Second Brooks EXB-12-TP *LOST*

[BTL]

I’m so happy and relieved for you!

 

[Basvarken]

The "lost" bass that finally showed up two days ago is out on tour with Tom Petersson now.
It got its maiden flight in Atlanta yesterday. And I see Tom decided to mount the pearloid pickguard that I put in the case with the bass.

 

[nixdad]

The "lost" bass that finally showed up two days ago is out on tour with Tom Petersson now.
It got its maiden flight in Atlanta yesterday. And I see Tom decided to mount the pearloid pickguard that I put in the case with the bass.

SO glad to hear the bass finally arrived!
Both of the basses are absolutely GORGEOUS, each stunning in their own right.

I wish I could find the humorous 2-page Hamer 12-string bass ad from 1995 featuring Tom which was produced, but never used (I was hoping it would show in an online archive, but I've had no luck in locating it.) I was Kaman's western U.S. Hamer product specialist at the time, and was involved in lots of different things along with my mid-west and eastern U.S. cohorts. I enjoyed the time I had at Kaman, and am certainly grateful for being involved and having a voice.

The decision was made to run with a Dug Pinnick ad instead, which (I believe) was one of the reasons why Tom decided to leave Hamer and started playing Chandler 12-string basses less than a year later. The 12-string bass was Tom's idea, so when he was no longer being shown the support he deserved he moved on. In hindsight, this was certainly a good move for Tom anyway as Hamer downsized considerably beginning in late 1997 when they moved to the Ovation factory in Connecticut from their Illinois home.

Anyway, I recall one of the pages of the ad was a full page photo of Tom, and the other page was done in a large checkerboard format (3 rows with 2 squares each,) featuring 3 closeup photos of Tom along with correlating text telling the story in the adjacent square. In the ad, Tom was dressed sharply in a suit and wearing a wide-brimmed matching hat. The storyline went something like this:
- Top row: The guys said we need a bigger sound (photo shows Tom looking pensive)
- Middle row: They said we may need to hire another guitar player (photo with Tom looking down with the hat covering most his face clearing with an "Oh no!" vibe.)
- Bottom row" So I decided to create the 12-string bass (photo shows Tom looking happy.)

Anyway, it was pretty funny. The ad was wonderful, but it never saw the light of day. If leadership at Hamer had their way I have no doubt that it would have been published, but they had only so much money allocated by Kaman for ads in the budget.

 

[12bass]

I wish I could find the humorous 2-page Hamer 12-string bass ad from 1995 featuring Tom which was produced, but never used (I was hoping it would show in an online archive, but I've had no luck in locating it.) I was Kaman's western U.S. Hamer product specialist at the time, and was involved in lots of different things along with my mid-west and eastern U.S. cohorts. I enjoyed the time I had at Kaman, and am certainly grateful for being involved and having a voice.

Would be great to see that Hamer ad someday. I ordered my first 12-string bass, a custom B12S, from them in 1990 and got a B12L in 1995. My impression at the time was that Hamer made the 12-string bass a reality for Tom in 1977 but didn't seem that interested in innovating much beyond the B12S/A/L designs, things like better pickups, lighter tuners, smaller headstocks for better overall balance, etc.... By that time, they seemed to be more into production mode than refining or further developing the instrument. My B12L does not balance well at all and the original EMG pickups were harsh and replaced with passive Lane Poor wide apertures. Thankfully the neck has held up quite well over the decades.

And that's where I see the Brooks 12-string basses differently; a lot of thought seems to have been put into the design and ergonomics, in effort to make a better overall instrument... just the balance alone makes a big difference. A 12-string bass will always present a challenge to play and low action and excellent ergonomics help to compensate. Hopefully one day I'll get to play one....

 

[nixdad]

Would be great to see that Hamer ad someday. I ordered my first 12-string bass, a custom B12S, from them in 1990 and got a B12L in 1995. My impression at the time was that Hamer made the 12-string bass a reality for Tom in 1977 but didn't seem that interested in innovating much beyond the B12S/A/L designs, things like better pickups, lighter tuners, smaller headstocks for better overall balance, etc.... By that time, they seemed to be more into production mode than refining or further developing the instrument. My B12L does not balance well at all and the original EMG pickups were harsh and replaced with passive Lane Poor wide apertures. Thankfully the neck has held up quite well over the decades.

And that's where I see the Brooks 12-string basses differently; a lot of thought seems to have been put into the design and ergonomics, in effort to make a better overall instrument... just the balance alone makes a big difference. A 12-string bass will always present a challenge to play and low action and excellent ergonomics help to compensate. Hopefully one day I'll get to play one....

Yeah, I hope the ad surfaces someday as well. As stated, it was fully produced and ready to go, however, it was never published.

Hamer certainly produced several 12-string bass models as you've stated, however, since it didn't have any real competition, I don't know how much thought went into improvements. I could be mistaken, but my guess is the B12A was likely the last version which was designed. I certainly don't recall any discussions of any changes or improvements during my tenure.

 

[Basvarken]

Here's a cool pic of Tom Petersson on stage with the bass

Invalid Link Removed

Pic by Alive Coverage