Headless guitars/basses

smellslikeshoes

Has anyone got any experience with headless guitars or basses? Been planning on buying one for years but have always talked myself out of it but the picture of a double necked steinberger in another thread has gotten me hooked again.

How do they compare to normal headed instruments and would one be worth getting? I play both guitar and bass and haven't decided which direction I would go but it would probably be a old steinberger or possibly one of the higher end licensed copies. Any help or experiences would be appreciated.

eoin5

It feels very weird playing a guitar with no headstock, I'd say try one out somewhere before you start thinking of purchasing.

jarain

I have an old Steinberger Bass which I play fairly often. It sounds quite nice, very warm and full sound. It is quite strange to play though as they are light and sit strangely when strapped on.

It's a bit of novelty but it sounds good enought o justify the occassions I take it out.

Definatley try one out before buying it they can be an acquired taste.

Rustar

Played out with a Steinberger bass in the late 90's....unbelievably nice to play on stage. Extremely light, balanced, and no nasty pointy headstock to poke out the eyes of your guitarist (that could be seen as a drawback, though...).
Another drawback is that you can't park your cigarette between the strings on the nonexistent headstock.

Johnny Storm

I have a 'Berger GM7ta. I got 100% used to playing headless after about 1 week or less. There is no prob in switching back and forth from headless to "headed" guits.

There's loads of info on 'Bergers at www.steinbergerworld.com

Ned Steinberger originally designed headless guits and basses because they balance better and are lighter.

FYI The "Spirit by Steinberger" line is not made of graphite so does not have many of the advantages of graphite or part-graphite Bergers.

Advantage of graphite headless guitar:
-light weight, good balance.
-extremely stable tuning
-no dead spots on neck
-small size, easy to travel with
-built like a brick ****house

Disadvantages:
-Must buy double ballend strings online
-Not designed in the 1950's so therefore "they look funny".
-You never see them in shops so hard to try before you buy.


Here's another recent thread on a soon-to-be-released 'Berger:-
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055279214

dbs_sailor

i'd get one too but it's 2008 not 1982.

Patricide

The biggest thing that put me off buying one before was the double ball ended strings, There just about class in every other aspect though.

Johnny Storm

Patricide wrote: »

The biggest thing that put me off buying one before was the double ball ended strings, There just about class in every other aspect though.

FYI for most 'Berger basses and guits you can get an adapter for the headless end that allows you to use ordinary strings but if you do that it takes longer to change strings and if you have a TransTrem it wont transpose completely accurately.

smellslikeshoes

conanm wrote: »

i'd get one too but it's 2008 not 1982.

Well I could get a fender strat but its not 1954.

Thanks for the help guys, was hoping you would talk me out of it but I think its only fueled me more Think I'm gonna start looking for a steinberger bass.

dbs_sailor

smellslikeshoes wrote: »

Well I could get a fender strat but its not 1954.

Thanks for the help guys, was hoping you would talk me out of it but I think its only fueled me more Think I'm gonna start looking for a steinberger bass.

ha ha.

fair play.

nomorebadtown

wanted one of these since i saw the nofx video to 'stickin' in my eye'...have yet to even handle one i want it now!

Malice

I played a Steinberger guitar years ago. It did feel a bit strange not having a headstock but I would imagine you'd get used to it fairly quickly.

If it's what you want then go for it!