|     Want a closeup? - click on image to enlarge it | Often regarded as the best factory 12 string available, the Taylor Leo Kottke Signature Model is an extremely fine-sounding instrument in solid mahogany and solid sitka spruce and comes complete with Taylor deluxe case. Despite being played over the last 9 years and never having had a pickguard, this excellent 12 string remains in exceptionally clean condition and with great playability. There’s space to manouevre, but no great distances to traverse on its well-proportioned inch and seven eighths neck (48mm) and its low profile in conjunction with a 15" fingerboard radius facilitates accurate fretting up and down its length. These were originally designed for use with slightly heavier strings with the tuning dropped down three semitones, but you see a lot of players stringing them lighter and playing them higher in this country.
In our opinion, the low-tuning brings out the best in the bracing system designed specifically for this model... it projects well, with unusual clarity for such a ’warm’ instrument. If you’re a strummer looking for a high-end 12 string this is a great guitar, but if you’re someone looking for a 12 to fingerstyle on, it takes on a whole different meaning! ’Sounds like an Orchestra’ has to be one of the most common phrases used to describe 12 string guitars, but frankly next to this, most other 12s are ’string quartets’ at best. | 
