de Bassist

de Bassist - Quarterly Magazine for Bassists

Tom Petersson is interviewed about his bass tone. While several photos of his Gretsch 12-string bass are prominently displayed, there is little discussion of the 12. About the creation of the first Hamer 12-string bass bass Petersson says, '“Friends of mine, Paul Hamer and Jol Dantzig, started building guitars. That would be Hamer Guitars. They immediately thought a twelve-string bass was a bad idea, ha ha, and they were afraid that the neck couldn't handle it. They first built a ten-string bass with the E and A getting one octave string and the D and G getting two extra strings. They saw us live and then they suddenly understood what the intention was. ‘That sounded great,’ said Jol. ‘We were wrong, so we’ll build a twelve string for you.’”

Petersson continues, “On the album Heaven Tonight you see me with that Hamer Quad Bass. The electronics was their idea. Among other things, you had separate volume, high and low knobs per string! Ridiculous and too complicated. It looked strange, but I never used it. I don't think part of the electronics was even connected. If you need so much fuss per string, then the bass is really not good, ha ha! Then fortunately, the more ‘normal’ versions followed.”

About his live sound Petersson states, “Live I play everything on a twelve string and I never actually switch basses. I find that too much hassle. I like to keep the drums and bass constant. After all, a drummer doesn't switch kits either. We sometimes play an acoustic show and we have done Sgt. Pepper live, and at such a moment I naturally take a four string, but normally always the twelve string.”

The sidebar includes information about Petersson’s string gauges:

“Tom's Gretsch and older twelve-string basses basically have four normal bass strings tuned E A D G, just like most basses. All four strings have two identical strings, both tuned an octave higher. By not tuning the strings exactly the same, you get a slightly flanger-like sound, which you may also know from twelve-string guitars, where the six double strings are often slightly off the tuning. This makes the sound even fuller. On his Gretsch, Tom uses the following strings:

• E: .100, .045, .045

• A: .080, .035, .035

• D: .065, .025, .025

• G: .045, .018, .018

The Gretsch Tom Petersson models are now for sale, with the twelve string at a suggested retail price of over $15,000. There is also a ‘relic’ version. We will continue to save…”

De Bassist Volume 10 - October - December 2009

This issue includes an article written by 12-string bassist Hans Grimm, who has played both Hense and Waterstone 12’s. You can read the feature with Hans in our Articles section.

De Bassist Volume 17 - July - September 2011

Doug Pinnick of King’s X is featured on the front cover, and the interview with him spends a lot of time discussing the 12-string bass. Here are the relevant parts of the interview:

That thing has four thick strings, each with two thin ones that sound in unison. You get a very big sound. 'You should ask (manufacturer) Hamer if they will make one for you', Tom advised. I didn't do that, because I didn't know at all whether I could get an endorsement. But what happened? At one point Jol Dantzig from Hamer called Ty (Tabor, guitarist of King's X) and said they wanted to give him some guitars. 'Yes', said Ty, 'come on'. 'Hey, what about me?', I shouted. 'I'm still here too. Do I get nothing? I want a 12-string bass. 'That's good', they said. So they made me three, plus an 8-string version. I didn't like that one. I've never used it.' By the way, although the 12-string bass accompanies every King's X tour, it is only played sporadically. Although Doug repeatedly promises himself that something more needs to be done with it, it doesn't really happen. 'Perhaps a bit lazy', he chuckles guiltily. It's funny that he plays the 12-string in every video. 'It has become a gimmick', he agrees.

Nevertheless, Doug is very fond of the 12-string howler. Once a roadie has brought in the impressive case at his request, he plays snippets of some of King's X songs on it. Following Chris Squire, he always uses a pick, which is useful when you have to pluck three strings close together. The fattest should be on top, Doug teaches. 'It's not an articulated instrument when you play it live,' he explains. 'That's kind of the problem. The tone drowns out, as it were, especially at times when a heavy guitar is added. Do you know the song Jeremy by Pearl Jam? Well, Jeff Ament played a 12-string bass in that. I showed him how to do it. It works with a clean guitar.'

When he discovered through Hamer what can be arranged if you have a certain reputation and are a bit cheeky, Doug started a profitable tour of the various manufacturers. He first ended up at Yamaha, where they made five basses for him. “Next I went to ESP,” Doug counts down. He has to laugh about it himself. 'They made two basses for me. I played them for about a year. However, the relationship wasn't that good, so I left. One of the guys at Yamaha said to me, "If you come back to us now, we'll build you a nice 12-string." “Okay,” I said, “if that's good, I'll come back.” It took them a month and I'm still playing it. It's the 12-string I'm holding in my hands right now. Then they made two more basses for me. After two years I went to Dean, with whom I stayed for a few years. But hey, same thing: when you need them, they're not there. I was sick of it, and a week before we went on tour, a friend said, "Why don't you go to Schecter?" I called them up: "Hey guys, can you make me some basses?" “Yes,” they replied, “no problem.” They gave me the two that I'm playing right now. I'm just not too mad about it because I think the neck is too thin at the end near the nut. It's more like a Jazz Bass and I like the P-Bass. When I get back to Los Angeles, they will make the necks wider. I like those Schecter guys.

Well, why not? Anyone who starts sniffing around will soon discover that Doug is still listed as an ardent propagandist on the Yamaha website. 'Yep, and according to Dean I am also their endorser. They never took me off the list because I never told them I was done with them. I never sign contracts with anyone. Ha! I'll keep an eye out. Besides, I still play the Yamaha 12-string.'

De Bassist Volume 38 - October - December 2016

The Gretsch 12-string bass is mentioned in a sidebar.