'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except that one guy clanging away on his 12-string bass...
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Twelve String Club - 12 String Octave - Post em'
- Thread starter WarriorJoe7
- Start date
-
- Tags
- club
This is the first of a series of recordings I have planned for the 12 string
The signal chain:
Waterstone TP12
TwoNotes LeBass preamp
Bugbrand CO crossover
HH IC100 + WEM X40 (bass side)
WEM Monitor Reverb (guitar side)
Enjoy!
The signal chain:
Waterstone TP12
TwoNotes LeBass preamp
Bugbrand CO crossover
HH IC100 + WEM X40 (bass side)
WEM Monitor Reverb (guitar side)
Enjoy!
Nice. Music sounds pretty authentic. Drummer seems like he (and the music) might benefit from livening things up a little inside of sitting back and playing along (based on personal experience). Hope to hear more!
Not nearly as well played or recorded, here's some noodling I did a while back on my BEAD 3-octave-per-course tuning:
Yeah I need a lot of work yet to optimize my recording again. This is straight into the Zoom B3n and Audacity. But yeah, distortion is harsh for sure. And not sure the 3 octave thing really works well - pretty shrill...
Yeah but tuning to chords within a course makes it a whole 'nother thing to play. Fries my poor brain.
Can imagine some Jon Lord triple-octave riffing through a Leslie, fat fifth chords, etc....
Perhaps a topic in itself...
I've found the 12-string bass particularly sensitive to EQ, and not an instrument that can easily reproduce the recognizable tones of 12-string players like Petersson and Pinnick by just plugging into an amp or DAW; it takes a fair amount of sculpting to get there in my experience, and I've been fighting the EQ on my modded DP-3X and VT Bass pedals trying to get a tone I really like, keeping it defined and solid in the lows, with a bit of aggressive drive that's not overly clanky, yet trying to retain a cohesive sound that blends into one rather than sounding obviously scooped and bi-amped. Clank is more than abundant with the DP-3X and taming it has taken months, and I still don't feel as if I'm quite there yet. Getting the midrange dialed-in makes a huge difference and having some sweepable parametric EQ would help immensely.
Put another way, 12-string bass is one of the more challenging instruments when it comes to tone questing. Then there's tuning and the impact of various degrees of de-tuning. Lots of variables to consider. Maybe we should all just go back to old P-Basses with lard-covered flatwounds and call it a day!
Yeah, it's a bit of a pain at times and I agree that going direct or going straight into the amp hardly ever works.
I've been blending my signal in the pedalboard for a quite a long time and I've been lucky that the same board works for the octave stringed basses and "normal" basses as well. The setup is pretty simple:
Boss LS-2 line selector in the A+B Mix -mode, the other channel going through the Digitech Tone Driver overdrive pedal (a pretty cheap guitar od that eats all the unnecessary low end), the other channel clean with a Broughton High+Low pass filter. I can filter the unnecessary high end from the clean signal if wanted.
Works also for my stereo Waterstone, I just plug the neck pickup straight into the input of the Broughton filter.
All this goes to a cab simulator and/or amp. Eliminates the need for multiple amps and also multiple cab sims if going direct only.
Cool... Drop-tuning... almost organ-like at the end.
Reminds me... should dig my TP-12 34" out sometime... it almost sounds an octave deeper than my Hamer B12L. Greatly prefer the Hamer neck profile, so play it almost exclusively. Would be nice to get the TP-12 tone with Hamer playability.
Yes, when I used to play both of my 12-strings in a band the Waterstone was always in a drop-D.
The true neck pickup in it does the trick in my opinion and as it is a "stereo" bass it's easy to dial in a big bassy sound to that channel and let the bridge pickup to handle all the treble and overdrive and effects etc.
The neck pickup is the stock model, the bridge pickup is a Charlie Christian -type of a guitar pickup which sounds a bit thin on it's own.
When the bass was still in stock condition the sound was too scooped to my ears when both pickups were on and I usually used the bridge pickup only.
The Ric 4001 -type of pickup positioning helps too with the setup. I use to have a stereo option in the Hamer too but I rarely used it since the bridge pickup sounded too thin and brittle as it was much closer to the bridge and ended up splitting the signal using the neck pickup only. Now of course I can use the same board with it too as the blending is possible with that system.
That said, the thinner bridge PU sound works also for more guitar -like things.
I used the Hamer (pictured below) for the middle section of this track. The guitar like "jig" (or whatever it is) was played with alternating the neck and the bridge pickup.
The part starts circa 2:10
And when I say Hamer it's only partially that as there's a completely a new body built to a CH-12 neck. Did a lot of experimenting with different pickups but surprisingly (not!) the T-Birds in 60's locations sound just perfect.
A long scale with that body. Hmm, I might do some things a bit different now but I love that Les Paul Jr. body shape so the diving is the price I have to pay.
I used the Hamer (pictured below) for the middle section of this track. The guitar like "jig" (or whatever it is) was played with alternating the neck and the bridge pickup.
The part starts circa 2:10
And when I say Hamer it's only partially that as there's a completely a new body built to a CH-12 neck. Did a lot of experimenting with different pickups but surprisingly (not!) the T-Birds in 60's locations sound just perfect.
A long scale with that body. Hmm, I might do some things a bit different now but I love that Les Paul Jr. body shape so the diving is the price I have to pay.
FYI, I enjoy 12-string bass nerdery without any necessity of competition or whatever. Pretty cynical about how the world is going today and that has made me extra-cautious regarding how I represent myself online. Please carry on with the 12-string bass nerdery!
Edit: Miss my B12S... liked that body shape too, though it sucked for upper fret access.
Edit: Miss my B12S... liked that body shape too, though it sucked for upper fret access.
I hope my barrage of postings and soundclips didn't feel I was competing with anybody. I'm usually only competing with myself in trying to find a tone and a place for this strange but in the end usually rewarding instrument. I also like that as it is such a unique and pretty seldom used instrument (for obvious reasons too) there isn't any standards how it should sound or played. In my opinion of course.
That is why I also think the three octave experiment posted earlier is indeed a very interesting option that surely can be used in some context.
That is why I also think the three octave experiment posted earlier is indeed a very interesting option that surely can be used in some context.
No... Was speaking more generally, largely in response to the odd era we seem to be caught up in, where people have been divided into opposing tribes that barely communicate or even share the same understanding of reality. Hopefully, the 12-string bass world need not be that way. I find it interesting to learn about others' experience with the instrument.
My 60th birthday Gift, and new friend
Schecter Stargazer 12 bass.
*additional blissful info* 9 lbs !
The electronics are flexible and pretty quiet.
When string change time comes, will copper shield and provide gut shots.
Getting technique back together, it’s been a decade since I last had a 12.
I LOVE the RIC ish looks, and it balances very well on a strap.
Fretwork, fit, finish are great. Nut height spot on and the trussrod handles adjustment well.
The tuners are a little stiff on the octaves and overall the weakest point of the bass thus far.
Schecter Stargazer 12 bass.
*additional blissful info* 9 lbs !
The electronics are flexible and pretty quiet.
When string change time comes, will copper shield and provide gut shots.
Getting technique back together, it’s been a decade since I last had a 12.
I LOVE the RIC ish looks, and it balances very well on a strap.
Fretwork, fit, finish are great. Nut height spot on and the trussrod handles adjustment well.
The tuners are a little stiff on the octaves and overall the weakest point of the bass thus far.
Attachments
Last edited:
