How long should the upper horn be on a headless bass?

[Muzak Man]

I've heard that it should be around the 12:th fret on a headed bass to make it balance well. How does that change on a headless?
The bass I'm planning is a maple neckthrough with mahogany wings. 4 strings.
Any input appreciated

 

[T-Bird]

Hi.

In theory the balance point is more towards the bridge, but the 12th fret wouldn't hurt either.

IMO anyway.

Regards
Sam

 

[MPU]

And it's not only about balance, it's also how the bass sits while strapped. If the upper horn is very short the bass will move further from you and it becomes harder to reach lower notes.

 

[reverendrally]

You need to answer a few more qu...
1. how many strings; ie a 6 string neck is significantly heavier than a 4.
2. how thick/heavy is your body; a heavy body will effect the balance some.
3. what's the scale length; as mentioned before, long scale basses favour a longer horn.

I built this a little while back and it's pretty much my mainbass now. It's got quite a heavy body and hardware, but the 12th fret sized horn is pretty much spot on for it.

 

[TapyTap]

And it's not only about balance, it's also how the bass sits while strapped. If the upper horn is very short the bass will move further from you and it becomes harder to reach lower notes.

This is a great point.

Even though the Status Graphite KingBass is a 32" scale headless, the upper bout strap pin lies right around the 18th fret and makes for quite the stretch for that 1st fret when played on a strap.

 

[Muzak Man]

This is the design. Kinda like a more symmetric, headless warlock. Body will be beveled. I'm thinking 35" scale for tuning BEAD. Body will probably be about fender thickness.

 

[JIO]

I can't imagine having any issues w/neck-dive with that design and with a body as thick as a Fender. If you install the upper strap peg on the rear horn you can pre-determine the exact balance point where it works best before installing. Here's my Factorbird fretless (Kubicki Factor neck/Thunderbird body) which has no upper horn at all and the body (solid Koa) is on the heavy side.

 

[joseplluissans]

Had to post this:

6 bass string plus 3 guitar strings. So the neck might be quite heavy