The Funk Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 Hi there. Have any of you ever played, owned, encountered or coveted a twin neck guitar/bass? I've been after one for about 20 years during which time I had ideas about adapting some of the Jeff Beck/Jan Hammer material for twin neck guitar and bass. A couple of months ago, I managed to get a no-name twin neck cheap on eBay, with the bass on top and the guitar lower down. It turns out it's not as simple as I thought! I'm sticking with it though and trying to write some material for it. I even had an attempt at playing [i]Taxman[/i] on it. I'll post some pics and clips once I have something to show you. So, let me know about your experiences / thoughts about twin necks. Just copy and paste for "pretentious, pointless, self-indulgent '70s/'80s prog / fusion distraction". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 I saw a HM band from Leeds, "Confessor" a few times in the late 70s/early 80s. Their singer Krys had a CMI sunburst EB3/SG 4/6 thru' a Marshall tranny headed stack & it sounded immense. They were only a three piece when I saw them but he was great at switching between the two. I saw the same guitar(s??) on Ebay a few years ago - and had it confirmed by a mate that it was his but I couldn't justify it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Funk Posted July 26, 2015 Author Share Posted July 26, 2015 If you don't mind my asking, how much was it going for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 (edited) Just out of curiosity I googled bass guitar double neck & found this page. [url="http://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-double-neck-bass.html"]http://www.aliexpres...-neck-bass.html[/url] No idea what what the import costs/duties are but the basic retail prices seems pretty astonishing. Wonder what the quality is like? Edited July 26, 2015 by Cato Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Funk Posted July 26, 2015 Author Share Posted July 26, 2015 Some of those look great. Even if they're terrible and need work, I'm sure they could be a cheap way to try it out. The twin neck I have has a very nice body but the necks aren't great. The best guess is it's a 30 year old homemade instrument but with a few high quality parts. It was cheap enough at under £400 for me to have a go and get some work done on it. The trickiest part - as you might expect - has been switching between the necks cleanly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoffbyrne Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 Had to play a CSI twin neck SG type in 12- and 6- string format many years ago when the strap on my Les Paul let go and it fell & somehow managed to snap most of the strings. The keys player had this in the back of his car & I used it for the whole of the gig - which happened to be an 8pm till Midnight dancing gig, by which I mean we played strict tempo ballroom stuff as well as Rock & Scottish Country dances. The twin neck was set up beautifully with the 12 neck possibly being the best guitar neck I've ever played & the 6 was not far behind. It also sounded good. BUT it was a terminal neck diver. If I let it go the heads turned down & pointed at my feet instantly. I had to support the necks while playing the whole time. Next day I had a very, very sore shoulder & to be honest, I think my shoulder has never recovered. YMMV. G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_Stu Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 (edited) [quote name='The Funk' timestamp='1437947446' post='2830338'] If you don't mind my asking, how much was it going for? [/quote] Can't remember sorry; I do remember thinking it was more than reasonable. Very similar to this apart from colour. The "Confessor" guy (not the same as the present day band of the same name) also used a Moog Taurus pedal. Edited July 26, 2015 by Big_Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Funk Posted July 26, 2015 Author Share Posted July 26, 2015 Very nice looking instrument indeed! I'm running a Roland PK7A (bass pedal keys) through a Novation Bass Station rack unit too as my poor man's Taurus as well. So far I can't coordinate more than either pumping 1/4 notes or holding one note down for a whole bar. I do find I have to be very careful positioning the instrument to find a comfortable playing position up and down both necks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlatEric Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 This is my Guitar/Bass. [url="http://flatericbassandguitar.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/reeve-twin-progtasic.html"]http://flatericbassandguitar.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/reeve-twin-progtasic.html[/url] I always wanted a Guitar on top and Bass on bottom, as I find it easier that way. Played one many years ago, liked it but then struggled to find one, over the years. Ironically, I sold a 70's P to a BC'er, who had just sold his Shergold - Guitar over Bass! I would say the key thing is playability - something you can get on with. Some are really awkward to play. Playing bar (barre) chords on the lower neck, can prove to be a challenge! Some do balance - Mr Lee does - something that looks good but dives to the floor soon gets very tiring. Two outputs, for me, are better than a stereo splitter. The best piece of advice, having played one, is try and find a headless one. Gives you what you want - Guitar & Bass, lighter, balanced and easy to manage. A lot of fun, whatevever you get, so long as it is not too heavy. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
super al Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Check out a band called El Ten Eleven, a duo from the states who play instrumentals. The guitarist/bassist plays a twin neck with the bass underneath the guitar. I would post a YouTube video but I'm rubbish at that sort of thing! Amazing sound for a duo but he loops a lot of the bass and guitar parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubit Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Seems a very 70's thing. They just are not fashionable anymore are they? I just remember seeing bands in my youth using them. I suppose there's no call for them now with modern technology or even a guitar stand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CamdenRob Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 (edited) Thinking about it I have never played a twin neck instrument of any kind... I have also never played a twelve string guitar or an 8 string bass (octave strings). ... I should get out more. Edited July 27, 2015 by CamdenRob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneknob Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 I used to have a Shergold 4/8-string bass, it recently got traded in for a Takamine TB-10. Chalk/cheese there. I've still got my Shergold 4/12-string which was used extensively when I was in Genesis tribute bands. Have a look on the Shergold website and you'll a very old pic of me with it when I was a nipper - see http://www.shergold.co.uk/genesistrib.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectoremg Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 [quote name='The Funk' timestamp='1437953588' post='2830379'] Very nice looking instrument indeed! I'm running a Roland PK7A (bass pedal keys) through a Novation Bass Station rack unit too as my poor man's Taurus as well. So far I can't coordinate more than either pumping 1/4 notes or holding one note down for a whole bar. I do find I have to be very careful positioning the instrument to find a comfortable playing position up and down both necks. [/quote]Nothing wrong with that set up, anything with a sawtooth to play with will give you Taurus. Used a PK-5 myself for years but switched to a McMillen 12-step last year - those PK-5's are bulky! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Funk Posted July 28, 2015 Author Share Posted July 28, 2015 The 12-steps look interesting. How easy is it to play a riff on them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassassin Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 In a moment of prog madness last year, I acquired this: It's a Gordy Blueshift custom, made in Manchester in 1985. Now, my excuse is that I play in a prog rock band, & some of our more extended compositions have passages I'd love to use a fretless for. The reality is that this thing, while being utterly amazing, is so heavy it has its own atmosphere and my back goes out when I'm in the same room as it. It's also quite awkward to play strapped on, because the necks are exactly parallel & set quite wide apart. However it sounds, plays & looks great, and I'm sure I'll use it one day. Probably after having a steel rod inserted into my back. Owning this has made me think quite seriously about what a genuinely practical & useable fretted/fretless twin neck would be like, and at some point in the future I do want to sit down with a luthier & kick some ideas around. Headless, small-bodied, necks close together, staggered and set at slightly different angles - I'm thinking along the lines of the sort of thing Prosebass used to do - maybe even 32" scale... Anyway - I've never wanted a bass/guitar doubleneck, and have always thought it was curious that they're so common. The only use I can think of for one is to make it easier to show one's guitarist how to play something correctly. I'd never actually do this, but only because I know if I did, him & the drummer would gang up on me & force me to play [i]Xanadu[/i]. Jon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Had a Shergold twin 4 & 8 string basses tho. Very heavy and not something you would use for a full 2 hr set unless built like a brick thingy house. Epiphone are doing a reasonable priced bass / guitar twin neck i think and would be worth checking out. Not the best in the world but they are ok. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toneknob Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Found a couple of mine. I'm concentrating [i]really [/i]hard in the second one[i].[/i] [i][/i] I never had too much trouble with the weight - get your posture, strap length and guitar positioning sorted early on and it becomes second nature. As you can see these were taken in 2007, it might be a different story if I tried it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Funk Posted July 28, 2015 Author Share Posted July 28, 2015 [quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1438104652' post='2831705'] I've never wanted a bass/guitar doubleneck, and have always thought it was curious that they're so common. The only use I can think of for one is to make it easier to show one's guitarist how to play something correctly. [/quote] Great looking instrument! I hear you loud and clear about the weight and the distance between necks. I'm quite lucky that the upper bass neck on mine is slightly angled up, which helps. I'm using the guitar neck to throw in a few funky chords here and there around my basslines. My thinking was if you strip funk bass right down, you get a big One and then you basically weave around the backbeat and the weak 3, while a classic thing to do on old R&B or country guitar is to play on 2 and 4 with the backbeat. So I thought I could easily find space to do a bit of both in the same bar or two. Turns out the reality is all about the practically of switching from one neck to the other without wrecking your wrists and your back. I filmed myself to see what I was actually doing - it was funny to see my left hand on the guitar neck trying to mute notes being played on the bass neck. Definitely a new learning experience for me but I'm sticking with it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectoremg Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 [quote name='The Funk' timestamp='1438097092' post='2831609'] The 12-steps look interesting. How easy is it to play a riff on them? [/quote]I've only ever played prog drones on them so I couldn't comment. They're very light (carbon fibre) so nowhere near as rock solid underfoot at the Roland's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonsmith Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I've got a song I could really use that fretted/fretless in. I used to use these quite a bit (and one day hope to bring them out of retirement). Yes, I've been forced to play Xanadu (not that I took a lot of persuading). I used them quite a bit playing prog stuff and expect to use them again at some point with my originals band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Funk Posted July 29, 2015 Author Share Posted July 29, 2015 Great looking twin twin necks! Would be great to see you in a band with someone else using the second one at the same time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geek99 Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 That's s bit spinal tap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gelfin Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 In a moment of madness I made this. Modelled by my son. [URL=http://s970.photobucket.com/user/gelfin5959/media/RBass.jpg.html][IMG]http://i970.photobucket.com/albums/ae181/gelfin5959/RBass.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 [quote name='Bassassin' timestamp='1438104652' post='2831705'] [/quote]Cor! That's lovely [quote name='gelfin' timestamp='1438174469' post='2832256'] In a moment of madness I made this. Modelled by my son. [url="http://s970.photobucket.com/user/gelfin5959/media/RBass.jpg.html"][/url] [/quote]Rock pose, or just being crushed under the weight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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