Headless bass guitars

[Andy Brown]

I owned a Zon "Vinny" VB-4 headless bass (twice) and it was a fantastic bass. The phenowood fretboard negated any "sterile sounding" complaints re: the graphite neck, the Zon doesn't require double ball strings- you can use any regular string you like. The pre-amp and the pickups sounded fantastic. Handled well, sounded freakin' great. If I had the ability (read $$) I'd own one agan. Just can't afford everything I want

+1... I owned the same Vinny 4 twice too! I missed it and still do. That one was a 4-string and I'm mainly playing 5's now, so I'd proabably go for a 5er.

The Zon Vinny is the best deal on the market IMO.

 

[BartmanPDX]

The best bass I've ever owned, hands-down, was a mid-80's Steinberger XL-25W, a real-honest-to-god take-out-a-second-mortgage-and-buy-me guitar.

5 strings, narrow spaced in white. It had the kick-out leg stand, and it was late enough to have the kidney-shaped piece on the back so that the strap actually attached to the mount, and not the bass. I also had a clamp machined in Ned's factory out of brass that allowed me to use any single-ball string that I wanted to, but I eventually settled on a custom GHS set that they'd make by the case for me (.135, .105, .95, .75, .65). If you find one, you also need the matching stand, which conveniently fits in the gig-bag pocket.

It also had an XLR out on the body, superb recording instrument...just plug it into the wall and go! One of the keyboard comapnied actually sampled my bass (both with and without the mandatory GK head) for two of their midi bass voices!

I have also had an early 90's Kubicki factor with the drop-D, another great bass...you can really dig in on those things, and one of the early Status basses with the (?) walnut bodies that has a superb woody tone to go along withh the graphite advantages.

I would kill to have that 'berger back, but he ain't selling

Nothing sounds like the old 'bergers. Thankfully I never got in a situation where I had to sell mine. I'll never sell it. I don't gig it as much as I'd like because it's pretty precious to me, but it always sounds fantastic in the mix.

 

[foal30]

like Vinxbass I've found recording with either a P Bass or an L2 is always engineer friendly.

the L2 is good for gigging because it stays in tune, can't be broken and has a variety of tones in it.

really cool bass, it's even in my will for the Kids to fight over.

 

[ric stave]

The best bass I've ever owned, hands-down, was a mid-80's Steinberger XL-25W, a real-honest-to-god take-out-a-second-mortgage-and-buy-me guitar.

5 strings, narrow spaced in white. It had the kick-out leg stand, and it was late enough to have the kidney-shaped piece on the back so that the strap actually attached to the mount, and not the bass. I also had a clamp machined in Ned's factory out of brass that allowed me to use any single-ball string that I wanted to, but I eventually settled on a custom GHS set that they'd make by the case for me (.135, .105, .95, .75, .65). If you find one, you also need the matching stand, which conveniently fits in the gig-bag pocket.

It also had an XLR out on the body, superb recording instrument...just plug it into the wall and go! One of the keyboard comapnied actually sampled my bass (both with and without the mandatory GK head) for two of their midi bass voices!


I would kill to have that 'berger back, but he ain't selling

I hear ya - that was my dream bass for years! And just about 2 years ago I found a black one (just not with the XLR). AND I have the stand too!

It's an amazing bass - great sound, nice and compact, and the neck is very easy to play all night long once you get used to the tighter spacing.

I'd love to keep it forever, but that may not be in the cards - as soon as I get some pics, it will be listed in the classified here.