I built a new twelve string bass

[Dirk Diggler]

The most efficient 12 headstock design ever, nice job!

You really need to post some audio of this bad boy.
Job well done.
Dirk

 

[Ewo]

Mad skilz, for sure. Props!

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

Sterk werk, @Basvarken ! Benieuwd naar audio...

 

[Flamingo21]

Ik ben er stil van.

 

[Basvarken]

I managed to find the time to make a quick video.
So here we go:

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

Holy cow, that sounds massive!

 

[Flamingo21]

Downright sexy.

 

[Basvarken]

Holy cow, that sounds massive!

in real life much more impressive actually. Hard to capture with my limited means of recording.

 

[mexicanyella]

Thanks for recording and posting that; I really enjoyed hearing it. Beautiful instrument.

 

[BTL]

@Basvarken That looks and sounds fantastic, amazing job!

 

[BAG]

That bridge design was the original idea of Canberra luthier Tom Konig which he designed for his 12 string and had ETS manufacture for him.
Just like this beast that @Basvarken built it sounds absolutely monstrous!

 

[Basvarken]

Funny story about the bridge.
Two years ago I built another 12-string bass. I was looking for a bridge and stumbled upon this exact picture of the Konig bridge. So I sent an email to ask for the price.
Tom answered me it was only for sale with the entire bass attached to it. Making it quite an expensive bridge...
I settled for a Dean bridge.

Then this year I got the order to build the red twelve string bass from this thread. Couldn't find a good bridge. Dean didn't have any. The guy who ordered it suggested to get in touch with ETS Hardware in Germany.
And I was surprised to see the exact same bridge as the Konig bridge!
They tooled it for Konig and for Marleaux.
I gave them the specs of the bass I was building and they made exactly what I ordered, to match with the Lace pickups that I was going to use.
Initially ETS came up with a slightly different design with round edges. But I thought that didn't go well with the shape of the body and the pickups.

 

[BTL]

I definitely prefer the original/final shape.

 

[Atshen]

I managed to find the time to make a quick video.
So here we go:

Suonds as good as it looks! For some reason, I was expecting "Jeremy". Nice job!

 

[backin82]

The Brooks EXB-12-3P is finally ready
It's been a hell of a job to build this one, but the result is this brutal red monster bass

- Mahogany body
- Nine ply laminated Mahogany set neck. Glued in
- Soul Red Chrystal 46k finish
- Ebony fretboard
- Red 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
- Double Lace Alumitone Bass Bar in the bridge position
- Two separate outputs.
- Series parallel switch on the back
- Gotoh GB 350 lightweight bass tuners
- Gotoh Stealth ST 31 guitar tuners
- d'Addario EXL 170 - 12 strings
- Weight: 5.2 kg
Electronics circuit by Bas Becu.

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Coolest bridge ever! My mind is blown.

 

[BAG]

Funny story about the bridge.
Two years ago I built another 12-string bass. I was looking for a bridge and stumbled upon this exact picture of the Konig bridge. So I sent an email to ask for the price.
Tom answered me it was only for sale with the entire bass attached to it. Making it quite an expensive bridge...
I settled for a Dean bridge.

Then this year I got the order to build the red twelve string bass from this thread. Couldn't find a good bridge. Dean didn't have any. The guy who ordered it suggested to get in touch with ETS Hardware in Germany.
And I was surprised to see the exact same bridge as the Konig bridge!
They tooled it for Konig and for Marleaux.
I gave them the specs of the bass I was building and they made exactly what I ordered, to match with the Lace pickups that I was going to use.
Initially ETS came up with a slightly different design with round edges. But I thought that didn't go well with the shape of the body and the pickups.

Thanks for the info.
The picture of the bridge was probably something I posted
I've been singing the praises of Tom's basses, and in particular that bridge, ever since he worked on some of my basses nearly 10 years ago. When I went to pick them up he handed me his 12 for a play and I was completely blown away. It played so easily and, just like yours, seemed to roar even at low volumes.
I've got to say yours looks brilliant in the black and the saddles look more refined. I also think the smoother edges on yours look better too.
I think it's the best design for a multi course instrument that I've ever seen.

 

[Captain Comet]

Dude, that is the most C clamps that I've ever seen in my life.

Great job!

A woodworker can never have TOO MANY clamps. I build and restore furniture and it still amazes me how sometimes, I won't have clamps that are long enough. I ended up wrapping a buffet cabinet in rope and twisting the rope tight to do one glue up. Sometimes, it looks like a medieval torture scene to get everything where you
need it to stay.

I loved looking at these build pictures. Really nice work there.

Paint tip - I also play with old cars. You can make a paint booth by hanging visqueen or shower curtains and that will cut down the area that can potentially foul your paint. Also, wet the floor, especially if it concrete and that will keep you from kicking up dust. Spray on more clear than you think you will need and expect to wet sand a bunch of it off. It is pretty normal to spent too much time using 2000 grit paper. Even when a painter reads the humidity and temperature exactly right and does micro-adjustments to the paint mix, you will still have some orange peel.

I do better with wood stain and clear finishes. Shooting color seems easy, but to do it right is an art. You picked a very hard combo to do. I would say you did FINE! Great build. Two thumbs up!

 

[Basvarken]

A woodworker can never have TOO MANY clamps.
Paint tip - I also play with old cars. You can make a paint booth by hanging visqueen or shower curtains and that will cut down the area that can potentially foul your paint. Also, wet the floor, especially if it concrete and that will keep you from kicking up dust. Spray on more clear than you think you will need and expect to wet sand a bunch of it off. It is pretty normal to spent too much time using 2000 grit paper. Even when a painter reads the humidity and temperature exactly right and does micro-adjustments to the paint mix, you will still have some orange peel.

I do better with wood stain and clear finishes. Shooting color seems easy, but to do it right is an art. You picked a very hard combo to do. I would say you did FINE! Great build. Two thumbs up!

Thank you for the tips.
I do agree that working with stains and clear finishes is much easier. I've been using that on all my previous build and it always worked out great.
But this three layer car colour is a different league. Next time (if I decide to do it myself) I'll do more transparant layers for sure.

 

[Cernnunos]

Great looking instrument! So many questions...

It's basically the same as an 8-string, but with an additional harmonic string, right?
What's the purpose of adding an extra harmonic string?
Are all 3 strings octaves, or is one of them a 5th?

 

[BAG]

They have a fundamental string and two octave strings tuned the same.
Part of the big sound from them is that, even if everything is tuned perfectly, when you fret a note you get a chorus type sound due to the finger pressure not being perfectly even on all strings and therefore there is a very slight difference in the note of each string.
I'm yet to hear anything that can sound like an open E, 7th fret A string (E) and 9th fret G string (E) being plucked one after the other. It's like the sound of god playing a bass!

I'm sure someone will come along and explain this much better than me......