Abasi basses are coming….

[Rick05]

Iv just heard Abasi guitars are releasing a bass model. As a massive fan of Tosin Abasi, Animals as Leaders and how the Abasi guitars look I’m really excited by this.

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7CuKqZOKsr/?igsh=MW5uenVnM3hvOXlmdQ==

[BassApprentice]

Missed a trick by not creating a sub-brand called Abassi.

 

Looks cool though.

[eude]

It does look cool, I love the guitars, but, I would be worried about how it balances on a strap.

There is a lot of real estate between the top strap button and the end of the headstock...

[visog]

Erm... Interesting. Ibanez on a roll in this territory with EHB's though eh?

[franzbassist]

Where are these from?

[visog]

1 minute ago, franzbassist said:

Where are these from?

Manufacturer? Country of manufacture? Planet? Designer?

[Machines]

Price is important, as they will be going up against a well established Dingwall fanbase in this style of music. I'm guessing £2k+ (as their guitars seem to be not budget friendly).

 

That said, I haven't seen their spec/review, so it could be there's something new in there.

[franzbassist]

1 hour ago, visog said:

Manufacturer? Country of manufacture? Planet? Designer?

In my naivety I assumed people would think I meant country of manufacture, but clearly there are so many more options I should have considered.  

[TheGreek]

Sorry...does nothing for me...and I like headless basses 

 

 

[MartinB]

Kinda... if you squint...

[Mykesbass]

Or a little reminiscent of this: 

[velvetkevorkian]

18 hours ago, eude said:

It does look cool, I love the guitars, but, I would be worried about how it balances on a strap.

There is a lot of real estate between the top strap button and the end of the headstock...

Yeah, you'd hope they've done their homework about ergonomics but it looks like neck-dive city to me at a glance.

 

I'd like to try one but suspect they'll be out of my budget anyway.

[tauzero]

19 hours ago, Machines said:

Price is important, as they will be going up against a well established Dingwall fanbase in this style of music. I'm guessing £2k+ (as their guitars seem to be not budget friendly).

 

Dingwall don't do a headless though. So, if that's important, they'd either be up against the Ibanez EHB 1265MS or 1505MS, or the Strandberg Boden.

[tauzero]

22 hours ago, eude said:

It does look cool, I love the guitars, but, I would be worried about how it balances on a strap.

There is a lot of real estate between the top strap button and the end of the headstock...

 

What top strap button? It doesn't seem to be visible - you can see the bottom button but not the top one. If it's tucked away round the back, that's a good recipe for forward tilt (cf. Hohner B2V). Mind you, thinking of the B2V, despite the teeny tiny body and the top strap button being in line with the 22nd fret, it doesn't neck dive at all.

[Supernaut]

[velvetkevorkian]

On 17/05/2024 at 18:33, franzbassist said:

In my naivety I assumed people would think I meant country of manufacture, but clearly there are so many more options I should have considered.  

I believe they have Korean, Japanese and USA lines depending on price.

[Rick05]

7 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

Dingwall don't do a headless though. So, if that's important, they'd either be up against the Ibanez EHB 1265MS or 1505MS, or the Strandberg Boden.

Yeah and a few other manufacturers that seem to be up and coming. Overload is one that comes to mind 

 

https://www.overloadguitars.com

[Russ]

Nice, but I’m really not on board with the whole headless thing.

 

They’ve always just felt completely wrong in my hands, ever since I first tried an old Hohner Jack headless in the early 90s. I tried out a Strandberg bass last year, and it was a lovely thing - light, punchy and comfortable (my back loved the lightness!), but it still had that same issue as the old Hohner. The balance is off, and, for your left hand, it just feels like you run out of neck. 

 

I can see why they did it - if they want to use that same singlecut body shape they use for their guitars, adding a headstock is going to unbalance it. I’d have hoped they’d come up with a better design to compensate for that and still have a headstock. 

[Sibob]

They’re listing them on their website for £3195….so they’re gonna need to be hand built IMO. It mentions that they are ‘USA Master Series’, but stops short of saying where they’re built. 
 

Edit: Had to dig, but elsewhere on the site it states that “The Master Series lineup is designed and crafted in Southern California”.

 

Si

Edited May 20, 2024 by Sibob

[eude]

4 hours ago, Russ said:

Nice, but I’m really not on board with the whole headless thing.

 

They’ve always just felt completely wrong in my hands, ever since I first tried an old Hohner Jack headless in the early 90s. I tried out a Strandberg bass last year, and it was a lovely thing - light, punchy and comfortable (my back loved the lightness!), but it still had that same issue as the old Hohner. The balance is off, and, for your left hand, it just feels like you run out of neck. 

 

I can see why they did it - if they want to use that same singlecut body shape they use for their guitars, adding a headstock is going to unbalance it. I’d have hoped they’d come up with a better design to compensate for that and still have a headstock. 

The problem with a lot of early headless instruments, and some more recent and ill considered ones, is that you get that running out of neck feel you describe, that's because the neck just stops, and feels totally alien.

I recall feeling exactly the same when I first tried a Hohner Jack too!

 

Other manufacturers now, especially decent luthiers build a volute into the rear of the neck so the feel is indistinguishable from their headed options, like on my ACG >>

 

 

[Rick05]

51 minutes ago, Sibob said:

They’re listing them on their website for £3195….so they’re gonna need to be hand built IMO. It mentions that they are ‘USA Master Series’, but stops short of saying where they’re built. 
 

Edit: Had to dig, but elsewhere on the site it states that “The Master Series lineup is designed and crafted in Southern California”.

 

Si

Yeah it’s a bit steep on price. Definitely want to see some reviews before considering one. Also a bit pricey when there are limited options for finishes with no options to change electronics.  

[Rick05]

29 minutes ago, eude said:

The problem with a lot of early headless instruments, and some more recent and ill considered ones, is that you get that running out of neck feel you describe, that's because the neck just stops, and feels totally alien.

I recall feeling exactly the same when I first tried a Hohner Jack too!

 

Other manufacturers now, especially decent luthiers build a volute into the rear of the neck so the feel is indistinguishable from their headed options, like on my ACG >>

 

 

I agree, my overload has the same and I don’t really notice the lack of headstock when playing.

[tauzero]

My Seis don't have a volute and I don't have any problem with them at all. However, I have noticed that when switching to my Hohner B2AV, it does take me a few minutes to get properly aligned, probably because of how far the neck goes from the body - it's a fair stretch to the first fret. It took me a while to get used to my first B2, a long time ago. It's worth it though, headless basses are lighter and better balanced than the headed equivalents, plus you can tune them from both sharp and flat, unlike a conventional bass where you have to tune from flat.

[SumOne]

 

They look good to me, and I don't usually like the singlecut look. 

 

I doubt neck dive would be an issue seeing as there's no headstock and tuner weight is moved to the opposite end. 

[Rick05]

A couple of videos of it being uploaded now! Looks cool, my only concern is paying over £3k for something that has no options apart from colour.