LeftyBassist.com

In searching for Hohner bridge parts for my B2-A V-String, I eventually went to the Hohner website, to see if there was a parts page, If any of you (like me) out there that owns a Hohner instrument, you might find this instrument history chart interesting.... pages 22-through-29 deal with all models of Hohner Basses, with year made, and description of EQ... 54 pages total...

https://www.hohner.de/fileadmin/documen ... Models.pdf

When I first bought this bass (at least 5-7 years ago...), the flip-out leg rest was broken. At that time, I found HeadlessUSA.com, and was able to buy the leg rest, and the travel soft-case for it. Their parts come-and-go for these basses, but it's always a source for parts and info...

https://headlessusa.com/headless-parts

Who else here on the forum has a Hohner headless bass/guitar, or the real deal, an actual Steinberger bass? It can be a bit challenging to play, but it's a great travel bass, and has a strong bottom-end sound... although the top-end has a bit of a compressed "sizzle" to it, to my ear... With that said, my musician friends like how powerful it sounds, and how it cuts through a loud, live rock band gig...

I had a B2A for a while. I was amazed by how good it sounded! I didn't care for the passive tone of the "Select by EMG" humbuckers, I thought they sounded dark and somewhat muffled. But when switched to active, they really shine and sound articulate while still plenty fat. I didn't get along with the ergonomics though. I had bought it just for fun and only used it at home, seated down, and had to use a strap at all times because the lack of a wider body made the strings sit very low on my lap rather than at my favoured playing height. The lack of a body also meant I had nowhere to rest my left wrist when plucking. And the position of the front strap button (behind the 21st fret!) made the nut and the first few frets sit uncomfortably far away. The narrow string spacing will also not be for everyone, but did not feel alien to me as the 16.5 mm spacing is very similar to many 5-strings I've played. The neck on mine was quite thick. Not uncomfortably so, but I prefer thinner necks.

It was a fun instrument and I would have loved to still own it, but when I needed cash for something else it was one of the first things to go because of the reasons mentioned above. To me it was more of a gimmick than a daily player, so I had no trouble saying goodbye when the need for cash arose. When funds permit, I may get another one at some point though! I would love to have the guitar version too, the G3T!

Here's a page from eBay - prices are all over the map, but higher than I remember them being... and, no lefties or 5-strings...
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R ... itar+parts

I've never owned a Hohner (or a Kramer Duke. That would be a fun one to find), but I do own an all carbon '90 Steinberger XL2A. I drag it out once in a while for gigs, especially for Halloween gigs where I dressed up as Gerry Casale of Devo. (BTW, although Gerry Casale is a lefty, he played a righty flipped over. Not sure how he did that considering the boomerang strap device can only mount one way). It was also my main travel bass for a while, so it's been all over Europe and Asia (if only for hotel room noodling). I have to give a shout out once again to Bill Woolery for saving mine, as the tuning screws and string "grips," for lack of a better term, can erode and crack over time. Good luck finding replacements for these proprietary parts, so Bill got Hipshot to machine me replacements.

I concur with your other comments, unless you're playing these consistently, they can feel awkward coming from a standards bass design. (There's been a few occasions when I thought I could just wing it and ended up playing a whole step higher than I should have been, forgetting the scale and layout. ). Sound-wise, I used to own a '83 righty before I found this one, which was made in the Brooklyn factory, and I always felt the Brooklyn made ones sounded better. Mine is a Gibson era, and it can sound a bit cold and sterile, though in the mix it cuts right through. I was told that there's a replacement preamp made for these that improves the overall sound (HAL HZ or something?). But I continue to be amazed at this little engineering marvel. Ned Steinberger was/is a genius.

I first had a B2AV, before getting a B2A. The B2AV was my first five-string bass, and my first bass with Jazz pickups. I bought that instead of the B2A because I wanted to try Jazz pickups. The short story is that these basses are simply great. Excellent quality for the dollar, built rock-solid, and they will go anywhere.

Man, did I love that B2AV. I did sell it though, to get the B2A, because I am just a 4-string guy. So, I bought a B2A, and it was just as solid. No complaints whatsoever. I ended up selling that too, because I got a Steinberger XL-2 and a Zon VB4, and three headless basses is a bit much.

I can see why many players would dislike the tight string spacing on the Hohner B series. Personally, I like it. It helps me play a little faster.

The surprising thing about the Steinberger, to me, is the weight. The weight is comparable to a full-sized wooden bass. This would absolutely be my go-to bass if I were to join a Metal band. Something else of note is that, to my ear at least, the pickups are unbalanced. I have to turn the blend knob a fair amount towards the bridge pickup (which is actually rotating the knob toward the neck pickup because of how it is wired ) to get what sounds to me like equal pickup volume.

On Reverb now. The serial # puts it around '87/88:

https://reverb.com/item/61391261-steinb ... hand-black

Wow, I'm always amazed at the prices these early Steinies still command... and the fact that it's a lefty is even more remarkable... I wonder how many lefties were made total?

Nice! Same seller who sold the black Sabre.

While it's far from complete, and doesn't look like it's been updated in over a decade, there's a cool database on this site that has known production by serial #s. (as I said, not complete, as it doesn't have mine on there, and they're apparently not updating it anymore). But looking at this database, the earliest recorded lefty serial # is 731, manufactured on 4/25/83:

http://www.steinbergerworld.com

Appreciate the link PJ... I'll add it to my Steinberger files...

PJ - also got this from the Facebook Steinberger Group I belong to... https://www.headless-europe.eu/Steiniel ... N5PDq1J5Zo