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NBD: headless, short scale and passive - Hils NEXT HNB3

#21
I just took delivery of a variation of this theme: a headless, fretless, lefty, passive uke scale bass by Lignum of Croatia. I've had several headless basses in the past, but this is the first with the bridge tuners (by Riviera) mounted on the top face as opposed to sticking out the butt. I think the top mounted knobs will be easier to access and be less prone to damage.

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#23
I‘m really curios to hear a little more about this bass, the playability and the quality of the hardware, pickups etc.
I‘m not a fan of the body shape. But I have some lumber lying around and I‘d be willing to design a new body and use the neck, hardware and electronics of the bass forma project if they are solid and reliable. Looking forward to getting an updste some time! Thanks!
 
#25
per Hils their latest shipment is supposed to get to them by today (Feb-12) and they will then do their setup/inspection and hope to get all preorders filled by the end of Feb. I'm looking forward to getting it.

The 4-string pickup looks similar to a double-J type (rectangle, ears on top & bottom), I'll measure it once I have it in hand.
 
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#26
Got mine today, yay! Traded for my Ibanez SR700, which is too big to fit the small car :)
First impressions are a bit mixed: there's some buzz, which can probably be fixed by changing truss rod a bit and I have a funny feeling that strings are not as "hard" as they were at full scale bass.

Naviin, did you found the same or do you have a feeling that it's more or less same feeling as with standard size?

Would changing strings change this? If so, any suggestions? (I am classical guitarist by default and bass player only when needed :) )

Another finding: as an electronic engineer I also unscrewed those 6 screws for the electronics compartment (well, as it's passive there's none offcourse, just 2 pots and on cap for hi-freq filtering on tone potentiometer) and there's PLENTY of space inside. So if anyone would consider upgrading it with active electronics, there's no problem :).

Regards,
Gregor
 
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#27
Short scale with the same strings as on a full scale will *ALWAYS* be a bit floppier in feel.

You can duplicate this on a long scale: Capo the long scale at the fret that would create a scale length equivalent to your short scale. Its probably going to be 3rd or 4rth fret.... Thats your new nut.

Now tune it down so that the open-capo'd strings are the same as the open strings on a short scale. If you are using the same strings they will be floppier on the short scale for the same pitches.

I try to tell people that if you want a short scale to sound like your long scale you are going to be disappointed if you keep everything exactly the same.

You can make it "tighter":
1) Tune up so that while you might lose a few notes on the bottom, the tension will be closer to long scale.

2) Get heavier gauge strings. Very common fix. Heavier string will have higher tension, hence "feel tighter", you may need to do a new set up after finding the right set though.

3) Use a lighter touch

Hope that helps?
 
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#28
Many thanks - changing strings with heavier ones was my first idea! :)
0.045-0.105 are default strings, but I am a bit confused what to select: heavier ones are defined as for long scale, which is the opposite?
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#30
After some playing (as well as rod adjusting to remove buzz on A string) I guess I get used to softer strings, so I guess I can live with it as it is! :D

Sound through the amp is pretty good, considering 1 paasive humbucker only. Did some EQ tweaking on amp, but can say that direct sound is pretty good.

Also I am (still) impressed by really good gig bag, which is really well made, pretty hard and with great level of protection for a gig bag. Did consider making a hardcase first, but now I will skip this.

What I also like is rubber feets, I wonder why nobody did that before ;) I am even considering making a little mod on the back so bass would stand on its own when unfolded. Will see what future brings. ;)

And jack connector position enables using angeled jack normally without any problem (there was one review, where guy complained about this)

Regards,
G
 
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#31
mucek said:
After some playing (as well as rod adjusting to remove buzz on A string) I guess I get used to softer strings, so I guess I can live with it as it is! :D

Sound through the amp is pretty good, considering 1 paasive humbucker only. Did some EQ tweaking on amp, but can say that direct sound is pretty good.

Also I am (still) impressed by really good gig bag, which is really well made, pretty hard and with great level of protection for a gig bag. Did consider making a hardcase first, but now I will skip this.

What I also like is rubber feets, I wonder why nobody did that before ;) I am even considering making a little mod on the back so bass would stand on its own when unfolded. Will see what future brings. ;)

And jack connector position enables using angeled jack normally without any problem (there was one review, where guy complained about this)

Regards,
G
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@mucek and @Naviiin, I just received my new HILS HNB3 today. The setup, fit and finish out of the box was perfect. One interesting thing about the specific bass I received, it was 6 lbs 10.7 oz on my kitchen digital scale. They are advertised at 5.5lbs, so mine seems unusually heavy. I am curious, what is the weight on the guitars you both received. Thanks
 
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#32
Mine arrived today - HNB3 in black. It will hang from a stringswing hanger but when I rotated it to check stability I was not willing to leave it up there long term - it went back in the bag. If the bulge of the partial headstock on the treble side was a little bit larger it would have been safer and I would have left it there.

This one is 6lbs 9oz - ~1lb heavier than the 'advertised' weight. It's still the lightest bass I have other than my Mbass uke but not quite as featherweight as Hils is advertising.

Apparently the Hils setup person likes high bridge saddles and the pickup cranked all the way into the body. I did a bunch of adjusting (saddles & truss rod) and am getting it closer to what I'd like. All the hardware moved easily and works well. The tuners are a bit stiff but it's much better than what I remember of the Steinberger Spirits I've had in the past.

I was a little concerned about what I'd think of the painted neck but it feels good - satin and smooth so I'm glad I opted for it since I didn't really want the ivory (which is still showing as 'preorder' on the Hils site - not sure if that's a website update issue or if they don't have them ready to go or in house yet). I was also wondering if I was going to move the rear strap button to where the rubber foot is near it and at least initially it's fine where it is.

Output is low - it's pretty quiet compared to my other basses (G&Ls & Gretsch Junior Jets) and a fairly 'generic' growly humbucker tone. Balance is good and there are plenty of lows even with the closer-to-the-bridge location compared to where I usually like my single pickups.

All in all it seems worth the price and I'll be spending a bunch of time with it over the next seven days to see if it stays or gets returned in the approval period (7 days per their website).
 

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#34
TweedBleed said:
Hi all. First post! I'm a novice guitarist, and this is my first bass. I saw the NAMM coverage of Hils and liked the idea of a short scale bass that's easy to travel with. My Ivory preorder just came in and it weighs 6 lb 10.5 oz, or 3.0 kg. Cheers.
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Hi! What's the size of the pickup? I'm planning to get one of these basses and I was wondering which aftermarket pickup would fit. Thanks!
 
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#39
Received my bass this last weekend. Initial thoughts: Love the finish on the neck, raised the pickup a little, out put seems good. More Music man than P-bass tones. Light enough, just under 7lbs. Action was set nicely in the middle, not to high, but no buzzing. Love the gig bag, good touch. Going to log some hours and a couple rehearsals and see how it sits with me, and compares to my Kiesel Vader SS, Strandberg and customs.
 
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#40
I'm sad to report mine got dropped off to head back to Hils this morning - availing myself of their 7-day satisfaction guarantee.

On the plus side the fit-and-finish were great, I liked the voicing of the pickup (throaty, growly, humbucker), and the hardware all worked smoothly and well although I did not mess with the string clamp at all, just the bridge & truss rod.

The main reason I sent it back was just ergonomic fit for me - my wrists and forearms are on a long slow decline as I age and while the bass would probably have been fine given enough acclimatization time I had to make a decision in the first 7 days as to whether it was worth taking the risk that it never got fully comfortable for me. I went with 'send it back' - combining the risk of comfort never being what I'd want, the stiffness of the bridge tuners (better than Steinberger Spirits I've had) compared with the easy lever action of regular tuners, and that clamp&cut requirement for strings (so no sharing/swapping with my other basses, potential issues with flatwounds and take-off/replace) led me to let it go.

Overall I think it is a reasonable value for the price and well made but in the end it just didn't make the cut to stick around for me - but that was a very personal decision and I think they will be a great addition to the set of headless basses available in the market.
 
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