Conference napalm::guitar

    Of all the cheap Steinberger knock-offs, the Hohner seems to be about
    the best.  It has a nice neck (some prefer it to the Steiny neck) and
    some sort of active system.  It's lightweight and CHEAP, especially on
    the used market.  That said, it really doesn't sound like or as good
    as a real Steinberger.
    
    Another idea is to look for a Riverhead.  They made a headless bass
    with a wedge shaped body several years back.  Michael Manring still
    uses one.  I've seen exactly one of these in my life, at Mr C's in
    Marlboro, a long time ago.  As I remember it was pretty nice, though
    again not as good as the real thing.
    
    /rick
    

    
    I believe "Hohner" makes a Steinberger copy which is a cut above the
    Cort. Hohner is the same company that makes harmonicas. I've played 
    a few of their headless guitars and basses and they appear to be very 
    well made. It's a reasonable facimile of a Steinberger for under $500.
    
    As for a small amp, a friend of mine recently bought a small Peavey
    bass amp. It has an 8" speaker in it and sounds surprising full
    considering the compact size. It's not battery powered, but Peavey
    makes several models that are battery-powered. I'd definately check
    out Peavey for a small amp. Good bang for the buck. 
    
    Mark

    I've had friends trying to use a "keyboard" amp for a bass, but never
    with any success.   If it's not made for bass, either the amp clips 
    easily or the cone comes loose and lays on the floor, whimpering.
    Sometimes you just gotta get the real thing.  :-)
    
    Mike usta_doo_da_cheap_thang_but_got_tired
    

    Fender makes a 25 watt Bass amp with a 10" speaker, 3-band EQ and
    compressor/limitor.
    
    Although to me, a 25 watt (Probably solid state for $189.99) solid
    state bass amp IS an oxymoron.
    
    Larry

    Re. battery amps
    
    I have the same scenario where my wife requires a battery-powered amp
    for the outdoor picnic jam sessions we do.  After a lot of unsuccessful
    hunting for a solution, I found one that works adequately for us - and
    it cost me next to nothing to try!
    
    Betty has a moderately sized Sharp boom-box which has stereo RCA-type
    phono jacks in the back.  I bought two adapters at RadShack to match
    the guitar cord to this input: a 1/4" phone plug-to-RCA plug, and a
    Y-connector to the boom box.
    
    Amazingly, this rig works pretty good!  It's not very loud, alas, but
    at least it's *something*.  With just the two of us (me on acoustic
    guitar) it works well enough - we jammed for a couple hours this summer
    on Block Island, and a couple hours more near Newport - all on the same
    set of batteries.
    
    As usual, your mileage may vary....as I said, it works for us!
    
    						--Eric--
    
    P.S. There's a note in here somewhere for a do-it-yourself battery amp;
    anyone recall where it is?  I don't.  %^|

    Thanks for all the thoughts and ideas. I guess I'll hafta just go
    play thru some of the stuff at the stores and see how good/crappy
    it sounds. I suppose as a last resort I could build something, but
    I've reduced my worldly possessions to an amount that will fit in
    a 10 by 15 ministorage (including two motorcycles) so I have no place
    to do the wood work. Guess I shoulda started this project before I sold
    the house ...
                                                                      
    Oh well.

    There is also a headless bass made by Westone called The Rail. I bought
    one second-hand (here in France so I don't know the price in the US). I
    have had it for a year now and I am very glad I bought it. It is light
    and robust and perfect as a beater bass for carrying around. The neck
    and tone are OK (as it has virtually no body you can't expect a warm,
    woody tone).
    
    Regards
    
    John