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Hamer 12-string bass ?!?

NickInMesa

NickInMesa

Jan 1, 2009
3,397
51
57
Mesa, Arizona
#1
I auditioned for a band yesterday (failed, but that's a different thread), and they had a Hammer 12-string bass on the wall.

I did not plug it in, but they let me hold it and play it unplugged (my amp was not on at that moment) and that was a weeeeird animal!!!

Seriously, who owns one and is there a piece of music out there which uses it?

This seems to me to be more of a GAS item, which about 0 to 0.5 practical use in the real world, but I may be wrong.

Thanks for the comments!
 
#9
12 string's pretty cool- I'm about to get one myself. The eight string seems to have some more common usage, but nothing can really replace that chiming 12-string tone. You'd be surprised by what songs have them (eight or twelve strings)- a lot of Pearl Jam, Achilles Last Stand, by Led Zeppelin, a fair amount of King's X songs, Metallica's Wherever I May Roam... some other stuff I'm sure too
 
#10
I have a musicvox 12 string for sale. I replaced it with an 8 string.

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#12
A 12 string bass can obviously be played through a bass amp, but sound best when bi-amped, meaning splitting the signal and having a bass amp for the lows and a guitar amp for mids and highs (with some distortion). Blend the two sound and voila, KILLER 12 string bass tone!
 
#13
I played a Hamer 8 string for years. I used it mostly in a rock trio and it filled out the sound like nobody's business. My favorite playing 12s were the short scale models. I did some studio tracks with the 8 string one time and the engineer loved the sound so much that the studio rented the bass from me for sessions several times. It was nice having an instrument that made me money while I was off doing something else!
 
#14
If you're seriously considering one of these things, you'll want to get your fretting hand chops up MAJOR. It is a LOT of metal to ground.

The sound is massive. Guitarists will hate you and probably some sound techs too but that isn't always all bad. ;) These things do not put out a lot of real, true, "thumping" P-Bass style bottom end so you would need to pick your spots very carefully. My wife wanted to get me one of these but I declined 'cause for the bands I play in it would just be totally the wrong tool. They are uber-cool though.

Also you will find some 12-string bassists strung with the octave (skinny) strings before the main strings (as on 12stringbassist's photos and also WarriorJoe)... however I have seen others with the main strings first and the octave strings after. I'm told that one way is to accommodate pick playing and the other is better for fingerstyle but I can't recall which is which. I have hardly ever seen one of these played fingerstyle though and am not sure how one would do it given the minimal spacing. Seems to me a pick is almost essential to ensure a smooth, even attack across all the strings.
 
#20
At the moment I play short scale four string basses strung with flats, as I am in a 50s rock trio. But I will never sell my Waterstone 12 string basses, as I love playing them and love the sounds I get out of them.

12vers are harder to play than a regular bass, but not to a painful level or anything. They just require a different techinique.
 

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