Lost yer 'ed

[Gank Bass]

So I recently won a beautiful washburn taurus t24 with a slight blemish on the headstock as you can see.

 

My plan is to put in a set of my favourite emg j set pickups with the tko switch as is tradition.

 

My question is in the year of our (over)lord(of music( 2025 - what is the go-to budget bridge? 

 

I'm currently leaning towards this type as I had a pleasant experience with the guitar version a few years ago on a headless guitar I absolutely regret selling!

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SMZhomeone-Travel-Bridge-Professional-Headless/dp/B0D92GXQX8/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=2HTWCP1ETGICZ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.f5jwXg9cdybqVolytNQZSZgftMvACVAOF7pz1CWE5Z2mrls-aaLp72HK9s6fKUGGzQvZDIeWiiE87PrAlR5db6GmE1fWrsK-KPJG6LEYPGeBNOE733OGIC1QB0wI7PAc-qyonJk0fy4O7EL6mzfOi2w_22GRKkF4hpmdUR5LikJKzyqm6ZEcKtQmQq4gZ-QnnbhWT5PCzCimUlgQNvmMqw.VQaeQPr524V86iACZYuv_aPYKxUYt7msCniYIbAqvQY&dib_tag=se&keywords=headless+bass+bridge&qid=1760036757&sprefix=headless+bass+bri%2Caps%2C105&sr=8-3

 

But I am interested to hear what else is out there

 

 

[Richard R]

That looks quite decent, do they make a 5 string version?

[Gank Bass]

I couldn't see one on Amazon but eBay has them 

 

https://ebay.us/m/DHroEN

 

Catchy name too

[Richard R]

Thank you. 

I have a bass I want to decapitate at some point 😉

[Joe Nation]

IMHO, the second-worst thing about headless basses are the tuners sticking out the bottom, so this bridge looks perfect to me. Don't ask what the worst thing about headless basses is - although to be fair this is about the neatest headless hardware I've ever seen, so you might have started to change my mind on headless...

[prowla]

10 minutes ago, Joe Nation said:

IMHO, the second-worst thing about headless basses are the tuners sticking out the bottom, so this bridge looks perfect to me. Don't ask what the worst thing about headless basses is - although to be fair this is about the neatest headless hardware I've ever seen, so you might have started to change my mind on headless...

What's the worst thing about headless basses?

[Huge Hands]

11 hours ago, Gank Bass said:

I couldn't see one on Amazon but eBay has them 

 

https://ebay.us/m/DHroEN

 

Catchy name too

The language on there sounded a bit like the English you get from Chinese adverts, so had a look and they are on Ali-Express for about the same price.

 

EDIT - I would be interested to know how easy those little wheels would be to turn once the strings get up to tension...

Edited Friday at 07:42 by Huge Hands

[Richard R]

There seem to be two variants A and B and it’s not clear to me what the difference is. Also the eBay link is the bridge only, though the drawing also shows the headstock end.

 

4 minutes ago, Huge Hands said:

 I would be interested to know how easy those little wheels would be to turn once the strings get up to tension...

Probaby really hard on a bass.

 

Definitely bookmarked though.

[prowla]

I have a Chinese headless doubleneck; both of its bridges were made of swiss cheese and failed.

It's now got a Steinberger bass bridge and a guitar one made by a bloke in Ireland.

 

 

It came with fake "EMG" pickups, which were also rubbish; the bass now has Retrovibe Ric-style ones (they were a straight swap, even the screw holes!) and I've some Seymour Duncan humbuckers waiting to make their way into the guitar half.

The bass side plays and sounds really good, but guitar neck still needs some setup.

[Gank Bass]

I will take a punt on the Amazon one and feedback 

 

The guitar version I had years ago was surprisingly well made on a headless from "shengze guitars"  which was a bit of an impulse buy and also because I kept knocking drinks over on my studio desk I had at the time, solved the problem!

[Hellzero]

Our own @Andre_Passini is making an excellent headless tuning system.

[Andre_Passini]

2 hours ago, Hellzero said:

Our own @Andre_Passini is making an excellent headless tuning system.

Thank you very much!

[Gank Bass]

Fallen at the first hurdle. The bass arrived today and the bottom quarter of the body where the control cavity is has a severe fracture. I've gone back to the seller as this was not mentioned. It was also very well packaged so I think this was not done in transit.

[Richard R]

3 hours ago, Hellzero said:

Our own @Andre_Passini is making an excellent headless tuning system.

Can you post a link? I think I have seen that, but can't find it. I think it's also more than my experiment is worth .

[Andre_Passini]

2 minutes ago, Richard R said:

Can you post a link? I think I have seen that, but can't find it. I think it's also more than my experiment is worth

Sure, here it is:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/187576103325

[Joe Nation]

56 minutes ago, Gank Bass said:

Fallen at the first hurdle

Well that sucks. Now you know it's there, you can see it in the earlier pics - but you'd think it was just a grain line or a scratch in the lacquer at first glance. Should be repairable, use a syringe with a blunt needle and water down some Titebond so it flows in more easily. But it's a big PITA if were hoping for a quick'n'easy headless job.

[Gank Bass]

4 minutes ago, Joe Nation said:

Well that sucks. Now you know it's there, you can see it in the earlier pics - but you'd think it was just a grain line or a scratch in the lacquer at first glance. Should be repairable, use a syringe with a blunt needle and water down some Titebond so it flows in more easily. But it's a big PITA if were hoping for a quick'n'easy headless job.

 

 

Exactly my feeling

[Richard R]

1 hour ago, Andre_Passini said:

Sure, here it is:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/187576103325

 

Thanks André. 

[BassTool]

Never fear @Gank Bass as previously said, Titebond wood glue is your friend! 

 

That is a mere scratch compared to some of the saves made on this esteemed forum, including mine below 😎

 

You've already shown your skills on here, now I look forward to seeing how you transform this bass into something usable 👍🏼

 

Oh, and remember Build Diaries golden rule....pics or it didn't happen 😉

 

Good luck 🤞🏼😀

[AndyTravis]

A mate had one of these in full form and even with the shonky “ABT” own brand pickups it was a burpy marvel - a very lovely thing; think he paid £100 for it.

 

id persevere and spray it an obnoxious metallic orange or green neon once you’ve resolved its issues x

[tauzero]

On 09/10/2025 at 20:45, Gank Bass said:

I couldn't see one on Amazon but eBay has them 

 

https://ebay.us/m/DHroEN

 

Catchy name too

 

I got one from AliExpress for about £40. Just went back, looked at the order and went to the item currently on sale - £140!

 

On 10/10/2025 at 08:46, Richard R said:

There seem to be two variants A and B and it’s not clear to me what the difference is. Also the eBay link is the bridge only, though the drawing also shows the headstock end.

 

The difference is the unheadstock end. The A type with the bigger lump has an integral adjustable nut and clamps concealed by the cover. The B type has five little clamp things so presumably you supply your own nut.

 

The guitar equivalent of the A type is fitted to the Jamstik Studio MIDI guitar - https://jamstik.com/collections/midi-guitars/products/b-stock-of-jamstik-studio-midi-guitar?variant=45365173125345

 

There's a drawing of the A type unheadstock at https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007488329170.html

[alittlebitrobot]

I have a 5 string version of the first one you linked to, but that project is as yet unfinished so I don't know if it's any good. But, to @Richard R and @Huge Hands question about turning the wheels under tension; each wheel has a hex socket so can theoretically be turned with the mini hex it comes with. I'll be interested myself to see how the theory holds up in practice.

I also have a 4 string OVERLORD OF MUSIC one from a now-disassembled bass I made. It was much improved by the addition of thrust bearings, but the end of the tuners are now a good 90mm from the rough scale line.

Edited 7 hours ago by alittlebitrobot

[prowla]

53 minutes ago, alittlebitrobot said:

I have a 5 string version of the first one you linked to, but that project is as yet unfinished so I don't know if it's any good. But, to @Richard R and @Huge Hands question about turning the wheels under tension; each wheel has a hex socket so can theoretically be turned with the mini hex it comes with. I'll be interested myself to see how the theory holds up in practice.

I also have a 4 string OVERLORD OF MUSIC one from a now-disassembled bass I made. It was much improved by the addition of thrust bearings, but the end of the tuners are now a good 90mm from the rough scale line.

I had one of those on a bass and the threads gave up. 
The adjusters are stock bolts with a knurled knob fitted on the end (which the hex nut grub screw holds in place), but the bolts are way too hard for the soft metal claws. 
I bought a replacement unit, but it had faults too. 

I was able to cobble together one unit from the two. 
However, the end of the assembly has a step which grinds and snags against the adjuster knobs.
I tried adding the washer/bearing spacers but then the claws were too short for the string ball ends to reach.

So overall the Overlord unit is the worst piece of guitar kit I have ever bought. 
 

[Gank Bass]

Id love to know the story of how they landed on "Overlord of Music"

 

And of all the different retailers shifting them they all come from the same mould/tooling?