To buy or not to buy- headless hardware

[Jared Evans]

This is my first bass build and I ran into trouble with scale. So I think I'm going to make it into headless. I posed the question of using this hardware in another thread but thought it would be better to begin a new one for it.

http://m.ebay.com/Pages/ViewItem.aspx?aid=200339162876

What do you guys think? The price is great, especially for my first build. But I still want decent quality. Any thoughts or experience?

Thank you guys, you're awesome!

 

[adam.beauchene]

I wrote that person a while back, trying to find out what brand it was or anything else about it. No response. It looks like steinberger knockoff.

He has that stuff up all the time. It's cheap enough to experiment with, imho, but it would be sad to build a nice instrument around it and have it fail.

If you want to get fancy, I bought some individual headless bridges off Dave Bunker, these things are fantastic. I'm using them on my current build.

 

[mikeyswood]

How about a direct link?

Also - allparts.com

 

[BillytheBassist]

It would be nice if the pictures were a little clearer. It would automatically be suspect to me if you couldn't get a response from the seller. I've been researching headless hardware myself recently and just from looking at the pictures i can tell you there is much better stuff available to use. Check out ABM and ETS.... (beat me too it) Dave bunker makes some really nice looking headless peices as well, though I have no experience with them. Best of luck with the build!

 

[MadR13DLuthier]

So, its also my first bass guitar build. I was thinking of the option of going headless because I read somewhere that this design stays in tune better.

There are not that many brands for such style bridges and nuts? I take it you need to purchase the hardware before designing the neck in such a situation?

Peace,

-M

 

[MadR13DLuthier]

My next question is, if I were to decide on making a headless bass, how does this affect the design of the truss rod? How could you adjust it if it were installed backwards? Or can it still be at the top of the neck somehow?

-M

 

[miziomix]

So, its also my first bass guitar build. I was thinking of the option of going headless because I read somewhere that this design stays in tune better.

There are not that many brands for such style bridges and nuts? I take it you need to purchase the hardware before designing the neck in such a situation?

Peace,

-M

Headless basses stay in tune a lot longer than others. Of course you'll need a reliable headless system. Of course cheep knock offs aren't.

I would buy the hardware before starting the build. Hipshot, ETS, ABM and Steinberger are all good.

have fun!

 

[MadR13DLuthier]

Thanks miziomix, my dream bass seems to be headless for a bunch of reasons...

-M

 

[reverendrally]

I've bought 2 of these to have a go with....

I know others have used them on here. I was advised the gears need some filing to be smooth. I did recieve one that was missing a gear, but the seller did send me another (after I spent way too much $$$ sending the first one back).

I figure for the price it's worth the risk. They are not that complex a design and I have a mate is a good machinist. So we can fix it if something is wrong.