Lutz Fahrenkrog-Peterson’s 12-String Bass Conversion
This 4-string bass was converted to a 12-string for Lutz Fahrenkrog-Peterson of Berlin, Germany. Lutz is the director of the Research Center of Popular Music at Humboldt University in Berlin. As a musician and producer, he has worked with groups such as 'N Sync and Nena. The conversion was done by "Guitar Doc" Lutz Heidlindemann, who is also from Berlin.
The bass has a Moses graphite neck. The pickups are Bartolini P-bass 18's that are reverse mounted like on the old Buzzard basses. The electronics are also Bartolini's with two tone controls, balance and master volume. A custom made ABR-style bridge was used.
The four fundamental string tuners are positioned as usual on the headstock and are run through the body. The octave strings are anchored on the headstock with a fixed string holder and utilize headless style tuners on the body. Lutz writes, "The weight balance is perfect because of the weight on the bottom of the body. The sound is monstrous! Deep, deep bass and the hi frequency range is crystal clear and open sounding. For me, after playing octave string basses for 25 years, this design is a masterpiece."