Twelve-string bass
The twelve-string bass is an electric bass with four courses each of three strings.
Normal tuning is eeE-aaA-ddD-ggG, with one string of each course tuned similarly to the corresponding string of the four-string bass, and the remaining two strings tuned to the octave.
Notable 12-string bassists
- The first known 12 string bass guitar, the "Hamer Quad," was designed by Jol Dantzig and built in 1978 for Petersson by Hamer Guitars.
- Tom Petersson of Cheap Trick
- Jeff Ament of Pearl Jam. His 12-string bass playing can be heard in the intro to their hit song "Jeremy".[1]
- Doug Pinnick of King's X
- Chip Z'nuff of Enuff Z'nuff
- Joey DeMaio of Manowar
- Clint Bahr of TriPod the band
Manufacturers of 12-string basses
- Hamer Guitars
- MusicVox Guitars
- Waterstone Guitars
- Dean Guitars
Other bass guitars with twelve strings
Although the model most commonly known as "the 12-string bass" is as described above, several other bass guitars with a total of twelve strings have been built to rarer or unique specifications.
Six-course bass
A bass with six courses each of two strings was played by John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. This instrument was made by Hugh Manson.
Twelve-course bass
Basses have been built with twelve single-string courses, and various tunings. These are not normally played as a conventional bass guitar, but rather both hands are used on the fretboard.