Customized Hamer Thunderbird 12-String Bass

This bass was customized by Basil T. "Baz" Cooper from the Chicago, Illinois area.

Baz writes, "Since Hamer refused to build a Thunderbird style multi-string bass, I decided to do it myself using a 1990's USA Chaparral 12ver (no, I couldn't live with myself if it was a Korean one) and an '80's Hamer FB bass."

The bass was painted with nitrocellulose lacquer in Inverness Green. It is wired volume / volume with a Strat jack. No tone control. The electronics are passive.

The original pickup setup in the FB bass was filled with Honduran Mahogany and routed for the two Gibson Thunderbird pickups. The neck pickup is an early 1980's T-Bird split coil pickup (same as a Fender Precision bass) while the bridge pickup is an early 1990's T-Bird humbucker.

Baz told us, "I did most of the work myself: Chopping off the USA Chaparral neck and chopping the neck off of the FB bass body. I routed the neck pocket to fit the neck, routed and plugged and re-routed the pickup cavities for the T-bird pickups, and painted the bass."