New Headless Hollowbody

Heady Jam Fan · May 24, 2016, 09:35:23 PM

I sold my Artinger because it was too valuable:
- Needed cash because I don't make much and I'm getting hitched soon
- Didn't want to pay insurance on it anymore
- Didn't want to bring such a nice guitar to grimy venues

I had a custom headless years ago with a Moses Graphite neck. However, I realized more & more-so I wanted a hollowbody because I was playing jammy tunes, so I sold it. I always missed the sturdiness/stability, punchiness & great sustain, so I decided to get a hollow version of my old headless!

Also really interesting - at least I think - the Moses Graphite necks are 16 inch radius! Very flat! I never thought about it much with my old headless, but reflecting that point in time, I played mostly lead: I was in a Gilmour kick and had tons of fuzz pedals

. Now I realize the 16 inch radius really lends itself to leads: I love playing lead, but I'm better at rhythm, so the 16 in radius kinda balances out my playing.

The details:
- A single-piece, 1-inch-thick, figured, hard maple top, and a swamp ash body.
- The inside is painted with conductive paint for shielding (unlike other hollowbodies susceptible to a lot of interference).
- Seymour Duncan 59's with a master coil-tap, keeping the coil from each humbucker closest to the neck active, which means they are humbucking on the pickup selector's in-between setting.

Poster · May 25, 2016, 03:00:44 PM

Neat who built it? Did you just order the body and neck from separate vendors and assemble? Very cool

Happyorange27 · May 25, 2016, 03:30:57 PM

Smart with the conductive paint. I recently discovered that trick. Works very well for enclosures and such.

Heady Jam Fan · May 25, 2016, 06:30:10 PM

Quote from: Poster on May 25, 2016, 03:00:44 PM
Neat who built it? Did you just order the body and neck from separate vendors and assemble? Very cool

Thanks Poster!

I hesitated to say the builder because, while I ultimately got the guitar I wanted, I had a couple issues with him. So I don't want to rag on him, nor blindly promote him. If anyone is considering buying from him and wants more details, let me know. It was built by Paul Morley of Fretsong Guitars: he got the neck from Moses Graphite and the Bridge/Headpiece from J-Custom, I sent the pickups and covers. The first issue is to be expected: he missed the due-date he quoted. Most of the other issues were various problems with the elctronics: I've been super busy so it took me a couple weeks to iron out those details. In the end, it took some of the excitement out of getting the guitar, but it plays beautifully and sounds great! Not to mention, you can't get a solid-built custom hollowbody anywhere near this price from anywhere else, so, again, its worth the frustration having to iron out a few technical details after getting the guitar.

Heady Jam Fan · May 25, 2016, 06:34:21 PM

Quote from: Happyorange27 on May 25, 2016, 03:30:57 PM
Smart with the conductive paint. I recently discovered that trick. Works very well for enclosures and such.

I've had the thought in my head for years. The Phred has black paint inside, but according to Freddy Rose, its not conductive/shielding but rather aesthetic. It didn't completely silence any noise, of course, but it makes a worthwhile difference. Pretty much the only way to shield a hollowbody is having a custom built one painted during the building process.

I also dig the "RWRP" trick for coil-tapping humbuckers. I rarely use the coil-tap otherwise, but since the in-between setting in single-coil mode cancels hum, I'm digging that tone.

Jkendrick · May 27, 2016, 08:35:12 PM

You're going to have to change your name to Headless Jam Fan.

Down_With_Sco · May 27, 2016, 10:26:37 PM

Nice!

24 or 22 frets?

Heady Jam Fan · May 28, 2016, 09:25:41 AM

Quote from: Jkendrick on May 27, 2016, 08:35:12 PM
You're going to have to change your name to Headless Jam Fan.

Ha! If I woulda had the forethought when I made the account!

Heady Jam Fan · May 28, 2016, 09:29:14 AM

Quote from: Down_With_Sco on May 27, 2016, 10:26:37 PM
Nice!

24 or 22 frets?

24. I'm always a fan of omitting the fret dots as well. Looks a bit cleaner.

I had my old headless 5+ years ago, but my band was playing a show with Consider the Source and their guitarist was playing a double-neck headless. I started to miss mine. The guitarist from the tribute band A Live One plays a headless / hollow Canton: if I had more cash, I would have considered a Canton or Forshage. Maybe in the future.

I wrote out some more detailed thoughts on TGP:

Bridge: one thing I've become more and more aware of over the years is that the bridge contributes a lot to tone! The first headless (pics in the post above) had a solid steel hardtail - NOTHING will transfer more resonance from the strings to the guitar than that bridge. I just remember how tight and punchy the bass was - it jumped out of the speaker. On my Phred, I upgraded from a pretty standard Tune-O-Matic ABR-1 style bridge to a Wilkinson Bass Roller that clamps down on the posts: got a richer tone and range for intonation. The J-Custom bridge on my headless does not have the mass or ability to transfer resonance from the strings to the body compared to the vintage Steinberger hardtail, but its much better than a typical bridge - especially compared to a flimsy tremolo bridge (and one trem varies much from the next depending on the mass of the block). The J-Custom compared to the Phred is interesting too: the trapeze style bridge adds a lot to the high-end. One versus the other is preference - I'm not sure what I prefer: the trapeze has a nice, natural sort of flutter while the more traditional tail-stop sounds a bit bolder.

Body: The headless hollowbody is completely hollow, but does not have bent & braced sides. The wood is a bit thicker and sturdier, plus there is some bracing beneath the pickups, under the bridge and at the neck. This decreases the resonance a bit, as well as uncontrolled feedback that can occur when a bass player aims his cab at your guitar body on a tiny bar stage

. While most chambered guitars sound, to me, mostly like a solidbody, this headless really has a nice balance between the two styles: richness of being hollow, punch of more solid wood, feels more sturdy than a hollowbody...

Pickups: Once the pickup covers were potted, the pickups sounded just like any other SD 59's. Those are probably my favorite pickups: I keep going back to them. I'm really digging the coil-tap mode when in the in-between position on the pickup selector: I can really get a strat-like sound while still hum-bucking because I'm using the coil closest to the neck from each humbucker (in other words, one north & one south so it is RWRP). With my Phaser > TS9, I can get some Hendrix-like tones I really dig (I was playing Angel the other day). I'd definitely suggest wiring the pickups that way for anyone thinking of coil-tapping humbuckers.