Headless guitars are a relatively new invention that is gaining popularity. They have become a popular instrument for all levels of guitar playing, from beginners to pros.
This type of instrument features a different construction style than regular guitars. Headless guitars offer many benefits, such as a smaller profile, and often locking tuners to preserve tuning for longer.
This post looks at the best headless guitar models on the market. If you’re looking for one of these cool instruments, you’re in the right place.
I tested 7 products and found the Steinberger GTPROBK1 to be the headless guitar.
This is truly a pioneering headless guitar. The company Steinberger were one of the first to experiment with this style, removing the guitar head and moving the tuning pegs into the body.
This guitar is made to a highly professional level. It has beefy pickups, it feels well balanced, and it sounds fantastic. It’s also small, light, and easy to transport.
I’ve played guitar since I was young. I’ve always wanted to own a headless guitar. These guitars have such a cool look that sets them apart from other standard designs. There’s something cool about them!
The best headless guitars for you depend on your style, skill level, budget, and taste.
Headless guitars have been used in music since the 19th century and now many artists have taken to using them, including grunge icons Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, and Johnny Cash.
Headless guitars are also great for experimentation and creative expression. The guitar does not have a headstock on the top, so the tuning mechanism is completely different, or rather in a different location.
Keep reading for our full review of the Best headless guitars!
Alternatively, check out our guide on the best beginner guitars, or the best hollow body guitars under $500.
Best headless guitars in our tests
- EART Headless Electric Guitar GW2
- Asmuse Headless Electric Guitar
- Traveler Guitar Ultra-Light Acoustic Acoustic
- Steinberger GTPROBK1 Solid-Body Electric Guitar
- Jamstik Studio MIDI Guitar
- Traveler Guitar 6 String EG-1 Custom
- Speedster Deluxe – Traveler Guitar, Carrera Gray (SPD CG)
Best headless guitars Reviewed in Detail
1. EART Headless Electric Guitar GW2
The EART GW2 is the perfect electric guitar for your jam session or stage performance.
This Headless guitar is a high-quality, lightweight, and affordable instrument, featuring organic woods and smooth playability. Urbane, elegant, and well-built, this headless guitar features an elegant roasted Padauk body with a burled maple veneer making it one of the most beautiful electric guitars in its class.
It’s suitable for beginners and intermediate players to use in live shows and suitable for extensive practice sessions.
The GW2 headless guitar is an innovative, new instrument that comes with an unconventional look and feel. This unique-looking instrument has an unusual body shape which sets it apart from other headless guitars. This is perfect for any player looking to switch their playing style with a head-turning new instrument.
The GW2 Headless guitar is made by hand, with incredible attention to detail and high quality. The Multi-piece neck construction ensures excellent stability for lower tunings and heavier gauge of strings.
Its shape and size not only look amazing but also makes it a great friend on the road, whether you’re on stage or just jamming in your bedroom.
It has a unique U to C compound neck profile with a thicker shoulder on the lower frets, slowly tapers down to a slimmer C to higher frets. Along with a 9.5” to 14” compound fingerboard radius, GW2 provides you with an amazing tone and incredible playability.
Product Specifications:
- Body Material: Roasted Padauk and Maple
- Fretboard: Rosewood
- Pickup Configuration: 2 x Humbucker
Pros & Cons:
- Unique body shape.
- Cool natural wood finish.
- An unusual guitar at an affordable price.
- Some players may find the shape uncomfortable.
Verdict:
The GW2 Headless Guitar is an impressive player with a revolutionary design. The GW2 is a versatile instrument for all levels of players, this is just one of those great guitars you’ll love to play. For players of heavier music, this guitar could be a dream instrument.
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2. Asmuse Headless Electric Guitar
Asmuse’s unique headless electric guitar is engineered for the future of music production. Powered by high-quality design technology, the Asmuse creates the best sound for any guitar performance.
The Asmuse Headless Guitar is superior to many other guitars. This is because it has a unique tuning system, and a revolutionary bridge. The Mahogany body is made from beautiful tonewoods that produce a depth of sound you want to hear, while still being light enough to carry around. The body offers both great tone and durability.
This guitar is perfect for beginners who want to learn or play an instrument they’re passionate about. With two humbucker pickups and a 24 fret fretboard, this guitar packs a punch and provides more frets for musical experimentation.
A guitar for the modern world. The Asmuse Headless Guitar is a small and powerful electric guitar that can be played in many different ways, and is perfect for travel, performance or just plugging into your PC or Mac. The headless design and the size makes it easy to carry around, comfortable on your fingers and shoulders.
Product Specifications:
- Body Material: Blackwood
- Fretboard: 24 x Rosewood
- Pickup Configuration: 2 x Humbucker
Pros & Cons:
- Larger fretboard, more notes for scales and soloing.
- Comfortable, wide neck.
- Powerful humbucking pickups.
Verdict:
Overall the Asmuse Headless Guitar is a fantastic electric guitar, it’s perfect for performing on the go. Its small size and mahogany body make it portable and convenient to take places with you. The pickups have a decent sound and offer a wide amount of tonal variety.
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3. Traveler Guitar Ultra-Light Acoustic Acoustic
Next up is the traveler ultra light guitar. This guitar design comes in two styles, one electric, one acoustic. They both look similar, but the acoustic guitar design has different strings and wood materials. This is the acoustic version, although the electric is also worth checking out.
The Traveler Guitar UltraLite is the perfect travel guitar to take with you on your next adventure. It’s small enough to fit into any carry-on or checked luggage and isn’t too heavy or bulky. The UltraLite is easy to play with a full 3/4″ scale length in an acoustic-electric travel guitar format.
If you’re like most guitarists, the thought of taking a full-sized guitar on the road just doesn’t make sense. That’s why the Traveler Guitar UltraLite is a great way to slim down on size. This travel guitar is 28 inches long and is very light. It’s easy to carry with you wherever you’re going, and packs a full playing experience in a miniature package.
Travelers rejoice! No more broken guitar necks, airline fees, or baggage delays. No more lugging around a heavy, bulky guitar. The Traveler Guitar is an acoustic-electric travel guitar that gives guitar players everything they need to express themself musically. Whether you’re playing chords or shredding solos, this guitar is one of the best musical instruments for the job.
A great-sounding and lightweight guitar for travelers. Whether you’re in a hotel or at the airport, you can always find an area to plug it in and jam out!
The Traveler guitar is an ultra-light, super-durable travel guitar. Its combination of speed, strength, and playability makes it a perfect instrument for the traveler’s journey. This guitar includes a pickup so it can be plugged into amps and recording gear.
Made with a hard Maple neck-through-body design and a standard 1/4″ output. Traveling has never been so easy. With the UltraLite, you’ll be able to take your beloved guitar everywhere.
The proprietary In-Body Tuning System uses standard tuning machines relocated into the body, eliminating the need for a headstock.
Product Specifications:
- Body Material: Maple
- Fretboard: Walnut
- Pickup Configuration: 1 x internal.
Pros & Cons:
- Super lightweight and transportable.
- Small body for comfortable playing.
- Includes internal pickup for amplification.
Verdict:
These traveler guitars are the ideal companion for the guitarist on the go. Everything about these guitars feels well made, and they are super portable. They have all the features you’d expect on full-sized instruments. These are ideal for packing into a bag and taking around busking or to open mic nights. They also make for great practice guitars.
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4. Steinberger GTPROBK1 Solid-Body Electric Guitar
The Steinberger Spirit GT-PRO Deluxe is the best choice for players searching for a bigger sound and thicker neck. The Steinberger Spirit GT-PRO Deluxe headless guitar has the powerful tone and modern design you’ve been looking for.
Steinberger is a standard-setting brand. Since its founding in 1962, it’s long gone from the “Guitar Player’s” market to becoming one of the most highly respected guitar companies in the world. It’s innovative, progressive, and its products are revered for both tone and playability. Steinberger provides a myriad of styles, including acoustics, electrics, basses, and more.
Steinberger is the original company that came up with the “headless” design and patented it in 2003.
This guitar has a thru-neck design, 3-piece maple neck, and rosewood fingerboard. The body wings and top are maple and the scale length is 25.5″. This guitar creates a powerful tone with a fast and slick feel.
The GTPROBK1 is an iconic headless guitar with three pickups and advanced electronics and is one of the most versatile guitars available.
The tone is comparable to a custom shop instrument with the unique patented R-Trem Steinberger Vibrato locking tremolo and 40:1 direct pull tuner system, Floyd Rose for the ultimate in dive bombs and cutting rock solos. The design makes reaching the upper frets super easy.
It comes with a 24-fret mahogany body and a set of quality Grover tuners. The mahogany neck has a rosewood fingerboard, which is accented with Pearloid block inlays and the headstock has a cool STM logo.
This patented design provides an incredibly natural playing experience by eliminating the neck joint that contributes to the “dead” feel of a traditional guitar. The GT-PRO is no different. An active tone and volume pot are found on the guitar’s face in addition to a pickup selector switch, allowing you to switch between single coil and humbuckers. The inclusion of both pickup types creates a huge amount of tone variability, so you can sculpt it from thin to fat.
Product Specifications:
- Body Material: Maple
- Fretboard: Rosewood
- Pickup Configuration: 1 x single-coil, 2 x humbucker
Pros & Cons:
- Small body, easy for transport, lightweight, and comfortable.
- Diverse pickups including single coil and humbuckers.
- Loud, powerful tone.
- Super high-quality design, accurate tuning.
Verdict:
The Steinberger Spirit GT-PRO guitar is a super high-quality headless instrument. The multi-layered, hand-refined instrument is breathtaking to watch and play. This is a classic model designed by Ned Steinberger. It’s a great choice for modern progressive metal, so this is one to check out for metal guitar players. It also sounds great for modern pop-rock. Overall this is one of the better headless models and has impressive features compared to regular electric guitars.
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5. Jamstik Studio MIDI Guitar
The Jamstik Studio MIDI Guitar is a great tool for the on-the-go musician. Designed to be light and portable, you can take your favorite instrument anywhere and rock out anywhere. With hardware features like a digital audio input and amp simulation, Jamstik Studio MIDI Guitar is the one-stop-shop for musicians who want a reliable guitar that’s easy to use.
Jamstik Studio MIDI Guitar is the world’s most popular and compact MIDI-capable electric guitar, designed for production quality and affordability. With a built-in synth engine and USB interface, you get a quality studio guitar with no external accessories needed. Pitch bend modulation wheel, and sustain pedals are all included.
Jamstik Studio is a powerful, portable, and flexible MIDI controller that can be used with your favorite software like Ableton Live, GarageBand, Pro Tools, and more.
Jamstik Studio is a super-flexible, portable midi guitar that’s packed with digital features. Includes USB C-A for MIDI-Out and Charging, 3.5mm, TRS-MIDI Out for connecting to 5-Pin MIDI hardware, and more.
In order to meet the needs of music producers, guitarists, and songwriters, the Studio MIDI Guitar was designed. Composing, transcribing, and creating music is as easy as putting a MIDI controller into your chosen DAW and plugging it in. The Jammy MIDI guitar works with any DAW such as garage band or pro tools.
It has its own VST/Plugin for MIDI music creation designed in-house as well as a seamless hardware setup. Create your own original instrument presets or choose from over 100 pre-installed ones.
Full 25.5″ scale length and 24 frets headless construction make this guitar ideal for travel or studios with little space. The analog signal with a standard 1/4″ out is powered by two humbuckers with coil taps and a 3-way switch.
Product Specifications:
- Body Material: Mahogany and Carbon Fiber.
- Fretboard: Rosewood
- Pickup Configuration: Humbucker and digital MIDI
Pros & Cons:
- Unique digital guitar.
- Can be used to control any midi compatible device.
- Creates MIDI signals or audio signals.
- Con
Verdict:
This MIDI headless guitar is a fascinating instrument. The Jammy MIDI Guitar works in a completely different way to most other guitars, being a digital instrument. The guitar manufacturers at Jammy have created a super-powerful instrument that takes playing guitar to the next level. This is a pioneering instrument in its field and could be rated as the best MIDI headless guitar.
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6. Traveler Guitar 6 String EG-1 Custom
With this guitar, you’re ready to rock out no matter where you are. The guitar manufacturers behind this instrument have made a fantastic creation that enhances guitar playing for all musicians.
This unique instrument is a signature guitar from Travel. This headless guitar is a one-of-a-kind instrument that achieves a unique playing feel and tone.
A headphone amplifier is integrated inside the EG-1 Custom, letting you practice in privacy. Use the proprietary tap-pot to cycle among clean, boost, overdrive, and distortion sounds, then listen on headphones or with your preferred amp. It’s easy enough to plug in your guitar and start playing instantly. Clean, boost, overdrive, and distortion can all be found in the onboard amplifier system.
This is a full-fledged instrument, with a scale length of 25.5 inches long. The smaller body makes it easy to transport. The ebony fretboard is paired with stainless steel frets which creates an incredibly clean sound.
The tuning system is inside the body, using a typical string set. The tuning stability is extra high, thanks to the highly durable stainless steel parts. The fixed bridge also helps to improve tuning.
A handmade gig bag is included with every Traveler Guitar, so you don’t have to pay extra for additional protection.
There is no room for error here. The EG-1 Custom is a little over 28 inches long and weighs less than 5 pounds. As a result, it’s ideal for traveling.
Product Specifications:
- Body Material: Alder
- Fretboard: Walnut
- Pickup Configuration: 1 x humbucker
Pros & Cons:
- Built-in tuner and electronics.
- Loud pickup.
- High tuning stability.
Verdict:
Overall, the Traveler EG-1 is a fantastic headless guitar. It’s similar to the headless acoustic-electric guitar from the same brand but is designed in a more electric, rather than acoustic style.
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7. Speedster Deluxe - Traveler Guitar, Carrera Gray (SPD CG)
This unique futuristic guitar looks and sounds like a spaceship. If you’re in need of a slick, cutting edge, but affordable guitar, this traveler SPDCG could be a dream guitar for you.
With this guitar, you’re ready to shred on the go. The Speedster Deluxe has a scale length of 24 inches, slightly smaller than standard guitars. This Electric travel guitar also features a headphone amp so you can plug in and practice wherever you are. When you’re on the go, you can create a space for private practice at any time.
The natural body shape of this guitar may feel awkward when played, so it comes with arm support to help you reach the correct playing position. The guitar body is very light and small, so it might take a little while to get used to the feeling.
This headless guitar is super lightweight and transportable. The Speedster’s arm support may be removed and stored in the gig bag’s pocket, making it even more compact.
The tuners of this guitar are also located inside the body and are very accurate. This guitar comes uses a single-coil pickup, which creates a bright, piercing tone.
The portability of this guitar is next level. The sound and feel may be a little compromised, but it looks so cool it doesn’t matter. These unique instruments take the electric guitar into the 21st century.
Product Specifications:
- Body Material: Synthetic
- Fretboard: Synthetic
- Pickup Configuration: 1 x single-coil
Pros & Cons:
- Includes aux in for plugging in backing tracks.
- Very light and small.
- Includes headphones amp for practice.
- Slightly awkward shape.
Verdict:
Overall, this is a fantastic headless guitar. These are very affordable and have a cool and unique look that will keep any player happy. If you get used to the shape and feeling, it can be quite a comfortable instrument to play, although it does take some adjustment.
The style of this guitar makes it more suitable for heavier styles of music, although not exclusively.
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How do Headless Guitars Work?
Headless guitars use a different system for holding and tuning strings.
The design of the guitar is completely different. These guitars don’t use a headstock, meaning they need a different place to keep the tuners.
In most headless guitar models, generally, the tuners are located inside the body, usually close to the bridge.
Headless guitars work in mostly the same way as standard guitars, other than the fact they lack a head, and have tuning pegs in a different place. The nut still works in a similar way, where it holds the tension before the rest of the fretboard.
Are headless guitars hard to tune?
Generally not. Headless guitars use the same tuning scale as standard guitars (EADGBE).
The tuning pegs may be slightly harder to reach than headstock models, making tuning a little bit fiddlier. Technically there shouldn’t be any more difficult when tuning a headless guitar than one with a headstock.
You will have to hold the guitar differently when tuning, which may feel a little awkward at first.
Conclusion
Overall, I thought the best headless guitar was the Steinberger GTPROBK1.
This is easily one of the best headless guitars ever made. Steinberger is known to be the pioneer of the headless guitar, and this model demonstrates their skills and knowledge.
It sounds great and provides a large amount of versatility with two humbuckers and a single-coil. The Tremolo bridge allows for pitch bends but preserves tuning stability.
These guitars are popular in the metal scene and have been played by legends such as Eddie Van Halen, and Blue Oyster Cult.
This guitar has professional features and is built to compete. This guitar will satisfy professional guitarists with the most discerning tastes.
Check out the Steinberger GTPROBK1 today!
Still looking for a guitar? Check out our post about the best gypsy jazz guitar.
Noah is an accomplished audio engineer with several years of experience producing music for major companies and independent artists. He enjoys sharing his vast knowledge of audio engineering topics to help musicians and music producers create great music.