Any experiences with Hohner Jack or Washburn Status basses?

[VX]

I'm a guitarist rather than a bass player and I need a bass for recording. I
have some physical problems nowadays so the easier to play it is, the better.
I do have an Ibanez Blazer bass. Its a great-sounding bass but the neck is
quite big and its relatively hard work. I've also got, but am getting rid of,
a very easy-to-play Ibanez SR300DX, its easy to play but doesn't sound too
interesting to me- something is lacking.

I'm considering a couple of relatively cheap used headless basses- the
attraction is that they are smaller overall and you don't have to reach out
so far to the end of the neck, but they are still long scale. I'd like to
see if anyone has any experiences with these outside of Harmony Central. They
are;

Hohner Jack Bass (4-string version) (my guitar tech says these are very good
basses especially for the price)

Washburn Status Headless bass (graphite fingerboard- could be interesting).

I'd be happy to replace the pickups if needed- what I need is something good
enough for playing rock and blues that doesn't break the bank, and is easy to
play. TIA for any ideas/feedback/whatever.

[Jim Carr]

Post by VX
I'm a guitarist rather than a bass player and I need a bass for recording.

Have you considered any of the online collaboration areas? If you're just
doing this for kicks, there are plenty of guys who will record bass for you.
I've done it before. It's just a matter of exchanging tracks online or even
by postal mail. Chances are the bass player you hook up with will have
better equipment and be better on the instrument than you. Plus you can save
yourself some money.

If this interests you, drop on over to alt.music.home-studio and ask around.

[VX]

Post by Jim Carr

Post by VX
I'm a guitarist rather than a bass player and I need a bass for recording.

Have you considered any of the online collaboration areas? If you're just
doing this for kicks, there are plenty of guys who will record bass for you.
I've done it before. It's just a matter of exchanging tracks online or even
by postal mail. Chances are the bass player you hook up with will have
better equipment and be better on the instrument than you. Plus you can save
yourself some money.
If this interests you, drop on over to alt.music.home-studio and ask around.

Thanks for that- that's a new one on me! I'll tale a look. Although I must
confess part of the attraction of doing it myself is that I hope I might
become a better bass player by having to come up with, and play, the bass
parts. But that idea might be useful for other things too.

[a***@hotmail.com]

I have used a Hohner Jack since '88 and have never found it lacking.
IMHO the neck is perfect in dimension and quite fast and I like the
balance of headless basses. The EMG Select pickups of the earlier
passive model give a nice full sound with plenty of depth and tone. No
experience of the later, active model. I know we all like different
things but I have tried a lot of different basses in shops and never
found anything to replace it.

Post by VX
I'm a guitarist rather than a bass player and I need a bass for recording. I
have some physical problems nowadays so the easier to play it is, the better.
I do have an Ibanez Blazer bass. Its a great-sounding bass but the neck is
quite big and its relatively hard work. I've also got, but am getting rid of,
a very easy-to-play Ibanez SR300DX, its easy to play but doesn't sound too
interesting to me- something is lacking.
I'm considering a couple of relatively cheap used headless basses- the
attraction is that they are smaller overall and you don't have to reach out
so far to the end of the neck, but they are still long scale. I'd like to
see if anyone has any experiences with these outside of Harmony Central. They
are;
Hohner Jack Bass (4-string version) (my guitar tech says these are very good
basses especially for the price)
Washburn Status Headless bass (graphite fingerboard- could be interesting).
I'd be happy to replace the pickups if needed- what I need is something good
enough for playing rock and blues that doesn't break the bank, and is easy to
play. TIA for any ideas/feedback/whatever.
--
VX (remove alcohol for email)

[VX]

Post by a***@hotmail.com
I have used a Hohner Jack since '88 and have never found it lacking.
IMHO the neck is perfect in dimension and quite fast and I like the
balance of headless basses. The EMG Select pickups of the earlier
passive model give a nice full sound with plenty of depth and tone. No
experience of the later, active model. I know we all like different
things but I have tried a lot of different basses in shops and never
found anything to replace it.

Thanks for that. I've found the one I think- its the 4-string Custom. (Custom
seems to only mean its an unusual colour- neither the dealer nor me can find
anything unusual other than that- its a sort of mahogany colour). I ordered
it today.

BTW I realised that what i said before is nonsense;

Post by a***@hotmail.com
the
attraction is that... ....you don't have to reach out
so far to the end of the neck, but they are still long scale.

Since the bridge is in the same place as on non-headless basses, the nut end
of the neck is still in the same place too! Oh well....

[Ian Hayward]

Post by VX
BTW I realised that what i said before is nonsense;

Not entirely. I recently played a Hohner B2B, the Steinberger copy, and my
left hand was going to where it expected a particular note to be rather than
where it really was, so in my (limited) experience headless basses do sit
naturally in a slightly different position relative to the body. I don't
know if this is more or less of a problem for a guitarist (as I'm not one)
than for a bass player, but it is certainly evident.

Ian

Post by VX

Post by a***@hotmail.com
I have used a Hohner Jack since '88 and have never found it lacking.
IMHO the neck is perfect in dimension and quite fast and I like the
balance of headless basses. The EMG Select pickups of the earlier
passive model give a nice full sound with plenty of depth and tone. No
experience of the later, active model. I know we all like different
things but I have tried a lot of different basses in shops and never
found anything to replace it.

Thanks for that. I've found the one I think- its the 4-string Custom. (Custom
seems to only mean its an unusual colour- neither the dealer nor me can find
anything unusual other than that- its a sort of mahogany colour). I ordered
it today.
BTW I realised that what i said before is nonsense;

Post by a***@hotmail.com
the
attraction is that... ....you don't have to reach out
so far to the end of the neck, but they are still long scale.

Since the bridge is in the same place as on non-headless basses, the nut end
of the neck is still in the same place too! Oh well....
--
VX (remove alcohol for email)

[Buster Mudd]

Post by VX
I'm considering a couple of relatively cheap used headless basses- the
attraction is that they are smaller overall and you don't have to reach out
so far to the end of the neck, but they are still long scale.

I think you will find the reach to the end of the *fingerboard* is what
will determine comfort & playability, & in this respect the Hohner &
Washburn (as well as the original Steinberger) are not appreciably
smaller than a stock Fender or Ibanez. Scale length for all of these is
identical, & the bridge saddles on the headless basses are only an inch
or two closer to the very end of the body than they are on a P-Bass.
But yeah, they're definitely easier to carry on a plane or throw in
your locker!

I played a Hohner Jack bass a few times and was ambivalent about the
three F's (Fit, Finish, & Feel) but impressed by the sound...though
mostly because of how unimpressed I was with the construction. I have
two friends that both own Jack basses & on tape their tracks sound
really good.

Don't know anything about the Washburn.

[FundaMental]

Original L series Steinies and all copies of same have no upper horn
for a strap button. This does have the effect of shifting the whole
instrument to the players left, and can make lower positions a bit
farther away.

This has nothing to do with the fact of the instrument being headless.
The Q series of Steinies and all their copies have a more conventional
body shape with upper horn, and this puts their fingerboards back to
where you're more used to them being.

I've got two identical "Spirit" by Steinberger copies. Nice, playable
instruments, and boy are they cheap!

Peace..........+oM

[Buster Mudd]

Post by FundaMental
Original L series Steinies and all copies of same have no upper horn
for a strap button. This does have the effect of shifting the whole
instrument to the players left, and can make lower positions a bit
farther away.

I must disagree: I've got an original Steinberger L-2, which has both
strap buttons mounted on an asymmetrical plate which pivots around a
threaded insert on the back of the bass body. While this does do some
unusual things to the angle of the instruments' top surface relative to
your body (as compared to a conventional Fender type bass) it winds up
putting the nut & neck in more or less identical position as a Fender.
I just strapped on the Steinberger & measured the distance from my
sternum to the nut, then did the same thing with a Schecter Jazz Bass
clone. They were within 0.5".

I don't have a Hohner Jack Bass handy to perform that same measurement
with, but my recollection of the few I played was that they were
actually more comfortable & lay in a more familiar body alignment than
my Steinberger.