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Leo Kottke Guitars & Gear: The Complete Guide to the 12-String’s Most Dangerous Player

12 June 2026

His first 12-string guitar was a Mexican cheapy with a nail behind the 12th fret.

Not a capo — a nail. Literally a nail hammered into the guitar’s neck behind the 12th fret to serve as a makeshift capo. He played it in East St. Louis, he tended bar for fifteen minutes, he played guitar for five minutes, and he left in terror of constant requests for songs he didn’t know.

The 1969 album that came from what followed — 6 & 12 String Guitar, recorded in a single afternoon in Minneapolis for John Fahey’s Takoma Records label — has sold over 500,000 copies and achieved cult status among guitarists worldwide. Guitar Player readers voted it the favorite acoustic guitar album of all time. Tommy Emmanuel, in a Guitar Player interview, confirmed it: “I remember when GP had a poll about a dozen years back for the readers’ favorite acoustic albums of all time. Of course, Leo Kottke’s 6 & 12 String Guitar came in at number one.”

Guitar Player called his impact “comparable to an unplugged Hendrix in that Kottke set the tone for the modern acoustic guitar hero.”

Then he got tendinitis in the early 1980s and nearly lost his ability to play. He stopped performing. He relearned how to play guitar in a way that wouldn’t hurt his hands. He gave up 12-string almost entirely. Then, in the late 1980s, he found a Taylor 555 with a slim neck that he could play without strain — called Bob Taylor, and they designed a guitar together. The Taylor Leo Kottke Signature Model, tuned down to C#, became one of the most distinctive instruments in acoustic guitar history.

From the nail in the Mexican cheapy to the Taylor C# custom. That’s the gear arc.

Background: Athens, Georgia, the Navy, and the Afternoon That Changed Everything

Leo Kottke was born September 11, 1945, in Athens, Georgia. His biographical notes on the original Takoma release describe his birth as occurring “on the morning of September 11, 1867” — a joke, but a revealing one: Kottke has always had a gift for self-deprecating humor that simultaneously acknowledges and deflects the weight of his reputation.

He described the moment the guitar arrived: “The guitar came and got me when I was a boy. I sat up, made an E chord.” He started on violin at age six; the violin damaged his hearing (a bow striking the E string too close to his ear). He then tried guitar, and the guitar stayed. He was largely self-taught, developing through listening, through practice in isolation, and through the specific influences that shaped his early musical thinking: Mississippi John Hurt for fingerstyle blues, Lester Flatt for bluegrass flat-picking, John Fahey for the newly emerging acoustic-guitar composition tradition.

He joined the Navy briefly, which took him to various locations and exposed him to different musical communities. He landed in Minneapolis, which became his base — a city with a strong acoustic music scene in the 1960s that was receptive to the kind of instrumental guitar music he was developing.

The critical encounter: he sent a demo tape to John Fahey, who ran Takoma Records. Fahey heard something completely unprecedented and signed him. Kottke recorded 6 & 12 String Guitar in a single afternoon in Minneapolis in December 1969. The album introduced a technique and a sound that had no precedent: “With its driving, thumb-picked bass and rolling, rapid-fire arpeggios, there was no precedent for 6 & 12 String Guitar, and it captivated a generation that was otherwise listening to rock.”

His subsequent career — over thirty solo albums, collaborations with Phish’s Mike Gordon and others, constant touring — built a devoted audience that appreciated his instrumental mastery and his specific, self-deprecating wit. He tours solo, driving his guitars in a rental car and setting up his own equipment.

The tendinitis crisis of the early 1980s interrupted the career but didn’t end it. He stopped performing, relearned his technique from the ground up to protect his hands, and returned — different, less physically aggressive, but with the same musical intelligence intact. The Taylor relationship that emerged from the recovery period produced his most celebrated modern instrument.

Tone note: He recorded the most influential acoustic guitar album of all time in a single afternoon. He then spent the next decade developing his technique to such extremes that he damaged his hands and had to relearn everything. The album and the injury are both expressions of the same characteristic: total commitment to a single idea, taken as far as it can go, regardless of the consequences. The nail in the Mexican cheapy was the start. The tendinitis was the cost. The Taylor tuned to C# was the recovery.

The Rig: Leo Kottke’s Guitars, Amps & Gear

Guitars: The Complete Arc from Nail to Taylor

The First 12-String — The Mexican Cheapy with a Nail

Kottke’s entry into 12-string guitar was characteristically improvised. His first 12-string was a Mexican cheapy — a budget instrument from south of the border, neither prestigious nor particularly playable — with a nail hammered into the neck behind the 12th fret as a makeshift capo. The nail-as-capo approach is either brilliant improvisation or desperate measures, and in Kottke’s hands it was both simultaneously. He used this instrument to develop the initial technique that eventually produced 6 & 12 String Guitar.

The nail behind the 12th fret is one of the more evocative gear details in this entire series: a musician so committed to the instrument that he improvised a mechanical solution to a key change requirement rather than buying a capo or switching instruments. The improvisation produced the first version of one of the most consequential acoustic guitar careers of the twentieth century.

Bozo Podunavac Bell Western 12-String — The Early Career Primary

Before the Taylor period, Kottke’s primary 12-string instruments included models by Bozo Podunavac — a California (later Florida) luthier known for distinctive and relatively rare instruments. The 12fret.com documentation described the Bozo: “Bozo guitars, built by Bozo Podunavac in California or later Florida, are not at all common, but were used by a number of highly influential guitarists. The notable player for me was Leo Kottke, whose incredible skill with the 12-string still astounds all of us here — regardless of how fast and hard he’s playing, every note is clear, clean and audible.”

The Bozo Bell Western 12-string is documented as a specific example from this period. Bozo’s guitars had a particular construction — the “Bell Western” designation refers to the body shape — that produced specific acoustic characteristics suited to Kottke’s aggressive, driving playing style. The relative rarity of Bozo guitars makes them among the more unusual primary instruments in this series.

He also played Gibson and Martin 12-strings during this period — the 12fret.com documentation confirmed: “Kottke has been closely associated with the 12-string guitar for most of his career, and often played models by Bozo Podunavac, Gibson and Martin.”

The Tendinitis and the Loss of the 12-String

The crucial biographical event in Kottke’s gear story: “Over the few years, Kottke took his prodigious technique to ever greater heights until, in the early 1980s, over-exertion led to tendinitis and his hands began to fail him. He stopped performing and set about relearning to play guitar in a way that wouldn’t hurt his hands. At the same time, he basically gave up playing 12-string guitar altogether.”

Tendinitis in a guitarist’s hands is among the more devastating injuries possible — it is not a broken bone that heals in weeks but an inflammation of the tendons that can take months or years to resolve, and that can recur whenever the same physical patterns that caused it are repeated. Kottke’s specific tendinitis came from over-exertion — too much force applied in the picking and fretting motion over too long a period. Relearning to play meant developing a physically lighter, more efficient technique that produced the same musical result with less mechanical stress.

The 12-string guitar specifically presents a particular physical demand: heavier strings (two per course rather than one) require more force to fret and pick clearly. In Kottke’s case, the 12-string’s physical demands were incompatible with his recovering hands.

The Taylor 555 and the Recovery

In the late 1980s, Kottke found a Taylor 555 — a jumbo 12-string from Taylor’s production line — with a slim neck that he was able to play without the hand strain that had ended his previous 12-string playing. The slim neck reduced the stretching required to fret the 12-string’s wider neck, allowing a lighter, less stressful technique.

He contacted Bob Taylor to compliment him on the guitar. Taylor responded by suggesting they work together to design a guitar specifically for Kottke’s playing style and physical requirements. This collaboration produced one of the most distinctive signature models in acoustic guitar history.

Taylor Leo Kottke Signature Model (LKSM) — The Primary Instrument

The Taylor Leo Kottke Signature Model is the guitar most associated with the later part of his career. Fretboard Journal documented the design process:

“They started with a mahogany jumbo that was similar to the 555 that Kottke had been playing. They added a Maccaferri-style cutaway and stripped away almost all of the ornamentation, leaving only a simple but elegant wood binding. Taylor designed the braces to respond to a lower tuning and when the guitars were shipped they were tuned down to C#.”

The key specifications:

Body: Mahogany jumbo — the same basic size as the 555 that proved playable for Kottke’s recovering hands
Cutaway: Maccaferri-style cutaway (a distinctive curved cutaway shape associated with the jazz guitars of the 1930s), providing access to the upper frets of the 12-string’s neck
Bracing: Custom-designed to respond to lower tuning — the guitar’s internal structure is built for C# standard rather than the conventional E standard
Tuning: C# standard (approximately 3 half-steps below conventional E standard) — a whole step and a half lower than standard tuning
Ornamentation: Minimal — “stripped away almost all of the ornamentation”; the instrument is defined by its function, not its appearance

The C# tuning is the guitar’s most unusual and most consequential specification. Kottke’s choice to tune down to C# serves multiple purposes:

String tension: Lower tuning reduces string tension at a given gauge; less tension means less physical force required to fret and pick, reducing the hand strain that caused his tendinitis
Tone: Lower tuning produces a different acoustic character — fuller, darker, more bass-forward than the conventional E standard 12-string’s bright, jangly character. The Fretboard Journal noted: “Taylor designed the braces to respond to a lower tuning” — the guitar’s internal structure is specifically optimised for C#, not standard pitch
Historical precedent: Fretboard Journal noted that “for most of its history the 12-string guitar had been tuned low, but it wasn’t until the Byrds and the Beatles started using Rickenbackers that the E tuning became common.” Kottke’s C# tuning is historically appropriate for the pre-Rickenbacker 12-string tradition, not an anomaly

The Taylor LKSM was eventually discontinued when Taylor retired the jumbo body size. Fretboard Journal lamented: “That’s too bad because I think this is one of the best 12-string guitars ever made.”

Tone note: The guitar was shipped tuned to C#. Not as a musician preference to be adjusted — as the designed default. The instrument was built around a specific pitch, and the internal bracing, string gauges, and resonance characteristics were all configured for that pitch. Most guitarists put a guitar in the tuning they want; Kottke’s guitar was built into the tuning it wanted. That’s the most extreme implementation of instrument-specific setup in this series.

Taylor 510 and Martin 000-15S — Six-String Choices

For six-string guitar, Kottke’s choices have been less fixed than his 12-string identity. The Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum documented: “For his six-string guitar he was playing a Taylor 510, that he said he just got off the rack some place.” A Taylor 510 — Taylor’s grand auditorium model with mahogany back and sides and spruce top — purchased off the rack, without special selection or endorsement, because it felt right. Later he played a rosewood Olsen guitar (a custom luthier instrument), then moved to a six-string version of the Taylor Leo Kottke signature model. When his touring six-string broke, he went to a music store in California and walked out with a Martin 000-15S — an all-mahogany small-body Martin.

His stated six-string preference: “He typically says he prefers a small mahogany box with a spruce top” — then proceeds to play dreadnoughts, rosewood jumbos, and various other guitars that don’t match this stated preference. His six-string instrument history is “a man of contradictions.”

Complete Guitar List

Mexican cheapy 12-string with nail behind 12th fret — First 12-string; earliest career; improvised capo
Bozo Podunavac Bell Western 12-string — Early career primary; California/Florida luthier; rare instruments
Gibson 12-strings (various) — Early career alongside Bozo instruments
Martin 12-strings (various) — Also early career; documented with Martin 12-string
Taylor 555 — Late 1980s recovery guitar; slim neck suited recovering hands; catalysed Taylor collaboration
Taylor Leo Kottke Signature Model (LKSM) — 12-string — Primary instrument from early 1990s onward; mahogany jumbo; Maccaferri cutaway; C# standard tuning; custom bracing for lower pitch; discontinued when Taylor retired jumbo size
Taylor 510 — Six-string primary (got off the rack); mahogany/spruce
Olsen rosewood/cedar custom — Six-string period
Taylor Leo Kottke Signature Model — 6-string version — Six-string adaptation of signature model
Martin 000-15S — Acquired when touring six-string broke; all-mahogany small body; became primary six-string on Regards from Chuck Pink and My Father’s Face albums
Martin M-36 cutaway (oval soundhole) — Photographed with this; documented in forum discussions

Amps: The Acoustic Goes Electric — Kind Of

Kottke has used pickup systems for live amplification across his career — unlike Watson, Rice, and Blake, who use exclusively microphone-to-PA amplification, Kottke has worked with onboard or soundhole pickup systems that allow him the physical freedom to move on stage without being tethered to a microphone position.

He tours solo, driving his own guitars in a rental car. The pragmatic requirements of solo acoustic touring — without a dedicated sound crew who can constantly manage microphone placement — favour a pickup system that provides consistent amplification regardless of where the guitar moves relative to a fixed microphone.

The specific pickups and amplification systems he has used across different periods are not as consistently documented as his guitars — the focus of documentation has always been on the instrument and the technique rather than the amplification. For performance, acoustic amplifiers or direct-to-PA signals from the guitar’s onboard pickup represent his live chain.

Pedals & Signal Chain: Minimal for Acoustic

No effects pedals in any documented consistent use. Kottke’s signal chain for acoustic performance is the guitar’s pickup into a preamp or DI and then to the PA. The occasional use of light reverb in the PA processing is the only documented effect element.

His playing technique is the “effect” — the multiple-voice simultaneous melody, bass, and chord approach that makes a single guitar sound like more than one instrument doesn’t require electronic processing to achieve. It requires decades of practice.

Strings, Picks & Setup

Thumb and Finger Picks — Then a Change:

The 12fret.com documentation confirmed: “Known for his fast, loud and well articulated playing, Kottke used both thumb and finger picks until the 1980s when tendinitis forced him to stop playing for several years.” Thumb and finger picks — the traditional approach to fingerstyle guitar that amplifies attack and provides the firm contact with the string necessary for clear note articulation at high speeds — were his approach through the peak of his early technique.

After the tendinitis and the relearning process, his picking technique changed. The specific picks he uses in his current technique are less documented than the early thumb-and-fingerpick approach. The relearning required developing a lighter touch that produced the same musical result with less physical force — likely involving a modified right-hand approach that distributes stress differently than the original technique.

The C# Tuning for 12-String:

The Taylor LKSM’s C# standard tuning is the most distinctive setup detail. C# standard on a 12-string means all six pairs of strings are tuned down approximately three half-steps from E standard. The string gauges shipped with the guitar were chosen to produce appropriate tension and tone at this lower pitch — lighter strings that would be floppy and unresponsive in E standard become appropriately tensioned at C#.

Playing in C# standard requires no technique adjustment — the chord shapes and scale patterns are identical to E standard, they just sound lower. But the tonal character changes: the fundamental pitch of every note is lower, producing a darker, fuller sound that Kottke’s specific acoustic style — the driving bass with rolling arpeggios above it — uses to great advantage.

Preferred guitar character: Kottke stated his preference for “a small mahogany box with a spruce top” — the mahogany warmth, the spruce clarity, the small body’s focus and definition. His actual instrument choices haven’t always matched this stated preference, but the preference itself reveals his aesthetic: warmth and definition rather than projection and brightness.

Tone note: He tunes down to C# because it reduced the physical demand on his hands after the tendinitis recovery, and because it produced a tonal character he preferred. The injury and the aesthetic aligned: the guitar that didn’t hurt his hands also sounded the way he wanted. That alignment — practical necessity and aesthetic preference pointing in the same direction — is the ideal gear relationship.

Playing Style & Tone Philosophy: The Thumb Bass and the Rolling Arpeggios

Leo Kottke’s playing style is the extreme end of the fingerstyle acoustic guitar tradition — not extreme in the sense of difficult music (though it is extraordinarily difficult to execute), but extreme in the degree to which a single instrument and a single pair of hands produce what sounds like multiple simultaneous musical voices.

The Thumb-Driven Bass

The foundation of Kottke’s approach is a driving, insistent thumb bass — the alternating bass pattern of the Travis-picking tradition, but executed with a force and consistency that makes it sound percussive rather than merely rhythmic. The thumb is the anchor, the timekeeper, and the harmonic foundation simultaneously. Everything above it — the chords, the arpeggios, the melodies — floats over a bass that never stops.

This driving bass is part of what made 6 & 12 String Guitar so distinctive: “With its driving, thumb-picked bass and rolling, rapid-fire arpeggios, there was no precedent for 6 & 12 String Guitar.” The arpeggios are extraordinary for their speed and clarity — every note individually audible in a rapid cascade. But the bass under them is what gives the music its physicality, its momentum, its sense that the guitar is being driven by something compulsive rather than merely played.

The 12-String Complexity

On the 12-string, every note is doubled — two strings per course, producing the characteristic shimmering, full character of the instrument. Kottke’s approach to this doubled character was to treat it as a resource rather than a limitation: the natural chorusing of the paired strings, the added sustain, the additional volume — all of these become tools in the specific multi-voice approach he developed.

Stropes/Kammin’s book noted: “Kottke opened up a new chapter for the guitar. He created the space for the development of fingerstyle guitar, a space for a recombination of guitar technique and music styles and an opening for original, creative composition.” This is accurate: before Kottke, fingerstyle acoustic guitar was primarily associated with folk, blues, and country traditions. After him, it was a complete genre in itself, capable of encompassing original composition, complex harmony, and solo performance of concert-hall ambition.

The Wit

Kottke is celebrated as much for his stage conversation as for his guitar playing. His self-deprecating humor, his storytelling between songs, his specific form of Midwestern deadpan — all of these are as much part of his performing identity as the guitar technique. He describes himself with the same slightly surreal self-awareness that his biographical notes demonstrate. This wit is not decoration; it reflects the same intelligence that organises the musical complexity of his playing.

The American Primitive Connection

Kottke emerged from the American Primitive Guitar tradition that John Fahey was synthesising in the 1960s — a tradition that drew on blues, folk, and traditional music to create something new and specifically guitar-centred. Fahey’s Takoma Records was the label that released 6 & 12 String Guitar. But where Fahey’s music was often intentionally spare and atmospheric, Kottke’s was technically extreme — the same roots, very different applications.

Mississippi John Hurt’s fingerstyle blues, Lester Flatt’s bluegrass, and John Fahey’s American Primitive composition were his three primary guitar influences. From these, he synthesised something that belongs to all three traditions and is fully part of none of them.

How to Sound Like Leo Kottke: The 12-String Acoustic Tone

Kottke’s tone — particularly the LKSM period — is achievable with the right 12-string and the specific tuning. His technique is the inimitable part.

The Guitar

12-string acoustic guitar tuned to C# standard. Mahogany body for the warmth he preferred; jumbo body for the volume his playing style requires. Taylor LKSM for authenticity; any quality 12-string tuned down for the general approach.

Taylor Leo Kottke Signature Model (LKSM) — The authentic choice; now discontinued; available used; mahogany jumbo; Maccaferri cutaway; built for C# tuning
Taylor 562 or 556 12-string — Current Taylor 12-string options; similar mahogany character; retune to C# with appropriate string gauges
Bozo Bell Western 12-string (vintage) — Early Kottke period; extremely rare; if encountered, exceptional instrument
Any quality mahogany 12-string — Guild F-512, Seagull S12 — retune to C# with lighter strings; the tuning is the key variable

The C# Tuning

Tuning a 12-string to C# standard: from standard E tuning, lower all strings by three half-steps. All six courses (twelve strings) go from E-A-D-G-B-E to C#-F#-B-E-G#-C#. The string gauges should be slightly lighter than standard for 12-string (the standard gauges produce too much tension at standard pitch; at C# they become appropriately tensioned). Alternatively, use a capo at the 3rd fret to play in E while the guitar is physically at C# — the result is the open C# tuning’s tonal character with standard E chord shapes.

No Amplification (or Pickup to PA)

For practice and small venues: acoustic only. For larger venues: onboard pickup to DI to PA, or soundhole microphone to PA. Minimal processing — the 12-string’s natural character and the C# tuning’s specific tonal quality should reach the audience unmodified.

Element	Specification	Notes
Guitar	Mahogany jumbo 12-string; Taylor LKSM or equivalent	Mahogany body for warmth; jumbo body for volume; 12-string essential
Tuning	C# standard (all strings down 3 half-steps from E)	The defining LKSM characteristic; lighter strings than standard for appropriate tension
Picks	Thumbpick (traditional approach); modified bare-fingers technique (post-tendinitis)	Traditional: thumbpick for bass, fingerpick for treble; post-recovery: lighter touch throughout
Amplification	Onboard pickup to DI or acoustic preamp to PA	Less critical than the instrument and tuning; clean, transparent amplification

Budget vs Authentic

Budget:

Guitar: Seagull S12 or Yamaha LL16-12 12-string; tune to C# with lighter string gauges
Picks: National thumbpick + metal fingerpick on index finger
Strings: Lighter gauge than standard for the lower tuning (Martin or D’Addario 12-string light)

Authentic:

Guitar: Taylor Leo Kottke Signature Model (used market); or Taylor 562 tuned to C#
Same tuning: C# standard — non-negotiable for the LKSM sound

The Essential Technique

The driving thumb bass. The right thumb must alternate between the two lowest string courses on every beat, consistently and forcefully enough that it provides the rhythmic foundation for everything the fingers do above it. This is Travis picking, but with more force and more insistence than the country-context Travis picking of Merle Travis and Chet Atkins.

Then the arpeggios: the index, middle, and ring fingers pick individual strings in rapid sequence while the thumb maintains its bass. The goal is independent voices — the thumb line and the fingerpick lines should be independently audible, not merged into a single strumming character.

On a 12-string in C# tuning: tune to C# first. Let the guitar settle for a few minutes after retuning. Then play an open C# chord (which sounds like an E shape fingered at the 0 position in the new tuning). Feel the difference in string tension. The strings feel lighter, more responsive, more forgiving. The tone is fuller and darker. That’s the LKSM character. Start the thumb bass there.

Influence & Legacy: The Guitar’s Acoustic Hero

Leo Kottke’s influence on acoustic guitar is precisely described as “creating the space for the development of fingerstyle guitar” — he didn’t develop fingerstyle guitar single-handedly, but he demonstrated its possibilities so completely that subsequent players had a clear model for what solo acoustic guitar could achieve at the highest level.

The documented direct influences and acknowledgments:

Tommy Emmanuel — Guitar Player readers’ poll: 6 & 12 String Guitar number one acoustic album of all time; Emmanuel cited it specifically; the Tommy Emmanuel tradition of solo acoustic mastery has Kottke as a significant ancestor
John Fahey — Kottke emerged from Fahey’s Takoma Records tradition; mutual influence; Fahey heard something unprecedented in the demo tape
Mike Gordon (Phish) — Collaborated on two albums; the Kottke tradition reaching the jam band world
Acoustic fingerstyle guitarists broadly — The entire tradition of solo acoustic concert performance for large audiences has Kottke’s model as a foundational reference

The 6 & 12 String Guitar album continues to be discovered by new guitarists — over 500,000 copies sold for an acoustic guitar instrumental album represents penetration into audiences far beyond the acoustic music community. Guitar Player’s comparison to “an unplugged Hendrix” is not hyperbole: Kottke’s effect on acoustic guitar players was as galvanising as Hendrix’s effect on electric guitarists, and as impossible to emulate without decades of dedicated practice.

He tours solo. He drives his guitars in a rental car. He makes the same self-deprecating jokes he has been making for fifty years. He plays, with a 12-string tuned to C#, music that has no precedent and no easy successor.

The nail in the Mexican cheapy was the beginning. The Taylor tuned to C# is where it arrived. The injury was the transition between them. All three are the same story.

Tone note: He recorded the number-one acoustic guitar album of all time in a single afternoon. Then he damaged his hands through over-exertion and had to relearn everything. Then he found a Taylor with a slim neck and built a guitar tuned to C# with a Maccaferri cutaway and custom bracing. The album, the injury, and the recovery guitar are all consequences of the same quality: total commitment to the guitar, regardless of what it costs. The nail was the cost. The C# tuning was the payment.

In a single afternoon in Minneapolis in December 1969, Leo Kottke recorded 6 & 12 String Guitar for John Fahey’s Takoma Records. It sold 500,000 copies. Guitar Player readers voted it the favorite acoustic guitar album of all time. Tommy Emmanuel confirmed it.

Then the early 1980s came. Tendinitis. He stopped performing. He relearned how to play guitar in a way that wouldn’t hurt his hands. He gave up 12-string almost entirely. In the late 1980s he found a Taylor 555 with a slim neck, called Bob Taylor, and they designed a guitar together. The Taylor LKSM: mahogany jumbo, Maccaferri cutaway, minimal ornamentation, custom bracing for lower tuning, shipped in C# standard. One of the best 12-string guitars ever made, according to Fretboard Journal. Now discontinued.

He tours solo. He puts his guitars in the back of a rental car. He drives to the venue. He sets up his own equipment. He plays 12-string guitar tuned to C# to an audience that loves what a nail in a Mexican cheapy eventually became.

The guitar came and got him when he was a boy. He made an E chord. Within a week, the guitar had him completely.

It still does.

If Leo Kottke’s 12-string acoustic mastery — the C# tuning, the driving thumb bass, the solo acoustic concert approach — has you exploring the tradition he helped establish, check out our complete guide to Tommy Emmanuel’s guitars and gear — the CGP who confirmed that Guitar Player readers voted Kottke’s debut the favorite acoustic guitar album of all time, and whose own solo acoustic virtuosity owes a significant debt to the space Kottke opened.

And for the label founder who heard Kottke’s demo tape and released 6 & 12 String Guitar — without whom the album might never have found its audience — check our coverage of John Fahey and the American Primitive Guitar tradition that contextualised Kottke’s debut.

FAQ: Leo Kottke Guitars & Gear

What guitar is Leo Kottke most associated with?: The Taylor Leo Kottke Signature Model (LKSM) — a mahogany jumbo 12-string with a Maccaferri-style cutaway, minimal ornamentation, and custom bracing designed for lower tuning, shipped in C# standard (approximately three half-steps below conventional E standard). The guitar was developed in collaboration with Bob Taylor in the early 1990s after Kottke contacted Taylor to compliment him on a Taylor 555 that he could play without the hand strain that had caused his early-1980s tendinitis. The LKSM has been discontinued since Taylor retired the jumbo body size. In his early career, he played Bozo Podunavac Bell Western 12-strings, as well as Gibson and Martin 12-string models.
Why does Leo Kottke tune his 12-string to C#?: Two reasons that align: physical recovery and aesthetic preference. After tendinitis forced him to relearn his technique in the early 1980s, lower string tension (produced by tuning down) reduced the physical demand on his recovering hands. At the same time, C# tuning produces a darker, fuller, more bass-forward tonal character than conventional E standard — specifically suited to his driving thumb-bass style. The Taylor LKSM’s bracing was custom-designed to respond optimally to the C# pitch. Fretboard Journal noted that historically, 12-strings were often tuned low; it wasn’t until the Byrds and Beatles used Rickenbackers that E standard became the norm.
What happened to Leo Kottke’s hands in the 1980s?: Over-exertion led to tendinitis — inflammation of the tendons in his playing hands — in the early 1980s. He stopped performing and set about relearning to play guitar in a way that wouldn’t cause the same strain. He also essentially gave up 12-string guitar during this period, as the 12-string’s heavier string courses require more physical force than a six-string. The recovery led directly to the Taylor relationship: he found a Taylor 555 with a slim neck that he could play without strain, contacted Bob Taylor, and the collaboration produced the LKSM with its C# tuning and specific design features.
What was Leo Kottke’s first 12-string guitar?: A Mexican cheapy — a budget instrument — with a nail hammered into the neck behind the 12th fret to serve as a makeshift capo. He played this instrument in his early career, including a brief stint in East St. Louis where he tended bar for fifteen minutes and played guitar for five minutes before leaving. This improvised setup eventually led to the technique that produced his 1969 debut album, 6 & 12 String Guitar, recorded in a single afternoon for John Fahey’s Takoma Records.
What albums made Leo Kottke famous?: 6 & 12 String Guitar (Takoma Records, 1969) is his definitive record — Guitar Player readers voted it the favorite acoustic guitar album of all time, as confirmed by Tommy Emmanuel. The album sold over 500,000 copies and introduced a fingerstyle acoustic guitar technique with no precedent: driving thumb-picked bass with rolling, rapid-fire arpeggios on both six- and twelve-string guitars. Guitar Player described his impact as “comparable to an unplugged Hendrix in that Kottke set the tone for the modern acoustic guitar hero.”
What picks did Leo Kottke use?: In his early career, through the peak technique period that led to his tendinitis, he used both thumb and finger picks — a thumbpick on the right thumb for the driving bass, and fingerpicks on the index and middle fingers for the treble arpeggios and melodies. After the tendinitis and his relearning of technique in the early 1980s, his picking approach changed to be less physically demanding. The specific picks he uses in his post-recovery technique are less consistently documented than his early thumbpick-and-fingerpick approach.
How do I get Leo Kottke’s 12-string guitar tone?: A mahogany-body 12-string guitar tuned to C# standard (all strings tuned down three half-steps from E standard), with lighter string gauges than you’d use for E standard tuning. The Taylor LKSM (now discontinued, available used) is the authentic instrument; a Taylor 562 or similar mahogany jumbo 12-string tuned to C# approximates the character. Thumbpick for bass strings, fingerpicks or bare fingers for treble — the thumb drives a consistent alternating bass while the fingers handle arpeggios and melody above it. No effects; the guitar’s acoustic output (or through onboard pickup to PA for live performance) is the complete signal chain. The technique — the driving thumb bass that doesn’t stop under any circumstances — is the defining element, and it requires sustained practice to develop.