmoth.

Issue 2 Bridge: My Strat has a vintage style 6 hole tremolo. I'm not modifying the body, I'd rather just buy a new one than do that. I looked around for an example of a 12 string strat that had a 6 hole bridge and haven't seen one yet. I did see some 2 point trems for 12 strings, but I'm not modifying the body. There's obviously a lot of hard tail bridges, but I'm not modifying the body. Seems like the only thing I could do is try to find some kind of 12 string saddle to put on my existing bridge? I probably won't do that either.

Anyone have any experience in doing something like this? 
 
Also, with the 12 string saddle thing I guess I'd have to shove two strings through the same hole, which I obviously wouldn't want to do.
 
If converting a trem bridge to a hardtail specifically for 12 string, you might reach out to the forumite who is building the Scartozi bridges & see if he'll do a 12 string version.
He would have to confirm if the full 5 springs would be strong enough to counter the tension of 12 strings.

Of course, goes without saying, you'll need to install a 12 string neck.
 
spe111 said:
Also, with the 12 string saddle thing I guess I'd have to shove two strings through the same hole, which I obviously wouldn't want to do.

You would have to drill the bridge for the 6 extra strings.
Anything is possible, but not wanting to modify the body in any way really will make things very difficult...

How good are you at metal work?
If you take your tremolo apart you should then be able to make a new plate that will work properly with 12 strings.
Buy a cheap copy of the Gotoh 12-string bridge and use the saddles and any other parts you can.
Unless you are really good at this sort of thing you will have to make a second attempt having learned from problems you encountered in your first attempt!

Do what I do - go out and buy the cheapest Strat copy you can find and then use it as your test bed.

FYI I bought the cheapest Tele-style 12-string I could find, it cost £99 = about $130. It took me 2 days to make the thing playable.
The bridge was a shockingly poor quality copy of the Gotoh 12-string bridge. The nice new 12-string bridge I bought cost more than the original guitar did! I'm still faffing about with it! But it is becoming the template for the properly made and playable 12-string I will put together re-using that nice bridge.
 
The Gotoh bridge sends 6 through the body and 6 out the back. Check and make sure yours doesn't do likewise.
 
swarfrat said:
The Gotoh bridge sends 6 through the body and 6 out the back. Check and make sure yours doesn't do likewise.
That is correct!
6 through the body and 6 'top-loading'.

I can't find a 12-string tremolo bridge so with love and care and mayhem he gets to make his own using Gotoh parts and Fender parts and home made parts.
Then he gets to do it again but better the second time around.

Springs are just springs so stiffer springs for the tremolo can be found and if necessary made. He might have to buy a 100 of them minimum order if they do have to be custom made!
 
Eastwood make a 12 string with a (presumably modified) JM style trem:

Sidejack-12-DLX-900a.jpg


Then there's this:





 
stratamania said:
Why not just buy a 12 string neck and body?

Based on everything I've seen so far, that seems like the best way to go. If there was a way to replace my 6 hole trem with a 12 string version of that, I'd do it, but it doesn't seem like there's an easy solution.

I'd definitely rather just buy a new body than try to fabricate my own bridge.
 
That RTO units is a hell of a tremolo! Their web site lists no distributors or retailers, and a quick google search didn't turn up any either, so I guess they are only available from the manufacturer. I did come across this site: https://www.newmillguitar.com/rto-tremolo
And down near the bottom of the page, it lists the price as $500 US. I suppose, for the amount of engineering involved, that's not a bad price. (?)

spe111 said:
I'd definitely rather just buy a new body than try to fabricate my own bridge.
At that price, you could probably buy a body, and a bridge!
 
I'm not super price sensitive, but $500 is a lot for a bridge. It would definitely be a conversation piece, it looks pretty fancy.

I think I will most likely build/buy a 12 string electric with a hard tail bridge. There are some options to buy, but not as many as I'd think.
 
How often are you supposed to change the oil in that RTO bridge?
 
I have a real nice 12 string Warmoth neck and tuners if you are interested.    You may have to refinish the headstock though.
 
If you don't mind using a Bigsby I bet that would be the easiest to modify for 12 string operation.
 
TonyFlyingSquirrel said:
If converting a trem bridge to a hardtail specifically for 12 string, you might reach out to the forumite who is building the Scartozi bridges & see if he'll do a 12 string version.
He would have to confirm if the full 5 springs would be strong enough to counter the tension of 12 strings.

Of course, goes without saying, you'll need to install a 12 string neck.
There is a hard tail conversion I've made for the 6 string version, I'd imagine it would be possible to add the dual saddles without to much modification. And the bridge doesn't require the use of the trem springs, it basically mounts just as the 6 hole trem sans the springs.
 
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