Edit: no juice was spilled and no sofa was damaged in he making of this video!
Firstly, - This is my sting changing methodology: • Re-stringing methodolo...
12 fret guitars are the original Martin designs - from size 2 to the dreadnought. Originally based on European classic guitars, they were redesigned and refined by C F Martin and co, with new methods of strutting the tops to enable varying sizes based on the size of venue - amateur, concert, grand concert, to auditorium.
The dreadnought design originally made under protest for the Ditson company was proposed to be a dual use instrument with an interchangeable nut enabling both Hawaiian and "Spanish" style playing. They we not a success and the were regarded as grossly oversized. After Ditson closed down during the depression Martin decided to try them under thoer own name in 1931 - the D1, and D2, soon after renamed the D18 and D28. Again, whilst a superb design , they were not a commercial success.
Popular music was changing and the guitar was changing from a small, rather quiet solo instrument to a rhythm instrument for ex tenor banjo players in jazz and dance bands. Gibson offered the Archtop guitar, National offered the loud but heavy resonator guitar, and Martin offered the "OM" (Orchestra Model) a squashed version of the 000 model with 14 frets exposed and a thinner fretboard (as close as feasible to a tenor banjo).They also produced a similr modified dreadnought which they also described as an "OM" but it didn't have the harsh projection of competitors and so Gibson won out. However the 14 fret Martin was a good strumming instrument for folk genres and has now become a world standard design although the original version is actually more suitable for modern more intricate styles.