Ohhhhhhh 12-string bass....

[kennyhowes]

Cool!

[pacealot]

Yeah; nice Hamers!

Ah, memories: I too had (still have; got it ripped off, but got it back again) a Hamer B12S which I had custom made in 2005 (my name on the headstock was a big part of what helped me get it back when it was stolen - yay for vanity!!). In the band I used to play for, of which I no longer speak (except, I suppose, now, technically), there was one song where I tuned at least two of the string trios root-fifth-octave. It sounded awesome on the recording - instant power-pop power chords! - but it was a pain in the butt to retune for that live, and the other band members used to always scowl at me for never being ready to play that song in time (even though it started with a long drum intro). That band hated, hated, HATED that bass (or rather, me for playing it). Between that, my overly-Squirey trebly Roto-tone which they also hated, and my crippling psychiatric problems (I wish that was a joke, but alas...), it was enough to finally get them off their lazy non-confrontational buttocks to fire me in 2011. Best move for everyone, seriously. Wouldn't go back if I were handed one billion dollars in untraceable cash. Nor would they have me for the same each.

At my last gig before getting "the burn," I was on an extreme amount of benzodiazepines because (amongst other reasons) we had flown out to play in Austin (I am deathy afraid of flying), and I'd only brought the Hamer 12, and some fan started mocking me for not being able/willing to play one of the band's songs (an ancient and overplayed "feature" song from the original bassist whom I had replaced, ineffectually) on the 12ver. That was it; I lost my mind and jumped into the crowd after him to try to grab him and beat him senseless. The band members had to pull me away through the rest of the crowd. What a way to go out. Ah, memories, indeed.

On a slightly happier note, I've always wanted a Rick 8-string, even if I would have to convert it myself. But now that I'm unemployed/unemployable, there isn't much call for it....

[pacealot]

As a 12ver-specific addendum: I did develop a technique of playing where I was able to skip the octave strings for whole passages when necessary. It was easiest to do by plucking downward with the thumb, but I could also pick it using a plectrum to get that effect as well (with some fairly heavy muting, it gave a nice Carol Kaye-type "tic-tac" kind of sound). It required a combination of left-hand finger pad muting of the unwanted octaves, and judicious use of leverage/angular control on the picking hand and/or finger(s). But it actually worked pretty well. (When I wasn't on several metric tons of Ativan, that is. I had and could play that stupid, stupid song on the 12ver; but I was ornery, bitter, and bombed out of my skull, and I wasn't about to give in to some jerk in the audience taunting me about it.)

It's too bad I never got to play that bass in the band I'd really intended it for when I ordered it, a then-SF-based band called Persephone's Bees, with whom I played for about seven or eight months before getting dropped like a hot rock (as was inevitable). Their guitarist, Tom Ayres, is still probably the finest guitar player I've ever shared a stage with, and he and I could've done a lot of damage between us with me on that Hamer. But alas; it was never meant to be.

The octave-avoiding technique would be a bit harder on a 12ver like Kenny's, I'd think; having it strung "Rick way" with the lowest string on the bass side would reverse the angle of attack. I'd like to try it some time just to see if I could adapt the technique to the reversed layout. It would also make playing it with fingers slightly more sensible, I suppose - hmmm....

[cheyenne]

I'd love to have that Green 8-string flying V.

[chromium]

That green Vector 8 is back up on Ebay, in case you haven't already seen it:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ONE-OF-A-KIND-V ... 3cfabe9f91

Steep cost of admission, but then again... find another! Always loved the trans green finishes...

[iamthebassman]

I was late getting a 12-string, I'd wanted one since CT's Heaven Tonight was released in the late 70s but it wasn't until 1991 or so before I got my first, a black Hamer B12S, it was the only 12 I wanted as it was closest to the one in the pic on HT. It became THE sound of our 3-piece so, as we were gigging a lot, I "needed" a backup so I got a second B12S, in "Salmon Blush". It was beautiful and I preferred the neck over my black one's so it became #1. Ran a biamp rig with GK heads into Mesa Boogie cabs.

A few years later the band broke up and I sold the black one but I still have the other.

[Lefty4003S8]

Another noteworthy player of 12-string basses is Doug Pinnick from King's X. He played them on their first 2-3 albums I believe.

Check him/them out---they are FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!

[chromium]

I was also really late to game w/coursed string basses. I had always been intrigued seeing Rockpile/Lowe, TP and Jon Brant using them way back when I began playing in the early 80s.. but I never encountered one in person to actually try out. Finally bit the bullet in 2008 and picked up an Ibanez ST-980 via Ebay. Loved it!

I no longer have that bass, but I'm the caretaker of an s8, Bich 8-string, and a growing harem of Hamers (including a B12S):

[antipodean]

I was also really late to game w/coursed string basses. I had always been intrigued seeing Rockpile/Lowe, TP and Jon Brant using them way back when I began playing in the early 80s.. but I never encountered one in person to actually try out. Finally bit the bullet in 2008 and picked up an Ibanez ST-980 via Ebay. Loved it!

I no longer have that bass, but I'm the caretaker of an s8, Bich 8-string, and a growing harem of Hamers (including a B12S):

Love 'em Hamers, especially the B12S single pickup. Uber-cool....

[kennyhowes]

Yes indeed. Good stuff.

[12stringbassist]

This finish and this bridge would make for the perfect Ric.

[kennyhowes]

That's kinda sorta what I was going for with mine...