Headless(ish) Fretless

[IWieldTheSpade]

Hi all,

Thought I would make a thread to me from getting sidetracked into other projects

I'm in need of a new fretless. I had a VM fretless jazz up until recently, but slowly found that as far as fretless basses go, a jazz isn't for me. I'm not a big guy, so the big headstock and offset body felt a little unwieldy. I did love the neck on it though, and luckily enough I managed to stumble upon a VM fretless jazz neck for a steal. The previous owner had only played it sparingly and with flats on, so it looks almost brand new.

The headstock is obviously still an issue, so I figure why not just cut some of it off? Maybe it will help with some of that annoying deadspot issue too
Having a headless tailpiece laying around too, it seemed like a good opportunity to downsize the headstock with only the need for string anchoring space. As far as body shapes go, I'm also quite fond of more minimalist body shapes like this Status Streamline:

So with these features in mind, I made a rough mock-up:

I'm going for a bit of a modern design with antique styling sort of vibe with this one. I'm not quite sure on the finishing yet, but currently leaning towards a sort of art nouveau inlay scheme on the body with some silver leaf trim and details (I blame you for having that itch @JIO ), and I picked up some old bakelite radio knobs that fit the theme quite nicely too. A shellac and wax finish would be most fitting for the style I think.
The body will come from a slab of spotted gum I've had since the dawn of time because it weighs a tonne, but I think it will be perfect for the small body size. Being a fairly plain and dark timber, it should be a good background for the inlays to pop from too.

Can't wait to get stuck into it! Thanks for reading.

 

[reverendrally]

Some more interesting designs. Cool. @michaelwayneharwood check this out.

 

[JIO]

So with these features in mind, I made a rough mock-up:
View attachment 927500

Looks cool! A full size mockup (of any material) is recommended for determining ergonomics on oddly/uniquely shaped basses. I learned the hard way having my lower horn allow the bass I designed to slip off my knee when playing seated and ended up adding an extended horn that worked better. Some designers don't care about the seated position, but as a player who spends considerable time rehearsing/learning new material etc while seated - I want my basses to be 360 on the functional side of good design. I say this specifically looking at your design and the Status - compare where the lower horn ends up in relation to the neck.

subbed!

 

[michaelwayneharwood]

Some more interesting designs. Cool. @michaelwayneharwood check this out.

Oh yeah - I love headless designs. Subbed!

 

[IWieldTheSpade]

Looks cool! A full size mockup (of any material) is recommended for determining ergonomics on oddly/uniquely shaped basses. I learned the hard way having my lower horn allow the bass I designed to slip off my knee when playing seated and ended up adding an extended horn that worked better. Some designers don't care about the seated position, but as a player who spends considerable time rehearsing/learning new material etc while seated - I want my basses to be 360 on the functional side of good design. I say this specifically looking at your design and the Status - compare where the lower horn ends up in relation to the neck.

subbed!

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be doing an MDF mockup very soon - I've done a paper one and that seemed ok, but obviously a more rigid structure will give a better idea on how it sits. That being said, I tend play more in the classical position rather than resting over a leg when seated, so it might not be so much an issue for that. Either way, I'll find out soon enough.

 

[T_Bone_TL]

I'm a bit unclear why there's that much headstock left if the tuners are to be on the other end now...

 

[IWieldTheSpade]

I'm a bit unclear why there's that much headstock left if the tuners are to be on the other end now...

Because the neck has already been shaped for having a headstock, along with truss rod access at that end, it's easier to mount anchor points to a reduced headstock than fool around with fitting something to a butt end. There's stylistic choice in there too of course.

 

[RBS_Johnson]

I would suggest trimming the headstock smaller than your mockup(although cutting more is easier than adding back if you change your mind). You could probably keep a lot of the same vibe while losing more size/weight. If you like the look with it then it doesn't matter though.

Also, are the pickups where you want them? I really dig the project overall, I'm excited to see it come together!

-Jake

PS - another bonus for having a headstock nub is the ability to use common wall hangers.

 

[IWieldTheSpade]

Sorry for the late update everyone. Some good news and bad news at the moment.

The good news being that after making an MDF mockup, the body shape is surprisingly comfortable for playing seated, regardless of position. So with that, I went to start on body to be.
That's the bad news part. After making the first few cuts, my saw crapped out on me. I had a crack with a coping saw, but it's *ahem* not coping particularly well with the very dense timber. Luckily, I do have a new router and table coming along not too far off, so I'll just have to use it to get the bulk of the shaping done.

I'll keep you posted when things start up again.

I would suggest trimming the headstock smaller than your mockup(although cutting more is easier than adding back if you change your mind). You could probably keep a lot of the same vibe while losing more size/weight. If you like the look with it then it doesn't matter though.

Also, are the pickups where you want them? I really dig the project overall, I'm excited to see it come together!

-Jake

PS - another bonus for having a headstock nub is the ability to use common wall hangers.

I think that the design sketch is a little misleading with the headstock size - it's actually quite small in person, maybe 2/3 the size of a hand? As far as size/weight goes, I don't see it having any significant impacts as it is, it's significantly smaller than the original Fender style headstock already.

The pickups are intended to be close together like that, as I've never really been one to use "neck" pickups so much on a fretless. I like the tone of a fretless Stingray, and having a pair of humbuckers already I thought I would just have them meet roughly in that position and be able to mix them with the two volumes.

 

[IWieldTheSpade]

Aaaaaand we're back!
After being not entirely convinced that my spotted gum wasn't just a slab of wood-grain patterned granite, I went digging through the wood pile for something a bit easier on my toolset. So here we are (excuse the mobile phone quality photo):

The centre block is some New Guinea rosewood that I've slowly been working my through for a number of years, and should come up with a nice bit of flame figuring in it when finished. And the sides are some western red cedar I had laying around. Given that these timbers don't fall off the deep end of Mohs hardness scale, work should proceed a bit quicker now.

The choice of cedar obviously raises some concerns for durability, so a change of finish is in order I think. Not having spraying equipment though, I need to stick with hand rubbed finished. I would have liked to use some of U-Beaut's hard shellac, but prices seem to have risen significantly since I last bought it. I can easily get a hold of some wipe-on poly at the local hardware store though - anyone had experiences, good or bad, with it?

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Cool project! I'm a headless freak, owned a Steinberger since the 80's, but I do like the decorative aspects of a headstock as a string retainer. Hoping to build one myself eventually. I made a new body for my Steinberger, and the body mockup I made out of layered plywood was key in figuring out the balance before cutting up mahogany. Sub'd. Please give us all the gorey details, we are wood geeks.