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Headless 4 String


Jabba_the_gut
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I've started knocking a few idea around for a 4 string headless. I've got a an old Hohner B2A that I bought many moons ago when I was just a lad. It fell out the back of the guitarists Mini about 25 years ago and the body split, so I cut the sides off and glued on some 'wings'. It's a bloody mess but I've always quite liked headless basses!! So when some headless necks were for sale on here a while ago, I bought one and put it to one side for a project and now I'm looking at what to do with it.

The neck is really nice - just something about it feels 'right'. The tricky bit will be cutting the neck pocket for this as all three side of the heel taper from top to bottom (presume this was to aid removal from the mould) so this will need some thought. I will try to make some form of jig so I can use a router but it may end up having to be done very carefully with a chisel...but that's a long way off at the moment.

I've roughed out a shape and am thinking of using a pair of EMG pickups (a P and an MM) and a two band preamp. I've made a bass with an EMG MM and 2 band preamp before and really liked the sound of it. I've got one of the 'TW' versions for this so I can split the coil and so should be able to get P, P+J, P+MM and MM options from this setup.

This is my starting point but certainly not set in stone:

jp0IoZc.jpg?1

I have made a couple of basses recently with spalted beech tops so I will probably find something else just for a change!!

 

 

Edited by Jabba_the_gut
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5 minutes ago, MPU said:

I think Moses Steinberger neck and Hohner tuner/bridge will not match. The neck is for narrower string spacing. 

Good spot - I'd missed that when I looked at the photo but it certainly does look like the neck is way too narrow with that bridge :|

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The bridge should be okay. I've got an old Hohner B2A that has the same bridge on it and it's neck is only 1.5mm narrower at the 24th fret than the Moses neck. 

I was hoping to find a new head piece for this neck that would also accept single ball end strings but no luck. You can get 'adapters' but these just seem like a steel block with grubscrews in it and don't look the part.

 Still toying with some different ideas.....

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4 hours ago, TheGreek said:

Won't this work? I think it's the same as the one on my Psilos bass which uses single ball strings:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-Set-of-4-String-Electric-Headless-Bass-Guitar-Locking-Nut-Screws-Wrench/152682996182?hash=item238c9da1d6:g:uNAAAOSw7htZpVwy

Hi Mick. Unfortunately not. The shape where it mounts is quite different. I’ve got one of those parts and I’ve also looked to see if it could be ‘adapted’ somewhat. I’ve not finished exploring this yet but cheers for the details anyway!

Edited by Jabba_the_gut
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9 hours ago, Jabba_the_gut said:

Er. No update. Put the bits back in their boxes. Having a think about it............have started building an ash bodied medium scale bass with an active p pickup though!!

Dang!

I was wanting to find out what the difference was between an MM pickup and a humbucker.

Medium scale is 30 to 32 inches isn't it?

Edited by SpondonBassed
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