February 18 Update

Given their relative rarity, it's unusual to find even one Kid's 12-string bass available for sale. But as luck would have it, two are now listed on the Basses For Sale page! It might be a long time before an opportunity like this presents itself again. Thanks to Austin and Craig for offering these cool basses!

December 29 Updates

I've been donating some time to work with three teenage bassists; they're learning quickly and doing very well. I've given them all of my old copies of Bass Player magazine but they are still hungry for more! If you would happen to have any bassist magazines or instructional videos (VHS or DVD) you're no longer using, please consider sending them to me and I'll pass them along. They don't have to be current issues or 12-string bass related. My address: Mark "Surf Rat" Rowe, 2422 12th Avenue Road #258, Nampa, ID 83686. Thank you!

December 11 Updates

It's about time! I've been threatening this for a very long time, but a complete overhaul of this website is finally in the works. When I started this site almost 7 years ago all I knew how to do in regards to building a website included .htm pages and frames, both of which have been obsolete for years. While this outdated site is still fully functional, the obsolescence doesn't allow search engine spiders to properly catalogue all the pages or images. Plus it's always been difficult to format things to display properly.

As time went by the idea of a site overhaul became ever more daunting. Now with almost 350 pages to convert (and no programs available that will effectively convert the existing pages due to all the outdated html) this represents a rather considerable investment of time to manually update each page. Until now I simply haven't been able to devote any time to this project. But thanks to a slowdown at my job and the resulting lengthy furlough, it's finally time to get started.

The new site will be xhtml compliant and utilize CSS so I'll be able to change the entire look occasionally. All of the images on the site are going to be reformatted, and there is a TON of new stuff that will be added. A new logo is in the works too. Look for the changes to start showing up in a few weeks, and don't be surprised if you get a "Coming Soon" page when you try to access the site. It will undoubtedly take some time to get the new format up and running. I think I'll work on one section at a time so it may be a few months before the entire site is fully operational again.

What I'd like to get is some feedback from you about changes you would like to see. Is there anything you want to see more of? Anything that needs to be deleted? Anything we're missing that needs to be added? Should we include Flash? Please email me your ideas. If it's anatomically possible, we'll certainly consider it.

I would like to expand the Articles section too. There are many newspaper and magazine articles that have been published throughout the world that will be of interest to 12-string bassists. If you have anything like this that we don't currently include, please consider sending it to us. Our snailmail address is on the Contact info page. Articles can be from local newspapers to the big international publications. Thanks!

In other news, apparently there is a 12-string bass fan working at the US Mint! This Tennessee state quarter from 2002 was recently discovered and it clearly shows the headstock of a 12-string bass rather than the standard 6-string acoustic guitar. There can't be very many of these in circulation. Check your pockets - you might have a 12-string rarity!

November 13 Updates

A big THANK YOU to Terry Strudwick in Canada and Kieran Rohan in New York for their financial support of this site - it is greatly appreciated! Your donations help us to promote fellow 12-string bassists worldwide, to maintain, update and expand this site, to give away contest prizes and to spend considerable amounts of time tracking down information and interviews. If you'd like to help too, just click here. 

Other Recent Updates

Information and photos of the Silver Star 12-string bass have been added. Silver Star is one of many brands of 12's made in Korea by Un-Sung Musical Instruments.

Our good friend Evil Alex from Moscow, Russia sent us information about the Jet brand of 12-string basses. Thus far we've only seen these sold by online retailers in Russia. Thanks Alex!

The first Hamer B12A was built in 1979 and played by Tom Petersson. What is probably the first photo of it ever taken has been added. Thanks to Jol Dantzig!

Ron Johnson recently celebrated his birthday with this nearly scale-sized cake made by the staff at Spurgeon's Bay Bar & Grill in Dixon, Illinois. All the knobs, bridge and pickups were made of chocolate. The cake was modeled after Ron's now-deceased green Waterstone 12-string bass. Thanks Ron!

A very cool Russian 12-string bass was just completed last week. It is only the second 12-string bass ever made by the Shamray custom shop in Moscow. Thanks Alex!

The first-ever international 12-string bass conference recently concluded. Yeah, that's it, a 12-string bass conference, that's my story and I'm sticking to it....

An Aluminum 12-string bass was just completed by Electrical Guitar Company in Florida for bassist Chris Hall. It's the first-ever all-aluminum 12 and is very cool. Thanks Chris!

Mark "Surf Rat" Rowe, Editor and Fretless 12-String Bassist

It is my intention through this website to spread the "Gospel" about the 12-string bass. The free flow of ideas benefits everyone, and the information that has been collected here is meant to be shared. This resource is not Exclusive, which means to keep some people out, it is Inclusive! If you would like to use the knowledge or photos contained here please feel free to do so, just credit the photos or information as having been obtained from www.12stringbass.net and provide a link to this site. Thanks!