Waterstone 12-String Bass Strings

Waterstone brand strings are made in Korea, they are 34" scale. Tom Petersson is featured on the package along with one of his Waterstone 12-string basses.

Fundamentals: G .045, D .065, A .080, E .105
Octaves: G .018, D .024, A .034, E .044

Waterstone octave strings have the smaller guitar-sized ball ends which may be too small to work properly with tailpieces on some brands of basses.

Bulk pack of 5 sets of Waterstone 12-string bass strings - these don’t include the labels included with single sets.

Review - Waterstone Strings for the 12-String Bass

by Hans Grimm

In the summer of 2005 I emailed Waterstone, ordering two sets of strings for my Hense 12-string bass. I was in a bit of a hurry because we were due to record a new demo CD, and I was planning to use new strings for recording like I usually do. Unfortunately, Waterstone did not immediately react to my message as they were running with a skeleton crew because of vacation time, as Bob Singer explained to me when he replied to my email. When he shipped my order, he added an extra set by way of apology for the late reply. Very elegant, thanks Bob!

Hans Grimm playing his Waterstone 12-string bass.

However, then I did something stupid: As the Hense bass was delivered to me two months before with new strings I decided not to put on the Waterstones, as I thought that was something of a waste and those strings really sounded fine. I don't know what brand Unsung uses on the basses that they produce for Hense, Carlo Robelli, Venson and Galveston, but they sound well and last long. Having said that (about lasting long), I only strung on my first Waterstone set this month (July 2006) as we prepared to record again. When I put on new strings for recording, I always time that so that one practice session is planned before in order to let the strings settle.

When putting on the strings I found out that it is essential to sort them out first: These do not come nicely separated into their own little paper envelopes with E, A, D and G printed on them. You have to sort them out on sight, so doing this in a dark and noisy place could be a bit stressful.

When my bass was finally strung (this is some job when it's 33° Celsius in the shade), it already sounded great unamplified. When I plugged it into my Ashdown / Hughes & Kettner rig, I almost wet my pants... these strings sound really great!! When you ask me to describe the sound, I would ask you to imagine the Vienna boys choir gone Metallica; They can sing high and true, and they can growl at the bottom with the best of 'em. I never heard anything like this. This is my brand from now on. In a few weeks I will be ordering a Waterstone TP-2, and I think I will have them include a few more sets of those heavenly strings. If they sound this good on a Hense, how will they sound on a Waterstone?

When recording, the studio tech totally dug my sound. He recorded it using three channels: Direct, mic on the Ashdown, and mic on the H&K. The first rough mixes are done, and I have but one question to ask myself: "stupid idiot, why the f*ck didn't you put on those strings a year ago?" Well, as they say, live and learn...