well recently ive been toying with a range of ideas to help expand my learning and also the range of tones availible to me. would it be a good idea to get a 12 string?

also on the way is a shure sm57 & sm58 with an interface

oh an a new amp

thoughts?

Laney amps are great!! Good vintage British grit tone - I love it.

Wouldnt have opted for that choice of interface myself but it will still give you a nice result - for that kind of money though Id have gone Mbox2/Pro Tools personally although the 8 inputs will be useful.

SM57/58 both great live mics and will do a good recording job, although if its just home recording your doing again Id have gone down the condenser mic route. That said what youve got is a lot more versatile.

12 strings guitars. Im undecided. Ive owned 2 in my life and really enjoyed them both in short bursts but Ive never felt the need to keep them. I think its a novelty thing and once it wears off there isnt much to go back for. A normal acoustic with a chorus pedal gives an almost identical result - and you dont actually play it any differently.

12 strings arent that hard to get to grips with over normal guitar, but theyre pricey, and relatively hard to find. I want one, mainly just for collection purposes.

but if i had the money, id probably buy a really sh*t hot acoustic that sounds spot on.

No definitely not hard to play - not really any different to play in fact. I wouldnt have said theyre pricey or hard to find - theres usually a few knocking about in the local shops I use (Rok Shop - Shrewsbury, Rythymn House - Stoke, Sound Control - Stoke) for between £80 - £130 which I dont thinks a bad price. Totally agree with your point though - spend the cash on a solid 6 string that youll cherish.

ive got a solid 6 string (ovation) but im looking for something with a bit more depth in terms of finger picking. think opeths benighted for a reference.
cheapo 12 string im not looking for anything expensive. sub 100 quid really.

If its just picking youre after as Rivkid has already said you can get near enough the same tone with a bit of chorus and a normal acoustic. You dont really get to appreciate the lovely jangly goodness of a 12 string unless youre strumming.

not really. it opens up more tuning capibilities than a 6 string.

i was thinking bottom three octave up, and the other three in chorus. an the whole thing tuned to open d. so it would be
 high e (same note)
e
 high a (same note
a
f an octave lower
f
 d an octave higher
d
  a an octave higher
a
  d an octave higher
d

Fair play if you can be arsed then cool. It will give you a different tone but again nothing you couldnt find through fiddling with an effects pedal really. Nice to have things to fiddle with though but unless you have an abundance of space I still reckon itll end up in a cupboard after a while....

As for the kit youve bought if its all for live then it is in fact pretty much what I would have gone for.

if you can get them cheap then go for it deffo, guitar shops round here are crap tbh.

like i say, id love one.