Anyone made a headless bass?

[Random Guitarist]

I made one, possibly in a minority as I did use an overlord of music bridge. TBH it's fine as well, once the threads are greased.

I did start another to incorporate what I learned, but life gets in the way.

 

 

[prowla]

8 minutes ago, Random Guitarist said:

I made one, possibly in a minority as I did use an overlord of music bridge. TBH it's fine as well, once the threads are greased.

I did start another to incorporate what I learned, but life gets in the way.

 

 

You must be lucky then!

My doubleneck had stripped threads on the adjuster claws - the claws are made of cheese and the adjuster bolts are heavy(er)-duty M4 (or is it 6) bolts with a knurled knob attached to the end.

I got a replacement Overlord bridge and it was badly made, so the claws wouldn't fit into the recess, so it couldn't be tuned.

I managed to make one functional unit, but the adjusters graunched at the back of the bridge assembly and putting in washers/bearings meant the adjuster screws weren't long enough.

 

 

The guitar trem bridge's spring was way too powerful for the rest of the unit and the only way to be able to tune it was to lock it in place with the little latch underneath and ditch the trem functionality.

 

 

It's now got a Spirit (or Hohner) bass bridge and a hardtail guitar bridge from a chap in Ireland.

 

 

(Oh, and those "EMG"s aren't!)

[kodiakblair]

18 hours ago, Random Guitarist said:

I made one, possibly in a minority as I did use an overlord of music bridge. TBH it's fine as well, once the threads are greased.

Not that much of a minority, I'm another who used the Overlord with no issues; think Andy did a couple with it too.

 

Never intended to build a headless but I was given some torrefied Obeche, weighed very little so neck dive was a concern . Solution presented itself when I recalled playing a Hohner for 5 minutes at the 88 BMF 🙂 Compared to fitting mono saddles the O.o.M. was a piece of p!ss.  Bass turned out nicely, still going strong nearly 4 years later.

 

[JohnH89]

I built one a while ago . I used a system from Nova guitars

https://novaguitarparts.com.br/produtos/

Superbly engineered parts . Andre is a gent to deal with and may even be a member on here . I think he is on the other place . The system is now with @rwillett who can probably give you a few pointers .

[TheGreek]

The build of my Psilos bass is well documented here: 

Though not your traditional headless build it does have an Overlord headless system positioned in the back - a la Ritter and strings grasped on the back of the headstock. 

 

I have a 5 string ABM system waiting to be used on a single cut neck thru (Cort A5 SC anybody??)

 

 

 

 

 

[rwillett]

On 01/12/2024 at 18:20, JohnH89 said:

I built one a while ago . I used a system from Nova guitars

https://novaguitarparts.com.br/produtos/

Superbly engineered parts . Andre is a gent to deal with and may even be a member on here . I think he is on the other place . The system is now with @rwillett who can probably give you a few pointers .

 

Apologies, I missed this.

 

Just to back up what @JohnH89 says. Andre is a gent. He is on Basschat and his equipment is excellent as is his service. 

 

I gigged with my headless a few days ago and never even thought about the bridge and string locks as they just worked. I have nothing but praise for them and Andre. @JohnH89 is also a great bloke as well and full of useful info. 

 

Rob

Edited January 12 by rwillett

[Andyjr1515]

1 hour ago, rwillett said:

 

Apologies, I missed this.

 

Just to back up what @JohnH89 says. Andre is a gent. He is on Basschat and his equipment is excellent as is his service. 

 

I gigged with my headless a few days ago and never even thought about the bridge and string locks as they just worked. I have nothing but praise for them and Andre. @JohnH89 is also a great bloke as well and  of useful info. 

 

Rob

Yup - another endorsement for Andre and his products here 

[Jabba_the_gut]

I’ve always fancied a Status with a fancy wood top but can neither afford one or even find one! Made the headpiece from aluminium - will be using tuners similar to ABM.

[itu]

@Jabba_the_gut: which alloy are you using? My all time favourite is Alumec-89.

[Jabba_the_gut]

1 minute ago, itu said:

@Jabba_the_gut: which alloy are you using? My all time favourite is Alumec-89.

No idea to be honest! It was made as a test piece to see if I could make one myself with the tools I have after being let down by something who was supposed to be making one for me. 
 

I’ll have another go using brass when I get time. I’ll have a look at that Alumec-89 - cheers.

[rwillett]

2 hours ago, Jabba_the_gut said:

Made the headpiece from aluminium - will be using tuners similar to ABM.

Looks very nice, how did you make it?

[Jabba_the_gut]

2 hours ago, rwillett said:

Looks very nice, how did you make it?

Small pillar drill and a cheap x-y table from Amazon. Took a bit of time but turned out ok. 
 

I’d like to make the next one using proper tools as it would be quicker- the dials on my cheap table move it 1.5 mm per revolution and there is a bit of backlash so takes a bit of thinking about.

[rwillett]

X/Y tables start to get expensive very quickly. Looks like you did a great job though. 

 

Did you file out the slots by hand?

 

Rob

[Jabba_the_gut]

12 hours ago, rwillett said:

X/Y tables start to get expensive very quickly. Looks like you did a great job though. 

 

Did you file out the slots by hand?

 

Rob

Hi Rob,

The slots were milled. Not the easiest thing due the the limitations of the tools used! 
Cheers

[rwillett]

53 minutes ago, Jabba_the_gut said:

Hi Rob,

The slots were milled. Not the easiest thing due the the limitations of the tools used! 
Cheers

 

So you milled using a pillar drill and an XY table? If so, impressed.

 

Which XY Table did you buy from Amazon please?

 

Thanks

Rob

[Si600]

I have an x-y table you can have. If we can work out how to get it from Germany to you without it costing a billion quid.

[rwillett]

1 hour ago, Si600 said:

I have an x-y table you can have. If we can work out how to get it from Germany to you without it costing a billion quid.

Si,

 

Thanks very much for the offer, appreciate it.

 

I don't have a milling machine and whilst I would love to do more machining type work, especially around this sort of thing, I have to be sensible (not a word that many people, especially my other half would normally use about me), and recognise that I simply don't have time for learning another skill, one that might involve losing a finger, an eye or better/worse depending on your point of view. I'm better off sticking with the occasional burn from my pair of 3d printers. Now if you have a very large 3d printer, say 500mm x 500mm I'd be very interested in talking to you

 

Be still interested in making a pedalboard though for you...

 

All the best

 

Rob