Headless Electric Bass – An Ergonomic Choice
A headless electric bass with precision reverse tuners, an ergonomic choice by Laurus—one of the hallmarks of their basses, but not the only one.
From the very beginning, Pierluigi Cazzola—luthier and founder of Laurus—has focused in particular on the ergonomic aspects of the instrument. Over more than forty years of practice, he has developed three main ergonomic features that make a Laurus bass one of the best electric basses on the market today. Every Laurus model is truly comfortable to play thanks to its very light weight, the shape of the neck, and more generally its balance and stability, which are praised by many professional musicians who have chosen Laurus.
Since the headstock no longer needs to house traditional tuners, it can take on an innovative shape designed in harmony with the body. The body design, besides being smoothly harmonious, fits the bassist perfectly. The study of weight distribution provides a truly remarkable playing comfort.
There isn’t a bassist who doesn’t find excellent comfort when playing a Laurus bass!
Using the precision reverse tuners, the headstock serves only to anchor the strings, which are then tuned from the bridge.
Why a headless bass?
With precision reverse tuners, the headstock only locks the strings, which are then tuned from the bridge. Since it no longer needs to accommodate traditional tuners, the headstock is lighter, which slightly shifts the weight from the headstock to the body, improving the bass’s balance. Removing the traditional tuners also allowed the luthier to redesign the headstock with an innovative shape, making it even lighter while aligning its form with the body.
Wood selection and neck shape:
For our basses, we use various high-quality woods.
The necks are laminated, built in 5–7 sections of maple and purpleheart in a neck-through-body construction. The body wings are made of kaya mahogany with a top that the musician can choose from Santos, poplar burl, quilted maple, or flamed maple.
Kaya mahogany gives the body a fast response in the low frequencies. Coupled with the neck (maple and purpleheart) forming the central part of the body, the neck-through-body construction and the three types of wood create a well-balanced response across low, mid, and high frequencies, enhanced by the unique “Tone Chambers.” The headstock is also made of Kaya and is attached with a special joint and dowel, which provides greater strength compared to angled headstocks carved from the same piece as the neck. It also allows for a greater degree of tilt.
Another strong point is the neck shape, which features asymmetry with a smaller radius underneath and a larger radius on top, making hand movement along the fingerboard more comfortable.
Strap button position:
Unlike most instruments, which have a single strap button mounted at the center of the body, Laurus basses have two buttons. This ensures that every Laurus bass is balanced and, when the strap is attached, the body remains perpendicular to the floor. This means the wrist no longer has to bend excessively during performance.
This is why Laurus is one of the best electric basses on the market!
