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Affordable full body headless basses


dark-dekar

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Hello everyone!

I've been searching for a cheap(or at least boutique price) 5 string headless bass to use as a backup instrument for a while.

The only thing I encountered besides aliexpress stuff was the no-body models from Steinberger for ~400€. And, after that all the basses I saw where luthier-made for more dan 2000€.

Any of you know any brand that have a model for about 1000€ or so? In guitars there are options for any price, but sadly in the bass world seems to be some kind of emptyness here.

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10 hours ago, dark-dekar said:

There is no 5 string version of this bass, sadly.

I wasn't sure.

What are your DIY skills like? Hipshot have the bridge and anchor sets, if you could find a suitable bass to fit them to. Bass Collection would be cheap, but would require a bit of work to fit the bridge and refinish.

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19 hours ago, EMG456 said:

Above your budget but someone is selling a real Steinberger XQ5 for (I think) a very reasonable price. Different league to the Hohner or Washburn. 

 

Too much above 🤣

 

12 hours ago, pete.young said:

I wasn't sure.

What are your DIY skills like? Hipshot have the bridge and anchor sets, if you could find a suitable bass to fit them to. Bass Collection would be cheap, but would require a bit of work to fit the bridge and refinish.

I don't feel brave enough for that haha. And i think 'cutting' a neck must have a huge impact in its stability.
 

7 hours ago, NickD said:

I saw them, but I read some bad reviews about its quality

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On 19/11/2019 at 23:16, uk_lefty said:

Steinberger did one in the cheaper Spirit line around 18yrs ago. Was it the XZ? I always fancied one, still do, but the electronics are supposed to be awful. 

That's worth considering. The model number is XZ-25. A shop in the U.S. has one listed at the moment for $550, so they do exist but are elusive. A bass like that, plus very good replacement electrics, would be well within the OP's price range. A nice project.

I sympathise with the OP's plight. I'm considering simply ordering a new Status because good, headless, full-bodied basses are so difficult to find. Good luck with your search, D-D.

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I had a Yamaha BX-5 for a while.  I bought it as an upgrade to the Hohner B2V I had and it was by some measure a far superior instrument.  The 'vestigial' upper horn made the instrument hang in a way that kind of negated the 'missing headstock' phenomenon that can happen with these.  It sounded totally fantastic, absolute quality, yet I sold it - completely mad to have done, it was a truly wonderful bass.  You're probably as unlikely to see one for sale as a Hohner Jack V but if you do jump all over it.  Assuming you see it before I do :) 

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Might be worth seeing if anybody has a Prosebass/Funnbass knocking around or just shoot him a message and see if he's still building instruments:
https://www.basschat.co.uk/profile/3436-prosebass/Always regretted not ordering one of those, they looked cool and were far too cheap!

 

The problem you have with wanting a headless 5 is that there is no cheap version of the hardware, lots about for 4 strings though.

Edited by lemmywinks
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10 hours ago, Pseudonym said:

That's worth considering. The model number is XZ-25. A shop in the U.S. has one listed at the moment for $550, so they do exist but are elusive. A bass like that, plus very good replacement electrics, would be well within the OP's price range. A nice project.

I sympathise with the OP's plight. I'm considering simply ordering a new Status because good, headless, full-bodied basses are so difficult to find. Good luck with your search, D-D.

I had 2 of these quite a few years ago, got them from Music Yo. I swapped one for the Homer Jack version but  never  really liked it. I had no complaints at all with the Select pups, nor the feel and playability. 

I still have a 4 string XZ-2. I dont use it anymore but my son likes it. It must be at least 20 years old now. Never had any upgrades to it. 

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Had a look and you can get reasonably priced Nova hardware on eBay, seller is in Brazil though but he posts on Talkbass and is legit, his stuff appears on some beautiful custom builds:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/184028293047?var=691720856746

Can choose between 18mm and 19mm string spacing too.

 

Definitely a lot cheaper than the Hipshot and ABM versions! Might be worth seeing if you could get something built or converted using that bridge.

Edited by lemmywinks
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2 hours ago, lemmywinks said:

Had a look and you can get reasonably priced Nova hardware on eBay, seller is in Brazil though but he posts on Talkbass and is legit, his stuff appears on some beautiful custom builds:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/184028293047?var=691720856746

Can choose between 18mm and 19mm string spacing too.

 

Definitely a lot cheaper than the Hipshot and ABM versions! Might be worth seeing if you could get something built or converted using that bridge.

Cool. I think an Epi T-Bird would be a good candidate for a retro-fit. It would sort out the neck dive, if nothing else.

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4 hours ago, pete.young said:

Cool. I think an Epi T-Bird would be a good candidate for a retro-fit. It would sort out the neck dive, if nothing else.

Someone did that on here a bit ago, looked weird at first but one of those things you get used to. Probably a good candidate seeing as you're more likely to get a donor one with the headstock snapped off than most other designs!

 

EDIT: Here:

Seems to sort the neck dive, don't see Neepheid and Ou7hined on here now, where did they go?
02_lookmanohands.jpg&key=ec0283cbd9c2d37

Edited by lemmywinks
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On 21/11/2019 at 08:05, Pseudonym said:

That's worth considering. The model number is XZ-25. A shop in the U.S. has one listed at the moment for $550, so they do exist but are elusive. A bass like that, plus very good replacement electrics, would be well within the OP's price range. A nice project.

I sympathise with the OP's plight. I'm considering simply ordering a new Status because good, headless, full-bodied basses are so difficult to find. Good luck with your search, D-D.

The consensus in the Steinberger community seems to be that it's mainly the pots that let the spirit instruments down. Apparently replacing the pots with good quality ones from the likes of CTS will make a noticeable improvement.

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On 21/11/2019 at 11:02, Jus Lukin said:

It's a shame they aren't very fashionable at the moment. I'd like a short-scale headless! Think I'll have to save that for a custom build.

It may seem silly but a capo at the first or 2nd fret would give you a medium/ short scale bass on a standard scale neck without any irreversible modifications...

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