How-To: Guitar or Bass Headless Conversion

Music Woodworking Workshop
How-To: Guitar or Bass Headless Conversion
YouTube player

A while back a friend laid a bass on me that had a huge crack in the headstock. He had feebly tried to repair it with a bolt and a couple of washers, but it looked like a lost cause. It got me to thinking that this instrument could be saved by simply flipping it upside down — put the tuners on the bottom and string the ball ends of the strings through the top.
headlessbass1

I gleefully chopped the headstock off right above the hex nut for the truss rod and got to work on a plate for the strings to go through. I cut a piece of flat steel stock with an angle grinder to match the contour of the neck then drilled holes for the strings, the truss rod, and two screws to fasten it to the neck itself.
headlessbass2

For the bottom of the bass body I routed out a cavity for the tuners to live in, then mounted them. Once this was done, I realized I’d need a guard so I wouldn’t bump the bass out of tune as I played. Since I was limited to a hammer, blowtorch, and a cast iron vise to use as an anvil, I did a redneck blacksmithing job on the tuning peg guard that came out surprisingly well.
headlessbass3

While I was at it, I decided to sand and refinish the bass. Orange just wasn’t my style.
headlessbass4

The bass turned out beautifully, and I’m proud to have revived an instrument that might have otherwise been relegated to the trash heap. If you’d like to see more detailed instructions on how I did this, check out my Make: Project.

6 thoughts on “How-To: Guitar or Bass Headless Conversion

  1. Dustin Scott Winn says:

    That’s fairly awesome. Bravo.

  2. somekindofmuffin says:

    Reblogged this on Some Kind Of Muffin and commented:
    Mrs. Muffin hipped me to this.

  3. Turning a broken bass into a headless bass says:

    […] Full write-up and build tutorial is here: http://blog.makezine.com/2013/01/10/how-to-guitar-or-bass-headless-conversion/ […]

  4. yazstone says:

    Cool post. I’d never try it myself though!

  5. Tony Vazquez says:

    I can’t wait to hit up the pawn shops and junk stores soon enough to mod me a bunch of “Headless” guitars and basses of my own! This is so Awesome, YOU are a musicians’ Mechanic! m/ :-D m/

  6. Locorogue says:

    !@#$ yeah, if the thing works that’s all that matters. i have a 7 string fanned fret i want to convert, probably buy a tailpiece, but the head thing you did was cool

Comments are closed.

Discuss this article with the rest of the community on our Discord server!
Tagged

In addition to being an online editor for MAKE Magazine, Michael Colombo works in fabrication, electronics, sound design, music production and performance (Yes. All that.) In the past he has also been a childrens' educator and entertainer, and holds a Masters degree from NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program.

View more articles by Michael Colombo

ADVERTISEMENT

Maker Faire Bay Area 2023 - Mare Island, CA

Escape to an island of imagination + innovation as Maker Faire Bay Area returns for its 15th iteration!

Buy Tickets today! SAVE 15% and lock-in your preferred date(s).

FEEDBACK