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The Trade Show 12 String Quad Bass


Homz

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Hi there

I just wanted to share with you guys my Hamer Quad 12 string bass I recently acquired in London. With the help of some great people on TalkBass and especially Mark Rowe of 12stringbass.net we have pieced together its history and feel that this is the Trade Show Bass from 1978. Here is some information that was uncovered for me:

Mark figured out why this bass showed up in London - it has been there since 1978. In the book about Hamer Guitars, "The Ultimate", on page 55 it reads, "Although the instrument (Quad bass) was intended to be built for Petersson alone, Paul Hamer mentioned the bass to Jethro Tull's new bass player, John Glasscock, who was interested in the idea. At one point when Tull was in town, Hamer happened to have Tom's bass in the shop for some minor adjustments, so he brought it down for Glasscock to see. Glasscock was so impressed that he ordered one immediately. Glasscock's Quadbass was completed just before the 1978 British Musical Instrument Trade Show in London, so Hamer brought it along with him when he flew overseas to attend the show. He asked Glasscock if he could display it at Hamer's booth and Glasscock agreed. Martin Barre arrived at Hamer's booth to demo some instruments and, while there, The Who bassist John Entwistle happened along. He examined the bass and, excited about the possibilities of the instrument, ordered one for himself in the Explorer shape of the (Hamer) Standard."

So yes - it does seem like this bass is that Trade show Bass and subsequently owned by John Glasscock of Jethro Tull! So we can assume that Entwistle would have played it at the show too! Mark also has a picture of legendary Nitebob holding my exact bass at that show in London 1978.

If anyone has anymore information about this bass that will add to its history file - please post it up. 

Does anyone know what happened to it after Glasscock owned it? 

Also - if anyone can help with information regarding the electronics on these early Quad bass's I would be very very grateful.

Please enjoy the pics! 

http://imgur.com/a/ytszYXY

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10 minutes ago, mrjamiam said:

Welcome to the HFC!  Excellent first post, and quite the unicorn you have there!  Congratulations on your acquisition, and enjoy.

Thanks mrjamaim! 

Certainly was a stroke of luck! 

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Congrats on the Quad Bass acquisition.

I thought I'd bought this bass myself from an Ebay seller jamesdgaynor but the night before I was due to pick it up - 2 days after paying for it - he calls me to tell me it wasn't available anymore as he had turned it down from an auction house because "it had a dodgy truss rod, bad electronics and a flakey body as if it was submerged in water."  Clearly he was a complete liar.

I did my own research and the bass once belonged to Paul Raven of The Hellfire Club, Ministry and other bands.  He died years ago but the bass can be seen in action here:

The bass is a great find and looks to be in great condition for its age and use.  I hope you really enjoy it (said through gritted teeth LOL).

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51 minutes ago, DBraz said:

Congrats on the Quad Bass acquisition.

I thought I'd bought this bass myself from an Ebay seller jamesdgaynor but the night before I was due to pick it up - 2 days after paying for it - he calls me to tell me it wasn't available anymore as he had turned it down from an auction house because "it had a dodgy truss rod, bad electronics and a flakey body as if it was submerged in water."  Clearly he was a complete liar.

I did my own research and the bass once belonged to Paul Raven of The Hellfire Club, Ministry and other bands.  He died years ago but the bass can be seen in action here:

The bass is a great find and looks to be in great condition for its age and use.  I hope you really enjoy it (said through gritted teeth LOL).

Hey Dbraz

I thought I'd copy the reply I  made to this post on the Talkbass forum for those on here who arent on there...


Err yeah, hes telling porkie pies for sure (lies), what happened was exactly as I mentioned in a previous post. He must have been so confident that he would win the auction, he decided to sell it on before waiting to see if he actually won it. Then obviously made some bull***t story to you as to why he doesn't have it for sale. Bit silly really.
Also there was no way he could have checked the electrics before buying it and the neck seems straight as a die.

I'm sorry you got messed about, must have been gutting to say the least.

I'm over the moon with it dude, just to have a piece of history like this, and to be able to help piece its story together is amazing. I probably wont own it for long as it will be for sale soon, but just to be involved in its journey is wicked.

Thanks for the little bit of history too, so Paul Raven must have owned it at some point after Glasscock. This puzzle is on it's way to being complete!
Thanks for the link too - nice to see it in action. I wonder if it was Raven who added the '3' sticker as its featured in the clip...

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What a story! And to me The Raven King owning it is extra special, as a longtime Killing Joke fan. This reminds me of a movie, The Red Violin, that traces the "lifetime" of an instrument as it changes hands...

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45 minutes ago, polara said:

What a story! And to me The Raven King owning it is extra special, as a longtime Killing Joke fan. This reminds me of a movie, The Red Violin, that traces the "lifetime" of an instrument as it changes hands...

Bit of useless trivia for you - did you know there's a Killing Joke poster on Ferris Bueller's bedroom wall? https://vassifer.blogs.com/alexinnyc/2013/06/favorites-of-ferris.html

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36 minutes ago, scottcald said:

Very cool history and bass.  Looks like a lot of fun ahead with that.  Congrats!

Thanks Scottcald

Its an amazing History isnt it? I now need to find out where it went after Paul Raven owned it....

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