Why Headless Basses Suck
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Headless basses were two a penny in the 1980s and 1990s, and nowadays they tend to
look pretty embarrassing. But we like crazy-looking gear, in case you hadn’t noticed! So, whether you love them or loathe them, if you’ve always dreamed of wielding a headless bass, then we urge you to watch today’s video!
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Video Breakdown:
00:00 – Introduction
02:00 – Steinberger XL2
05:18 – The Steinberger Sound(s)
07:00 – Strandberg Boden 5
10:49 – How to WIN this Strandberg!
11:40 – Con No. 1 – The Look
15:52 – Con No. 2 – The Strings
19:30 – Con No. 3 – Disorientation
22:25 – Con No. 4 – Futuristic Aesthetics
27:25 – Pro No. 1 – The Look
29:30 – Pro No. 2 – The Balance
30:07 – Pro No. 3 – Ideal for Travelling
31:00 – Pro No. 4 – Staying in Tune
32:57 – Simon Grove (Plini – Handmade Cities)
34:30 – Nate Navarro (Live Bass Solo)
36:00 – Geddy Lee (Rush – Distant Early Warning)
36:56 – Sting (The Police – Message in A Bottle Live)
38:30 – Arif Mirabdolbaghi (Protest The Hero – Sequoia Throne)
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#Headless #Basses #Suck
Originally posted by UCWTj3vCqkQIsrTGSm4kM34g at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNjKP-tSg8M
Tin Machine and Ardijah.
There is also a problem that after a period of use, the string stretches and becomes difficult to tune, especially since the bridge has limited movement
I used to use the original double-headed strings, but with time you discover that your options are limited and that you are limited to one company or a specific type of strings. Therefore, I needed to make some modifications, which allowed me to use all the string options available in the market. Which gave me a different sound than the one I used to have
Scott & Ian – You might love this video clip, It's almost like the Steinberger is the hero at the end of the clip! The Plot is about a deep sea diver (me) trying out for a band made up of other sea creatures. And I agree, The Steinbereger is cool to have as a bit of fun, but I'm not a huge fan.
VOYAGER – SUBMARINE
https://youtu.be/BWrcdYp7W-0?si=2eHKTR5uqhcmklmv
Jamaaladeen Tacuma ca. 1982??
Unlike guitarrists, I think, bassplayers are more open to accept new designs and fearless instruments. They are a lil' less purists.
I dont care what everyone says those headless broom like instruments are the FREAKING BEST EVER.
I just don't like the way they look. I think bridge tuners are sick, but it just doesnt look right to me, not having a headstock.
Had the Hohner Steinberger copy back in the 80s just 'cos it was different (and cheap). Later had an early Petersen Sei Flamboyant 6-string fretless and the balance was soo good without all the wood and six tuning pegs hanging out on the end of the neck. That was a brilliant, brilliant bass…
The only headless i want is a p pickup kubicki
Remember geddy lee using one, that was enough to peak my interest.
Gerald Casale plays an upside down Steinberger.
Arif Mirabdolbaghi is hard to pronounce even for a native persian speaker. ????
The best bass Steinberger ever made was the M series XM-2. It doesn’t look “stupid.” It plays like a J-bass, has a huge pallet of tones and all of the advantages of the Steinberger bridge.
Tears for Fears' Head Over Heels (#3 in the USA) video features founding member Curt Smith playing the Steinberger and he toured Songs From the Big Chair (#1 album in the USA) playing it as well so he should have made your list.
What I learned about headless basses today
Cons: looks stupid
Pros: looks cool
After my first time trying the Strandberg Boden 5 original, I fell in love. I have 2 custom build headless fanned frets now. Best feeling basses I’ve ever touched
i was a pro in my younger years (guitarist)… that man's wife is a musical genius: those things are for dorks ???? looks count.
I love my EHB1505MS. It’s my main work horse. It’s light, decent pick ups and it’s a 5 string. Versatile and cool looking!
Neck dive pisses me off,
which is why I’ve played double-ball Steinbergers since the late 80s
I would love to hear someone explain fan frets/multi-scale guitars/basses. It seems as though each manufacturer chooses how they want to do the fanning. If you find the fret that's perpendicular to the neck, some companies put it around the 5th fret. Some around the 9th. I've never heard anyone talk about why they do it the way they do.
I've wondered about the fanning when it gets close to the body because it does seem to be sloped the wrong way for chording (maybe the enthusiasts do less chording near the body) as Scott mentions here.
I love headless guitars — lighter weight, no head-dive. Haven't found a headless bass I've wanted to grab yet.
A lot of comments – No Mark King???
To not have Mr Pink live with the LED headless bass ????
https://youtu.be/Dt1APRRddS4?si=P5QzspTyFgaYvCtW
Remember: All of the episodes of Seinfeld sitcom tv series uses these "page-turner" musical turnarounds of slap, thumb, and pop bass samples from a Steinberger. Although played trough a Kurzweil sampler. Every single one of them.
When an American can say Aluminium correctly and the English guy can’t ????
Steinberger, resting the case against tonewood wankers since 1979.
In today's world of online ordering, I can't see how the strings is a negative – I played exclusively Headless basses for years and it's never been an issue with finding double-ball end strings for my Status or Steinberger. I just buy them in bulk. In fact, I see them as a massive positive because of how insanely quick you can restring them, and the mechanism for headless tend to hold their tune a lot longer (as well as having no obvious tuning pegs to knock).
I had my G-string snap in the middle of a gig in a smaller venue when playing overseas, so didn't have a backup bass easily to hand. Thankfully however it was my steinberger. I had spare strings behind my rig, and whilst our keyboard player helped cover slightly during a (thankfully more atmospheric) guitar solo i was able to restring and retune in about 60 seconds and hit my re-entry point into the verse by the time the guitarist had finished. There's no way I could have done that with regular strings.
I totally get the aesthetic being personal choice and a con for a lot of people, but after 10 years of playing I'm NEVER going back to non-headless basses. My Precision bass has sat almost unplayed for years. The lighter weight, the convenience of restringing, the fact they hold their tune better, the sustain, the fact they're so much easier to transport (knocking 8 inches off the length of a flight case matters a lot!), and the fact I have yet to whack it on a rig or my guitarist's face due to over exuberance when moving around on stage.
I'll take the hit as looking like a reject from the 80s using a small spaceship. I love my Status with its graphite weave and cheesy blue LEDs over the neck. It's not like the music I play is fashionable anyway!
I wanted a Yamaha BX-1 !
Also, instead of nitpicking about whether it's carbon fiber or graphite, just say it's composite material, to have it all inclusive. Steinberger had Kevlar in its body and neck which is neither graphite nor carbon fiber, but composite material.
The con of headless basses is that you need a body, you do not need the paddle. You have to rest your picking arm elbow somewhere. Now for that double ball end strings a bit:
1. Number of tools needed to change double ball end strings out: 0, zero, zilch. Do it by your hands and fingers.
2. Once tuned up, it stays, you don't need to fine tune after half an hour. Or 2-3– days. Show me any headstocked bass that you do not need to fine tune – touch up – later on.
3. Which means you can do a drop D tuning of the E-string and play a tune all the way through, without it creeping ever so slowly back up to E while playing mid tune.
I have taken another headstocked bass with 24 frets and the same scale length (34") and put my Steinberger on top/front of it while sitting down. The neck, frets aligns up pretty much the same. However it depends on how much the headstocked bass body is offset or different design. So all this with "view askew" is just a brain ghost. It was a Spector if you would like to know.
4. Zero Fret! Yes, headless must have zero fret, and not a proper nut. Thanks to this, you can mix and match string gauges all of the time, without having to re-cut the nut, or change the nut out all of the time. The strings resides on top of any fret anyhow, no matter how thin or thick. I do not like Strandbergs/Kiesel because of that, they have a nut, and no zero fret. Beats me, especially at that price.
5. Yes they do stay in tune as said above, and in your video. I can lean pretty much any headless to any wall or in a case and the tuners WILL NOT ROTATE in any direction. Try that with any Fender.
6. People makes the false assumption that the dead spots are removed JUST because of the composite material. Not so, it's because they're headless. I've owned numerous headless Hohner basses made out of wood, and they had no dead spots.
7. As with all other basses, headless can be made just as shoddy, and badly as any headstocked instrument. There sure a duds around.
8. Show me any headless that has had a broken "headstock" or headpiece from falling… 😉
9. Neck dive!? No they don't, and will not ever, and not body dive either which is just as bad.
10. In comparison to headstocked instruments, headless basses strings very rarely snaps. At all! If they do, it's the easiest way around to change the strings out. I did snap a string on my headless guitar though in the middle of tune, and I asked that sax player to take over soloing for a few vamps, and within 45 seconds I was back with a new high e-string tuned up, and it didn't drift once I started playing again. On bass this seems kind of harder to pull off, because you go to have some low end going on all of the time.
Yes it's a five
I like Ian's shirt
Always thought Mike Rutherford from Genesis used Steinberger headless stuff in the late 80's?
I ditched my stingray5 for a headless ehb1005ms and I don’t regret it at all. I forgot what it feels like to bang a headstock lol. Plus my back doesn’t hurt anymore.
Graphite. Not carbon fiber
RF's 5-string appears to be a Spirit. Specifically, the Steinberger Spirit XT-25. Epiphone still makes them. They are wood versions of the classic design, and go for about $450 in the US.
By they way, you owe it to yourself to check out the NS Design "Radius" bass. Ned designed an even better bridge for a headless bass, which can use any single-ball strings, and the Radius has it.
I love my Status, but totally get the thing about getting the fretting in the wrong place. I have to play the headless for a couple of days before a gig to 'convert' my mind to the fretting position, and the same back to a headed bass, would never be without it though. Oh and I have a case for my Kingbass, and the allen key lives in it, so double ball or not I am fine. Why swap cases? And it will fit in a padded guitar case, so cheaper too, bonus ????. It is also so quick to change a string, DB or SB, it's never a problem.
Also, some headstocks are soooooo ugly, so headless basses always look good ????