1970s Hamer 12 String Quad Bass

[Gilmourisgod]

Ha! There's a video of Phil Lesh trying to demonstrate that Dead bass, and he can't remember what all the knobs do. Things Got Silly. Any chance that IS Peterson's bass? If nothing else, it's cool as hell from a technical and historical viewpoint. Please post more photos when you get it home.

 

[roller]

Wonder where the auction house obtained it?

Nice score, for sure! Enjoy!

 

[Kilgore777]

I doubt Entwistle used one on Quadrophenia since that album came out long before these were built.

John Entwistle Gear: 1975-1985 | John Entwistle Bass Gear | Whotabs
Go here and scroll down and you'll see a pic of his Hamer quad bass. Cool bass by the way!

It looks like it was used on the Quadrophenia movie soundtrack, not on the album. 1979 makes sense for both.

BTW, great score there! Wish it had more buttons and knobs though...

 

[Kilgore777]

Hold my coffee...
View attachment 3728970

I think we have a tie.

Wow! Why doesn't it just have a built in amp, too?

 

[dalkowski]

Wow! Why doesn't it just have a built in amp, too?

Because it would sound like cr@p?

 

[Engle]

Yes that's right. It was with the 10 string though. Apparently he lifted her off the ground while she was hanging off the headstock, that's when they realised the neck should be strong enough to take the tension of 12 strings....so cool.

That's Spinal Tap material!

 

[Homz]

Ha! There's a video of Phil Lesh trying to demonstrate that Dead bass, and he can't remember what all the knobs do. Things Got Silly. Any chance that IS Peterson's bass? If nothing else, it's cool as hell from a technical and historical viewpoint. Please post more photos when you get it home.

You dont happen to have a link do you? Would be great to watch that!

 

[Homz]

It looks like it was used on the Quadrophenia movie soundtrack, not on the album. 1979 makes sense for both.

BTW, great score there! Wish it had more buttons and knobs though...

Being 1979 the dates would work.....great detective work!

 

[Homz]

Wonder where the auction house obtained it?

Nice score, for sure! Enjoy!

I'd love to know that too.

Thanks man!

 

[Homz]

Awesome! Have you played it through a cranked your tube amp yer? I need to know how you acquired such a magnificent beastie.

Not yet man. It needs a bit of love before it sings again. But I will post a vid as soon as it is.

 

[Homz]

Your next move is to join a band without a rhythm guitarist so you can clink and clank your way through the mix. Obviously, a Cheap Trick tribute band would be ideal. Oh, you'll need hair - lots of hair.

Hahaha!!

 

[Homz]

Did you get the control box with it? There was a box required to run it in quad. You could probably find some info on it over at the Hamer Fan Club.

No control box dude. Just what you see in the pics

 

[Homz]

I want that bass so bad!

It will be for sale eventually. Ill keep you posted.

 

[Homz]

I almost acquired one from a guy named Jon Mayer in Long Island. I picked up a natural one for him near Starved Rock, Illinois. I had the bass in my possession for a week. It was a unique conversation piece for sure but I wasn't willing to trade a 1965 Gibson Thunderbird II for it. Plus the quad box was missing. Lemme put it this way...it's cool...but..honestly...a B12s with dual truss rods and EMG's sounds better. But it's a decent sounding bass...Nice Score!!!

Cheers man!

 

[Homz]

Thanks for everyone's posts and stories surrounding this bass or quad basses in general. It's really cool to piece together the history. Hopefully more info will come to light.

Here are more pics as promised.

 

[12bass]

Posted this thread on the FB 12-string bass group. Will see what they say about it....

 

[Homz]

Posted this thread on the FB 12-string bass group. Will see what they say about it....

Thanks!

 

[Gilmourisgod]

@Homz
Here ya go! I forgot he called this one Big Brown. Leave it to Alembic to almost comically over-instrument a Bass. They gave him a cheat sheet. Skip forward to 17:15 to see him demo it.


Edit:
Got the time wrong, the bass demo starts at 9:00

 

[AtomicPunk]

Great bass and great story! I have wished I could luck into such a bass. Enjoy and if you ever get to making sound clips, I'd love to know what all those knobs do!

 

[mc2ny]

Congrats! A good friend of mine in the UK bought that bass and then the seller sold it to you in some screw-up. So, you got lucky. I owned the only two consecutively SN# Quadbasses. Tom Petersson asked me for the Cherryburst one two years ago and has had it out on tour with Cheap Trick ever since. I was told your's is missing some Quad electronic guts and may have a bad truss rod?