Bass of the Week: Brooks Double Duane Bird
Rob van den Broek shared his latest creation with us and it’s an absolute beast. The Brooks Double Duane Bird, aka the DDB, is a double neck Thunderbird-style bass that features a traditional 34-inch scale four-string neck below a 30.5-inch scale twelve-string neck.
“Originally The idea started out as a double string with a six string Firebird guitar below and a 4-string Thunderbird above,” he says of the commissioned instrument. “But when my customer saw the sketch, he knew he wanted a twelve string bass neck instead of a six string.”
The bass is built with Korina for its body and necks with ebony for the fretboards. Some of the finer details include a buffalo horn nut for each neck and a custom made twelve-string brass bridge set. Van den Broek fitted the DDB with a Gemini Dominator pickup for the four-string neck and a Gemini Devastator for the twelve-string neck. A toggle switch lets you choose between which of the pickups is active.
All the extra firepower does mean the DDB weighs in around 17.5 pounds, but its construction offers a nice balance. “People always assume 12-string basses suffer severe neck dive. And I know with this bass having two necks they’ll assume it’s even worse,” says van den Broek. “But no, it doesn’t dive like a kamikaze pilot thanks to the super light-weight tuners that I use for all the 12-string bass guitars that I’ve built. The 4 Gotoh Res-o-lite tuners used for the bass strings weigh the equivalent of 1 traditional bass tuner and the Gotoh ST-31 tuners used for the octave strings only weigh 13(!) grams each. But yes, the bass IS heavy.”
Check out the builder’s video of the bass demonstrating its balance and sound.
Brooks Double Duane Bird Bass Photos:
Brooks Double Duane Bird Bass Specs:
| Scale: | 34″ for 4-string neck, 30.5″ for 12-string |
| Body: | Korina |
| Necks: | Korina (Carbon Reinforcement for 12-string Neck) |
| Fretboards: | Ebony |
| Nut: | Buffalo Horn |
| Inlays: | Circle Position Dots |
| Frets: | Jumbo |
| Pickups: | Gemini Dominator pickup for 4-string, Gemini Devastator pickup for 12-string |
| Tuners: | Gotoh GB 350, Gotoh ST-31 Stealth |
| Bridges: | Custom 12-string Brass Bridge, Wide Travel T-bird Style 4-String |
| Finish: | Candy Apple Red Nitrocellulose |
| Pickguard: | Three ply (vintage) white/black/white |
| Other: | Bourns pots (volume/tone volume/tone), Mullard capacitors, Pure Tone Multi Contact Jack Output |
| Weight: | 17.5 lbs |
In his time with No Treble, Kevin has met hundreds of amazing bassists and interviewed icons like Jack Casady, Victor Wooten, Les Claypool, Marcus Miller, and more. He's a gigging bassist performing jazz in Northern Virginia and bluegrass with The Plate Scrapers up and down the East Coast. Kevin appreciates all genres of music, from R&B to metal and everything in between. Connect with Kevin on Facebook and check his performance schedule on his website.
That is one GORGEOUS Thunderbird!