Cheap headless bridge/head kits - any good?

[Paul S]

I've just acquired a Hondo Alien and have to say I very much like the idea of a short scale headless and bodiless bass.  Initially I am not so keen on the tone and neck of the Alien but the whole headless, bodiless bass in short scale has got me wondering.

So, daft idea #377 would be to get something like a cheapo second hand Squier Bronco, Harley Benton PB Shorty or even smaller - a Tanglewood Elfin EB-18 - take a saw to it to remove the headstock and bits of the body I no longer wanted and then fit a headless bridge system to it.  That way I'd keep my beloved P bass tone but in a tiny package.  I mean, what could possibly go wrong?  🤪

There are plenty of kits that come from China on eBay that aren't expensive Like this one but are they just complete rubbish?  Anyone used one they can recommend?

Muchas gracias 

  

[Kiwi]

Good grief, run away.  I purchased a copy Steinberger trem many years ago by Overlord and it was a total waste of money.  An unretrievable disaster in every sense of the word.  The unit was cast, not milled so the tolerances were a joke.  You might as well set fire to the cash. 

For headless units, look for NOS steinberger parts on Ebay or Reverb.  But there are alternatives offered by Gotoh, Hipshot and ABM also.  

[James Nada]

I'll be watching this thread with interest. 

I've had a similar idea myself, with the intended use as an emergency back up bass which takes up minimal space.

[Paul S]

19 minutes ago, Kiwi said:

 You might as well set fire to the cash. 
 

😁 I was hoping for a more positive response, frankly 😁

[Mottlefeeder]

I built a kit which used an 'Overlord of Bass' bridge/tuner block and it was fine. Several people played it at the 2018 North-West bass bash and no-one thought it bad. It's pictured at the bottom of this page -

Andyjr1515 has also used one on at least one build, and not warned people off.

There is a half-way house between the Chinese Steinberger clones and the Hipshot or ABM products - Nova, made in Brazil, which you can see via facebook.

It is now also being cloned by Chinese suppliers selling on Amazon. The original got good reviews, I haave not checked out the clones.

David

 

[Paul S]

Is that this one?

[TheGreek]

These are available for around £50 but I wouldn't buy another...

They are bulky and give your instrument the opposite of neck dive - OK if you want to play you bass at 2pm angle. Tuning can be a nightmare too - stupid ratio - though being able to pull the tuner out for access is something other manufacturers might want to incorporate in theirs.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Replacement-Headless-Electric-Accessory-Instrument/dp/B07XZFWQSX/ref=sr_1_77?crid=3H2LA6LXFOXGZ&keywords=headless+guitar+bridge&qid=1581272699&sprefix=headless%2Caps%2C154&sr=8-77

Probably worth biting the bullet and getting 4 of these

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ABM-Headless-Single-Guitar-Bridge/dp/B07J1JVL6H/ref=sr_1_9?crid=3H2LA6LXFOXGZ&keywords=headless+guitar+bridge&qid=1581273079&sprefix=headless%2Caps%2C154&sr=8-9

Edited February 9, 2020 by TheGreek

[TheGreek]

Not sure how much faith to put in "high quality"

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Allsunny-Single-Headless-Bridge-Instrument-Multi/dp/B082WYJ4YT/ref=sr_1_36?crid=3H2LA6LXFOXGZ&keywords=headless+guitar+bridge&qid=1581273079&sprefix=headless%2Caps%2C154&sr=8-36

[DarkHeart]

26 minutes ago, TheGreek said:

Not sure how much faith to put in "high quality"

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Allsunny-Single-Headless-Bridge-Instrument-Multi/dp/B082WYJ4YT/ref=sr_1_36?crid=3H2LA6LXFOXGZ&keywords=headless+guitar+bridge&qid=1581273079&sprefix=headless%2Caps%2C154&sr=8-36

I`m building a headless explorer using these, so far, the screws are made of cheese but......they actually work, don`t know how long for but they do, if the bottom of the tube was serrated it would be a whole load better for holding the intonation, might get some threadlock for the final assembly. Fingers crossd.

[itu]

When the text starts with the word "cheap"... Are you actually after decent parts, or just something that resemble functional alternatives?

What might be the difference between "cheap" and decent price? Is there a good word for something which has a reasonable price/performace ratio?

[Paul S]

1 minute ago, itu said:

When the text starts with the word "cheap"... Are you actually after decent parts, or just something that resemble functional alternatives?

What might be the difference between "cheap" and decent price? Is there a good word for something which has a reasonable price/performace ratio?

I'm talking cheap, really.  Call it a mkI prototype perhaps, to see if I can make a headless bodiless short scale bass easily.  If I can and it works ok it might be worth investing more in a mkII with quality hardware.  Either way it should be quite fun  

[DarkHeart]

35 minutes ago, itu said:

When the text starts with the word "cheap"... Are you actually after decent parts, or just something that resemble functional alternatives?

What might be the difference between "cheap" and decent price? Is there a good word for something which has a reasonable price/performace ratio?

Trouble is, the difference between cheap, headless bass parts and functional sometimes runs into the 100`s of pounds.

[Mottlefeeder]

19 hours ago, Paul S said:

Is that this one?

yes that's the one - it was strung BEAD then, but is now back to EADG.

[Paul S]

Any issues at all with the bridge and headstock clamp?

[Mottlefeeder]

7 hours ago, Paul S said:

Any issues at all with the bridge and headstock clamp?

No problems with the bridge, but some observations about the string clamp -

It is designed with two clamps per string, the one parallel to the fretboard is like a string tree with some clamping action, but the main clamp is on the end of the clamp block, where you bend the string through 90 degrees, and thread it through a hole and tighten a screw onto it. This is not the thin part of the string that you wind around a tuning post, this is the string at full thickness - and some strings don't like being bent through 90 degrees.

After losing a couple of strings, I made a string clamp block and trimmed the original string retainer so that the new string retainer sat in the right place to hold the strings. I've added some pictures now I've find them.

David

Original

Modified - Strings with shallow break angle, clamp screws on underside (the pink on second shot is a reflection of my hand; the metal is black)

Edited February 10, 2020 by Mottlefeeder
Pictures added

[Bassassin]

That "Overlord Of Bass" tuner/bridge is a clone of the Steinberger-licensed units used on the old Hohner B2/Jack and Steinberger Spirit.

I have a B2 & a Cort headless, both of which use the original unit - it's incredibly simple and to be honest there's not much that can go wrong.

I'm planning a headless conversion project & will use an Overlord bridge. I've had a fair bit of Chinese hardware for various projects and quality's never been an issue.

Edit - actually I'm pretty sure that's what @Andyjr1515 used on that amazing headless singlecut he built for @TheGreek.

Edited February 10, 2020 by Bassassin
tpyo.

[Andyjr1515]

1 hour ago, Bassassin said:

That "Overlord Of Bass" tuner/bridge is a clone of the Steinberger-licensed units used on the old Hohner B2/Jack and Steinberger Spirit.

I have a B2 & a Cort headless, both of which use the original unit - it's incredibly simple and to be honest there's not much that can go wrong.

I'm planning a headless conversion project & will use an Overlord bridge. I've had a fair bit of Chinese hardware for various projects and quality's never been an issue.

Edit - actually I'm pretty sure that's what @Andyjr1515 used on that amazing headless singlecut he built for @TheGreek.

It is indeed.  However, they do need a bit of fettling.  @Jabba_the_gut used them on one of his and did a great job of cleaning up the threads and lubricating.  I actually used two (they are as cheap as chips) and made up one good one from the best components of the two.  The resulting 'good one' was perfectly OK, though, and works great.