{"id":1659,"date":"2019-09-23T15:49:45","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T15:49:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/?p=1659"},"modified":"2021-06-05T17:06:45","modified_gmt":"2021-06-05T17:06:45","slug":"resurrection-signs-of-life-in-the-twelve-string-project-bass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/?p=1659","title":{"rendered":"Resurrection&#8230;signs of life in the twelve-string project bass&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>At the end of July\/beginning of August, a donated project bass arrived home with me from work one day. It was a pretty beat-up Dean 12 string bass. There were some significant scuffs on it, the pickups were missing, and I was told the truss rod was shot.<\/p>\n<br><br>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1661\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/beater-12-2.jpg?resize=700%2C933&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"933\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/beater-12-2.jpg?w=720&amp;ssl=1 720w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/beater-12-2.jpg?resize=225%2C300&amp;ssl=1 225w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/beater-12-2.jpg?resize=300%2C400&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1662\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/beater-12-3.jpg?resize=700%2C875&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"875\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/beater-12-3.jpg?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/beater-12-3.jpg?resize=240%2C300&amp;ssl=1 240w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/beater-12-3.jpg?resize=300%2C375&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1663\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/beater-12.jpg?resize=700%2C424&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"424\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/beater-12.jpg?w=960&amp;ssl=1 960w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/beater-12.jpg?resize=300%2C182&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/beater-12.jpg?resize=768%2C466&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s a promising start, right? LOL&#8230;<br><br>\n<p>Truth be told, I always wondered how these Dean 12 string basses would fare with different pickups than the stock EMG HZs. I just didn\u2019t want to spend $500-ish (used) to $900-ish (new) to find out. So, despite the very rough start&#8230;I was actually looking forward to trying out some ideas on this, even if that meant figuring out how to fix a damaged neck.<br><br>\n\n<p>So, before I did anything, I strung up the gutted body, tuned it, and found the neck would adjust and hold a shape. I left the bass sitting in my guitar rack for about a month, occasionally tweaking the truss rods to test them. Surprisingly, the truss rod was NOT blown. Just really&#8230;well, for lack of a better word&#8230; really, really stuck. I got the truss rod moving again and all was well. I truly lucked out on that one. The bass needed a neck shim, but that is really typical for this model, and especially in the case of an older bass.<\/p><br><br>\nFor about a month, I would pull the bass off the rack occasionally, and improv on it, evaluating the action. It was already connecting with me, despite it&#8217;s many issues. &#8220;Acoustically&#8221;, so to speak, it already had a great sound and it was fun to play.<br><br>\n\nSo, once the neck checked out with a clean bill of health, it was time to order pickups, new strings and start moving forward. Fast forward through installing a new preamp, a neck shim, new EMG 40DC pickups, the new strings&#8230;and here\u2019s where it\u2019s at now.<br><br>\n<p><div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Rebuilding a beater 12 string bass....\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SZeqeqtXd5Q?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/p>\n<p>About 15 minutes after shooting the first video, I upgraded the system to 18V with a treble bleed cap on the volume pot. Here&#8217;s a video post the completion of that mod&#8230;<\/p><br><br>\n<p><div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Beater 12 string upgraded to 18v\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EmOMnkLQQvc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/p>\n<p>In a few days I\u2019ll try this one out side by side with a Dean 12 string that is all stock to see how the beater 12 compares with it\u2019s mods. This is definitely not where this project bass is stopping, this is just a first step in the right direction. Stay tuned&#8230;<\/p><br><br>\n<p><!-- Default Statcounter code for Lady Bass Music\nhttp:\/\/www.ladybassmusic.net --><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><br \/>\nvar sc_project=1496529;<br \/>\nvar sc_invisible=0;<br \/>\nvar sc_security=\"ec215b54\";<br \/>\nvar sc_https=1;<br \/>\nvar scJsHost = \"https:\/\/\";<br \/>\ndocument.write(\"<sc\"+\"ript type='text\/javascript' src='\" +\nscJsHost+\n\"statcounter.com\/counter\/counter.js'><\/script><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At the end of July\/beginning of August, a donated project bass arrived home with me from work one day. It was a pretty beat-up Dean 12 string bass. There were some significant scuffs on it, the pickups were missing, and I was told the truss rod was shot. That&#8217;s a promising start, right? LOL&#8230; Truth <a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/?p=1659\">Read More &#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1659"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3801,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1659\/revisions\/3801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.ladybassmusic.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}