Unofficial History of the 12-String Bass

The study of history is oftentimes much more interesting than the most outrageous of soap operas. Nowhere is this more evident than in the chain of events that have led to some of our most important technological innovations. Given the behind-the-scenes dramas that often occur, the flashes of insight, the stupid mistakes and the simple dumb luck of random chance, new ideas seldom follow a straight line towards completion.

The history of the 12-string bass is equally convoluted, or at least it should have been! Nothing of what you are about to read is true. This is the history of the 12-string bass as I imagine it could have happened. The facts have been changed to fit my view of the world.

The 12-string bass was invented in 1910 by Gustav Saretti in Vånga, Sweden. This photo postcard showing Saretti, his wife Ivana White Saretti and other instruments was mailed to the United States in 1911. In addition to the horns, saxophones and violins, two 12-string basses are shown, both with body binding and dot inlay necks. They incorporate the classic short scale body design adopted by Hamer nearly 70 years later.

Saretti was decades ahead of the competition in terms of electric bass guitar design, predating Leo Fender's P-bass by nearly half a Century. However, through a cruel twist of fate Saretti completely forgot to invent the bass amplifier, without which the basses were completely useless since nobody could hear them over the other instruments in the band. Saretti's oversight was widely reported and the firm soon went out of business. The whereabouts of these two basses is unknown, although it is rumored that in 1912 they were shipped to one of Saretti's relatives in New York via the RMS Titanic.

Only a handful of these unusual standup 12-string basses were made in Fiesole, Italy by Bass-Inova & Sons.

There were a number of problems with this bass, not the least of which was in finding high-octave strings in the super-long scale.

It was also designed to be played with a bow, effectively rendering these high octaves useless, even if strings could be found.

This upright style of 12-string experienced a short period of popularity when it was discovered by jazz bassists in the early 1940's, but the combination of the multiple strings, being fretless and with the extremely long scale made the intonation so difficult as to be virtually unplayable.

The only known example of this bass still in existence was until 1974 mistakenly designated as "The World's Largest Violin" in the Smithsonian Institution's collection of rare and exotic instruments.

The "Louisiana Crawdad" acoustic 12-string bass was invented in 1937 by Bubba "Robert E. Lee" Long, an inbred relative of Louisiana Governor Huey P. Long. The "Crawdad" name came from the crayfish logo on the body of the instrument. It is shown in a unique left-handed version in this promotional photo for the Binkley Brothers & Dixie Clodhoppers Bluegrass Band, a mainstay act at The Grand Ole Opry from 1936 through 1941. After countless Opry-goers complained that the instrument was "just too darned loud" the Opry management required all bands to return to the cumbersome upright basses they had been using for years.

Gibson Super-400
12-String Bass Prototype
1938

Shortly after the "Crawdad" bass appeared, Gibson decided to build their own version of an acoustic 12-string bass, the prototype of which is pictured here. They modeled this bass after their widely popular Super-400 series acoustic guitar which had been built since 1934. This bass is unique among 12's in that the tuners extend backwards from the back of the headstock.

Shown playing this bass is Tom P. Gibson III, grandson of the company's founder. Several days after this photo was taken Tom was found locked inside of his garage, violently strumming the strings and repeatedly screaming "Gonna Raise Hell" at the top of his lungs. While this behavior is considered to be normal among 12-string bassists today, in 1938 Rock and Roll had not yet been invented and therefore serious questions were raised about Tom's state of mind. Gibson quickly discontinued production of this bass as well as the Super-400 guitar.

Tom was soon committed to the Asylum for the Mentally Disturbed in Rockford, Illinois. He escaped in the late 1940's and it is rumored that he fathered several children in the Rockford vicinity. He was returned to the asylum permanently in 1952. By an odd coincidence his mailing address at the sanitarium was room #12.

In early July of 1947 something crashed on a ranch outside of Roswell, New Mexico. This famous photo from July 8, 1947 shows some of the debris recovered from that wreckage; It accompanied the press release from the United States Government in which it was stated that the object that crashed was a flying saucer from outer space.

Often overlooked in this photo are the broken remains of a 12-string bass neck and headstock. Analysts have concluded this is ironclad evidence that not only was the initial idea for the 12 brought here from another planet, but also that extra-terrestrials have been and continue to be actively involved in the 12-string bass community.

Of all the blues artists in the 1950's it was Howlin' Wolf that led the way in defining the Chicago Sound. Wolf, whose real name was Chester Burnett, had released an album in 1952 which included the 12-string bass on the songs "Moanin' at Midnight" and "How Many More Years". This photo was taken at Howlin' Wolf's first gig in Chicago in 1953; he had just moved there after living in Memphis. The name of the bassist who played with Wolf in those early years is unknown but his contribution to the Chicago Sound is undeniable.

This rare photo from 1956 shows Liberace and Elvis Presley warming up backstage before their debut duet appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. This was Presley's first appearance on the show, but he didn't get to actually meet Sullivan until later that year. Sullivan had been severely injured in a head-on car crash and missed five Sundays of shows. A different personality filled in for Sullivan each week, and this duet was introduced by guest host Charles Laughton.

Little known is the fact that Elvis originally played the piano, and it was Liberace who in the late 1940's developed the "swiveling hips" dance routine that was to later become Elvis' trademark. During rehearsal for the show Elvis suggested that since Liberace was actually the better piano player, just as a joke they should switch roles. Liberace agreed at the last moment, and the audience response was so overwhelmingly positive that they decided to make a permanent change. Liberace became famous as a pianist and Elvis gyrated to the thrill of a generation of screaming fans. Apparently these were good career moves for both entertainers.