Absolutely Stupid Comments about Cheap Trick’s TP

[ChWillie]

I love Cheap Trick and stopped to hear Petersson’s massive bass sound. 12 string, I think. Wish I’d never heard it.  I don’t think I’d want an 8 or 12 string, but man o man. That huge rumbling sent me first to my toilet, and after the plumbing failed, to the neighbor’s.  

I know a term like “massive sound “ is slippery and vague, but I’ll commit that sin and ask, other than with an 8 or 12 string bass, do you have a bass that gives you a diarrhea-causing massive tone?  O, I’ve got a gut rumbling couple of amps—Ampeg V-4B half stack and a Fender Rumble 350.  I once rumbled a crowd of 50 so well that half of them developed symptoms of severe dysentery.  
 

But Tom whose initials are fitting, TP, could disable an army of 20,000 soldiers and thus win a war in five minutes.  
 

I want a bass so powerful that I can defeat the Russian and American armies.  

[lidl e]

Sounds to me like it's time to dip your toe into the effects pond! 

 

Get yourself a nice octave pedal and some diapers.

Edited December 20, 2022 by lidl e

[warwickhunt]

A bit of extra mids or top end on your amp; bass through an octave pedal (ideally adding octaves up NOT down) and a chorus pedal... possibly a little bit of distortion from a pedal.  You have the beginnings of a sound approximating Tom's tone. 

 

He uses all sorts of splitters and signals running through guitar and bass amps (Orange valve/tube amps) but you start to go down a special kind of rabbit hole if you chase that rabbit.    

[Woodinblack]

Ultimately you can make a simple approximation of an 8 (and a not particularly good approximation of a 12) with effects, but it will never be quite the same.

[nilorius]

I won't and i don't call 8-12 string bass type instrument a normal bass guitar, no matter what and how it is played. Maybe - octopus music machine.

[warwickhunt]

17 minutes ago, nilorius said:

I won't and i don't call 8-12 string bass type instrument a normal bass guitar, no matter what and how it is played. Maybe - octopus music machine.

 

Is a 12 string guitar still just a guitar, all be it a bit jangly?  8 & 12 string basses are no different, it isn't like we are talking 8 & 12 string extended range instruments where every string is tuned to a 4th of the preceding string.

[nilorius]

2 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

 

Is a 12 string guitar still just a guitar, all be it a bit jangly?  8 & 12 string basses are no different, it isn't like we are talking 8 & 12 string extended range instruments where every string is tuned to a 4th of the preceding string.

OK, the 2023.is near - lets's make some 30 string basses.

[bassbloke]

A huge part of the sound of an 8 or 12 string bass is the natural chorus effect produced by the octave pairs.  It's a fantastic creative tool.  I haven't used mine live or recorded with it, but I've reworked a number of my bass parts for the day I might.  I approach bass parts completely differently with more open strings, ringing notes, muting, etc...

 

Also, you can play Big Bottom on one.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

On 22/12/2022 at 12:23, nilorius said:

I won't and i don't call 8-12 string bass type instrument a normal bass guitar, no matter what and how it is played. Maybe - octopus music machine.

Of course they are not normal. They are extraordinary.

Not sure what you mean by "octopus music machine" though...

[Kitsto]

I've always admired TP's playing (he's a hell of a nice guy too when interviewed) but hadn't realised until recently how big an impact he has on that whole band's sound. He plays a bit like Lemmy in that he strums and when you do that on an 8 or 12 string, that's what gives CT such a big thick middle - he's playing a sort of combined bass-and-rhythm.

[Cosmo Valdemar]

10 minutes ago, Kitsto said:

I've always admired TP's playing (he's a hell of a nice guy too when interviewed) but hadn't realised until recently how big an impact he has on that whole band's sound. He plays a bit like Lemmy in that he strums and when you do that on an 8 or 12 string, that's what gives CT such a big thick middle - he's playing a sort of combined bass-and-rhythm.

Sadly when I've seen Cheap Trick live, that technique combined with a 12-string bass and distortion results in a huge mess. Sound techs have enough trouble with a 4 string!

 

As much as I love Tom Petersson and his use of the 12 string, I think his best sound was with the Thunderbird, both live and on record. 

[Basvarken]

On 22/12/2022 at 13:23, nilorius said:

I won't and i don't call 8-12 string bass type instrument a normal bass guitar, no matter what and how it is played. Maybe - octopus music machine.

You probably don't realise it is played as regular 4 string. Except it has four triplets of strings. You hit the bass string plus two octave strings in one stroke.

[nilorius]

6 hours ago, Basvarken said:

You probably don't realise it is played as regular 4 string. Except it has four triplets of strings. You hit the bass string plus two octave strings in one stroke.

Looks like you got a few of those, but i meant those - who has every different tuned string.

[tauzero]

19 hours ago, nilorius said:

Looks like you got a few of those, but i meant those - who has every different tuned string.

 

Once you get past 6 strings, most basses which aren't octave pairs have an odd number of strings. I say "most" because otherwise somebody is going to come back with an example of a bass with an even number of strings greater than 6, probably owned by Noam Chomsky.

[tauzero]

On 23/12/2022 at 10:53, bassbloke said:

A huge part of the sound of an 8 or 12 string bass is the natural chorus effect produced by the octave pairs.  It's a fantastic creative tool.  I haven't used mine live or recorded with it, but I've reworked a number of my bass parts for the day I might.  I approach bass parts completely differently with more open strings, ringing notes, muting, etc...

 

Also, you can play Big Bottom on one.

 

Most effective when you add a small amount of imperfection into the tuning so they're not exactly an octave apart - not discordant, just beating quite slowly. This applies even more to mandolins and bouzoukis which are tuned in unison rather than octave pairs.

[Bluewine]

On 20/12/2022 at 13:12, warwickhunt said:

A bit of extra mids or top end on your amp; bass through an octave pedal (ideally adding octaves up NOT down) and a chorus pedal... possibly a little bit of distortion from a pedal.  You have the beginnings of a sound approximating Tom's tone. 

 

He uses all sorts of splitters and signals running through guitar and bass amps (Orange valve/tube amps) but you start to go down a special kind of rabbit hole if you chase that rabbit.    

 

They use to play at the "sock hops" back in the early 70s at my college. Tom was using Orange way back then.

 

The idea of the 12 string bass is cool , however I would imagine maintaining one would be a pain.

 

Blue

[ezbass]

2 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

 

The idea of the 12 string bass is cool , however I would imagine maintaining one would be a pain.

 

Blue

Not to mention a pain in the wallet come string change time.

[nilorius]

12 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

Once you get past 6 strings, most basses which aren't octave pairs have an odd number of strings. I say "most" because otherwise somebody is going to come back with an example of a bass with an even number of strings greater than 6, probably owned by Noam Chomsky.

Sorry, i don't know who is Noam Chomsky.

[Chris2112]

4 hours ago, ezbass said:

Not to mention a pain in the wallet come string change time.

 

The only 12 string bass sets I can see for sale in the UK are D'Addarios at £65 a set. They must take ages to fit too. 

[nilorius]

8 minutes ago, Chris2112 said:

 

The only 12 string bass sets I can see for sale in the UK are D'Addarios at £65 a set. They must take ages to fit too. 

Hmm, just looked over D'addario site, but didn't find any 12 string bass set. Which model do You exactly mean ?

Edited December 25, 2022 by nilorius

[Chris2112]

https://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/strings-c1/string-sets-c865/bass-guitar-c34/12-string-t949

[nilorius]

2 minutes ago, Chris2112 said:

https://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/strings-c1/string-sets-c865/bass-guitar-c34/12-string-t949

Yeah, but the half of the strings are the same gouge. Do You know the brand who make 12 strings every different?

[warwickhunt]

9 minutes ago, nilorius said:

Yeah, but the half of the strings are the same gouge. Do You know the brand who make 12 strings every different?

 

You are talking about a different form of 12 string bass from the one being discussed and used by Tom Petersson.  His bass is strung; Eee Aaa Ddd Ggg with the lower case letters/strings being the same gauge.  

[nilorius]

2 minutes ago, warwickhunt said:

 

You are talking about a different form of 12 string bass from the one being discussed and used by Tom Petersson.  His bass is strung; Eee Aaa Ddd Ggg with the lower case letters/strings being the same gauge.  

No, i am talking of this kind of a bass, 11 string

https://www.fuelrocks.com/most-common-causes-of-bass-guitar-rattling-and-how-to-fix-them/

 

[Chris2112]

This thread is about a triple-course 12 string. If you want individual strings for 11 or 12 string basses you probably need to source them from SIT or somewhere like that.