Shamray Custom Shop 12-String Basses

2009 Shamray Custom 12-String Bass

Alexey "Evil Alex" Berezin in Moscow, Russia had this bass custom built for him. Alex designed the bass, created the blueprints and procured many of the parts that were incorporated into it. He started with the design of the Soviet-made Roden 4-string bass as the inspiration for his new 12-string.

The Roden bass was built by the Moscow Experimental Factory of Musical Instruments in the mid 1970's. While the bass had a solid body, there was a large control cavity underneath the pickguard. Alex stated, "The original Roden had a very big electronics cavity, and believe it or not, it added a smooth hollow-body feel to this bass's sound. Therefore, a full hollow-body construction of this new 12-string bass is a natural progression. I added the F-holes to the design so that it has a classic vintage feel over it." You can learn more about the Roden bass on the Cheesy Guitars website.

This bass has a Lace TranSensor® neck pick-up with a DiMarzio X2N-7 bridge pick-up. Schaller 8-saddle bridge with built-in tailpiece.

Mahogany body with maple top, maple neck with rosewood fretboard. 24 frets plus a zero fret. Dual truss rods.
Two outputs: Mix output with selectable pickup combination (neck, bridge or both), and a separate output for the neck pickup.
Two volume pots, one for each pickup. No tone pots.
 

Hammer & Sickle inlay at the 12th fret in honor of the Soviet Union.

This bass has a Zero Fret.

The Gotoh tuners are arranged in groups of three. Serial number BCS-0123.

Bolt-on neck with rotating button strap locks.

Construction photos

The upper and lower halves of the body are roughly cut out, and the fingerboard is positioned on the neck.

Alex writes, "Here master luthier Roman Lukyanov is cutting acoustic cavities in the body of the future bass. Roman is a repair master in the Shamray custom shop; his main job is repairing broken necks for different guitars. He's a great master so the job is in good hands. Dmitry Tuayev, another master in the Shamray custom shop, assembled the bass."

Alex installed the electronics.

As to the playability and sound of this bass, Alex told us, "The sound is very loud when unplugged (due to acoustic cavities). I can finally play a 12ver without amp in way I can hear all its sound and without disturbing my neighbors at the same time. He-he! As for how it sounds, in reality the pickups are just a little bit too strong for my current preamp volume settings."

"The playability is average because of the lack of the proper setup (currently being corrected). In terms of how it plays it bears a striking resemblance to my Galveston 12ver. It has a very wide neck which I love because it's comfortable to play; skinny necks belong on a 4-string as long as it's an instrument I have to play."

"In fact, I'm satisfied with it's playability and sound."

Thanks Alex!

2008 Shamray Custom 12-String Bass
On display at the Moscow Music Exposition in October, 2008.

Shamray (online at The Guitar Custom Shop website) is located in Moscow, Russia. This custom shop Shamray 12-string bass was created in the obviously Rickenbacker-inspired design. Like the Rickenbacker 4003 series 8-string basses, it has a 4-saddle bridge, unbound neck and body and dot inlay neck. Interestingly, unlike the current Rickenbacker 8's, the Shamray incorporates the standard string arrangement.

Alex gave the 12 a workout at the show. He writes, "It has Chernishov's custom-made passive pickups. The huge single pickup sounds like a natural overdrive, and the neck pickup gives kind of a Cheap Trick sound. I'm not a huge fan of Cheap Trick at all (which I see is an unusual thing for a guy who plays a 12ver), but I respect their sound much, and I think it's a good sign if a 12ver sounds akin to Tom's."

We have learned that this 12-string bass was purchased by a private guitar collector in the Moscow area. This collector has a reputation for never playing his instruments live nor displaying them in public so this bass is presumably out of circulation for the foreseeable future.

Shamray Custom 15-String Bass

Shamray also built this Sledgehammer model 15-string bass in 2006.