The Worst Guitar I Ever Played is Almost Genius
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- Опубліковано 7 чер 2024
- The Strandberg Experiment Episode 6 features the Grote Headless 6 Strings Electric Guitar GRHL-2.
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0:00 intro
0:40 Phase 1: GREAT!
5:15 Phase 2: Good!
9:00 The Bad Begins
11:30 Phase 3: The Sound
14:13 Conclusion
Updates:
1) guys, I know you can use a right angle jack. That’s not really the point, it’s still uncomfortable, and a design flaw.
2) I figured out how to adjust the string height. The adjustment was jammed so it took a bit more force and patience. I’d still change the bridge for the other reasons mentioned.
3) Yes I know hex drill bits exist. I didn’t have one handy so I did the drill thing as a bit of a joke. No I wouldn’t do this on a guitar I cared about…
Just a PSA: search for "eart bridge adjustment" on YT, and the first result is a video by six1nine that goes into all the adjustments in detail, including string height. I just picked up an even cheaper Leo Jaymez headless on Amazon with the same bridge, and apparently the same crappy pickups. For me, the bridge is fine -- I just wanted an inexpensive practice guitar for air travel, not for live gigs. I'll be swapping out the electronics of course, but it's still the best option in the price range.
I did some quick searching on Reverb and there are several listings for a headless guitar bridge made by "Nova" that look decent in the pics for $209 and there was one listing from a Myles Music Shop in Wei Fang Shi, China for an unbranded bridge for only $90.20 (but I bet its no better than what you have). So that seems a lot better than spending $400+ on a Hipshot bridge (although on Reverb there were several Hipshot tremelo bridges for around $300). By the way they have a listing for the bridge already on your guitar for $53 ... so that's rather telling :)
Just keep the Sunk Cost Fallacy in mind if you decide you want to try to "fix" this guitar.
Good review. I found on that type of bridge, the height adjustment cam will get stuck which I was able to fix by reducing the string tension and tapping on the string roller.
Ok, I ran the numbers. Assuming you're already into the guitar for like $300 you'll have 209 for the Nova bridge (and this assumes the head piece will work with that neck and you don't have to hunt something else down). Plus ~ 270 for a pair of decent humbuckers (I looked on Dylan McKerchie's site and he'll sell you a matched pair of his humbuckers for that ... frankly that sounds like an awesome deal for hand made pickups, and I bet if you called him he could tell you exactly which of his pickups you needed to achieve your tone goals) and I threw in a $61 for a Stewmac wiring kit (because I bet the pots, switch and jack in that thing are crap). So that would be $840ish total (not counting shipping on all this stuff). After all that you'd have a slightly nicer playing guitar worth about $300. So yeah, you're running up against Sunk Cost Fallacy for sure. That said, still a lot cheaper than a Strandberg.
If it was me, I'd just make sure the action and intonation was adjusted as good as you can get them, then adjust the pickups up as close to the strings as you can get them without them getting in the way ... and then hunt down some kid in the neighborhood that needs a guitar and give it to them :p
@@Zundfolge I'll take a set of Seymour Duncan's that'll sound exactly the same for half the price... lol.
I think you might be the only UA-camr who actually talks about the physical part of playing a guitar - how you sit, how it’s feels with the fingers, and so on. I appreciate the detail!
All the others are just theory UA-camrs who play guitar
The only other one I can think of who speaks about it occasionally is McKnight...
Tim Pierce talks about often
Awsome looking guitar! String height, after market parts and pickups are a big deal for me. Neck feel also. Bought an Eart "Strat" style guitar from Amazon. $250. I do like it. I also have 2 PRS's. I like them all. Need more + others.
Wait - you mean a review that consists of reading of the spec sheet and then five minutes of jamming into a tonne of effects and a £2k amp isn't useful?
Here's how to find the adjustment wrench or any lost ball bearings or screws:
Walk around the area in the dark barefoot.
You should then be able to remove the lost part from the now-bleeding underside of your foot.
Us dads do indeed play slow-ass blues licks but we also know how to find pretty much anything.
yes, especially lego blocks!
If it's iron or steel you can tape a super strong neodymium magnet to the end of a stick and wave it around! Probably won't find what you're looking for but you'll find a bunch of other useless metal junk
you could just ask your mom to find it for you and it will just materialize in her hand. she'll probably say "it's right in front of you how did you not see it?"
@nicolas reveco many of us watching have families and don't live with mommy anymore. Goodluck@nicholas reveco, hope you grow up to be a great guitar player. Wish you the best in whatever you decide for your future.
Pro-tip: First make sure you are up to date on your tetanus shots.
Solution to problem 1 with the tuners being too hard to turn by hand: there are philips head screws inside the tuners. If you loosen them a little the tuners move very easily. I have used that same bridge for my own guitar builds and it works perfectly. The string height is adjusted with two grubscrews, one for setting the height, the other for locking it in place. Sometimes if you adjust string height when its under tension, it can get stuck, but pushing it with your finger a little solves it for me at least. I got the feeling that you just went full monkey on this bridge and started turning random screws when I could figure it out in 5 minutes.
Thats right! Grote is a good instrument!
Excellent video - I enjoy your presentation style as much as I enjoy the insightful content.
So thorough. I'm loving your videos.
Thank you :)
I used to have a Steinberger guitar back in the 1990’s. It was all black with EMG pickups, a super Strat shape body. It was amazing and well ahead of its time. It took strings with a ball at each end so you just slotted in and tuned. The trem could be locked in different tunings and it stayed in perfect tune all the time. The neck was made of graphite and super smooth. If only they still made them as second hand they are very expensive now. One i regret letting go. They had nailed all the design features of a headless guitar decades before companies like Strandberg came along. I have a Strandberg 7 string with Fishman Fluence pickups and I love it. 😊.
fantastic review! thank you very much
I got the Valgoa. The pickups needed to be unscrewed and rescrewed to sit properly and I had to file down a few high frets. But it was great after that. There are two tiny set screws on each saddle. Left one is the lock screw and the right is the adjuster. Thing is, you need to physically push the adjustment wheel the string sits on to get it to go down. The set screw brings it up to where you like it. The lock screw on the left locks it in place. Also, it seems like you need to set the pickups properly. Mine is VERY LOUD and crispy after I set it up right. It's very odd. These guitars are very good for the money but only if you possess the skills to fix the flaws. Lucky I'm a Gretsch guy. I can name that buzz in five strums lol.
I am so happy you did this full review. Thank you.
Most articulate reviewer I’ve seen on UA-cam. Would Love to see some NK headless form ali express reviews too
You have quickly become one of my favorite guitar youtubers and i look forward to your videos. Keep it up!
I recently bought an eart headless but the non pro version (since it has this specific string system not the locking version) I hope that wasn't a mistake but im pretty hands-on on my guitars. Will find out monday.
I have that same bridge on my Eart headless. Each saddle has 2 corresponding screws. One of the screws locks the saddle height, and the other adjusts the height. It's not like a Strat where each screw adjusts the height on one side. I agree about the tuning being a bit annoying if you're in a pinch, but in my experience, once you get it in tune, it's pretty stable. And you can make small adjustments with a pick.
Hi Andre I know how to adjust string height on this guitar....there are 2 screws immediately at the back of each saddle....if you loosen the screw on the right side of the saddle by turning it counter- clockwise it unlocks the saddle.......then theres another screw immediatley to the leff of that screw....turning that screw clockwise or counter clockwise will raise or lower the action. After adjusting the action, just turn the screw on the right side of the saddle clockwise to tighten it back up again to lock the saddle in place. try it and you will see what i mean
I didn't know there was someone even more into the nerdy guitar stuff than me. Super helpful reviews and music content. It's great that you as a presenter are very well versed so the content is super easy to digest. Great teacher. Thank you for your confident and humble presentation.
Thank you :)
That pickup volume is hilarious, did not expect how low it would be!
My NK has the same bridge. If I remember one of those tiny allen screws is the retainer and screws down onto the rotating pivot point. You loosen it and then turn the other to adjust the tilt up or down for string height .. Just be glad your bridge was in the proper location so you could adjust yours .. One saddle on mine needs to go either forward or backward more and is slid to its max and can not get a perfect intonation .
I've got a collection of headless parts for experimental builds, and I bought an Amazon headless for travel as well... but it doesn't have that bridge, it has the cylinders with the knurled barrel tuners at the tail end. They require the ball end down there, and then the strings locked and cut off at the headpiece. I agree with you about rather having the ball ends at the end of the headstock and got an ABM headpiece with little sockets at the end of the headpiece slots for the ball ends, and then each slot nestles a hex screw to firmly secure the strings. On the bridge end, I intend to use a more traditional bridge (or maybe one of the Babicz full contacts that I have) and then use locking tuners as a tailpiece. I'm gaining some space between by using Hipshot knurled buttons instead of more traditional buttons. Currently have some of those on a Superstrat and I love the fact that the knurled buttons are less likely to get bumped out of tune in the gigbag or when I'm clipping a capo between songs. I'll report back after building of the headless resumes. ☮❤🎶
i love how you organize your thoughts
I just discovered your channel, it’s awesome, thank you!
For your headless string poking issue. Had it also. Cut them a little longer and with needle nose pliers bend the ends towards the back. Easy peasy.
I look forward to your videos. They do look comfy to play on the lap.
Love the experiment!
The thing that is infuriating about the little magnetic tool is that you pull it out by the hex end not the handle end. If it came out and you didn't have to flip it in your hands it would be easier to use and not drop.
This is really good to see - thanks! I'm a guitar builder in Tokyo and have a few headless bridges waiting around for me to try out. Most are in the separate tuner style like Strandberg, allowing for things like fanned frets, but I also wound up with what must be, I think, this exact bridge. I've not made an instrument for it yet, but had been planning to do so. However, I am now concerned about the problems you mention. Maybe I'll knock up an experimental design one of these days, but it'll be down the track a bit.
I’d love to try your work in the future :)
@@andrefludd Maybe we can make it happen one of these years. At the moment, I'm making an arch top for the amazing Hawe Gondwe (Amy Winehouse, Roachford). Happy days!
Thank you for your insights, great review.
I discovered your channel through your Mayones Duvell videos. I seriously respect the way you make these reviews where you go into every minute detail instead of just the usual bullet points of a guitar most focus on. It's also interesting to see a non metal player's perspective on these guitars.
My Eart headless guitar - the non-pro model - had this exact bridge. My experience of this bridge precisely matches yours. I can't say I particularly liked it. Setting intonation is OK but setting string height is *really* cumbersome. Tuning accurately is awkward without the crank tool as it uses a worm gear and needs a lot of torque. On the positive side, it did actually have very good stability once tuned. It's flat-mounted to the guitar body (no routing at all) so I ended up fitting a custom made aluminium flat-mount Steinberger-style bridge, meaning it now needs double ball-end strings (which are fantastic, but expensive). It's a lovely player as a result, and certainly a bit different!
Which begs the question... Have you ever tried the original headless guitar? Steinberger (actually Gibson since 1987) still sell their Spirit GT-Pro, a cheaper wooden version of the famous "L2" instruments popularised by the likes of Allan Holdsworth & EVH. They retail for a similar price to these Chinese Strandberg clones. No "chomp" for your thigh, but can comfortably be played at 45⁰ thanks to an inbuilt folding leg-rest, and are under 7lb. Crappy pickups but still quite a nice instrument, can be set-up very low for slick fast legato. I have one and really like it. Worth checking out IMO, if you're not sick of guitar reviews by now 😁.
Great work on the Strandberg experiment. All the best! 👍
I bought the same guitar and had a similar issue with the low volume. What i found was the tone pot legs were shorting out against the side of the cavity which was painted with shielding paint. A simple loosening of the tone pot and turning it a bit solved the issue. The pickups were actually 13k in the bridge position and 9k in the neck position. It was a simple fix.
I'm curious about what your stand of flying V guitars is: I know most people think they're basically "Stand up only" guitars but even though your legs might not be as comfortable as this shape, the V should easily rest in your right leg and while your position will be shifted to the left a bit, I wonder how big of an adjustment would be for you in term sof ergonomics.
It hangs on a strap exactly the same standing up or sitting down,just shift your legs over and a chair without armrests
Good points. Good to know.
I'm surprised you only have 11k suscriber. Great quality video and content ! thanks
Shame that it has those issues with the tuning and input jack, the restringing process is actually quite streamlined! One thing I don't understand is why more guitars don't put the input jack on the front of the guitar like a strat (or SG with if you use a 90º cable). It's out of the way completely!
Thank you. I have been wanting to try one of these, and THAT - the input jack, is a deal breaker.
I don't know if it's relevant anymore but well... here it goes: from experience, the drop in volume may be caused by a grounded or ''semi-grounded'' potentiometer. Had it happen in my Ibanez once where one of the arms of the potentiometer was touching the conductive paint on the cavity and the output was almost none, wich i noticed fast since i had the pickup for a couple years before and it is a VERY loud one (520mv)
If you're curious the pickup is a brazilian-made Malagoli Neo, made with neodymium magnets.
So I currently have 5 headless guitars, two of which use that bridge system and three using the typical longitudinal tuners. Frankly I prefer the system that is in your guitar, but I sense you approached it somewhat as a Luddite. I had no problem setting the string height or figuring out what everything does. Yes you have to adjust your attitude a bit, but you can even accommodate palm muting, and as for the fine tuning, if you don’t like the key (which again I don’t mind) then just carry a suitably sized Allen key. I agree the jack socket is stupid though, but my two, which are the NK brand, have a cleverly angled jack that sits neatly out of the way.I have swapped out the pickups in mine and they sound great. My NKs have quilted maple necks which are lovely. Thomann now do their own affordable headless, the Dulahan, but I don’t like the aesthetic, although it isn’t a bad place to start if you want a standard headless bridge. With all these cheaper guitars, you need to expect a bit of setup work and tinkering, but I must say I love mine and have not spent the earth in the process.
How do you raise the saddle height? Seeing others not able to adjust it and would be great if someone could offer the answer as to how it’s done
Great detailed video, well done, thanks.
There are indeed some brilliant innovations here in this guitar, which, surprisingly are not always present in more high-end instruments.
Finally, finally, a solution to get rid of sharp string ends at the end of the neck.
I don't know why some people leave them there sticking out for a few cm or even inches, but whenever I see bunch of sharp string 'tails' on the headless guitar, it's just uncomfortable. The player will either harm himself or poke someone in the eye with those sharp strings. Not to mention that some player don't even trim string ends at all and play live (when at any time they can just lose an eye). So this seems huge.
Also I don't know why people do love those buckeye burl tops - to my eyes it looks either ugly or even cancer-like sometimes (but not 'healthy' - that's for sure).
P.S. that focused and disappointed face at 13:52 reminded me character Tyreese from Walking Dead show 😀
Now all you need is a Bit holder for your drill, and Allen bits to go with it, as that wobbling may just turn out to wear those tuners and the drill out much faster.
OK, after watching the rest, maybe not for that guitar, but in general good and proper tools are always a good thing. I'm sure there are other things you use allen and other wrenches, torq's, screw drivers... for where the bit holder and bits will come in handy.
Returning to leave a point on ergonomic design: the horn end of the strap should attach to the rear side of the horn, rather than the tip! SO much more comfortable as the strap ends up resting flat over your left shoulder instead of digging into the side of your neck. I found this feature on one of those old Cort electrics with the pentagram inlays and it was the most comfortable I've ever been while playing. Seriously, try one like this if you haven't!
I have some guitars like that - problem is if not done right, the instrument “tips forward” if you let go, so your left hand and right elbow have to constantly balance the guitar while playing. You get used to it, but it can get nutty. A Jackson Kelly I had was like this. The strap position needed to be closer to the headstock too, but there was no upper horn, so it would neck dive AND tip forward. Quite annoying. Played fine sitting down. Some other guitars with the same rear strap pin position did not have this problem.
Grote Headless vs. Eart GW2. The location of the input jack is almost the main reason why I chose Eart. Thanks for the review.
Regardless the amazing content and info, your channel is awesome for someone who's learning english. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of the 'american accent', I love the way you speak, it's so clear, open and articulate.
Congrats and I hope you grow a lot on UA-cam!
Fabulous review. Glad I found this channel, that was the best guitar review I think i've ever seen.
Funny how youtube works, this is probably one of the worst reviews I've ever done haha. So it's all uphill from here as you check out the other videos :). Thanks for supporting.
@@andrefludd dude, if that's your worst, Imma definitely coming back for more...Love your vibe man!
Bro you are doing amazing work with these videos. You’re giving too true information on guitars for those thinking about buying them and I’m here for it man
Sounds to me, like you need to try out a steinberger, they require special strings, with dual ball ends. The tremolo, can be used to shift and lock the pitch of the overall tuning, effectively transposing on the run with the whammy bar. Also the tremolo is geared in a way that ensures the integrity of a chord even while the bar is being moved. They also have a fold out leg rest.
Steinbergers aren't that comfortable sitting down, unless you've got a short torso. The leg rest helps to keep them in place, but the guitar still sits too low. The Strandberg (and the Klein) shape is better for sitting. The Steinberger Synapse series had a combo headpiece that lets you use regular strings. It's great. But the Synapses don't have a trem. Great guitars though!
I have a headless EART and the screw on the opposite side of the intonation screw on the saddle being adjusted is supposed to be the height adjustment
love your videos. since you’re doing all these headless experiments you should check out the Ibanez Quest and the GOC Guitars line up.
I discuss this in episode 2
Thank you Dr Fludd for these in depth guitar reviews! Don't change your style you beautiful human!!
Thanks :)
im so hooked on these videos...
I wanted to thank you for the video. It was nice to see an honest review, you had very valid points and I took them all into consideration. Originally after viewing the video I passed on the guitar. But then Amazon offered the guitar at the reduced price of $195. And I did so want to try a that neck. So I purchased the instrument. All in all I'm happy. The construction, fit and finish are good. I judge a guitar by how often I pick it up and I find myself reaching for this one often. I agree the pickups are not the best but with a little tweaking on the amp ( straight into a boss Katana ) I got sounds that I'm happy with. I understand there is a lack of quality control in regards to the pickups, I might have just gotten a good set . Love the neck by the way. Thank you again. If anyone is thinking of getting one, if you can get it on sale, it might be worth your time.
I’m glad I could be of help! Thanks for the update.
Yep the aftermarket parts availabilty is a nightmare, especially tremolos. You could say strandberg was a witty guy to only supply those bridges with the guitar and not separately.
Imgine tuning a trem bulpup at the trem... won't work if the trem isn't so stiff tht it won't be nice o play.
There's a headless by a brand called Bootlegger that's awesome, but I passed on it specifically because of the output jack. It's got the strandberg style cutaway, but they put the jack right in the middle of it so it's completely useless as a leg rest
I know several accomplished guitar players that sand the finish from the neck before they do anything else...it's a preference thing. Eventually, hand oils will get into the grain, but it can be removed with any standard wood cleaner and then cleaned up with some high grit sandpaper.
Tip for dropping metal things on the floor such as the small tool in this video or the ball bearing you dropped in a previous video: get a magnet and run it along the surface of the carpet it’ll pick up any of the steel objects
These reviews are so in depth, absolutely amazing
Ty
when you reached for the cable.. I had to lol. I just did not expect that. Hopefully they address that, it's a simple enough fix in the design.
The pickup thing sounds like they might be internally out of phase. I had this exact issue with a seymour duncan pickup. Basically if you open the back plate and they are 4 wire pickups try swapping the north start and north finish wires on each pickup. On a duncan pickup it was swapping the black and white wires so the white goes to the switch and the black goes with the red for the series link
Eart has a model with the same restring process. I belive it is the same bridge with the 2 of them not the one with thumb screw adjustments but the other with the little crank.
I've got the EART GW2 which has the same bridge but a different body shape. I played it live tonight and didn't really have any issues with the tuning. It has the same KD licensed bridge with the little hex crank tool and magnetic holder. It's certainly more trouble to tune than a regular guitar, but I think you can loosen the screws a little bit to make the knobs easier to turn, and the tuning was stable on my guitar such that I was only ever changing the thicc E string between E and D.
These cheap Chinese headless guitars all follow the same basic formula. They're all going to need new pickups and some woodwork to be really usable. I didn't mind doing that on mine, but I know many people won't have the time or be able to do that.
Hi Andre, I've been playing now for 50 years. And I totally agree, step 1 is always to play unplugged and see if the instrument speaks to you. I fell in love with a little Chinese SG at a local music shop. It had P90's and was very lively unplugged. The electronics were complete garbage though. I am a luthier so I had no problem replacing everything.
Looking at this guitar, I see a lot of potential, but also a lot of nasty. Definitely some great design ideas
Maybe a project for later....
Love the video, thanks for sharing!
Interesting observation regarding the somewhat restricted width of the 'Berg's leg rest. The most comfortable guitar I've ever owned is a Dean Gordon Virtus. They're pricey but man oh man, what an experience playing that. Closest to those ergonomics ironically came from my Gary Kramer Turbulence 29 fret guitar. Both guitars utilize the curved leg rest albeit with the Dean Gordon it was more aesthetically pleasing the way he morphs it into the body. Thanks for another solid review and you've likely saved several guitar players from making this headless mistake from Amazon.
How does the Turbulence sound? I've seen some videos but nobody really does much of a job showing the sound off.
@@DaveDurango The USA models are fantastic but pricey on the rare occasions you find them. The imports require a pickup change but otherwise are fine guitars. Fret work is solid. Gary created a wonderfully ergonomic option for us but as could be expected, it didn't last long because unlike bassists, guitar players remain quite fickle to traditional designs. I'm convinced had he released the guitar after the headless resurgence, more guitarists would have been warmer to its shape and ergonomic benefits.
You could make a really interesting video/series making this guitar actually good by installing new hardware and drilling out a new output jack and whatnot.
Idk how your woodworking is, but if it is something you're new to, then I think that would actually make for even more interesting content.
Usually people making videos like that are highly experienced in terms of actually performing the modifications, and tend to cover it in a way where they sort of assume that the viewer knows why and how they're doing what they're doing. So it would be really cool to watch someone who is relatively inexperienced, and to be able to go through the learning curve with you.
Love your channel btw. Been playing on and off for years but you've inspired me to pick it up again and try to stay consistent with practicing so thanks for that, man.
Final thoughts after watching full video. Great stuff as always. Love your attention to detail and great descriptions. Your channel has quickly become one of my favorites. 👍
Were the frets ok?, fret ends? Level? Buzzing? Thanks 👍
Andre, I'm pretty sure you can get a hexagon bit for your drill. That Allen wrench/ bottle cap contraption looks dicey
2:38 you had me at “stainless steel frets”. 😎🎸
Most simple bridge ever on the saddles top allan screw loosens it the bottom allen rotates it up and down, and on the tuners back the Phillips head screw out a little bit and then the tuners move smoothly , for some reason they crank them down at the factory,I ordered that bridge a wile back and hated it at first too.
Youre one of my favorite guitar intel channels my friend keep going. Has a rick beato interview podcast type feel. In depth look into important details that tend to get skipped over in review channels. And youre taking the bullet on all of these brands models ive never owned or tried before but have known about forever. My 2 cents: I actually dislike the parker neck tbh for being a bit toooo slippery its like driving a car on wet ice i just couldnt get control over my playing and sync up. Really prefer a little texture that ebony boards gives me. This is also the issue ive had with maple boards, my playing just seems to slide or slip out of syncopation. Idk why this is I believe i am slightly more heavy handed while playing, like a 6 or 7 out of 10 on my heavy style of playing, think if zack wyld is 9/10 for the pressure he uses. my fingers kind of slam down when playing fast so that if my picking wasnt 100% perfect during the run the notes still ring out clearly. This is also the issue i have with stainless steel frets. Just too slippery. Players might not understand there is a huge difference in your playing stainless steel versus non stainless, and there is a huge difference in feel with ebony versus maple that has a clear coat over the wood. I would play my ibanez prestige js1000 with rosewood and it felt quite middle of the road normal, then i would play my band mates ESP with a clear coated maple and it was just waaay too slippery to the point that playing was labored. Just something people might think about before ordering a new type of fingerboard or going to stainless or evo or steel nicol. It all makes a huge difference on your technique/pressure/speed and comfort. GG good video.
I totally totally understand. I love stuffing, and bread pudding. My gf finds the texture very uncomfortable. I don’t agree with her, but I
Totally understand why it would be a weird texture for some.
Great video! Would love to see a Goc headless or nk or agile as they seem to be leading the sub 1000$ market
I have an EART GW2 with the same bridge and I found the string height adjustment to be fine.
I did have to watch a video to understand how to use the two little screws (lock and adjustment) on each saddle arm.
Also you do have to sometimes give the arm a wiggle with your finger after adjusting to get it to adjust.
Spend the $12 on Allen Wrench Drill Bits my dude.
Will change your life :)
Hi Andre! Thanks for showing me a guitar to steer clear of. This is one of those cases where you played a guitar so that the rest of us wouldn't have to. You def took one for the team here. Btw, I enjoyed your podcast on Wednesday. I can relate to a lot of what you covered.
Cheers man! ✌
Thanks man! The second I put up the podcast, my practice plans took another huge turn so I may have to do a bonus podcast lol
Are you sure the output problem is with the pickups? It's far more likely to be an issue with the wiring than the pickup. For that amount of output difference to be caused by the pickups not being wound enough, it would have to be REALLY underwound, to a degree that I can't imagine someone making that mistake on two pickups in the same guitar. Even if you were to split an underwound PAF or similar vintage HB it wouldn't be that quiet. I guess they could have put the two coils out of phase, or wired them to be in parallel instead of series, but I can't really tell because I can't really hear them.
Do you have a multi-reader? I'd be curious to see what the DC resistance is on them. I don't know what the pickups are, but underwound PAFs are usually 7-7.5k. if it's much lower than that then either they didn't wind them enough or it's wired incorrectly. If it's the former than there's nothing you can do short of having them rewound (and who would want to spend the money to do that?), if it's the latter then it could be easily fixed if you have a soldering iron.
"no finish" on the neck should be sealed at least with oil or wax. Music Man finishes nearly everything with Tru-Oil and gunstock wax, and I've applied that to guitars I've modified or built when dealing with neck woods that don't need grain filling, like maple. That neck looked raw. Without a sealing your own dead skin and oily sweat will become the finish.
I'd suggest the full size allen key is the best tool for tuning since you have accuracy in the additional leverage, but this is a killing point as to why I don't do headless. Tuners need to be instantly adjustable.
I would assume the oils from your hands would really wear the neck in well. Kendama works similarly and it's a hard feeling to match when its "honed"
You can get allen wrench drill bits so you don't have to use that adapter, and the bit will be centered making it easier to use.
I know. I just didn’t have the right one handy
Just as you mentioned in your other review, these guitars are a great starting point for a tinkerer like me. They will be getting better as they gain more popularity...
BTW you really need to check out the grandaddy of the headless -- the Steinberger. The history, the instrument and the designer are fascinating, and just like Parker, way ahead of their time. There is a super in-depth review by a guitar instructor on youtube who went from an really expensive Strandberg to a 400$ Steinberger and loved it...
Good luck with the channel...
What's the name of the guitr instructor's channel?
@@Ausemere It's "Bruce Darlington Guitar"
1970 a Guy named gittler made a all stainless guitar it was headless .
Yes, but unlike the Steinberger they are still being made as they were designed... There is a bass version as well. Peter Autschbach (a jazz musician) has a good demo and various live performances with the guitar on his channel!
7:00 Based on your previous feedback about your Strandbergs, I was wondering why more headless guitars don't approach it this way. Hell, it might even be possible to integrate something on the bridge side that cuts the string ends for you.
Years ago I had a cheap steinberger Spirit GT Pro that was actually a pretty good guitar for the money. This guitar used double ball end strings that were available back then. Not sure if they are available today. But they worked great and made string changes a breeze. I thi k Ernie Ball made them. Just an observation. Maybe the real Steinbergers used the same strings.???
Abasi Guitars have a similar big thigh rest area, would be curious to see you review one of those at some point. Unfortunately my hands are too small for most 7 Strings, but their Emi model in particular is really nice
I hope at some point someone comes up with a good alternative to a Strandberg but without the fanned frets. I just don’t like them. I assume they would work better for me when the center fret wasn‘t the first one. It would maybe be ok for me for a cheaper guitar but not so much at that price point. And one small point is that I just hate how it looks, that the neck pickup does have a different angle to the frets.
I really loved how light it is though and the overall playing comfort, it‘s just amazing. This would be the perfect guitar for practicing while chilling on the couch and watching TV.
12:24 thanks for reviewing this guitar. First person I’ve seen review this guitar. Been playing it for about six months. The cable that it comes with has a flat end which with the input problem of the jack you were experiencing :) hope that helps.
Weird that your pickups were so soft. My grotes pick ups are much hotter than any of the other guitars I have. Might be a lemon :) but thank you again for reviewing it. Alsways wanted to know a pros opinion about it. The strings also do lower in height as well. I made the action on this guitar practically on the fretboard and plays well.
Phillip McKnight actually reviewed it as well. His pickups worked however and sounded pretty good
ua-cam.com/video/wZJ1dK9UA7o/v-deo.html
Not that it really matters BUT I had an issue similar with a Les Paul I have. Turned out that the pot was grounding to the electric paint and causing it to lose all volume. Might be worth checking to see if the pots are not making unnecessary contacts anywhere in that cavity
Thanks!
hahahahah dannnnnnnnnng, nice video! and wow.. thats crazy how low volume those pickups are sending haha
The exact same hardware is also found on Eart GW2 non-pro btw. I personally don't think I would mind tuning with that little tool that much since I only play at home, after trying it for a bit I think I could get used to it. But man, the jack placement on this one is just way too stupid. How to disregard the biggest advantage of this guitar in a single decision
Hey, you talked a bit about this neck shape you liked, but could you maybe describe it a bit more? As someone interested in guitar building, it would be great to get some new ideas from someone that has tried a lot of different shapes.
I built a few guitars last year with the idea to sell and tried to keep the material costs down to make them affordable. Most of the necks I bought that were in the $40 to $50 range had HP laminate fretboards. I like them and they play nice.
Very cool
yeah, its actually really hard to get good headless guitar hardware without spending the entire cost of a low-end guitar. im working on a design for them but even the cost of prototyping this sort of thing is incredibly high if you dont happen to have a lathe.
I got a Harley benton and found that bridge to be better. The Harley benton would have a sitar sound on the saddle. I tried to file it every way i could think of and couldn't fix it. It took me a minute to figure out string hight but because you need to take pressure off of it.
Please check out the Steinberger GU- they have a cheaper version from their spirit line. It’s design is pre-strandberg
I had a bass guitar with really low output like that. Best I can tell, they were supposed to be active. Rather than put in the battery operated electronics they needed, I ran it through a 25dB boost pedal and it brought it back to normal line level. Still, that's really weird about the output level on these. Any chance of a hidden battery compartment on that guitar? Maybe it's in the neck pocket under the neck, you know, for easy access. :P
i had a similar pickup output issue with my legator opus s 7, a super cheap guitar i bought when fanned fret guitars started popping up everywhere. looking in to changing the pickups over to some custom lundgren m7s as the guitar is cool and a tad quirky
Spirit steinberger, I have an XT-2 and it love it, sots nice, weights enough to feel quality but not too heavy, 0 neck dive but that’s a given, and the best part, it’s looks, so simple and Soo refined, I prefer a boat paddle of these newer style fancy headless guitar, and I’m only 19 so can use the ok boomer on me
That's a fairly interesting bridge right there! Seems a rather fiddly though. Fiddly hardware is the ultimate reason I've sold my headless in the end and just bought myself a high-end Schecter 8 string. Although mine had a copy of Strandberg's design, which I frankly despised.
I could've been fooled by this guitar though, I think it's beautiful and composite fingerboard paired with stainless frets sound like a steal. But then comes the fiddly hardware, screwed up electronics (which probably signifies non-existent QC, but given the price, that's expected), not very though out design... I guess it's a decent project base, if you want to experiment with customizing.
Thanks for the detailed review!
Weird. I just picked up a used Grote headless (at least the seller says it's a Grote -- he peeled off the logo sticker and the pickups don't have the logo) that looks nothing at all like this one. Mine is a straight-up Strandberg copy. Different bridge (mine's a trem), different headstock, real rosewood fretboard, dot markers on the side, flawless finish. I bought it because I'm curious about the body shape -- I have a Steinberger Synapse, but it's not comfortable to play sitting down -- and I'm not ready to spring for a Strandberg. Nice guitar for what is (and the price), needs a bit of work on a couple of frets.
I got that same bridge off of aliexpress for like $25 for a headless build I was doing, pretty solid!
To adjust the string height you rotate the saddle it's on a Cam.
I totally get the sort of quick judgement of guitars, sometimes I don't even take the guitar down because I immediately feel that we're not gonna get along. If the neck is wide and thin (Like PRS etc.) I just move on. It's just the total opposite of what I'm looking for.
Some nice design features, and some perplexing. Maybe there's something wrong with the Volume Pot or the wiring. Did you check the output of the pickups?
Nope
@@andrefludd Here's a nice video by Phil McKnight showing how inexpensive and simple it is to test pickups even when they are installed inside a guitar:
Do Not Buy New Pickups before watching this. Sharpen My Axe
ua-cam.com/video/GEI6WENv990/v-deo.html
I think it's a useful skill, and it can help pinpoint the problem when things are not going right. 🤓
So what was the cost of the guitar as it is now and what do you think you must add in terms of money, and hardware and electronics to make it a true winner, Lastly, would changing what you don't like make the guitar any better in terms of sound and usability? Thanks.
I have the same exact guitar, and I didn't have to do anything to make it playable. My pickups sound great with full volume, and the location of the jack didn't bother me at all because I use wireless, and that location is perfect since my leg rests on the upper part of the cutout clear of the wireless, also it's a non issue when playing standing with a strap. The bridge is kinda hassle because you need to use a tool to tune, but the tuners now have slots cut in them so you can tune with a coin or a pick. You can get them under $200 if you watch them go on sale. I think their other model GTWT-01 (same guitar except rosewood fingerboard) is on sale now.
Raise the pickups so they are closer to the strings. That will help with the output volume. The Jack was the only lagitemate gripe, the other things were all fixable. Well, the paint job lol.
The rant about the guitar jack took almost all of phase 3. lol. Drill a new hole, make another input spot, drop some decent pickups in and swap the bridge. Sounds like a great hot rodding project guitar.
Sounds like a lot of money and time.