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Alternative ways of holding strings


TheGreek
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Designing a "headless" bass but would rather have a headstock (of sorts) and don't want to use the traditional cut off Status style nut. I've looked at the Laurus system but this only works because it has normal tuners at the wrong end. I've thought about using a bicycle brake type system (or the inside of a plug) to hold the string at the head end.

I'm hoping that collectively we could design a way of making this work. Trying to keep this as minimalist/invisible as possible.

Can anybody know/think of existing (trick) parts which could be used?

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I've always though this BC Rich 8 string has quite an elegant solution for the Octave strings, which could possibly translate into a headed headless bass.

The bass, note tuners at bottom of body.


https://goo.gl/images/cW3GFw

The headstock string holder thingy.

https://goo.gl/images/71pq3h

Edited by Cato
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I'm thinking of stuff like this:

[url="http://www.cablegrip.co.uk/swivels.php"]http://www.cablegrip.co.uk/swivels.php[/url]





[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal-Throttle-Clutch-Cable-Repair-Kit-Motorcycle-MX-Off-Road-Motorbike-/331632590360"]http://www.ebay.co.u...e-/331632590360[/url]

Edited by TheGreek
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[quote name='MoonBassAlpha' timestamp='1489963653' post='3261176']
[url="https://ritter-instruments.com/R8-concept.php"]https://ritter-instr.../R8-concept.php[/url]
Some lovely ideas here, gives a really clean look from the front.
[/quote]

I usually love the R8... but that one looks like a kids toy

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Are you just looking for a way to hold the ball end so that you can't see the ball?

Some kind of bar with recesses for each string.

The only problem with recessing the ball is getting it out after it has been sitting there for several weeks/months/years under tension. You need some kind of slot as opposed to a hole.

There are lots of small engineering companies locally who might be able to machine you a prototype.

.

Edited by TimR
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Basslab do this, they have a full headstock without tuner. I can't get a decent pic of the string retainer though.

https://www.talkbass.com/attachments/img_1671-jpg.1075502/

Edited by Dazed
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Jon Shuker and I are working on a really cool idea which I think is rather clever. For now though, here's a few headstocks that are a little more elegant than a cut off neck.













^^^ Nice!

Edited by dood
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There are lots of ways to hold the ball end but we're looking for a way to hold the end [b][u]without[/u][/b] the ball. Andy's suggested a collett which will fit inside a ferrule which is cleaner/less visible than the Ritter system but may require a clamp across the nut. I'd be interested in more pics of this:

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The problem with with trying to find a way of holding strings without ball ends, is it brings in an added complexity.

You need a pair of cutters to cut off the ball end. You need an Allen key to undo and retighten the grub screw.

Anything goes wrong with a string at a gig and instead of restringing in 30 seconds while the singer chats you have a minor engineering exercise on your hands.

.

Edited by TimR
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I think that was Stonefield - the head end was still quite cumbersome. We're looking for an "invisible" method.

https://stonefield-musical-instrument-company.myshopify.com/pages/hardware

I think we're looking at Dood's suggestion with a clamp on the nut to reduce the likelihood of slippage.

Still open to suggestions though. Somebody else must have come to a solution.

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