Klein headless guitars discussion.

JayGee

barnstorm said:

I've warmed up quite a bit to the look of the sTele and its weird headstock, although I might be alone in that…

You’re not alone, I really like that, headstock and all. Let’s face it if you’re going that far off the map at one end it would be silly to be bound by convention at the other...

Bebopper

I had the chance to buy one from a seller in the UK for £2,000 in about 2007. Scraped the money together only for the seller to go silent. When he resurfaced 6 months later, I'd spent the money.

I was into them because of Mick Goodrick and Bill Frisell had both been associated with them. Two players whose music persuaded me to switch from jazz bass to guitar.

My taste in instruments lies elsewhere now but when my Euromillions win comes in, I'll buy a Klein. 

I see that Steve Klein has recently resumed building his classic headless design, starting at $4,500.

Bebopper

Bebopper

Roland

The Klein has always fascinated me because of its minimalist approach to body profile. To understand what it would feel like I mocked up an mdf template from here and clamped on a 22 fret neck from a previous project. 

First thing I realised is that it needs a 24 fret neck, or a modified body shape. You can also see that it is going to hang several inches to the left of a “normal” guitar.

Loobs

I like Frisell's and Torn's. But if I was getting a headless guitar it'd be one of these:

https://www.island-instruments.com/espeto/

Greatape

althy said:

The one I had was possibly the best guitar I've ever played objectively, and the neck was second to none.
Had it with humbuckers sized single coils and a transtrem. At the time ( 10 years ago ) I got it from ebay DE, the adverts for about £2000 + a pedal ( empress super delay ). 
It made me want to play all the time and it was a truly gorgeous sounding guitar for clean and driven sounds.
The only thing I didn't like was the black finish. Most of the ones for sale are Blacktop style and as @octatonic ;; mentioned way more expensive than a direct order.

I am interested getting one custom made but my attempts to reach via Steve's website were unsuccessful, it might be the wrong period or the wrong way to contact him..
I'll try again in a bit. 

Glad to see Frisell's fans as well as klein lovers here. Another great Klein user and jazz player that you guys might already know is Tim Miller. 
 
PS: @DrBob yes he did have a couple with fancy pickguards if recall

Brandon Ross still plays his. Sensational player.

Stuckfast

What is the specific appeal of a headless guitar? Is it to do with looks or playability or both?

I had one of the Hohner Steinberger copies for a while. It was a lovely guitar to play but sounded awful, and changing strings on stage was a nightmare -- it was easy to unscrew the tuner too far whereupon it fell out and disappeared on the black stage...

octatonic

Stuckfast said:

What is the specific appeal of a headless guitar? Is it to do with looks or playability or both?

I had one of the Hohner Steinberger copies for a while. It was a lovely guitar to play but sounded awful, and changing strings on stage was a nightmare -- it was easy to unscrew the tuner too far whereupon it fell out and disappeared on the black stage...

I'm not suggesting you are, but if you were to judge a headless guitar by the Hohner copy then that would be like judging a high end Fender by playing a Squier.

A good headless ergonomic guitar will be a lot easier to play- there is no neck weight compared to a guitar headstock.
The Klein shape allows for a much more neutral wrist position when seated too.
I can play my Forshages a lot longer, and with less stress, than any other guitar I own.

carlos

octatonic said:

carlos said:

There were about 250 Kleins made w/ carbon Steinberger necks so no need for a truss rod - http://steinbergerworld.com/K-series.htm

Yes that is right.
I don't want one of those either.

I need my hands on... er... wood.

Yuck!

prlgmnr

I'd get one of these if it meant I could immediately do Tim Miller style legato, but I fear the only way to do that is to obsessively practise hammer ons and pull offs* at low tempo for hours on end and I don't have the patience.

*Hammers on and pulls off?

Fez

barnstorm said:

I've warmed up quite a bit to the look of the sTele and its weird headstock, although I might be alone in that…

One of these might be useful post lockdown to keep anyone from getting too close to the band.

GuyBoden

Klein copy, guitar kit from China.

US$75.65 - US$126.65

The metal parts are probably made from soft cheap metal, but could be worth building as a tester.

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/GK031-High-Grade-Diy-Headless-Electric_1999837637.html?spm=a2700.details.deiletai6.1.5f11nIcwnIcwIu 

octatonic

I wonder if the J Custom hardware fits in it?

Roland

Those are the same component as the headless I made for one of our challenges. The body needed a visit from a router before the Overlord bridge would fit. The J Custom is raked back at a larger angle, and sticks out further, but could still be made to fit with the aid of a router. 

My build thread is here. My conclusion was that it would have been cheaper to build from scratch.

DrBob

Fez said:

barnstorm said:

I've warmed up quite a bit to the look of the sTele and its weird headstock, although I might be alone in that…

One of these might be useful post lockdown to keep anyone from getting too close to the band.

I quite like that, I’ve long fancied the Heafless Klein but having owned a few Steinbergers and found the string spacing a bit cramped Im not sure they’re for me. Maybe this would be better
Although still mega money I’m guessing ?

GuyBoden

Roland said:

Those are the same component as the headless I made for one of our challenges. The body needed a visit from a router before the Overlord bridge would fit. The J Custom is raked back at a larger angle, and sticks out further, but could still be made to fit with the aid of a router. 

My build thread is here. My conclusion was that it would have been cheaper to build from scratch.

Yes, building a Klein copy from scratch is a good idea, but I could probably build this kit in a few hours.

 

sweepy

The kit is terrible, i bought one, not recommended unless you have endless time to put stuff right and never expect the trem to work

Roland

GuyBoden said:

... I could probably build this kit in a few hours.

No chance. If it’s anything like my kit then the parts won’t fit.

barnstorm

DrBob said:

I quite like that, I’ve long fancied the Heafless Klein but having owned a few Steinbergers and found the string spacing a bit cramped Im not sure they’re for me. Maybe this would be better
Although still mega money I’m guessing ?

Starts at $2500, so less than the average CS Fender seems to be these days.