Dang auto correctAnd not that it was headless, too...
thanks, I edited that
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Anyone surprised by the return of headless popularity?
- Thread starter MAJOR METAL
- Start date
thanks, I edited that
Nice on a tight stage, nice to travel with, a lot more selection than the days of Steinberger or Cort knock-offs. What made them possible again is the Hipshot bridge and enough desire from the public. I tried an Ibanez but didn't like it. Maybe I should look at the Kiesel a bit more. Maybe a Thanos?
I've bought one of the same bridge/tuner units. I'd sell it to you but it's so crappy that I've vowed only to give it to enemies. The quality of a kit usually depends on the quality of the neck, but in this case, plan on a upgrade of the tuning mechanism.I’m definitely a big 80s music fan and always liked the Steinberger basses. Of course, as a teenager at that time I certainly couldn’t afford one!
Wish they had these back then! Would have been super fun building it in Woodshop class!
Anyone build one of these DIY headless kits? If so, how did it work out? View attachment 4852559
Wait a minute.... headless basses are popular? I haven't seen one in the wild since the late 80's.
A well made bass shouldn't have neck dive. I'm not bashing Hipshot, just pointing out that I find the benefits could be much better if they can reduce the weight. My shoulder doesn't notice much of a difference on the strap or lugging the gig bag.
It would be nice if there were competition, sure. Especially if they use the same footprint. If the new company goes out of business, you could always replace it with Hipshot later.
I bought one after I smacked the singer in the head on a small stage. I turned around and he wasn't supposed to be there. He knocked my bass out of tune!
I really haven't noticed. Which is a good thing for me. I remember seeing the Steinberger bass on MTV (in the 80s) for the first time and thought it was the stupidest looking thing I'd ever seen. I hated them! I used to call them "stick" basses. I still do. Wouldn't be caught dead with one. Although, I have done some reading/research regarding them and some people love them for their light weight and fantastic tone. Perhaps someday I will give one a try. Highly unlikely though, since they are out of production (as far as I know) and I'll probably never see one in a music store.
I'm a headless fan. For me it has zero to do with visual trends. I don't particularly love the look. The appeal is all about the physical differences between them and headed basses that I count as improvements. I'm sure others have mentioned them. Balance, weight, tuning stability, size, tuning at the bridge, etc.
On the downside, you will have to endure lots of jokes and haters
To some people, headless is about the same, image wise, as "Keytar".
So Anyway, I played a friends headless Steinberger bass many years ago for a set. I didn't like the ergonomics at all. Even though it was much lighter, it was really uncomfortable on my shoulder. Same thing happened with a Epi violin bass and a Hofner Shorty.
Go Figure.
Go Figure.
- Apr 18, 2008
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- I'm highly opinionated and extremely self-assured
Most are, yes.
Imagine playing a bog-standard mid-80s Peavey Foundation. A great bass by most peoples' standards.
Now imagine playing that same exact bass, without the heavy tuners at the end of the neck. Everything else stays the same. The frets are all in the same spot, the body is the same shape, but the neck isn't nearly as heavy.
Win!
I regularly gig with my Lakland 55-02, which is a 35” scale big boi bass. When I’m spinnin and swingin around on a stage, it’s almost always ONE part of that bass that hits a mic stand or one of my singers- the headstock. It’s literally the only part of the bass that has dings on it lol.
I’m honestly surprised there are so FEW headless instruments widely available. The Ibanez EHB line is intriguing, but there’s juuust something I can’t quite love about them when I’ve played them. They seem just a liiiitle cheap on the build quality for some reason.
I WANT headless tho, badly. I wish some manufacturers would start making more pro level $1500-$3000 headless instruments.
I’m honestly surprised there are so FEW headless instruments widely available. The Ibanez EHB line is intriguing, but there’s juuust something I can’t quite love about them when I’ve played them. They seem just a liiiitle cheap on the build quality for some reason.
I WANT headless tho, badly. I wish some manufacturers would start making more pro level $1500-$3000 headless instruments.
I've loved headless instruments since I first saw them in the 80s. They looked so futuristic. Now that I have 3 of them, I don't think I'll ever buy a non headless bass. Ergonomics and style all rolled into one. Plus I get tons of compliments/confused looks/inquiries on stage now (for the past few years my main gigging bass is a NS-Designs Radius Wav 4). I love that I stick out from the crowd with my super "weird" looking bass.
Of all the advantages offered by headless basses, one of the biggest for me is that they practically never go out of tune!
I literally take my status streamline, put it in the car, go to the airport, go though security, carry it on a plane stuff it in an overhead, fly across the country, throw it in a rental car, to the hotel, back in the rental, to the venue sound check….only to find that it’s still in tune! Play the gig, fly home. It’s still I tune when I take it out again.
it happens regularly. If by chance, a string is actually out of tune, it’s so minute that its remarkable
I mean, I usually have tune my Traditional basses one or twice per set.
i just wish I could find a really high quality gig bag for it. All the “Steinberger” type bags are light duty and wear out fast
I literally take my status streamline, put it in the car, go to the airport, go though security, carry it on a plane stuff it in an overhead, fly across the country, throw it in a rental car, to the hotel, back in the rental, to the venue sound check….only to find that it’s still in tune! Play the gig, fly home. It’s still I tune when I take it out again.
it happens regularly. If by chance, a string is actually out of tune, it’s so minute that its remarkable
I mean, I usually have tune my Traditional basses one or twice per set.
i just wish I could find a really high quality gig bag for it. All the “Steinberger” type bags are light duty and wear out fast
Check out Basslab... Used to be Status was the go-to high-end headless maker; I had a custom-order Status Streamline that sounded heavenly! It was built a few years ago back when their shop was going through some chaos, so had to be returned due to some unfortunate unsolvable mechanical problem. I am sure that they got that sorted - but sadly the company is on hiatus now due to health issues. After my Status disappointment, I ordered a custom short-scale BassLab. The build took much longer than usual (Thanks, COVID!) but was 1000% worth the wait. Sounds way better than any of their quirky website sound samples would lead you to believe...
Yeah, I don’t know about Hipshot having any influence at all in this space. I have seen builds with them, but I’ve never seen them in the wild compared to all of the others like ABM, ETS, Nova, etc. and they don’t make a monorail system like the others either. I’ve harvested Steinberger’s for my last 3 builds with a custom brass headpiece to match.
The Hipshot system is almost double the cost of other great tuners too which doesn’t make it an option for most builds.
I have two Streamline four strings, fretted and fretless, and both are essentially perfect basses, in every single respect, for me personally - tone, playability, design, materials, weight, construction, stability, balance, looks, pickups and electronics, string mounting / tuning arrangements, hardware, everything.
I bought the fretted one with a Status gig bag and the aluminium flight case (rarely used). It was fitted with Schaller locking buttons as standard. The unlined fretless came about a year later with a nice Ritter gig bag. I had to fit Schaller buttons myself to that one, no big deal.
Overall, I’m totally happy with my two Status Streamlines. You can probably tell. Big thanks to a great company and hi to Rob and Dawn, from a customer delighted for the past 36 years!
Yeah the Streamline is hard to beat. I have a 5 that I bought new and will never part with it.
I'm not surprised by the renewed popularity of headless basses. What I am surprised about is how many hardware manufacturers started producing the necessary parts to allow a whole new breed of headless basses to become popular. Somebody had to make a leap-of-faith and say "We can improve upon the original Steinberger (or Kubicki) bridge/tuner hardware such that luthiers will want to make headless basses again!" before anyone was able to make new, more attractive/less polarizing headless instruments.
