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Headless Club???

#2,841
Barticus said:
Yeah the upper horn length is a non negotiable for me as it has so much impact on the ergonomics of any instrument. The 34” scale Frog actually felt more like a 32 because of the long upper horn and was super comfortable to play. It’s one of the main design principles for the Headless instruments that I build for myself, that top horn has to be at least up to the 12th fret which makes the reach to the first fret much easier.

Update:
Here’s an image I created a few years ago, comparing all the basses that I owned at the time, as I was trying to determine why I played certain basses more than others. Ultimately balance and ergonomics were a couple of the factors for me. While these were all great instruments, some of these I no longer own partially for these reasons and that I’ve become more focused on headless basses/guitars in general.
View attachment 5008635
Click to expand...
Which ones do you still have and why?
 
#2,842
Core Creek said:
Which ones do you still have and why?
Click to expand...
I still have #1,2,6,7
1 - love that Streamline bass they don’t make them anymore and it has an asymmetrical neck which is super comfortable to play and that was the inspiration for the neck carve I did on my #1 headless that I play every day. I’m also planning on having it refinished in a flip-flop purple blue (like the factory finish) and narrow the monorails to 16.5mm
2 - I just replaced the body on this one (first bass in my profile picture) last year still love the Steinberger bridges with tight spacing and the necks are solid with small frets… really good (have two of them)
5 - love my Thumb BO 5 It’s a custom shop with the super thin neck and narrow string spacing it sounds great with a Bubinga body looks great on my studio wall.
6 - my only 6 with Wenge neck through it’s lite weight and narrow string spacing, I refinished it in the blue and upgraded the electronics to OBP3 and DCBs with passive tone pot, it’s a great sounding/playing bass

I thinned the heard to only instruments I’ll play which means narrow string spacing, and great balance… anymore, I only play headless 5s at this point as they’re just more comfortable and easier to manage for gigging. The middle one in my profile picture is my main bass, I’ve played it so much over the last 5-6mos that I have worn a spot in the finger ramp, so I’m planning to take that off and refinish it in a slightly different color this spring.
 
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#2,843
Cran said:
View attachment 4929470
First concept for a headless build that I’m in the body planning/cutting phase of. I intend to get the neck and assembly done by a luthier, but the body will be cut by my uncle and I out of a chunk of Lenga he’s been saving for me. The stick is a simulated 35 inch neck to test ergonomics. I’m happy to say that I did well with the design! It falls comfortably. V2 has been designed (with a minor change to fit a 6 string heel onto it, and I’ll cut a test chunk of MDF tomorrow. If that fits, then the next step is the body out of the proper material!
Click to expand...
I really like that body shape, but I wonder how it will feel with that point on the top? I'd be concerned it would force my right hand into one position.
 
#2,844
Engle said:
I really like that body shape, but I wonder how it will feel with that point on the top? I'd be concerned it would force my right hand into one position.
Click to expand...
I've cut the body out of the piece of wood (not yet carved), and I don't think that the point is going to be a problem. The body is going to be quite thin at that point as well.
 
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#2,847
Musings...

I saw somebody on TB a while back did a steampunk-looking bass where a bridge essentially held together with JB Weld and was trying to figure out a way to make my own headless hardware and had a thought... What if there were hollow bolts???

Short answer is, yes!

So how about this for a monstrosity:
Take one of the hollow bolts from something like this:
upload_2023-5-7_21-54-2.png


Which has a 6mm bore which shoould allow most bass strings pass (but not the nut). But also have a thrust bearing mounted head-side for the ball end to sit against so turning the bolt would not twist the string:
upload_2023-5-7_21-57-2.png


These bearings are just a little smaller than the bolt head to avoid getting torqued when tuning. I believe one side is fully sealed so I could JB Weld the bearing over the opening so it doesn't fall off if you take the string off.

Finally, the bolt would thread a long-ish nut for tension distribution *and* have a larger surface area to JB Weld to a base plate:
upload_2023-5-7_22-1-14.png




Is this madness? I'm looking for alternative and more flexible ways to arrange headless bridge tuners (without breaking the bank). I'm not as worried about the intonation saddles, just the tuners...
 
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#2,848
MovinTarget said:
Musings...

I saw somebody on TB a while back did a steampunk-looking bass where a bridge essentially held together with JB Weld and was trying to figure out a way to make my own headless hardware and had a thought... What if there were hollow bolts???

Short answer is, yes!

So how about this for a monstrosity:
Take one of the hollow bolts from something like this:
View attachment 5055672

Which has a 6mm bore which shoould allow most bass strings pass (but not the nut). But also have a thrust bearing mounted head-side for the ball end to sit against so turning the bolt would not twist the string:
View attachment 5055674

These bearings are just a little smaller than the bolt head to avoid getting torqued when tuning. I believe one side is fully sealed so I could JB Weld the bearing over the opening so it doesn't fall off if you take the string off.

Finally, the bolt would thread a long-ish nut for tension distribution *and* have a larger surface area to JB Weld to a base plate:
View attachment 5055678



Is this madness? I'm looking for alternative and more flexible ways to arrange headless bridge tuners (without breaking the bank). I'm not as worried about the intonation saddles, just the tuners...
Click to expand...
Interesting thought, you should follow this new thread in the Luthiers Corner to gain some new metal working skills and build a prototype :thumbsup: I’d love to see what you come up with.
 
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#2,849
MovinTarget said:
Musings...

I saw somebody on TB a while back did a steampunk-looking bass where a bridge essentially held together with JB Weld and was trying to figure out a way to make my own headless hardware and had a thought... What if there were hollow bolts???

Short answer is, yes!

So how about this for a monstrosity:
Take one of the hollow bolts from something like this:
View attachment 5055672

Which has a 6mm bore which shoould allow most bass strings pass (but not the nut). But also have a thrust bearing mounted head-side for the ball end to sit against so turning the bolt would not twist the string:
View attachment 5055674

These bearings are just a little smaller than the bolt head to avoid getting torqued when tuning. I believe one side is fully sealed so I could JB Weld the bearing over the opening so it doesn't fall off if you take the string off.

Finally, the bolt would thread a long-ish nut for tension distribution *and* have a larger surface area to JB Weld to a base plate:
View attachment 5055678



Is this madness? I'm looking for alternative and more flexible ways to arrange headless bridge tuners (without breaking the bank). I'm not as worried about the intonation saddles, just the tuners...
Click to expand...
Will JB Weld even hold up under that amount of tension?

I was brainstorming to using a mini turnbuckle with a thumb screw threaded through a bar or piece of angle aluminum as a headless tuner, based on this idea I saw online:

tuners.jpg


That idea is just using a regular screw for tuning, but you can see how a thumbscrew through a thrust bearing ought to work, and you can get them with thread pitch that closely matches the ratios used by the likes of Steinberger. Could probably even use a bent-plate from a standard bridge as the base for the idea.
 
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#2,850
J Posega said:
Will JB Weld even hold up under that amount of tension?

I was brainstorming to using a mini turnbuckle with a thumb screw threaded through a bar or piece of angle aluminum as a headless tuner, based on this idea I saw online:

tuners.jpg


That idea is just using a regular screw for tuning, but you can see how a thumbscrew through a thrust bearing ought to work, and you can get them with thread pitch that closely matches the ratios used by the likes of Steinberger. Could probably even use a bent-plate from a standard bridge as the base for the idea.
Click to expand...

Hey...it's a micrometer and that's a start. Probably show-up on the HipShot website for $300...$350 for the gold.

Riis
 
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