Jump to content

Headless Bass Options


Wonko

Recommended Posts

I want to build a headless bass. I don't know of any way to tune it other than to get a set of Steinberger tuners. Has anyone ever figured out another way of doing this?

Did I mention that price was an object? The only way I see so far is to find a Steinberber that got run over and buy it cheaply. There's got to be a better idea....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I want to build a headless bass. I don't know of any way to tune it other than to get a set of Steinberger tuners. Has anyone ever figured out another way of doing this?

Did I mention that price was an object? The only way I see so far is to find a Steinberber that got run over and buy it cheaply. There's got to be a better idea....

This topic may be of interest-Click

Moving regular tuners behind the bridge is another thought, but may not prove as ergonomic. Think of some of the old BC Rich 10's.

Peace,Rich

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unfortunately, there aren't very many options if you are trying to go headless AND spend as little as possible. It is far cheaper to build a conventional guitar. Short of rolling your own solution as pointed out by fryovanni's link, its going to cost some money. Musicyo.com sells Steinberger parts but does a poor job of keeping parts in stock. They can go months without parts. There are alternatives out there such as ABM and ETS but they are not cheap.

I'm also in the process of building (attempting to build) a headless instrument - a guitar in my case. My current "solution" is to purchase one of the low end Steinbergers ($300 range but currently out of stock as well) and use its neck, bridge and headpiece. However, I've been investigating alternatives that could potentially cost less as well.

Take a look at my blog posts Alternative Headless Guitar Design - TK Instruments and Alternative Headless Guitar Design - Soloette for a couple of designs that use conventional parts in an unconventional manner in order to achieve a headless design.

These two designs may give you some ideas that might be applicable to a bass guitar. I also have a third such post in the works...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dang! That's one cool guitar. But on a bass, it sure would be one long, unwieldy SOB.

I think I have enough room to make this modification to my Martin solidbody. I'll have to measure. <g>*

I'll be thinking of some reasonable way to make bass tuners without adding to the length of the bass, and looking to score a Steinberger unit on the cheap, but until then, this project looks like it's on ice.

The BC Rich bich might just do the job, if I put pulleys below the bridge and tuck the tuners up under my armpit. Of course, it would take two more elbows on my right arm to tune the thing, or the help of a friend.

*(Some may not know that Martin made 3000 flatbody electrics in the mid-60's. They are truly wonderful guitars, and I probably wouldn't cut mine up.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...