Discontinued 12-String Bass Brands
For ten years the Chandler Royale 12-string basses were the cream of the crop, and they are still considered by many players to be the finest 12’s ever built.
A small number of 12-string basses were built by the custom shop of this toy company.
Hamer built 12-string basses starting in the late 1970’s and for a number of years they were really the only option for players who wanted to try tackling the 12-string. While the debate stills rages about whether or not the Mayan calendar predicting the end of the world in 2012 was actually predicting the end of Hamer Guitars, it’s interesting to note that they closed shop in the 12th month of 2012.
The Hamer brand name is currently being used by a guitar supplier that has no relation to the original company and deals only in imported guitars. No 12-string basses are being built.
One production run of about 25 “Dragon” 12-string basses appeared in the early 1990’s, built in Japan by a master craftsman. Very scarce and very cool!
Oktober Guitars from the Baltimore, Maryland area disappeared in 2016. They sold a variety of models of 12-string basses under the brand names Hades, October, and Oktober.
Phil Pro Guitars from Korea made a handful of 12-string basses which they sold under the Phil brand name. You would think that they could have come up with something more clever…
The Shine 12-string bass was made by the Saein Musical Instruments Company in South Korea.
Starfire 12-string basses were made in China possibly by people who had never built guitars before.
Tennessee 12-string basses came in two flavors - Korean and Chinese.
Unsung Musical Instruments of Inchon, South Korea closed their doors just a few years ago. They built many of the brands of 12-string basses that are commonly encountered, such as Silver Star, Marcus Martini, Galveston, Hense, Carlo Robelli, Jet, and Career, just to name a few.
A 12-string bass built as a sales sample for a music industry trade show.
A handful of 12-string basses were built by Steve Wishnevsky.