Really small body on a non-headless bass possible?

[brickers]

I’m thinking of building a small body to put on a jazz neck a really like. Like really small - enough for pickups, bridge, controls and enough shape to be able to rest it on my leg when sitting, but no more.  Are there any examples of basses like this with a headstock rather than headless? Or am I just asking for it to want to dive south? If so, is it possible to counter that with good strap placement?

[Reggaebass]

My mini P bass has a small body, I just use it for noodling on the sofa 

when I was looking Flight do a mini jazz bass , not sure if you could get the size to maybe copy it to make one

Edited February 23 by Reggaebass

[Paul S]

You can get some off the peg - Hofner Shorty springs to mind.  They do different styles - the violin shaped one looks pretty cute to me.

[Hellzero]

Early years Devo fanboy?

[chris_b]

To balance any bass you need a top horn that is long enough to balance the instrument when on the strap.

[brickers]

Thanks for the responses. 
 

21 hours ago, chris_b said:

To balance any bass you need a top horn that is long enough to balance the instrument when on the strap.

I think this is the info I was after - basically, you can build something that’s just a long stick and this is how it can be balanced. Cheers

 

23 hours ago, Hellzero said:

Early years Devo fanboy?

I wasn’t, but having looked I like the cut of their jib!

[crazycloud]

Or you can add a long 'strap pin extender' a la the NS Stick. I know the NS is headless, but with lightweight tuners, a weighty 'body' and a little experimentation with the extender's length, you'll be able to se the balance where you want. I've made and added these to my wooden Hohner and Spirit Steinberger clones, and my upcoming custom 6 string (bass) versions. Plus I think I've worked out how to do the same to my Ibanez SR basses as I want the static playing angle more vertical than stock.

 

[3below]

It can be done, this is 31" scale roughly.  https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/454930-and-now-for-something-completely-different/#comment-4749708

 

The next variant will have an adjustable stainless steel tube to provide an upper bout. This will make adding the lead weight unnecessary, hence lighter still.

Edited February 24 by 3below

[rwillett]

On 23/02/2025 at 13:45, brickers said:

I’m thinking of building a small body to put on a jazz neck a really like. Like really small - enough for pickups, bridge, controls and enough shape to be able to rest it on my leg when sitting, but no more.  Are there any examples of basses like this with a headstock rather than headless? Or am I just asking for it to want to dive south? If so, is it possible to counter that with good strap placement?

 

The long strap extender looks a good idea. You are basically trying to move the Centre of Gravity away from the mass at the end of the neck closer to your body. 

 

That's one way, another way is on the other end.

At the end of the day, you canna change the laws of physics, but you can bend them to your way of thinking.

 

1. Reducing the mass at the end of the long lever (the neck). Light weight tuners, shave the headstock down, try and move the neck further down into the body.

2. increasing the mass at the body end. You're trying to avoid doing this (aka a body-less body), so this makes point 1 even more important.

3. Changing where the CoG is located through a lever. Already suggested and is probably the easiest.

4. Some sort of clip that attaches the body of the bass to your body. I'm told there are devices that do this but never seen them. You are in effect becoming breeze blocks (see I wasn't being facetious :)) 

 

Rob

[prowla]

You could look at a Vox Starstream.

 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vox-Starstream-1H-Guitar-Humbucker/dp/B08N9Q27SX?th=1

[tauzero]

I have a couple of examples of 5-string headed J basses here. The Squier has stock tuners, the top horn is at fret 12, and it's on the verge of neck dive. The Sei has a slightly lighter body, lightweight tuners, a slightly slimmed down headstock, and is nicely balanced. Given the level of minimalism you are aiming at with the body, you'd probably need to stretch the top horn to fret 10 or so.

[neepheid]

Gibson 20/20 bass anyone?

 

[Gank Bass]

On 25/02/2025 at 12:08, neepheid said:

Gibson 20/20 bass anyone?

 

Oh my god it's hideous... I need it 

[3below]

10 minutes ago, Gank Bass said:

Oh my god it's hideous... I need it 

Likewise, what a great bit of kit.... heads towards shed to make sawdust 🪚

[rwillett]

Clever way to reduce the weight of the headstock and reduce neck dive.

 

Is it called 20/20 as anybody with good eye sight would not buy it?

 

It looks as if it was a child of the early 80's to me, it needs a lot of hair and hair spray.

Rob

[prowla]

On 25/02/2025 at 12:08, neepheid said:

Gibson 20/20 bass anyone?

 

 

I don't quite understand headless basses with tuners on the headstock.

[neepheid]

1 hour ago, prowla said:

 

I don't quite understand headless basses with tuners on the headstock.

 

You really have wandered into the wrong thread, haven't you?

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, prowla said:

 

I don't quite understand headless basses with tuners on the headstock.

 

It's the missing link, the stage in evolution before

 

[Mediocre Polymath]

1 hour ago, tauzero said:

 

It's the missing link, the stage in evolution before

 

A local guitar shop had one of these for sale on commission for a while. Such an awkward, misbegotten thing. The guy who ran the place tried to sell me on it, and the only thing he could think of as a pitch was "it's really rare, probably collectible".

 

To get back to the topic at hand, I would say that something that's worth remembering is that you can use much lighter woods than maple and still have a pretty stable neck. Probably the combo of, say a multi laminated sapele neck and a super-small Bass Collection-style headstock would help with the centre of gravity issues.

Edited Saturday at 00:35 by Mediocre Polymath