12 String Bass

django49

django49

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Alright......Just got the hammer (Hamer) down on a 12 string bass auction. Not sure what the H I'm gonna DO with it, or even whether it is a decent price.......Just had to check one more thing off the "Gotta have someday" list.

Any recommendations on amplifying, etc? I am NOT a bass player (as anyone hearing me play will probably attest). However, I do have a 200w Hartke head, an SWR cab with 2 x 10 and tweeter plus a Thiele cab with a 300w EV speaker. That will probably have to do, but I am always interested in hearing of different options.

 
Sturdy speakers and distant neighbors are always a good start. /emoticons/default_laugh.png

Eddited fur grammiticle eros.

 
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Split the signal if you can, with lows going through your bass rig and distorted highs going through a guitar amp.

 
I admire ya. A 12'ver or an 8 string have long been on my 'must have' list, but I've been too skeered to pull the trigger.

 
crunchee said:
Sturdy speakers and distant neighbors are always a good start. /emoticons/default_laugh.png

Eddited fur grammiticle eros.
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Perfect comment! Since our house has walls a foot thick and the neighbors are 100 yards away, they may hold off on calling the cops until they are sure it is not an earthquake.

 
I didn't realize just how amazing a 12ver is for playing out live, until I played it at the Chicago Jam...having already sold it /emoticons/default_wink.png

If your bass part is just single notes, with a 12 string, you're strumming each note and your sound is thunderous!! Way more fun /emoticons/default_laugh.png

 
I'm using single 15 & 2-10 cabs biamped.

We tune down a half step & it has lots of low end.

 
If the bass is the one I think it is, django got a killer deal!

Do what Jack C says and you will have monster tone.

Fresh octave strings help a lot, too. alpep often has Hamer-branded 12 string sets for sale, but you can also order singles from GHS at a local store and add them to a regular set of bass strings.

 
I appreciate the good advice. This IS the one that closed on the Bay yesterday for a total of $945, inc shipping.

I did put in a somewhat higher bid, but it seemed a couple others were playing it $10 at a time. So I got off easier than I thought, esp since there appear to be a couple NOS ones around in the $2500 (asking) ballpark.

Hope that it makes its way up the left coast, about 1,000 miles, by the weekend.

Just when I said "No more" to near term purchases..... However, I have sold one head, one large cab and one guitar in the past week, so I am moving in the right direction. A couple more sales possibly pending.

 
django49 said:
I appreciate the good advice. This IS the one that closed on the Bay yesterday for a total of $945, inc shipping.

I did put in a somewhat higher bid, but it seemed a couple others were playing it $10 at a time. So I got off easier than I thought, esp since there appear to be a couple NOS ones around in the $2500 (asking) ballpark.
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Congrats! It must be a sign of the times...I have a relative that does eBay sales in clothing and collectibles, she says that this year bidders are tending to bid the minimum, regardless of whether there's 6 days or 6 seconds left, whether it's a $1 item or $100 item. Any other year I might have bid on that bass, but this year I couldn't afford it, no how, no way. /emoticons/default_laugh.png

 
I appreciate the advice. Arrived today. Brief concern about the lousy sound. New battery fixed that.

Will need to dig up some suitable strings-----Or scrape the rust off these.

Initial reaction is that this (string lineup) will tend to ring better with downstrokes (pick or thumb) than finger (upstrokes), Bit we will see soon enough.

 
Definitely play with a pick if the octave strings are on top.

You can also switch between a pick and your fingers to vary the tone from one song to the next. That approach works well on an 8 string.

 
Steve Haynie said:
Definitely play with a pick if the octave strings are on top.

You can also switch between a pick and your fingers to vary the tone from one song to the next. That approach works well on an 8 string.
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Using a pick on bass is a foreign concept, but I can learn!

This really has a sound like a "synth bass" (when played with a pick). I like it!

There is ONE MORE QUESTION that comes to mind. For those with a 12ver......About how high do you set the strings/action? This one needs new strings anyway and looks like it should be tweaked a bit. I would think the strings are about 3/16" above the 12th fret. Is it unreasonable to think it should play well (certainly easier!) if I can get that to about 1/8, maybe SLIGHTLY less? I have another bass that is under 1/8' and it seems to play very well.

But what do I know, I mainly play guitar! /emoticons/default_laugh.png

 
I set mine as low as possible, which was around 4/64" at the 12th fret for the fundamentals, and 3/64" for the octaves. Unplugged, there was *slight* buzzing, but you can't hear it when plugged in.

If you can "brush" your fingers, then playing a 12ver with fingerpicking is no problem; it just takes a plucking motion that kind of aims into the instrument body, if that makes any sense. But playing with a pick is where you have the most control.

Using the dual outputs from a Valvulator is how I got equal outputs, split to a bass amp and a guitar amp.

 
tobereeno said:
I set mine as low as possible, which was around 4/64" at the 12th fret for the fundamentals, and 3/64" for the octaves. Unplugged, there was *slight* buzzing, but you can't hear it when plugged in.

If you can "brush" your fingers, then playing a 12ver with fingerpicking is no problem; it just takes a plucking motion that kind of aims into the instrument body, if that makes any sense. But playing with a pick is where you have the most control.

Using the dual outputs from a Valvulator is how I got equal outputs, split to a bass amp and a guitar amp.
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Yes, the "plucking motion" makes sense......But hard to not mute the strings at least a little bit that way.

I have never tried a Valvulator but it sounds like a good idea.....Probably at least one step better than a simple AB box.

Thanks for the tips!

 
just takes a little bit of practice. I rarely played my B12S, and for the Chicago Jam, I *had* to fingerpick as I was playing that monster on "Sweet Emotion". Blistered my right index finger from just that one song but it all came out fine and, so I'm told, clear enough. I just had to practice that song for about an hour and I had it down.

 
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