The Origin of the 12-String Bass

how did the 12-string bass evolve?

Like many technological discoveries and products throughout history, it is not unusual to have differing opinions as to who invented what and when it was actually done. These conflicts are inevitable for a variety of reasons: People working independently on the same problem have been known to arrive at similar resolutions at almost exactly the same time; similar items have been invented years apart by inventors who had no knowledge of what their competition was doing and each thought the original idea was theirs; people working as part of a team have differing opinions as to the level of their personal contributions; and continuous improvements or changes to existing products lead to derivative products that may or may not be significantly different than the original items. The invention of the light bulb, the telephone, the movie camera, and even much more recent innovations like intermittent automotive windshield wipers are still the subject of such controversy.

This creation controversy also inserts itself into the history of the 12-string bass, which some claim was invented by Tom Petersson in 1978. To what extent is this claim actually true? For 30+ years it has primarily been people in the the Cheap Trick organization who have plugged Petersson as the “inventor” of the 12-string bass. Almost every other source making this claim on Tom’s behalf has received their information from Cheap Trick interviews, press releases, or music websites.

Part of the problem with determining how the 12-string bass came into its current form is that no patent, license, or trademark was ever issued to Petersson or anyone else regarding its creation. Large music companies such as Fender Musical Instruments document every aspect of their products in excruciating detail, but in the case of the 12 we don’t have any such documentation to examine. We are left with the memories and opinions of people, which can be faulty and manipulated at will.

The Oxford American Dictionary defines the verb ‘invent’ thusly: “To create by thought, to make or design (something that did not exist before).” In 1977, Tom Petersson did not approach Hamer with plans for a 12-stringed instrument; he wanted an improved 8-string bass that would actually stay in tune, unlike the Hagstrom 8-string bass he had been playing. Hamer’s Jol Dantzig designed and built the 10-string and 12-string basses that resulted from this initial discussion.

While most sources trace the origin of the 12 to 1978, there is evidence that points to the 12-string bass not being a recent development at all, but rather a rediscovery of much older ways of doing things. Hamer Guitars in their 2007 catalog gives credit for the inspiration for the 12-string bass to an instrument called the Tiple, while also crediting Jol Dantzig for creating the workable design. The term “Tiple” can refer to a number of different instruments: In North America the term is almost always associated with the Martin Tiple, but in South America it connotes the Colombian Tiple, two instruments that have similarities to each other. We’ll start by examining both of them.

12-String Colombian Tiple

The Colombian Tiple is about three-fourths the size of a classical guitar, and it has twelve strings set in four courses. It is also known as the Tiple Colombiano, and it is the national instrument of the country of Colombia. It has been known in its current form since at least 1915.

The first accounts of this instrument exist in an article published in 1849 by Jose Caicedo Rojas: In it he describes the Tiple and how it was played to accompany drunken soldiers as they sang. In his references to the Tiple, Rojas explains, "In New Granada we have the Tiple and the Bandola. They are an imitation of the Spanish Vihuela". In 1923, well-known Colombian musician Guillermo Uribe Holguin cites Caicedo's writing during a conference in which he criticizes the Colombian Tiple as a poorer version of the Spanish guitar by saying, "The tiple is a primitive form of the guitar, in other words, it is a guitar without the notes E and A.”

Originally the Colombian Tiple was tuned (low to high) C-E-A-D, but players over the past century have usually tuned it to D-G-B-E like the top four strings of the standard guitar. The E strings are all tuned in unison, while the center strings in each of the other three courses are tuned one octave down. Typically steel strings are used except for the three strings in the lower octave; these have been reported to be copper strings but usually are bronze. Consequently, the D and G groups have exactly the same voicings as the D and G groups found on a 12-string bass.

A chart comparing the Tiple to the 12-string bass shows the similarities between these two instruments. For our purposes, “Bass String” is used to denote Tiple strings lowered one octave, as well as the fundamental strings on the 12. As far as the string voicings are concerned, the D and G groups are identical for each instrument, meaning that half of the strings on a 12-string bass are exactly the same as half of those found on the tiple.

While the string arrangements are different, in practical terms the 12-string bass is a Colombian Tiple that is tuned lower. Does dropping the tuning of an existing configuration qualify as invention? It is clearly evident why Hamer acknowledges this instrument as being the inspiration for the 12-string bass guitar.

10-String Martin Tiple

The Martin Tiple is tuned a fifth above the corresponding guitar strings, just like a Ukulele. The two outer string courses are doubled with the two inner courses being tripled. Similar to the Colombian Tiple, the B strings are tuned in unison while the other courses have one string that is lowered one octave. In the three-string courses it is the center string that is tuned an octave lower. High strings are unwound while the three lowered octave strings are bronze wound.

On the Silver live concert DVD released by Cheap Trick in 2001, Robin Zander’s son Ian plays a Martin 10-string Tiple. During the show Rick Nielsen referred to this instrument as, “the world’s smallest 12-string bass”. Robin Zander is also credited with playing a Tiple on the eponymous "Cheap Trick" album that was released in 1997.

It has been suggested that prior to the formation of Cheap Trick, Rick Nielsen was aware of the Martin Tiple, and based upon his experiences with triple-strung instruments, he was the original source of the concept for the 12-string bass. Nielsen’s parents owned a music store and they did carry Tiples in stock from time to time. Confirmation of this comes from Jim Nolting, a guitarist who occasionally worked at the store. Nolting owned a Tiple; he had bought it second-hand and it was broken. He took it to Nielsen’s store to see if Ralph Nielsen, Rick’s father, knew what kind of instrument it was. Jim Nolting stated, “Ralph responded with a joke: ‘That is a Tiple and the Salvation Army plays those, and then when they are done for the night they will tiple one back.’ Then Ralph smiled at me.”

Tom Petersson, in an interview section of Cheap Trick’s From Tokyo To You DVD, states, “I think Rick played all sorts of instruments, like flute, and the Tiple, and drums.”

10-String UKULELE

The Martin Tiple is also referred to as a 10-string Ukulele, and has been built by companies such as Kamaka and Yasuma. They are very similar in design to the Martin instruments. In the 1930’s Kamaka also built a 14-string Ukulele that incorporated tripled as well as quadrupled string groups.

12-String Mandriola

The Mandriola is a 12-string version of the Mandolin that adds an additional string to each pair, and this additional string is tuned one octave down. This lower-octave fundamental string can be found positioned left, right, or centered. Out of necessity, due to their small size which makes fingering chords difficult, Mandriolas are tuned in fifths just like a Mandolin.

In Latin America the Mandriola is known as the Tricordia and typically is strung with all three strings in each group in unison, rather than incorporating a low-octave string.

Editor’s Note: I prefer to think of my acoustic 12-string bass as a giant bass Mandriola. The similarities between these two instruments are remarkable.

Hagstrom 8-String Bass

The 8-string bass guitar has been reported to have been the idea of bassist Eric Krackow. According to the report, it bothered Krackow that a guitarist could be tied up with the doubling a bass line on some songs when the guitar could be better utilized and filling up more sound by playing chords. Finding it too awkward to play the unison octaves himself and remembering the 12-string guitar principle, Krackow made a prototype 8-string bass from a modified 4-string bass. In 1967, Krackow and his business partner Steve Wittels brought the prototype to Sid Hack of Unicord Corporation, located on Long Island, New York, which was the USA importer for Hagstrom Guitars. Hack liked the idea and ordered a trial run of 500 units. The success of that test run resulted in additional production runs. The Hagstrom model H8 8-string bass guitar was built from 1967 to 1969 with a total of 2,249 being manufactured.

There were a few modifications made to the H8 as a result of the feedback received from the test run basses. One of these changes was to add additional string slots on the bridge so that the octave A, D, and G strings could be positioned either close to or farther away from the fundamental strings. This resulted in the bridge having slots cut for 11 strings. Enough room remained on the saddle of the octave E string that a pair of strings could be fitted upon it, and there was enough room on the tailpiece for the octave string holes to be enlarged.

It was not unusual for potential buyers to ask if the bass bridge was engineered in this manner in order to potentially accommodate additional strings, and if a nut made to fit twelve strings was available. The neck width at the nut would have made for a tight fit with twelve strings, but the real difficulty was that the headstock of the H8 was too small to hold any more tuners.

A number of years ago we received a report about an employee of Hagstrom Guitars building a prototype 12-string bass. The bass was stated to have been built in either 1969 or 1970, it was a project of one employee with some help from a second employee, and was made at an employee's home rather than at the factory since it was not an official Hagstrom project. The headstock was elongated to accommodate all 12 tuners but the neck width was not changed, making for very tight string spacing. Photographs were reported to have been taken of this prototype 12-string bass and are reported to still exist, as likely does the bass itself.

As attempts to locate these photos have thus far proven unsuccessful, we contacted Mikael Jansson, author of books such as Super Swede that deal with Hagstrom guitars. Jansson told us, “Hagström did indeed produce a number of unusual instruments such as the 8-string bass and the guitar synthesizer. There are still prototypes being revealed from time to time, even though production in Sweden ceased some 30 years ago. And it did happen that employees brought material home to build their own guitars. After our conversation I talked to Karl Erik Hagström Jr, CEO of the Hagström company and grandson of founder Albin Hagström. He had never heard of such a bass. Although there might be a possibility of such a bass existing, I strongly suspect this to be an ‘urban legend’. Especially in Sweden, there are several myths going around concerning Hagström products and the company history - which is indeed colorful as it is, even without the myths.”

Our research into the possible existence of a prototype Hagstrom 12-string bass continues…

Wrapping Up

Triple-strung instruments existed for centuries before the 12-string bass came along. Jol Dantzig has stated, “The three-course concept is as old as the Colombian Tiple which was strung the same way, so it's not a matter of ‘inventing’ anything in my opinion.”

While Tom Petersson has played a 12-string bass for more years than anyone else, many people cling to the idea that since he was the first bassist to play a Hamer 12-string bass, then it must have been his idea. By that line of reasoning, Mark Rowe is the “inventor” of the fretless 12-string bass as well as the acoustic 12-string bass because he was not only the first bassist to play them, but he also approached the builders with these configurations to be built as 12-string basses. It’s ludicrous - these are minor variations to existing ideas, and Rowe was certainly not the first to imagine them.

We think the same thing is true of Petersson’s involvement - he was the catalyst behind the creation of an idea that had already been floating around. In 2005 when we published our original interview with Tom Petersson we referred to Tom as the “Architect” of the 12-string bass rather than “Inventor”. An architect draws up plans based upon the ideas of others. Jol Dantzig writes, “’Architect’ is about as close a term as I'd feel comfortable with. It takes a team of people to do most anything; none of us did this on our own. I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time, and so was Tom.”

Where did the idea behind the creation of the Hamer 12-string bass actually originate? Rick Nielsen is credited in the development of the Hamer B12A 12-string bass in 1979. Did Nielsen’s involvement with the 12 actually begin much earlier? In addition to creating guitars of unconventional designs, Nielsen has a history of introducing unusual instruments into rock music, most notably the mandocello. The mandocello had a long history of being used in Salvation Army string bands, a fact which Nielsen has discussed on many occasions. Brad Carlson, known to Cheap Trick fans as drummer Bun E. Carlos, had strong ties to the Salvation Army; he and his parents were huge supporters of the Salvation Army for many years. Both the Nielsen and Carlson families had extensive knowledge of and experience with vintage stringed instruments such as the mandocello and tiple. Also, there are published accounts in interviews with members of Cheap Trick that claim Nielsen was present during Petersson’s meeting with Dantzig in 1977.

Petersson and Dantzig were not the only people involved in the making of the first 12-string bass. Many new parts were required from other people. Rex Bogue supplied the quadraphonic electronics. Bogue was building a preamp that he called “Balz Deluxe”. This preamp was modified for bass, set up with four channels with switches to adjust the bass and treble frequencies, and each channel had a separate output so that four different amps could be used. The Seymour Duncan Company supplied the pickups. Hamer often uses Seymour Duncan pickups for special projects since they do custom work. Neither the electronics nor the pickups existed in these forms prior to being incorporated into the first 12-string bass.

There's an old songwriting axiom: ‘Everybody in the room gets partial credit for writing the song, even the guy who is passed out on the couch at the time’. When it comes to the 12-string bass we think this same axiom clearly applies, and we do not think it is appropriate for any one person to take credit for its invention. It was clearly an evolutionary process that relied heavily upon many other instruments that had existed for decades, plus it required the knowledge and experience of many people other than the "inventor" to bring the 12-string bass to fruition. One person making a claim of being the inventor is over-stepping and improper.