Hamer Prototype 10-String Bass
1977 Pepto Bismol Pink Hamer Prototype 10-string bass, plus Rick Nielsen’s mandocello.
Hamer 10-string bass - the prototype for the 12-string
The Hamer 10-string bass was built in 1977. It is considered to be the prototype for the Hamer 12-string bass as it proved to Hamer that tripled strings could be incorporated into a bass guitar.
“Initially Tom Petersson wanted to know if we could do something to the Hagstrom 8-string bass to make it more robust, stay in tune and sound better. He liked the 8-string bass concept but he didn’t like the execution and it grew from that.” - Jol Dantzig -2006
“As the conversation went on it turned into a kind of one-up-man-ship. 'Well why not make a 10-string bass? Why not a 20-string bass while we're at it?' You would have to understand Tom's sense of humor and the way we were at that time, everything was a joke; we didn't take anything seriously.” - Jol Dantzig - 1992
“We were going to make him an 8-string bass as we thought there would be too much tension on the neck with a 12-string and it would be difficult to control. I think I may have come up with the compromise saying, 'Why don’t we just triple the D and G strings?' and we can get away with that tension as a half -way measure. Tom agreed and we built a 10-string for him. It was a solid maple bass with a double cutaway style and it had a cool color: Pepto Bismol pink! The 10-string bass worked so well and the neck was so easy to adjust that we thought maybe the neck could stand two more octave strings.” - Jol Dantzig - 2001
Tom Petersson on stage with the Hamer Prototype 10-string bass. It often looked white due to the stage lighting.
The prototype Pepto Bismol Pink 10-string bass was short 30½” scale with 21 frets. It had a single output jack, with bass, treble and volume tone controls. A pickguard was added later.
A pickguard has been added to the Hamer Prototype 10-string bass. Petersson used it to hold extra picks.
Paul Hamer interview in 1982 Kerrang! magazine.
In a rather bizarre interview published in 1982 in Kerrang! magazine, Paul Hamer claims the neck of the 10-string bass proved its strength after Tom Petersson used it to lift a Japanese girl out of the crowd and drag her onto the stage. Perhaps Hamer was told that and took it seriously, but there is no way a bass neck could have ever withstood the weight. Hamer claims they immediately started building the first Hamer 12-string bass after hearing this story.
Tom Petersson information from 16 Magazine, 1980.
The story of lifting the Japanese girl sounds like another one of Cheap Trick’s tongue-in-cheek humorous stories, much like Tom Petersson’s claim to have invented Pop Tarts in 1970 (when they have actually existed since 1964). According to information published in 16 Magazine in 1980, Petersson claimed to weigh 135 pounds. He didn’t possess the strength required to lift a person from a packed crowd, and no bass neck would be strong enough to accommodate the lift. Besides, under Japanese law all young girls attending rock concerts are considered “catch and release” and could not be legally hauled up onto the stage by a band member without attracting severe environmental and law enforcement attention. You believe that, right?
The Hamer prototype 10-string bass was included on this poster for the Cheap Trick concert in Wiesbaden, West Germany on March 5, 1979. Poster size: 23” wide x 33” high.
The Destruction of the 10-String Bass?
We have heard stories from Cheap Trick fans regarding the destruction of the Hamer Prototype 10-string bass. Apparently the band members went through a phase where, whenever they wanted to change guitars, they would throw the instrument they had been using to a stagehand. Several fans have reported that during one of these aerial exchanges the 10-string bass was thrown too hard and went over the head of the stagehand, crashing to the stage.
However, we have evidence that the bass suffered only repairable damage and continued to be used. Check back for updates…