Brooks TB-12. A twelve string Thunderbird

[Basvarken]

I have just completed the build of a new twelve string Thunderbird bass.

The entire build process is documented here:
https://www.enkoo.nl/brooks-tb-12.html
 

 

 

 

 

Brooks TB-12
- Mahogany body wings
- Nine ply Mahogany/Walnut set neck. Neck through
- Opaque white (blonde) high gloss finish
- Abalonoid binding
- Ebony fretboard
- Circle position dots
- Jumbo frets
- 34" scale
- Buffalo horn nut 
- Three ply black/white/black pickguard
- 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 x Pure Tone Multi Contact jack output
- d'Addario EXL 170 - 12  strings 
- Weight: 4.25 kg

Wiring was done by BQ Music.

 

 

 

Edited February 6, 2022 by Basvarken
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[RhysP]

That's rather fabulous! 

[fleabag]

Another highly professional build, Rob.  Excellent

 

 

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 16, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[binky_bass]

Looks awesome, wouldn't say no to owning that! 

[SpondonBassed]

Nice detail in the binding.  Excellent.

[Owen]

There is no possible use I could make of that. 

[Owen]

I still really fancy it though

[Bunion]

Love a 12 string they sound fantastic 

[NancyJohnson]

Lovely work, Rob.

 

At one point I was thinking about getting Mike Lull to make me one of these, it's Jeff Ament's JAX-T4 bodied, with a Hamer Chapparel neck:

 

 

 

I loved the idea of an oversized body married with the Hamer neck...we did speak about it and I think that if I'd lived locally to the Lull workshop, I may have pulled the trigger, but the costs were getting out of hand; donor Hamer bass, the Lull build fees, shipping (Hamer to Seattle, finished bass to the UK), plus taxes.  We were certainly nudging £7.5K.

[Basvarken]

10 minutes ago, NancyJohnson said:

 

We were certainly nudging £7.5K.

That is serious money! 😮
The TB-12 cost less than half...

[binky_bass]

Honestly, I prefer the look of the TB12 over the Ament's bass (just my opinion of course!) 

 

@Basvarken - out of interest, could you build a 6 string triple octave bass (18 string)?

[Basvarken]

1 minute ago, binky_bass said:

Honestly, I prefer the look of the TB12 over the Ament's bass (just my opinion of course!) 

 

@Basvarken - out of interest, could you build a 6 string triple octave bass (18 string)?

I guess that is possible, yes. But the bridge and tailpiece would be a costly affair, since they'd have to be custom made.
But who on earth has hands that big and strong to play an 18 string bass?

My fingers have a hard time at 12 strings already!

In my defense: I'm not an experienced 12-string player (as you probably can tell by the sloppy playing in the video) 😉

[NancyJohnson]

21 minutes ago, Basvarken said:

I guess that is possible, yes. But the bridge and tailpiece would be a costly affair, since they'd have to be custom made.
But who on earth has hands that big and strong to play an 18 string bass?

My fingers have a hard time at 12 strings already!

In my defense: I'm not an experienced 12-string player (as you probably can tell by the sloppy playing in the video) 😉

 

I think you need to have a look at some of @binky_bass basses!

[binky_bass]

A 6 string triple octave would have a substantially narrower neck that Binky (below). Would definitely be interesting to see how a 6 string triple would look. Hipshot have made hardware for an 8 string triple (24 string) in the past, so I'd assume they could rustle up something for a 6er triple! 

 

[Basvarken]

The company that makes the bridge sets for the 12-string basses that I build, is ETS Hardware from Germany.
They made a bridge set for a 24-string bass. So I guess anything is possible. 🤪

One of the most ridiculous bass guitars I have ever seen in my life, actually...




 

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Basvarken

[binky_bass]

Just now, Basvarken said:

The company that makes the bridge sets for the 12-string basses that I build, is ETS Hardware from Germany.
They made a bridge set for a 24-string bass. So I guess anything is possible. 🤪

One of the most ridiculous bass guitars I have ever seen in my life, actually...

Yes, that's the bass I mean! I thought it was Hipshot but you are right, it is ETS. 

[fleabag]

Have you seen the length of that guy's fingers ?   Freak !

 

Only people with fingers the length of breadsticks can play that bass