# Post your favorite headless guitars



## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 10, 2018)

I just got some headless hardware and now I have to build a headless six. Help me out with some inspiration and post your favorite headless guitars. 

Here are mine:

Strandberg Boden. We all know it. This particular color scheme will never not be sexy. 






Boden classic. I do like the look of a pickguard I gotta say. 





Padalka neptune. Padalka guitars simultaneously make me want to build more guitars and give up building altogether.





Let's see your faves!


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## scratchNdentPrestige (Dec 11, 2018)

If the Erlewine website is to be believed, they still make these things.










Of course steinbergers are pretty cool as well.


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## KnightBrolaire (Dec 11, 2018)

These are probably my favorites from a design standpoint:

















As far as comfort goes my vaders were far comfier than my bodens/goliath.


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## lewis (Dec 11, 2018)

jesus so many!

Skervesen, Kiesel, Strandberg, Dawe Luthiery, GOC
(grote? hahahaha)


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## MaxOfMetal (Dec 11, 2018)




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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 11, 2018)

KnightBrolaire said:


> These are probably my favorites from a design standpoint:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That last one is gorgeous. What is it?


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## lewis (Dec 11, 2018)

MaxOfMetal said:


>



If i didnt see the Epi logo, I would have just told myself it was a Dean


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## KnightBrolaire (Dec 11, 2018)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> That last one is gorgeous. What is it?


skervesen shoggie.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 11, 2018)

I also like the tele strandberg 






And this random one is pretty sweet too. 






I'm on a massive single coil kick right now, so I might go down the tele pickup route. Or p90s.


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## crackout (Dec 11, 2018)

I have always loved this particular Varberg (#27) [minus that hideous pickguard].


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## KnightBrolaire (Dec 11, 2018)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> I also like the tele strandberg
> 
> 
> 
> ...


bottom one is a blackwater fyi


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## jemfloral (Dec 11, 2018)

This Vandermeij headless was always a favorite


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## KnightBrolaire (Dec 11, 2018)

the only singlecut headless design I really like


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 11, 2018)

Man I can't stand any of the kiesel headless designs. I like most of the normal ones though. ALL the bevels.


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## Seabeast2000 (Dec 11, 2018)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> Man I can't stand any of the kiesel headless designs. I like most of the normal ones though. ALL the bevels.


If the bevels aren't contrasted i don't mind them at all on the kiesels. But I'm not an owner just a window shopper so far.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 11, 2018)

Actually the more I stare at that red one the more I like it.


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## KnightBrolaire (Dec 11, 2018)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> Actually the more I stare at that red one the more I like it.


it's actually an obnoxious neon orange, kind of like road flare red that Kiesel calls racing orange. It's probably my favorite solid color they offer. I've thought about ordering a zeus just like that one since I love that old school rg550 aesthetic of maple fretboards and bright fluorescent paints.


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## Crundles (Dec 11, 2018)

For some unholy reason I love the Claas Leviathan.

It looks like it wouldn't be the most comfortable, or practical, and from what I've read online their quality generally isn't the highest possible, but ... just look at it. It's sci-fi as heck. If I was building my own headless, this is the sort of design I'd go for first.






For more practical purposes, I love the look of the Padalka Saturn and Skervesen Shoggie. 

I really wish we had something like Kiesel here in Europe, offering a reasonable headless for ~1k EUR, because right now the cheapest option for me is still Kiesel/Dark Matter Instruments. Maybe someday a friend will go to the US and get me a Kiesel on the return trip.


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## spudmunkey (Dec 11, 2018)

KnightBrolaire said:


> it's actually an obnoxious neon orange, kind of like road flare red that Kiesel calls racing orange. It's probably my favorite solid color they offer.



For what it's worth, it's not nearly as bright as the photo above would indicate (it looks like the image compression has screwed with the red tones, blowing them out, making it look super saturated and over-exposed) and nowhere in the neighborhood of authentic Road Flare Red. It would be a stretch to call it a neon orange. It's more "vibrant" than most red/orange paints, but not neon.


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## makecamera (Dec 11, 2018)

Fast Guitars Falcon


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## KnightBrolaire (Dec 11, 2018)

spudmunkey said:


> For what it's worth, it's not nearly as bright as the photo above would indicate (it looks like the image compression has screwed with the red tones, blowing them out, making it look super saturated and over-exposed) and nowhere in the neighborhood of authentic Road Flare Red. It would be a stretch to call it a neon orange. It's more "vibrant" than most red/orange paints, but not neon.


 I know it's not exactly like rfr, but that was the closest comparison I could think of. RFR is more of a bright orangish red in person.


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## makecamera (Dec 11, 2018)

Adversary Guitars Keto


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## Defyantly (Dec 12, 2018)

^^^That is crazy clean looking to me! Although I think Ferrari Red would look better!


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 12, 2018)

Defyantly said:


> ^^^That is crazy clean looking to me! Although I think Ferrari Red would look better!


I love the lambo yellow.


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## Miek (Dec 12, 2018)

I'm a Steinberger GM man through and through, though a boden is the next best design imo


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## LeoLmX (Dec 13, 2018)

Mayones Hydra 7


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## USMarine75 (Dec 13, 2018)




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## Seabeast2000 (Dec 13, 2018)

USMarine75 said:


>


Dood. Who's the builder?


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## USMarine75 (Dec 13, 2018)

The906 said:


> Dood. Who's the builder?



Apparently Elmers at this point lol...


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## MoonJelly (Dec 13, 2018)

USMarine75 said:


> Apparently Elmers at this point lol...


Gibson: The original headless guitar, since 1959.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 13, 2018)

A les paul with headless hardware and a headstock dangling by some guitar strings would be a pretty fun joke.


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## spudmunkey (Dec 13, 2018)

i've even seen stoptails converted to a headless guitar bridge:






(the extra light area behind the bridge is just the carved away wood for easier grip on the tuning knobs)






From: guess who?
http://guitarworks.thestrandbergs.com/2009/06/12/lp-special-conversion-project/


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 13, 2018)

spudmunkey said:


> i've even seen stoptails converted to a headless guitar bridge:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's actually a great idea for headless hardware. I've got some knurled finger nut knobs like that around. Might need to try it.


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## USMarine75 (Dec 14, 2018)

MoonJelly said:


> Gibson: The original headless guitar, since 1959.



And that just went into my sig block...


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## gienek (Dec 14, 2018)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> A les paul with headless hardware and a headstock dangling by some guitar strings would be a pretty fun joke.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 14, 2018)

gienek said:


>



My first headless build was kinda like that


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## spudmunkey (Dec 14, 2018)

I love the "prototype" or 'development mule" feel I get from that...but those inlays make me feel like I need to sneeze.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 14, 2018)

spudmunkey said:


> I love the "prototype" or 'development mule" feel I get from that...but those inlays make me feel like I need to sneeze.


 they are binary representations of the fret number. Dot is a 1. Blank is a 0. LSB is on the left.

This guitar feels pretty good but it is such a pain in the ass to tune.


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## spudmunkey (Dec 14, 2018)

Swap 'em out for banjo tuners.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 14, 2018)

spudmunkey said:


> Swap 'em out for banjo tuners.


It was suggested back when I made the thing. But now I'm just using proper headless parts.


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## odibrom (Dec 14, 2018)

spudmunkey said:


> Swap 'em out for banjo tuners.





LiveOVErdrive said:


> It was suggested back when I made the thing. But now I'm just using proper headless parts.



I did that suggestion back then...


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 14, 2018)

odibrom said:


> I did that suggestion back then...


It's a good one. Just never got around to it. Too many new guitars to build.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 14, 2018)

Well here's what I've landed on (for now):







* 6 strings
* Ash body
* purpleheart neck and fretboard with a maple veneer in between. 
* Tele quarter pounder pickups
* 25"-26" fan (actually a little smaller since I'm measuring outside the taper of the neck)
* Volume and pickup selector (one at a time only)


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## MikeNeal (Dec 14, 2018)

I've been playing around with the idea of a headless version of my guitar. I'm still on the fence with it


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## diagrammatiks (Dec 14, 2018)

Junk junk junk in the trunk
Junk junk junk in the truck.


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## MikeNeal (Dec 14, 2018)

diagrammatiks said:


> Junk junk junk in the trunk
> Junk junk junk in the truck.




I like junk in the trunk.

But i think if i did do a headless I'd start from scratch


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 15, 2018)

MikeNeal said:


> I've been playing around with the idea of a headless version of my guitar. I'm still on the fence with it


What software is that?


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## MikeNeal (Dec 15, 2018)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> What software is that?


Fusion 360


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 15, 2018)

MikeNeal said:


> Fusion 360


How did you get that curly maple? When I do the solid wood curly maple it just kind of looks like regular maple.


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## MikeNeal (Dec 15, 2018)

I had to render it. Once you do The render and save the image it looks alot better


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 15, 2018)

MikeNeal said:


> I had to render it. Once you do The render and save the image it looks alot better


I did not know this was a thing. Will have to investigate.


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 16, 2018)

This rendering thing is just too cool.


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## Seabeast2000 (Dec 16, 2018)

LiveOVErdrive said:


> This rendering thing is just too cool.
> 
> View attachment 65760



Nice, can you convert or straight dump this into a CNC program and start milling? (I don't have any exposure to any of this, just curious)

EDIT: I mean the data file, not scanning the image or something lolz0rz


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## LiveOVErdrive (Dec 16, 2018)

The906 said:


> Nice, can you convert or straight dump this into a CNC program and start milling? (I don't have any exposure to any of this, just curious)
> 
> EDIT: I mean the data file, not scanning the image or something lolz0rz



Yeah, that render is actually FROM Fusion360, which is the CAD+CAM software I use to make jobs for my CNC machine. So once I finish fiddling with this design I can and will definitely mill it.


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