NGD - Killer HB Headless!

[slowhand84]

So recently I got a Harley Benton Fusion T from good ole' GC and was REALLY impressed by it. Being the headless fanatic that I am I had picked up their older Dullahan model a while back...nice guitar but I didn't vibe with it as much as I would've liked so I ended up getting rid of it.

Fast forward to a few days ago and I found one of their new 2021 Dullahan models... the specs on this one are more impressive and the look more my speed too - roasted maple neck and board, stainless frets, alder body, and they improved the bridge from the previous design. Finally snagged one for a good price from GC Used and it just arrived today.

What a freakin' KILLER headless! The finish is listed as "shell pink", though it's really more of an off-white with a teensy bit of a pinkish hue in the right lighting, the neck is beautiful, nice low action across the board, and absolutely flawless fretwork. Sounds great even with the stock pickups though I absolutely love the guitar enough to slap something way nicer in there. Got a set of Bareknuckles that have been waiting for a home, so I think that's the plan.

I'll take some better pics tomorrow since UPS arrived past dark and all the good lighting is gone...but here are some terrible ones for now. I'll also add some pics of the gig bag, which GC of course forgot and will be sending to me later on this week.

[slowhand84]

And a few slightly better pix:

[Rollin Hand]

Looks good. I was looking HARD at b-stocks, but just couldn't pull the trigger, and ended up with my Eart.

I have to admit, as a guy who grew up loving Jackson and Kramer headstocks, I really like my headless. Makes me want to nab a Vader down the line. Or, if the right deal came up on a strandberg....

[slowhand84]

Looks good. I was looking HARD at b-stocks, but just couldn't pull the trigger, and ended up with my Eart.

I have to admit, as a guy who grew up loving Jackson and Kramer headstocks, I really like my headless. Makes me want to nab a Vader down the line. Or, if the right deal came up on a strandberg....

Yeah I'm a total headless convert...I play my Vader more than most of my other guitars combined and this new HB is going to get a ton of play too. It's a really impressive guitar. Never liked Strandberg much myself...I tried a bunch but I didn't really enjoy the Endurneck and I personally think paying $2K for an Indonesian guitar is madness. Not that Indonesia doesn't make very solid instruments...but I can get a USA-made Kiesel headless built to my exact specs starting at like $1400, so the idea of paying more than that for the Strandberg is not attractive at all.

I almost bought a new HB Dullahan from Thomann several times, but each time I just told myself what a pain it would be to return internationally if there was any kind of flaw I couldn't live with...so like I do with most guitars I want I just waited till one popped at GC Used with their stellar no hassle return policy. Saved me $100+ off Thomann's new price too, and the guitar is like new.

I'm peeved they forgot my gig bag, but it should be here in a few days .

[Rollin Hand]

The PITA nature of returns and the lousy resale put me off the HBs. And I like the way strandbergs look more.

I ated a stradberg 7 string once and didn't love it. It was a decent price, but was still high enough that I would have to love i to buy it.

I will be doing some work on the Eart to see if I can make it better. I just need to find the rime to get to Ottawa Fastener Supply....

[slowhand84]

The PITA nature of returns and the lousy resale put me off the HBs. And I like the way strandbergs look more.

I ated a stradberg 7 string once and didn't love it. It was a decent price, but was still high enough that I would have to love i to buy it.

I will be doing some work on the Eart to see if I can make it better. I just need to find the rime to get to Ottawa Fastener Supply....

I can't speak for all HBs but the resale certainly isn't lousy on these Dullahans...every single listing for this model on Reverb sold for more than the new price.

But yeah, I don't love the idea of returns especially when shipping is involved which is why GC Used is pretty much the only place I'll buy a guitar from (and Sam Ash, they have a similar return policy).

I spent some time with one of the Eart headless models my buddy has and while it was a solid guitar overall I had the same gripe with it that I usually do with the cheaper headless models...I felt the bridge was not up to snuff. The fretwork was nice enough, finish was pretty good, and it played quite well though. The Apollo bridge on these HBs I feel is really great. It's not up to the quality of the Hipshot on my Vader, but that Hipshot headless system costs about $175 more than this whole guitar .

[Rollin Hand]

I find the bridge on the Eart to be fine for what it is. The secret, apparently, is to tune so that the string goes under the tuning barrel, as opposed to over. This creates a greater break angle and makes tuning "righty tighty, lefty loosey."

I think it will improve as well with all of the screws replaced with hardened or stainless steel. I prefer all hardened steel, but one has to go with what's available, especially for the neck screws.

[slowhand84]

I find the bridge on the Eart to be fine for what it is. The secret, apparently, is to tune so that the string goes under the tuning barrel, as opposed to over. This creates a greater break angle and makes tuning "righty tighty, lefty loosey."

I think it will improve as well with all of the screws replaced with hardened or stainless steel. I prefer all hardened steel, but one has to go with what's available, especially for the neck screws.

Yeah to clarify I didnt have problems with it staying in tune, its just that using the pegs on that bridge to tune was a bit of a pain versus the Dullahan and Kiesel. I'm sure some upgrades wouldn't hurt, these are often nice modding platforms.

Here's a crappy clip of my new Dullahan, was super lazy tonight so I just connected my Spark amp via usb and did a quick thing. Sounds pretty decent even with the stock pickups:

[littlebadboy]

I find the bridge on the Eart to be fine for what it is. The secret, apparently, is to tune so that the string goes under the tuning barrel, as opposed to over. This creates a greater break angle and makes tuning "righty tighty, lefty loosey."

I think it will improve as well with all of the screws replaced with hardened or stainless steel. I prefer all hardened steel, but one has to go with what's available, especially for the neck screws.

I agree. I think the EART was good when I still had it. It wasn't perfect though. Some of the fretwires were not set well and I wasn't confident that the bridge could take thicker gauged strings. But, they had great customer support.

Here was mine.


Congratulations to the OP for that good looking white headless! How does it play? I hope HB will come up with headless models with newer, sleeker, ergonomic shaped bodies in the future.

[slowhand84]

Congratulations to the OP for that good looking white headless! How does it play? I hope HB will come up with headless models with newer, sleeker, ergonomic shaped bodies in the future.

Plays like a dream, super low action and the neck profile is perfect. Fretwork was perfect too, it hasn't needed anything except an initial tuning since GC shipped it with the strings pretty slack...and it's stayed in tune perfectly for days since then. Didn't need a setup or any kind of intonation adjustment either, which was surprising. Maybe the previous owner did a setup on it already.

As for the ergonomics, I don't know that they could do much to improve on this design...it's crazy comfortable. Extremely similar to the Kiesel Osiris in terms of the contours and sits perfectly both sitting and standing.

I would LOVE to see HB do a headless tele or a headless semihollow, as well as releasing a version of this Dullahan with a trem. I would be absolutely forced to buy another if that happened.

Few more less crappy pics:



And a front and back of the Dullahan with my Kiesel Vader: