Clearly I’ve lost my dang mind !!!

[Dark Horse]

Decades ago I owned a Steingberger or two. I tried to like them. Unfortunately they were just never “comfortable” to me. The Q5 felt best to me, but I was never able to bond with it.

Well, the other day I ventured into GC and saw a beat up Ibanez headless EHB1505 and figured “what the heck” and tried it out.

Blame it on old age. Blame it on too much chemo. Blame it on Global Warming. Blame it on whatever…, but I actually enjoyed playing it.

Yeah, I’m still a vintage guy…. I’ll always have my old Fenders, Dano’s, etc and I’m sure they’ll stay my “main players”, but that weird little IBBY has me thinking that maybe I should consider buying a headless to play around with. I don’t know if I’d want to drop the $$$ for a high end one, can’t currently justify it. But I love building and modding basses, and have a ton of parts here. So maybe I’ll look into some of the $300-400 Amazon models and mess around with them. Heck, might even go “FULL LOCO” and get a headless fanned fret

I guess H*ll is freezing over !!!



Here’s the one I tried out ….

 

[dland]

Life is short, go for it... embrace change, and own it!

 

[5StringBlues]

Kick chemo's ass, you're needed around here.

 

[Gino t]

“FULL LOCO”: headless multiscale fretless with no lines/dots, good for microtonal music, not that great for I-IV-V !

 

[SharpCat]

I guess H*ll is freezing over !!!

Put on a coat and don't look back.

 

[gizmos]

Its much more comfy to play than the Steinberger, I never bonded with mine either but the EHB is my main bass. It is not so much the headless thin but the overall balance that it enables. Also the EHB doesn't need double ball end strings so you have more choices.
-E

 

[ardgedee]

I'm just impressed your local GC wants $1150 for a used EHB1505 with that much visible damage on it. Street price on a brand new one is $1500. That's silly.

 

[five7]

Bought one a few years ago and only played it for 2 years. Took buying 4 until I found one with a good neck though. Since then I have bought a few p's and jazz basses along with a musicman. Love them all.

 

[Nuisance]

I've been wanting to pull the trigger on one as well. If you do, check in back here to tell us how you like it.

 

[Polfuste]

My main bass is now an EHB1000S, and it's just the most pleasing bass i've never played. Perhaps it's a chemo thing. I've had my part. Never to late to change mind, especially after chemo

 

[2saddleslab]

 

[Zooberwerx]

Bought one a few years ago and only played it for 2 years. Took buying 4 until I found one with a good neck though. Since then I have bought a few p's and jazz basses along with a musicman. Love them all.

This is not what I would have expected...please elaborate. I still don't care for the individual string retainers....a properly mounted uni-block would have worked just as well.

Riis

 

[TomB]

I think it’s been said, but the shape is what I disliked most about my Spirit 5. Headless with a more conventional body shape would be interesting to try. Also, the systems that terminate the strings at the head end somewhat suggest a headstock. I did like the tuners on the ‘Berger so would likely be ok - never liked the “cliff-jump” feeling of nothing at all. For sure, no neck dive !

BTW, I too am headed into chemo. Got a lot of gigs too, so I hope I hope I kick its ass!

 

[bassicmike]

Chemo is a very valid reason for buying a new bass (spoken from experience).

 

[TomB]

Chemo is a very valid reason for buying a new bass (spoken from experience).

How inspiring! My problems happen to be abdominal - even more reason for a super-lightweight axe .

 

[Zooberwerx]

Chemo is a very valid reason for buying a new bass (spoken from experience).

How about radiation? That's got to be good for a new pedal, at least.

True story: my radiation oncologist is a neighbor of mine but her office is now an hour drive to the other side of town. I already have my pre-visit lab results (...I'm clean) but still adhere to the program. No reason she can't scoot-by my driveway at 7 AM, give me an "atta boy!", and be on her way.

Riis

 

[TomB]

Radiation doesn’t seem on my menu at the moment, for better or worse. Thank you for the derail (by invitation). That EB1505 is lightweight, you were sayin’ ?

 

[Dark Horse]

I'm just impressed your local GC wants $1150 for a used EHB1505 with that much visible damage on it. Street price on a brand new one is $1500. That's silly.

Yeah, it’s WAY overpriced in my opinion. Absolutely crazy. For that $$$ it should be darn near mint.

 

[Dark Horse]

Radiation doesn’t seem on my menu at the moment, for better or worse. Thank you for the derail (by invitation). That EB1505 is lightweight, you were sayin’ ?

Im glad you can skip the Rads.

I had 35 sessions in 2020 for my tongue cancer. Absolutely brutal.

This time I had radiation on some of the tumors in my back. They’re also talking about possibly more radiation sessions for my prostate. Just depends on my next scans, really.

Anyway, I’m glad you got to skip it. Radiation can be a great thing for treatment, but depending on “where” in the body they use it, it can be “no big deal”, or it can be a monumental challenge.

Keep up the good fight, my friend.

 

[staccatogrowl]

I would definitely trust the Ibanez headless design and quality well above a bargain-price model. Better resale, too. New prices are around $1,600 US. And with the GC model you found, it's "bird in hand," along with 30-day trial with full refund upon return. Not much to lose in this scenario.

The only thing I'd investigate for the model pictured is the double-ball string usage. Those are not required for the model, and might have been chosen for convenience. However, they are not required. You could actually ask GC to install a normal string set, making sure the string-clamping mechanisms on the headpiece are all in good working order, before you take it home.