Ventura V-797 12-String

Presumably made sometime in the 1970's. Made in Japan. 20 frets. Solid spruce top, solid rosewood sides and back, laminated maple neck with rosewood overlay on peghead.Neck and head are bound in white, face is bound with white with very thin black stripes, back is bound with white. Bookmatched back with center inlay stripe. Neck has mop dot inlay fret markers, truss rod and rosewood fretboard. The neck is narrower than many other 12's I have picked up over the years and for a 12 string is VERY playable. The compay logo "Ventura" is inlaid in the head in mop script. This is a dreadnaught size guitar I believe. Tuners are no name with stamped covers and will probably be replaced eventually. The guitar is strictly acoustic (no pickups).

I play mostly acoustic folk, rock and blues. This guitar is great for my purposes. The ound of this guitar is why I bought it. It has the rich tones of a 30 plus year old guitar. It rings when played as only a guitar made of good woods can.

No idea what the factory set up was like as I recently bought it used. It came to me in a battered chip board case and essentially unplayable above the 3rd or 4th fret as the neck was pulling loose from the body. Even in that condition with old strings it was clear that the guitar had superb tone. The neck attachment method on this guitar is not appropriate for a 12 string but it is an easy fix. The neck is not dove tailed into the body but instead had four hardwood dowels and one furniture type wood screw/bolt. I have remounted the neck and used two neck bolt and insert assemblies from Grizzly tools as well as three of the original dowels. I have pictures of this if anyone else starts on this project and wants to see what they're getting into. The set up at the net was fine and I tweaked the truss rod a little. Wound up cutting down the saddle a good bit and had to reshape the bridge a little. The action is now very nice and is vastly superior to 90% of the six strings hanging on guitar shop walls. The neck, even though it was pulling loose is very solid and true.

After the neck job i woluld trust this guitar for whatever use I had in mind. Other than the tuners it's solid and they are easily replaced. The finish is in superb condition for a 30 some yaer old guitar. Unless you're Gordon Lightfoot or a truly wealthy rock star why would anyone carry a back-up 12 string???? Most 12 strings of this age probably went to the dump long ago so I have to give it a good score for durability, just keep the neck joint in mind and don't tune too high as the strings wear out. At normal pitch with lights on it the string exert app. 250 p.s.i. on the neck.

Don't buy it if you can't fix it or afford to have it fixed. That being said this is a VERY worthwhile guitar to fix up. It would be a crime to let one of these go to the dump.

I've been playing for since about the time this guitar was made. I have an Ovation Custom Balladeer purchased new in 1981, a Walden 630CE purchased new recently, the Peavey electric, a vintage electric Westone, and a 1970's Univox Coily. If anything happended to it I would definitly go looking for another Ventura 12. The resale on these may not be huge but to buy a new guitar made with the solid woods like this and a tone that might compare would put into the REAL EXSPENSIVE guitar range. If you happen across one and don't want it yourself, let a friend know, they'll thank you in the end.