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New Mike Adler TWELVE STRING BASS????

#344
PhatBasstard said:
Told a couple of guitarists about this .004 string the other day. When I left they were both on the floor, pounding their fists, laughing in tears.

When I tried to find them yesterday for some gigs next week, I was told they had been "taken away........". :p ;) :D
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I can imagine how it would seem comical to a guitarist, knowing how closed-minded many of them are. Well, I guess that applies to bassists as well. And audiences. :D

The only thing I would have against a 12-string is that I would have difficulties playing the lower notes. I have always been an advocate for extended ranges but 9 strings is about as far as I could go without having to reduce the string spacing. I rarely feel the need to play on my F# string so a high Eb would be fine with me. I would be quite happy with a 9-string tuned B to Eb.

For two handed tapping purposes, I'd prefer a Warr Phalanx if I wanted to get extended ranges. That way, the bass notes would still be easier to play and the higher notes would also be accessible without worrying about hand crossing.

- Dave
 
#345
Dave Grossman said:
I can imagine how it would seem comical to a guitarist, knowing how closed-minded many of them are. Well, I guess that applies to bassists as well. And audiences. :D

The only thing I would have against a 12-string is that I would have difficulties playing the lower notes. I have always been an advocate for extended ranges but 9 strings is about as far as I could go without having to reduce the string spacing. I rarely feel the need to play on my F# string so a high Eb would be fine with me. I would be quite happy with a 9-string tuned B to Eb.

For two handed tapping purposes, I'd prefer a Warr Phalanx if I wanted to get extended ranges. That way, the bass notes would still be easier to play and the higher notes would also be accessible without worrying about hand crossing.

- Dave
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Dave- a good point.I have a 9 string tuned B-Eb and it is easy playing. The low strings on the Adler 12-string bass don't flop, rattle etc.,so there is never a need to mute the strings or use a "bungie".It seems you enjoy two fret boards on one neck.I played my friend,Joe Conti's Warr with I think two sets os 6 or 7 string per "set". He prefers the Stick 5ths bass set up. It was easy to play. The 12-string was just a custom guitar for me.

I like the never ending feeling of playing scale wise or arps over 7 or so octaves without changing position. I definitely don't worry about hand crossing like I did on the 9-string.A Phalanx with two sets of nine,or 7 bass /9 melody would be wild.Either way,I think the stereo idea is great for two hand indepence touch style playing.One of the reasons i wanted this bass was to be able to read as written the patterns and scale from a book I have been using since 1970;
"Thesaurus of Scale and Melodic Patterns' by Nicholas Slonimsky.
I can also play orchestral chord voicings one finds in the music of Richard Strauss,Ivor Stravinsky and other 20th century composers.

My only limited thought about the existing touch instruments is that they cater to the guitarist/bassist concept.Sort of a bass and guitar on the same neck.I love having the range of just about every instrument in existance,non synth based and in a continuous 4ths tuning that I know so well.Getting the low Bo on that 9 string tuning at the 13th fret on my lowest string opens up many possibilities.

- Dave[/QUOTE]
 
#346
Garry Goodman said:
So they liked the idea? it works well on guitars.
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Well...it was only a joke/rib ;) , but I doubt it would work on guitar very well at all. Considering how most guitarists, because of the amount of bending they do (compared to us, "ahem", bassists), are constantly breaking .009s, .010s, and even .011s, I sincerely doubt an .004 would last more than a solo or two.
 
#347
PhatBasstard said:
Well...it was only a joke/rib ;) , but I doubt it would work on guitar very well at all. Considering how most guitarists, because of the amount of bending they do (compared to us, "ahem", bassists), are constantly breaking .009s, .010s, and even .011s, I sincerely doubt an .004 would last more than a solo or two.
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Surprisingly enough, my guitarist uses it on a yamaha electric, and it holds up tuned to A440. I can bend it on this bass and the string is going on day 9 of at least 4 hours of playing everyday.It has a high tensile strength. I use a .oo7 on my 9,11 and 2nd string on the 12, and none of thoses break.Maybe you have a point about guitarists(?)
 
#348
Garry Goodman said:
Surprisingly enough, my guitarist uses it on a yamaha electric, and it holds up tuned to A440. I can bend it on this bass and the string is going on day 9 of at least 4 hours of playing everyday.It has a high tensile strength. I use a .oo7 on my 9,11 and 2nd string on the 12, and none of thoses break.Maybe you have a point about guitarists(?)
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Maybe as the octave strings on electric 12 strings (guitars) to get the actual octaves of the B and high E strings (which are usually tuned in unison pairs as compared to the octave pairs on the rest of the strings).
 
#353
MKS said:
Thirdly (and more seriously) Mike (Adler): it must have been tough to source a fingerboard that was wide enough and free from blemishes and so on. Did you have to do any special preparation with it? I mean, it's rather larger than an average fingerboard, and so must pose problems from a stability point of view.

It's an impressive piece of engineering Mike, and definitely to your credit to make your and Garry's vision into reality.

All the best,
(another) Mike
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Finding a piece of maple in that size that is without blemish is pretty easy- if we had used Ebony that would have been a different story! I have a system my father built for keeping thin pieces of wood flat (mainly tops). Garry would have to tell you if there has been any neck shifting since NAMM, but keep in mind that the bass will move a little because it has had string tension on it for less than 2 weeks. As far as movement during the build there really wasn't anything to write home about!

Mike


PS- The fingerboard on Garry’s next 12 will be Brazilian Rosewood
 
#354
After a year of playing the Adler 11-string, I can say it's neck did not move.I leaned the bass against walls in a gig bag and flew to N.Y. and Honolulu where the humidity has in the past ,wreaked havoc on my basses necks.It never moved. I think Mike adjusted the truss rods one time in the past year. The 12- string neck hasn't budged,it might as well be made of granite. After playing both these basses,the only neck that needs adjujstment is mine(AAH=attempt at humor).

Day 9 of playing the .004 string and it is still going strong.At the "Nut Sauce" booth at NAMM,they explained that the average plain guitar string can withstand 1100 plucks before it breaks.By adding "Nut Sauce" you can double the strings life.I don't know how long a string should last but the notion of the .004 breaking on it's own is somewhat exagerated. It just takes developing an awareness that it is indeed .004 .
 
#356
Garry Goodman said:
After a year of playing the Adler 11-string, I can say it's neck did not move.I leaned the bass against walls in a gig bag and flew to N.Y. and Honolulu where the humidity has in the past ,wreaked havoc on my basses necks.It never moved. I think Mike adjusted the truss rods one time in the past year. The 12- string neck hasn't budged,it might as well be made of granite. After playing both these basses,the only neck that needs adjujstment is mine(AAH=attempt at humor).

Day 9 of playing the .004 string and it is still going strong.At the "Nut Sauce" booth at NAMM,they explained that the average plain guitar string can withstand 1100 plucks before it breaks.By adding "Nut Sauce" you can double the strings life.I don't know how long a string should last but the notion of the .004 breaking on it's own is somewhat exagerated. It just takes developing an awareness that it is indeed .004 .
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as someone who actually saw the bass and (lightly) touched the 004, i have to say that the simple fact that garry hasn't broken it yet is indicative of a really amazing amount of finger and dynamics control. -tips hat to garry-
 
#357
Balor said:
There is an other 12 in production?! :) This is awesome!

How those the Villex perform with the fanned fretboard? How's the output and tone of the smaller strings compared to the lower one's?

thanks
PL
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Villex pick ups are very Hi-Fi combined with these electronics with the sweepable 2hz-200khs eq-the sound is phenominal.I don't know that fanned frets would make a difference in the performance of the pick up, so I need your help there.The output can be adjusted to as high as 26db .One of the problems I encountered on other 9+ basses was the inability to have the higher string push up over the lower strings. That has been solved by the stereo output.
The tone is exceptional,especially in the 7th octave.On a grand piano, you usually get more wood sound than string(imo) but in this case the tone of each note is strong and clear.The eq is equivelant to or surpasses the highest quality eq in any channel strip in the best recording mixing consoles.
I don't understand your opening question-are you asking if Mike is making another 12 string or asking is another luthier is?
 
#358
john turner said:
as someone who actually saw the bass and (lightly) touched the 004, i have to say that the simple fact that garry hasn't broken it yet is indicative of a really amazing amount of finger and dynamics control. -tips hat to garry-
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You are very kind John, and developing a touch for the string(like the low C#) is part of it.I think the string broke because they didn't realize the string was there(looks like a hair and is practically invisible in the right lighting) and has to be treated a little differently than those big .007 strings.

I learned to handle the string by trying to hand wind ball ends on it about 3-400 times last year.It is definitly worth having and I would(don't read this Mike) like to have a .002.5 string above it.
 
#360
From adlerguitars
PS- The fingerboard on Garry’s next 12 will be Brazilian Rosewood
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Is that true?

As for the Novax thing, the angle of the bridge implies that the pickup is not sensing the same part of the string for each one of them. In theory, the lower strings should be mellower then the higher ones. According to M. Dingwall, the main difference is in the output though. Since the pickup is closer to the bridge for the smaller strings, they should have a lower output then compared to the lower ones. To eliviate this problem, the pickup would probably have to be much on the bass side then usual. Would you say any of this is true?

thanks
PL
 

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