October “Limited Edition” 12-String Bass

2006 October Guitars “Limited Edition” Transparent Black 12-string bass.

2006 October Guitars 12-String BAss Mystery

In 2006 October Guitars sold two 12-string basses in the transparent black finish with the logo positioned vertically rather than horizontally on the headstock. Close inspection clearly shows that the front of the headstock was taped off, painted black over the original finish, the abalone letters were added, then additional lacquer was applied. Apparently the lacquer was sprayed by hand from a spray can as it looks rough and crinkly rather than being a normal smooth finish. It is unknown why the headstocks were re-painted. For lack of a better term we refer to these two nearly identical basses as a “Limited Edition”.

An employee of October Guitars told us, “I remember the abalone October logos, but they were such a tremendous pain in the ass to center and glue down we only did two of those before we abandoned the idea. One was for John Gallagher of Raven to take on tour, and as I recall an airline busted the headstock off!”

Raven on stage with one of the two “Limited Edition” 12-string basses at the Minneapolis Metal Festival.

Another view of the “Limited Edition” October 12-string bass on stage.

John Gallagher’s band, Raven, had played at a metal music festival in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the end of August, 2006. When John got back home he discovered that the airline had snapped the headstock off of his October bass. The airline paid the claim but kept the instrument. Tony Leicht of October Guitars reported, "They didn't even give me a chance to repair it, they just 'bought us off'." The bass had been delivered to John only a month before the Minneapolis gig.

John Gallagher ripping it up on the Hades Holographic Flake 12-string bass that replaced the “Limited Edition” October 12-string bass.

Leicht continues, "I had one last Hades 12-string bass at the shop, in the Holographic Flake finish. John plugged it in and rocked out for awhile. I've seen a lot of players over the years but I've never seen anyone tear up a 12-string bass like that! The dude was ripping arpeggios on it like it was a guitar - bending strings, playing chords with 3 fingers and while playing those chords using his 4th finger to smack harmonics on open strings, 2 hand tapping... The dude was even squealing 3rd fret harmonics, and the only person I've seen do that accurately was Dimebag and that was on a guitar, not a 12-string bass!”

The one remaining “Limited Edition” 12-string bass has generic pickups and gold hardware. 34” long scale, 26 frets, and inlays on the upper side of the fingerboard.