Twelve string Thunderbird

[Basvarken]

Got a new bass build ready.

TB-12-Q
Twelve string Thunderbird Bass with Quilted Maple top.
 

- Mahogany body
- Bookmatched Quilted Maple top
- Nine ply Mahogany/Walnut set neck. Glued in
- Transparent black stain 
- High gloss transparent acrylic finish
- White binding
- Ebony fretboard
- Mother of pearl position dots
- Jumbo frets
- 34" scale
- Buffalo horn nut ?
- ETS twelve string brass bridge set
- Two spokewheel double action trussrods
- Carbon reinforcement strip in the neck
- Lace Alumitone Bass Bar in the neck position
- Lace Alumitone DeathBar in the bridge position
- Allparts stacked pots (volume/tone volume/tone)
- Mullard capacitors
- MEC on-on switch for coil split (humbucker-single coil)
- Gotoh GB 350 lightweight bass tuners
- Gotoh Stealth ST 31 guitar tuners
- 2 xPure Tone Multi Contact jack output
- d'Addario EXL 170 - 12  strings 
- Weight: 4.25 kg
 

Electronics circuit by my good friend Bas Becu.
 

Serialnumber: 2021003

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pics of the build process can be found here:
https://www.enkoo.nl/brooks-tb-12-q.html

Edited July 24, 2021 by Basvarken

[stereoplayer]

Very nice! All my basses are stereo.  Great sounding bass!

[Mykesbass]

Not usually a fan of quilts/flame tops but that is lovely. Like the headstock too.

[DarkHeart]

Wow!

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[AndyTravis]

Honestly, you make things I daydream about - but you make them better.

 

Good Lord. The skill of you.

 

Magic.

 

I think the EB-0 bird that you made is still way up there for me x

[Basvarken]

20 minutes ago, AndyTravis said:

I think the EB-0 bird that you made is still way up there for me x

Did I build that? 🤔
You mean the Telebird perhaps?
Or the EB-TB? That must be the one you're thinking of!

Edited July 24, 2021 by Basvarken

[Jabba_the_gut]

Brilliant!

[ezbass]

What an absolute beast! In a good way.

[AndyTravis]

1 hour ago, Basvarken said:

Did I build that? 🤔
You mean the Telebird perhaps?
Or the EB-TB? That must be the one you're thinking of!

This one. What a beauty 

[Basvarken]

Yeah, my bad. My head was in the Thunderbird shapes. But your description was spot on EB-0 Bird.
Still regret selling that one...

[Cosmo Valdemar]

On 24/07/2021 at 14:59, Basvarken said:

Got a new bass build ready.

TB-12-Q
Twelve string Thunderbird Bass with Quilted Maple top.
 

- Mahogany body
- Bookmatched Quilted Maple top
- Nine ply Mahogany/Walnut set neck. Glued in
- Transparent black stain 
- High gloss transparent acrylic finish
- White binding
- Ebony fretboard
- Mother of pearl position dots
- Jumbo frets
- 34" scale
- Buffalo horn nut ?
- ETS twelve string brass bridge set
- Two spokewheel double action trussrods
- Carbon reinforcement strip in the neck
- Lace Alumitone Bass Bar in the neck position
- Lace Alumitone DeathBar in the bridge position
- Allparts stacked pots (volume/tone volume/tone)
- Mullard capacitors
- MEC on-on switch for coil split (humbucker-single coil)
- Gotoh GB 350 lightweight bass tuners
- Gotoh Stealth ST 31 guitar tuners
- 2 xPure Tone Multi Contact jack output
- d'Addario EXL 170 - 12  strings 
- Weight: 4.25 kg
 

Electronics circuit by my good friend Bas Becu.
 

Serialnumber: 2021003

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pics of the build process can be found here:
https://www.enkoo.nl/brooks-tb-12-q.html

As always, absolutely incredible. 

[Cosmo Valdemar]

 @Basvarken - I see you using the Lace pickups a lot - I'm considering them for a custom build and would love to hear your opinions if them!

[Basvarken]

21 minutes ago, Cosmo Valdemar said:

 @Basvarken - I see you using the Lace pickups a lot - I'm considering them for a custom build and would love to hear your opinions if them!

The first time I used the Lace Alumitones was on the first twelve string bass I built.
I was looking for a humbucker that has bar magnets that are wide enough to pick up all the strings equally as good. Many bass humbuckers with bar magnets are a bit on the narrow side.
But Lace offers the Bass Bars in several widths (3.5', 4", 4.5"). Which made me curious about those. I checked a few YouTube videos and decided to try them out.
I was pleasantly surprised.
They have a very high output level (even though they're passive). Are dead silent (no hum whatsoever, even in single coil mode). They sound very even across the tonal spectrum.

And I think they look pretty cool too.

I've used them on a regular four string bass too.