Headless basses...Steinberger only one?

[LoWave]

I bought my Hohner B2AV (steinberg licensed) bass via the web site of Ed Roman Guitars. The cost of

 

the bass was $499. I also bought a beautiful Hohner case for $89. With shipping the total was $618.

I have been a faithfull Rickenbacker owner for 25 years. I never had any intention of playing

 

anything else. The ric felt like an extension of my hands. But times move on and I was increasingly

 

confronted by cover tunes with the need to hit lower notes. So I finally decided to get a 5 string.

 

I did a lot checking around on the internet for a 5 string ric. A 5 string ric 4001 or 4003 is as

 

rare as a hen's tooth. those that were available were seriously expensive. A new ric 5 string also

 

costs over $2000 and I really dont care for the way they look. The sad realization was that I would

 

have to get something other than a ric. So, I thot, well if its going to be different then just

 

start all over about what I really need and want and make a selection based on " the bass, the whole

 

bass, and nothing but the bass. With this minimalist approach in mind, naturally I ended up

 

investigating Steinbergers. A classic Steinberger fit the bill. Its pretty much "only what you

 

really need". Its a true case of form following function. Sadly, there was not a single steinberger

 

in Portland Oregon ( a major city) that I could go try out. In fact there was not a single headless

 

bass to he had. I started surfing the net looking for a steinberger. Right off the bat there was a

 

model for sale from Musician's Friend. $1000 it seemed like it might fit the bill, all carbon like

 

the original, active pickups, steinberger hardware. I started looking at reviews of this bass. There

 

were almost none to be found. Its a new product sold only by Muscians Friend. After some more

 

searching I found the Ed Roman guitar site. Fabulous source of honest sounding information. Ed used

 

to be one of the main guys in Steinberg. His article explained that the currently availble crop

 

"steinberg" instruments were such mainly in name. He further explained that a solid neckthru maple

 

headless bass actually sounded "better" than an orginal composite model. His recommendation was to

 

buy one of 2 custom made headless basses (one of which he manufactured). Needless to say both of

 

these were above my pay grade. His site also mentions that a Hohner headless bass is as good a

 

substitute as you can get on a budget. I started reading reviews of hohner headless basses and didnt

 

find anything that turned me off. I like the fact that the hohner bridge hardware is actually

 

licensed Steinberg hardware. Its even cast right into the metal. So, I bit the bullet and ordered

 

one from Ed Roman. It arrived a week later. They had adjusted the action to perfection. It felt just

 

as good as my ric.

 

First off the B2AV looks cool (to me anyway). The one I have is a medium grey metal satin. It looks

 

like a piece of expensive industrial hardware that got left behind during the last round of alien

 

abductions. I love the mat black look and feel of the hardware, and the feel of the finely nurled

 

knobs on both the electronics and the turners. Since there is no headstock and the body ends at the

 

bridge then it is much smaller than a tradional bass. The hohner case that it fits in is just plain

 

cute, about 1/3 the volume of a regular bass guitar case. The bass and the case are considerably

 

lighter in weight too, which is a welcome relief. All in all the thing feels just really solid. Its

 

built like a tank. Solid and no nonsense. Despite the diminuative overall size it still sports a 34"

 

length and the nice low end that goes with that. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the

 

neck at the nut is hardly any larger than my 4 string Ric. I was worried about having adjust to a

 

fat neck because of the 5th string. Not to worry. It feels great. After just a few hours practicing

 

I got used to the closer string spacing. I did find that going from a 1.0mm pick to a .88mm pick

 

helped to adjust to the closer string spacing. As I said above, the action is wonderful. Ed Roman

 

guitars had adjusted it very well, but the basic design and construction had to be there for them to

 

accomplish that action. No fret buzzing but the strings are still close enuff to run riffs as fast

 

as i want. The electronics are quiet and the knobs well positioned for rapid adjustments. An LED

 

illuminates when the active switch is on. The active electronics do not change the volume level from

 

whatever the passive level is...this is very nice in my opinion. With the active switch on, the

 

stacked knobs for tone controls both boost and cut. The response is linear and there is no suprise

 

tone blossoming, a nice feature when performing. Also I should mention the fold out knee rest on the

 

bottom of the bass. Makes it really comfortable when im sitting down strapless.

 

The one annoying thing that i noticed right away was the placement of the forward shoulder strap

 

anchor. It is placed on the back of the bass where the neck connects to the body. This placement

 

has 2 poor consequences: (1) the strap anchor pokes me in the belly!...yeah im kinda teddy bear

 

shaped. (2) with the strap anchor in this spot it make the bass hang from the strap and try to

 

rotate towards the floor, not far but enuff that I loose sight of the neck surface and only have the

 

tiny neck dots to tell where my frets are. I fixed these two problems right away my moving the strap

 

anchor to the nut facing plane of the upper part of the body near the neck. There is just enuff room

 

to put the anchor there (like someone planned it that way ).

 

Once again, the bass is built like a tank. Its all maple. It feels very solid and I dont have the

 

urge to cradle it or change its diapers. I still fear nicks and scratches to the paint, but that

 

will pass. The finish is satin and not shiney, so wear will not be as noticable. One thing I found

 

pleasurable was that when I first got the bass I plucked the low string still in the case... I could

 

feel the vibration right thru the table. I laffed aloud in delight.

 

All in all I cant imagine a more satisfying transistion for a die hard Ric guy. The solidity and the

 

feel of the neck and strings is close enuff to make me feel at home. I can honestly say that i doubt

 

you can go wrong with this instrument.

[Gruuve]

I recently snagged an old Hohner Jack V 5-string bass off Ebay (looks just like a Steinberger Q-series...headless, but more traditional looking body). It sounded definitely OK. I've stripped the black finish off and I'm about to give it a natural wood stain as soon as I finish all the sanding (ow, my hand!). I also pulled out the crappy onboard preamp that Hohner put in this model, and I'm putting it a EMG-BQS Control (preamp/EQ with lows, selectable highs, and sweepable mids). Ought to come out pretty impressive when I'm done with it!

 

Dave

[deanmass]

Steinberger just released some new models...

 

5 String only, oddly..

 

http://www.steinberger.com/synapsemodels.aspx

[Drozd22]

Jerzy Drozd makes one, and if it's anything like his other basses, it would be incredible; he makes some of the best basses in the world.

http://www.jerzydrozdbasses.com/images/headlesscustom.jpg

[Alex Izzarelli]

does anyone have a Cort Steinberger bass they want to sell? I'll buy it.

[DWBass]

I sold the one I owned a long time ago. The buyer told me it had a severe neck bow and had a difficult time getting it straight. It's a neck through so I don't know what the outcome was. Never heard from him again. I always knew it had unusually high action but I'm not a bass tech and know nothing about necks and setups. I bought the bass that way for $75 from a co-worker who said his mom gave it to him for his birthday and he had it in a closet for 11 years! I had to do some serious cleaning of it and installed an upper strap button and I put on new strings. It sounded killer but I could never get the action any lower. So I sold it.

[The Geoff]

Dag Nab it! The jaws are sold out. I think I ended up there through a search a while back because it turned out I had it book marked.

 

Oh well, thanks anyway.

 

Keep an eye on www.ebay.co.uk

 

I see Steinberger bits and pieces coming up quite often.

 

G.