Hey there!
So, I was very intrigued by the headless bass design for quite a while now. Until now I was more of a traditional P-Bass and Stingray guy, but I thought my next bass has to be something different!
So I stumbled upon this baby...
A completely headless (not the semi-kinda-headless thing) Bogart Blackstone 5!
It has two Bartolini J-style singlecoils and a Noll BB2 preamp (which are no longer made I think), and the Blackstone composite body with a very cool cloud-style finish. The seller told me he was the first owner and it was made around 1997. Also, it‘s 35“ scale (he said).
What should I say, I bought it for €1200 and it arrived the next day. I fiddled a little with it and noticed that the intonation was totally off (almost a half step sharp on all strings), while the saddles were set all the way back already.
I decided to contact Stefan Heß, who made/makes the Bogart basses, via a German bassist forum. He was very helpful and answered within 2 hours on a Friday morning. He actually recognised the bass as one of the very first Bogarts he ever made! He told me it should be a 36“ scale (which I checked and confirmed), and it‘s one of about 10 headless 5-string Blackstone basses with 36“ scale he ever made and it‘s actually from 1993.
That makes it a birth year bass in hindsight for me! Yay
Even better: It‘s made in 1993 - just like me; and it‘s made in Germany - just like me 
He recognized it because of the hardware used on the bass.
The bridge is made by ABM which he used for those basses only in 1993. He changed it to ETS hardware later.
Also, the neck is a Clover Slapper neck, because he didn‘t have the tools back in the day for sculpting the necks that were later used specifically for the Blackstones.
So yea, I initially really like the bass for sound, playability, looks and all that. But now I like it even more as it is like a piece of history of the Bogart basses company.
BTW, I solved the intonation problem I mentioned. I loosened the strings and saddle screws and just reversed all the saddles so that the grub screws face towards the bridge. This fixed the intonation problem for me. I first thought about ordering a new ETS bridge from Stefan, but that would take about 3 months to deliver, would cost like 300€ and I‘d have to fill the hole on the body as the ABM bridge is sunk into the body. So that was an easy and economical fix
Oh, and I already ‘modded‘ it
Saw this on another Bogart bass on youtube. The ramp, not the sticker... I took some measurements and was lucky to find a piece of plexiglass that was just as thick as the pickups are high. A little sawing and sanding and it fits pretty well - it‘s held in place by the pickups.
So, what‘s more to add? Dunno, I‘m a happy camper
I put all my other (4-string-)basses into their cases and bags and I‘m gonna play this beast exclusively for some time to really get used to it‘s feel - and the additional string.
Thanks for reading! Rock on
So, I was very intrigued by the headless bass design for quite a while now. Until now I was more of a traditional P-Bass and Stingray guy, but I thought my next bass has to be something different!
So I stumbled upon this baby...
A completely headless (not the semi-kinda-headless thing) Bogart Blackstone 5!
It has two Bartolini J-style singlecoils and a Noll BB2 preamp (which are no longer made I think), and the Blackstone composite body with a very cool cloud-style finish. The seller told me he was the first owner and it was made around 1997. Also, it‘s 35“ scale (he said).
What should I say, I bought it for €1200 and it arrived the next day. I fiddled a little with it and noticed that the intonation was totally off (almost a half step sharp on all strings), while the saddles were set all the way back already.
I decided to contact Stefan Heß, who made/makes the Bogart basses, via a German bassist forum. He was very helpful and answered within 2 hours on a Friday morning. He actually recognised the bass as one of the very first Bogarts he ever made! He told me it should be a 36“ scale (which I checked and confirmed), and it‘s one of about 10 headless 5-string Blackstone basses with 36“ scale he ever made and it‘s actually from 1993.
That makes it a birth year bass in hindsight for me! Yay
Even better: It‘s made in 1993 - just like me; and it‘s made in Germany - just like me He recognized it because of the hardware used on the bass.
The bridge is made by ABM which he used for those basses only in 1993. He changed it to ETS hardware later.Also, the neck is a Clover Slapper neck, because he didn‘t have the tools back in the day for sculpting the necks that were later used specifically for the Blackstones.
So yea, I initially really like the bass for sound, playability, looks and all that. But now I like it even more as it is like a piece of history of the Bogart basses company.
BTW, I solved the intonation problem I mentioned. I loosened the strings and saddle screws and just reversed all the saddles so that the grub screws face towards the bridge. This fixed the intonation problem for me. I first thought about ordering a new ETS bridge from Stefan, but that would take about 3 months to deliver, would cost like 300€ and I‘d have to fill the hole on the body as the ABM bridge is sunk into the body. So that was an easy and economical fix
Oh, and I already ‘modded‘ it
Saw this on another Bogart bass on youtube. The ramp, not the sticker... I took some measurements and was lucky to find a piece of plexiglass that was just as thick as the pickups are high. A little sawing and sanding and it fits pretty well - it‘s held in place by the pickups.
So, what‘s more to add? Dunno, I‘m a happy camper
I put all my other (4-string-)basses into their cases and bags and I‘m gonna play this beast exclusively for some time to really get used to it‘s feel - and the additional string.Thanks for reading! Rock on
