warwickhunt

I've owned an 8 (Warwick formerly owned by Hellmut Hattler custom paint job) and found it fine to play even at a gig, the 12 in the house is OK. It's when you need to get it 100% correct and fret all of the notes/strings AND deal with the sound of the rest of the band! However, yes it will be a slow build rather than 2 x 45 straight off. Luckily I took other basses (short and long scale).

So I rehearsed with the Musicvox tonight... I have an ABSOLUTE new respect for Tom Petersson! I've owned 12s in the past but never used them in anger, boy o boy o boy is that different to noodling in the house. How the hell does Tom get through a 30 minute support slot never mind 90 mins+ and he doesn't ever switch back to 4 strings live.

Yes the 12 is 'inverted'... not sure if that is easier or harder to play. Turns out this Musicvox was a prototype where they were going to offer an inverted string option... like anyone cared. LOL @BigRedX yes the guitarist has a range of guitars (Les Paul, Hamer etc) but the multineck thing is even more obscure than my 12er but you are correct it puts it in perspective for the band/me. I suppose I just want to do the role to the best of my ability; the fact that I have a similar appearance and look to TP is (genuine) coincidence... I think.

Yes I think that is the only viable option to get as close to the Hamer B12A as is possible; making the B12S would involve a massive double cut body. Sounds ridiculous as I am the initiator of this thread but I've discovered a variation on this Musicvox to all other Musicvox or any other 12 string that I've subsequently researched and I didn't even notice it when I was trying/collecting it! Can you see what it is?

It is! Is that the Antoria/Hamer? It would look like Ally Lee playing a Uke if you played it (local 'in' joke)!

Nice idea @Maude... except they are both set neck / thru neck, not a bolt or screw in sight!

13 years later (THIRTEEN) I bought another bass from Benedict and as easy as pie and exactly as described.

Yes thanks the merits were discussed earlier. The Musicvox acquisition likely eases back on another full blown 12 string purchase (Sod's Law a pukka Hamer TP turns up now) but who knows.

OK we are 2 steps closer to resolution... and 3 steps further back at the same time! Unbelievably I stumbled (after hours of Google searches and trawling) upon an actual bona fide 12 string bass not 30 minutes from where I live. Not the bass I want or need but as a used purchase, if it comes to nothing, I can sit with it as an objet d'art/talking/laughing point until such time as another sad git comes along looking for a 12er. I have also purchased the short scale Hamer double cut look alike highlighted in this thread (cheers @benebass), which might or might not form part of the travelling circus that is my Cheap Trick tribute. Options are all on the table with what I can/can't do now so I'm taking EVERYTHING to the rehearsal tomorrow and seeing where we go. It doesn't take a genius to work out that the Musicvox does NOT balance (hence the old stylee acoustic guitar string anchor to the neck). Start pointing out the obvious does/don'ts by all means and I'll sit and try to figure out wtf I am doing next! LOL

Indeed and I checked out his amazing work but going off comments on various sites/threads, we'd be talking easily in excess of £3-4k. Not saying his work isn't worth that, it is but am I going to max my budget out on this project... I doubt it.

Ah OK so not butchering the existing body but as it is a BO neck, just transfer the neck and all hardware onto another (custom made) body... got it.

If I was to buy the DP12 £1200 and then have it reshaped, I think I'd still be the thick end of £2k and have something that is an approximation and I'll have ruined any residual value. You tend not to get 'casual' gig attenders at Cheap Trick tribute gigs. Those at a gig will likely fall in 2 camps; 1 - non-bassists who wouldn't know if I was playing an encore P bass or one of Tom's actual instruments and 2 - BASSISTS... who will take one look and say 'Has he just buggerd up that DP bass to fool us?' If I was purely buying a 12 string bass as an instrument the DP would be on a short list but as an instrument for the purpose of a tribute bass, I'm unlikely to go that route.

I kind of get it but do you know of a bass like that?

Can I just say that all/any of this input (inc messages) has been and continues to inform my thought processes... please don't think I am trying to pick holes in suggestions, it is genuinely helping come closer to a/several decisions!

Defo a consideration if I was going custom or customising an existing bass but lots of permutations still on the donor bass and/or accessing hardware. I suppose modifying an existing 8 string to be a 12 string is the most viable option for this scenario BUT on reflection (as I type this) an 8 string would look visually correct and sound just about right for 80 - 90% of an audience (the other 10 - 20% being bassists in the audience) so is it worth modding to 12 string... especially as the anally retentive percentage will be tutting at the inaccuracies any way. LOL

That is about correct £0.00 > £5000 (I have to impose a limit somewhere).

I know what you mean about tuner location Kev and it was an early consideration but I start to get into the realms of it not being aesthetically correct and that being the case I have lots of options opening up. On a sliding scale I have: [bugger-it I'll just play a 4 string] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > [I'll purchase one of Tom's actual basses] Somewhere on that scale all other options sit and aren't excluded or dismissed.

I don't think there has been a successful 12 string neck with a single truss rod. You are also back to the paradox that the neck needs to be wide enough for 12 strings (50mm would literally be pushing it) and the headstock long enough for 12 machine heads, which pretty much eliminates off the shelf short / medium scale... and you are back into costing 12 string hardware (bridges are custom jobbies). I'm not sure my skills would be up to creating this monster any way. However, this is all good for me as it clarifies my thinking when I answer perfectly reasonable suggestions.

Quite dark lyrical content at times but often delivered in a way that wasn't obvious. Songs about suicide are multiple (due to a friend of theirs committing suicide); they also have a go at sexism, misogyny, pedophilia, among other cheery topics... and then you have 'I want you to want me' which (iirc) the vocalist once said he wishes he'd been dumb enough to write a few more of those! Their first album from '77 still does it for me though and oddly not one single song recorded on a 12 string bass!

Yeah the UK leg was cancelled (again). I've had tickets for the Newcastle show for a while which was rescheduled and then dropped all together.

You have insider knowledge of them being in the UK... pray tell more.

Ouch... harsh but fair! I think I've accepted that sub 9lb AND balanced AND 12 string are mutually exclusive and can't be achieved in 1 package. A bit like Hoffman's Law, I'm going to be going for 2 out of 3 or accepting all 3 will be a compromised bass but that's to be expected. Buying a donor 12 in itself is proving 'very' difficult. A bolt on neck would likely be required for it to work but they are virtually non-existent and I'm not about to go down the route of making a dual truss rod NT bass from scratch. I suppose I could buy a 12 string NT and chop the wings/body off but I'm back to sourcing the donor. ...I may have an update coming shortly; watch this space. It's probably going to open a whole other can of worms... gulp.

Absolutely, this is my 'personal' dilemma! I know PLENTY tribute bands of other genre/style and many don't buy a bog standard copy of what an iconic guitarist/bassist might have used (I'll not go down the clothing/styling/wig route), so do I need to get hung up... probably not but I would like to get as close as possible... within reason. I have and am presently following several of the paths already suggested or at least some of the less expensive routes. I own a Bolin NS bass which isn't dissimilar to the Hamer B12A in outline which could be used as is or a facsimile of a 12 string headstock put on the face. I won't give up on sourcing the correct bass but as I've been a CT fan for over 40 years and probably actively looked for one of his basses for most of that time (depending on my income at any given time).

Hamer XT... is that the MIK Chaparral?

That is pretty much exactly where I am at with my thinking. Option A) is that I get something faux 12 string which will sound pretty much like a 12 string or as near that it makes no difference to the sound of the band. Option B) I wait and source something 2nd hand that is the real thing. Costing out the building of a 12 string regardless of shape, is likely to be in excess of £2500. Admittedly I get exactly what I want but it would have very little resale value, certainly when you consider the number of people who would want (i) a 12 string (ii) a 12 string that mimics something that Tom Petersson uses... because that would be me. Could I get a genuine USA Hamer as per my needs for £2500? Possibly but it might be a long wait and it would need to be someone in the UK as buying one from Europe/USA would incur 25% charges (bass would need to be less than £2k to buy or would end up costing £3k). One outside chance is that I source a Waterstone bass (which Tom used for a few years) which are generally a lot cheaper (but still very scarce) BUT I've heard they suffer terribly from neck dive. I'm fairly sure there are at least a couple BCers who have owned/own Waterstones so I may need to send a couple of PMs to get a feel for how those basses felt/behaved.