@bluesenight I have one, it is really quite shoddily built. The finish on the capo grooves was unfinished, there's marks on the fretboard. Regardless, it's light, it's ergonomic, it has great pickups (EMG's fit it perfectly), the piezo clean sound mixes BEAUTIFULLY and it can scream. Furthermore, it stays in tune for a good two months. Overall, a flawed diamond.
Yep. Only thing is I would recommend using the double balls and normal strings only if you absolutely have to. My Synapse has a problem with the low E string tuner, and I think it was stripped because someone used normal strings and didn't put them on properly. It's a pain to change the string, but you don't change all the strings often.
Thank you goshmerlin - had a guitar techie lower the action for me and I like it ...but in the meantime I ended up buying the smaller Steinberger SS-2F (this baritone guitar is ST-2FPA). Well, long story short, I prefer the bigger guitar for the sound it makes but the smaller guitar for the size (I travel for a living and take it with me). So, the same guitar techie has replaced the bridge on the smaller guitar with the ST-2FPA bridge and he's also making other modifications to make the small
Pie-zo :-) To have the standard EADGBE tuning leave the built-in capo on the 2nd fret. The marking dots for this tuning are on the side of the neck, those are very tiny dots and are basically off by 2 frets. Sounds more confusing than it really is. If you want to play 1 step down (DGCFAD - ie Elliott Smith style, several Nirvana and Metallica songs, etc.) simply take the capo off. (or bring it all the way up the neck, well technically all the way "down" or top of the neck.) With the capo off
I have a Synapse. It has EMG pickups, and it's a solid body. So it sounds like a guitar with EMG pickups and a solid body, except it has piezo pickups too. The knobs do not make any noise when you turn them. It sounds really good, better than I deserve to hear myself play lol. The tuning is perfect, it doesn't go out of tune. You can't ask for more than that. I guess I'm just not asking for much.
Yes I wish they had an option to have the dots configured for normal guitar on the fretboard and the baritone on the neck instead. I get so confused. I've been playing for years but I still use those dots. Not sure about the capo off thing. It has good action, but I'm not a shredder.
Yep. Steve Howe's steinberger 12 string sounds really nice, although it can't replace the white Rick that was stolen. He was playing jazz with that 12 string. Can you believe that?
....With the capo off the marking dots on the front of the neck are then correct. In other words, the dots you see on the neck are correct for the DGCFAD tuning (baritone). I have this guitar and I like it. The only issue I have is that the action of the strings is very high with the capo off. (The height of the strings above the neck) Makes it hard to play if you're new to guitar playing (which I am).
@simplemonde wrong! the guitars NOW are made mostly from wood with a wooden neck with the carbon fiber/graphite neck part in the core of the neck (the middle, where you cant even physically touch) as to where they USED to be made completely out of this "plastic" you speak of.
Actually you can have a clean sound while having a fuzz depending on how you look at it. You have two components, one is the amp, one is the fuzz as I had explained. He was simply saying that his amp model was set to no distortion while he was adding a fuzz effect. This would be "clean amp" and "fuzz". I perfectly understand what he's saying. There is a difference in sound.
Piezoelectronics -It's a transducer and your low voltage doorbell has one. it's the thing that rings or buzzes. Rather than a regular pickup which is a magnet wrapped with copper wire and converts the string vibration into an electrical signal. each saddle on a piezo bridge is a Piezo transducer and there's a pre amp in the guitar powered by a 9 vt battery. there's a youtube vid on how to attach a piezo to an acoustic guitar and make it play thru and amp. watch it you'll get the idea.
I think it's a bit thick. I normally play a Strat and it does not feel like an Ibanez. It feels somewhere in between. But i'm not super picky so maybe I didn't notice it was really thin. It's definitely not too narrow. It' feels right.
I've got the black one. It sounds nice. Not a big fan of active electronics though because you have to change the battery. I wish it had tremolo too. I've got a Roland Synth pickup on it. I'm probably the only one in the world foolish enough to try to fit the synth rig on it, but I did.
I had the TransScale, and just didn't like the sliding capo. I returned it for the SF-2A, which has the Standard scale, and no Piezo. I wish they had the Piezo available in the SF-2A. It's a great compact guitar to travel with. The neck is also not as sensitive to temp and humidity changes. I have never had to change my original setup of the 'berger. Just my 2 cent review.
You can do drop D tuning I'm sure. I just haven't done that because I'm not into it. I don't see any reason you can't use alternate tunings, it's just like any guitar. You could tune it to drop C and sound really low.
I like the guitars. Logical, good design. I just think putting s burst on the finish is lacking a decent sized canvas, do you speak... Like admiring the Mona Lisa on a postage stamp.
Umm. he added a fuzz effect to a clean amp. Back in the 60's they had fuzz boxes. You could either turn up the amp to make it distort or use a fuzz box, or both.
@DeeWKnaD I would compare it to an acoustic guitar. I'm shocked at how hard it is to play compared to the Carvin I'm used to. I'm surprised they released it this way. I would think if any player had beta tested it they would have sent them back to the drawing board.
I have watched five videos on this guitar and so far, not a single one has managed to pronounce the word "piezo" properly. As an electric violin player, it cracks me up.
I think it's only a matter of aesthetics if these guitars are nearly "extinct"...not a matter of sound or playability. That's why most of the people probably get prejudice against these instruments.
Before 2019, you would have been more right. But the events of post-2019 changed EVERYTHING. Now folks are forgoing aesthetics for practicality. Why do you think the even uglier Strandberg guitars are so popular? Because they are more focused on ergonomics than aesthetic. Coming back to the U.S. from Europe I had to leave behind both my Precision bass and my Strat because they were too big and clunky and wayyy too expensive to either check-in at the airport terminal or air-mail back to the U.S. (post 2019 shipping costs are still ridiculous! )but if I had owned a Steinberger bass X2-series and one of these Steiny guitars, I would have had no need to check them in, but both guitars would have fit nicely into even one Steinberger gig-bag without any problem and with no extra cost - even in addition to my carry-on luggage! These almost bodiless and headless instruments are so small that people around me at the airport would have mistaken the Steinies for two clunky Tennis rackets! Another thing… Since we are also well into the home studio recording revolution, aesthetics again take a back seat to ergonomics. These older model Steinbergers with the graphite/phenolic components are too expensive to make anymore, so the principle of controlled obsolescence takes precedence(thank you, Gibson). But those who know, KNOW. Besides, once you play on a graphite/carbon fretboard, you always yearn to play on one again but only the older, rarer models have them. The same with condenser mics. Because some components are too expensive to duplicate and reissue, the mic designs are rendered obsolete even though they are often unparalleled in quality. But again, those who know, KNOW and will snap up those things before they are completely obsolete and consigned to the dustbins of time. Besides, once you check your ego at the door and you reach a certain age and maturity - you realize that aesthetics tend to be over-rated compared to quality and practicality, even though I’m kinda particular to some of this ‘geek-chic.’
Yes I can get it out of my case and almost rely on it being in tune. And if it's out of tune I know it's probably the G string and I can tweak it instantly. Can't say that about my Japanese Strat.
How would he explain his sound without saying "clean amp"? Just simply saying "distorted" or "fuzz" would not be enough information, because there are amp models that are overdriven and sound distorted while there are fuzz effects that have a different sound altogether.
There is a knob that's just to the right (from the player view) that when you turn all the way counter clockwise it's pure piezo. The way to test is to tap the piezo bridge lightly and you will hear a knock. Also you can hear your fret noise when moving strings making the sound authentic.
i prefer the t-shirt, mines orange and getting destroyed in the wash - oh yeah sure the guitars alright... I can't wait for another company to compete with Variax though, I mean isn't that proof of intelligent design... anyone noticed an increase of little green men (from the usual amount) visiting Line 6? Kudos to Steinberg for this one tho
Let's see.... Steve Howe, David Rhodes, Mike Rutherford, Geddy Lee, I guess any of them knows a little bit more about music that you and me and they all use Steinberger instruments
@TJGuitarVids OH MY GOD! i had the regular synapse and im going to buy a transcale synapse in the blue too! is the piezo easy to get a good acoustic sound out of?
It's got a brilliant tone, sweet sound and I like how innovative it is to have a built in capo but, Lets face it. It's Ugly, If it had full body and a head it would be just as cool and i-want-it-so-freaking-bad as the Gibson SG or the Fender Stratocaster.
I play blues and I have totally different taste in guitars obviously, but I rented one from a friend last summer for a number of shows with a rock outfit and man...it worked, great sounds I just couldn't believe that such an horrible guitar could sound that good;). I think it's due to the emg pickups and the preamp.
@TravuhsWree It's pronounced different ways by different people; this argument is pretty pointless. If you are just trolling, then you've succeeded in annoying me.
@TJGuitarVids even still, unless you get the white one, which i have owned. and its neck is IDENTICAL to that of a les pauls neck with a gloss finish. all the other guitars have satin finished bodies, which feel the most like a natural wood finsih. he sounds like most les paul players. very ignorant toward all new types of guitars and afraid to try new things. smh.
@TravuhsWree Didn't realize I was talking to the inventor of piezoelectricity, sorry to offend your delicate sensibilities. I've heard it pronounced both ways by credible sources (i.e. builders who actually use piezo pickups). I shouldn't have said that it's "wrong" to say it pi-eh-tzo, but I hear it pronounced by builders pie-zo more often than not.
Today's steinbergers suck. It's all about the Newburgh or Brooklyn issue models from back in the day. I believe Leslie West (maybe someone else, not sure) dropped an original Steiny off of a 300 foot cliff. At the bottom, the guitar lay intact, even in tune. Yeah, Ned can stand on the neck of a new Synapse, but drop that sucker down a cliff and you'll find firewood at the bottom
17 years ago and still ahead of its time!!
Really exceoptional, innovative guitar. Bummed they were discontinued.
@bluesenight I have one, it is really quite shoddily built. The finish on the capo grooves was unfinished, there's marks on the fretboard.
Regardless, it's light, it's ergonomic, it has great pickups (EMG's fit it perfectly), the piezo clean sound mixes BEAUTIFULLY and it can scream.
Furthermore, it stays in tune for a good two months.
Overall, a flawed diamond.
Yep. Only thing is I would recommend using the double balls and normal strings only if you absolutely have to. My Synapse has a problem with the low E string tuner, and I think it was stripped because someone used normal strings and didn't put them on properly. It's a pain to change the string, but you don't change all the strings often.
The coolest thing about this guitar is it makes it very easy to scratch your nuts.
i have a hohner g3t (licenced clone) and i can confirm this. XC
Heh. Not bad.
I attached a fake hand to the end of the kickstand... I don't even have to pause my playing...
Thank you goshmerlin - had a guitar techie lower the action for me and I like it ...but in the meantime I ended up buying the smaller Steinberger SS-2F (this baritone guitar is ST-2FPA). Well, long story short, I prefer the bigger guitar for the sound it makes but the smaller guitar for the size (I travel for a living and take it with me). So, the same guitar techie has replaced the bridge on the smaller guitar with the ST-2FPA bridge and he's also making other modifications to make the small
Pie-zo :-)
To have the standard EADGBE tuning leave the built-in capo on the 2nd fret.
The marking dots for this tuning are on the side of the neck, those are very tiny dots and are basically off by 2 frets. Sounds more confusing than it really is.
If you want to play 1 step down (DGCFAD - ie Elliott Smith style, several Nirvana and Metallica songs, etc.) simply take the capo off. (or bring it all the way up the neck, well technically all the way "down" or top of the neck.) With the capo off
I have a Synapse. It has EMG pickups, and it's a solid body. So it sounds like a guitar with EMG pickups and a solid body, except it has piezo pickups too. The knobs do not make any noise when you turn them. It sounds really good, better than I deserve to hear myself play lol. The tuning is perfect, it doesn't go out of tune. You can't ask for more than that. I guess I'm just not asking for much.
Yes I wish they had an option to have the dots configured for normal guitar on the fretboard and the baritone on the neck instead. I get so confused. I've been playing for years but I still use those dots. Not sure about the capo off thing. It has good action, but I'm not a shredder.
Yep. Steve Howe's steinberger 12 string sounds really nice, although it can't replace the white Rick that was stolen. He was playing jazz with that 12 string. Can you believe that?
Do the regular length double ball end strings work on the longer neck? Seems like they'd have to be several inches longer--that's what she said....
....With the capo off the marking dots on the front of the neck are then correct. In other words, the dots you see on the neck are correct for the DGCFAD tuning (baritone).
I have this guitar and I like it. The only issue I have is that the action of the strings is very high with the capo off. (The height of the strings above the neck) Makes it hard to play if you're new to guitar playing (which I am).
@simplemonde wrong! the guitars NOW are made mostly from wood with a wooden neck with the carbon fiber/graphite neck part in the core of the neck (the middle, where you cant even physically touch) as to where they USED to be made completely out of this "plastic" you speak of.
I think it would be a great guitar to plunk around on for fun. Maybe not a gigging instrument, but something compact to practice on the tour bus.
Actually you can have a clean sound while having a fuzz depending on how you look at it. You have two components, one is the amp, one is the fuzz as I had explained. He was simply saying that his amp model was set to no distortion while he was adding a fuzz effect. This would be "clean amp" and "fuzz". I perfectly understand what he's saying. There is a difference in sound.
Piezoelectronics -It's a transducer and your low voltage doorbell has one. it's the thing that rings or buzzes. Rather than a regular pickup which is a magnet wrapped with copper wire and converts the string vibration into an electrical signal. each saddle on a piezo bridge is a Piezo transducer and there's a pre amp in the guitar powered by a 9 vt battery. there's a youtube vid on how to attach a piezo to an acoustic guitar and make it play thru and amp. watch it you'll get the idea.
I think it's a bit thick. I normally play a Strat and it does not feel like an Ibanez. It feels somewhere in between. But i'm not super picky so maybe I didn't notice it was really thin. It's definitely not too narrow. It' feels right.
I've got the black one. It sounds nice. Not a big fan of active electronics though because you have to change the battery. I wish it had tremolo too. I've got a Roland Synth pickup on it. I'm probably the only one in the world foolish enough to try to fit the synth rig on it, but I did.
I had the TransScale, and just didn't like the sliding capo. I returned it for the SF-2A, which has the Standard scale, and no Piezo. I wish they had the Piezo available in the SF-2A. It's a great compact guitar to travel with. The neck is also not as sensitive to temp and humidity changes. I have never had to change my original setup of the 'berger. Just my 2 cent review.
since variax uses piezo, would i be able to use it with my variax stuff?
You can do drop D tuning I'm sure. I just haven't done that because I'm not into it. I don't see any reason you can't use alternate tunings, it's just like any guitar. You could tune it to drop C and sound really low.
I like the guitars. Logical, good design. I just think putting s burst on the finish is lacking a decent sized canvas, do you speak... Like admiring the Mona Lisa on a postage stamp.
More than 28 inches & they only tuned down to D?
how do you hang those things or have them on stands or anything like that =/
Umm. he added a fuzz effect to a clean amp. Back in the 60's they had fuzz boxes. You could either turn up the amp to make it distort or use a fuzz box, or both.
Does this sound like 80's version? Not the same material
Yes, just check Parker ranges, also some Ibanez, among many other guitars...
i want one :)
gotta love the ZZ top tee.
its possible to tune this guitar right?
shure
Rockin' the ZZ Top T-shirt. Nice!!!!!
@DeeWKnaD I would compare it to an acoustic guitar. I'm shocked at how hard it is to play compared to the Carvin I'm used to. I'm surprised they released it this way. I would think if any player had beta tested it they would have sent them back to the drawing board.
thats pretty nice. it sounds good
the tuning pegs are at the end of the body
I have watched five videos on this guitar and so far, not a single one has managed to pronounce the word "piezo" properly. As an electric violin player, it cracks me up.
LOVE IT. Make it in a full guitar but.. Just for the sounds purpose.
I think it's only a matter of aesthetics if these guitars are nearly "extinct"...not a matter of sound or playability. That's why most of the people probably get prejudice against these instruments.
Before 2019, you would have been more right. But the events of post-2019 changed EVERYTHING. Now folks are forgoing aesthetics for practicality. Why do you think the even uglier Strandberg guitars are so popular? Because they are more focused on ergonomics than aesthetic. Coming back to the U.S. from Europe I had to leave behind both my Precision bass and my Strat because they were too big and clunky and wayyy too expensive to either check-in at the airport terminal or air-mail back to the U.S. (post 2019 shipping costs are still ridiculous! )but if I had owned a Steinberger bass X2-series and one of these Steiny guitars, I would have had no need to check them in, but both guitars would have fit nicely into even one Steinberger gig-bag without any problem and with no extra cost - even in addition to my carry-on luggage! These almost bodiless and headless instruments are so small that people around me at the airport would have mistaken the Steinies for two clunky Tennis rackets!
Another thing…
Since we are also well into the home studio recording revolution, aesthetics again take a back seat to ergonomics.
These older model Steinbergers with the graphite/phenolic components are too expensive to make anymore, so the principle of controlled obsolescence takes precedence(thank you, Gibson). But those who know, KNOW. Besides, once you play on a graphite/carbon fretboard, you always yearn to play on one again but only the older, rarer models have them.
The same with condenser mics. Because some components are too expensive to duplicate and reissue, the mic designs are rendered obsolete even though they are often unparalleled in quality. But again, those who know, KNOW and will snap up those things before they are completely obsolete and consigned to the dustbins of time.
Besides, once you check your ego at the door and you reach a certain age and maturity - you realize that aesthetics tend to be over-rated compared to quality and practicality, even though I’m kinda particular to some of this ‘geek-chic.’
Tell me where to buy the strings.
@Ballotman True. But a SteinGerger IS.
slash ,jimi page, angus young, with one of those..would have looked so bad
Yes I can get it out of my case and almost rely on it being in tune. And if it's out of tune I know it's probably the G string and I can tweak it instantly. Can't say that about my Japanese Strat.
@amosschorr93 where are steins made anyway?
How would he explain his sound without saying "clean amp"? Just simply saying "distorted" or "fuzz" would not be enough information, because there are amp models that are overdriven and sound distorted while there are fuzz effects that have a different sound altogether.
Certain newer model Les Pauls have piezo bridges
Brilliant studio guitar, and for travel, that's about it.
Is it difficult to find strings for this guitar?
@pjcasabuena
id say its more like a broom :D
umm, yeah it does. the main reason u should buy a guitar is for the sound
these guitars are very good but i have 1 major qualm...most look down right ugly. granted the new demon coming out actually looks very cool lol
Hi, how do I make it sound like acoustic, it always sounds like electric. I can not understand how to use the piezo in the acoustic function.
There is a knob that's just to the right (from the player view) that when you turn all the way counter clockwise it's pure piezo. The way to test is to tap the piezo bridge lightly and you will hear a knock. Also you can hear your fret noise when moving strings making the sound authentic.
i prefer the t-shirt, mines orange and getting destroyed in the wash - oh yeah sure the guitars alright... I can't wait for another company to compete with Variax though, I mean isn't that proof of intelligent design... anyone noticed an increase of little green men (from the usual amount) visiting Line 6? Kudos to Steinberg for this one tho
Let's see.... Steve Howe, David Rhodes, Mike Rutherford, Geddy Lee, I guess any of them knows a little bit more about music that you and me and they all use Steinberger instruments
Yep.
hahaha, at that part I wasn't really paying attention, but then I heard "pie-zo" and cracked up XD
@TJGuitarVids OH MY GOD! i had the regular synapse and im going to buy a transcale synapse in the blue too! is the piezo easy to get a good acoustic sound out of?
Maybe...Though thats down to your personal taste. Practicality and functionality of the design is undisputed.
this guitar its so cool so te the guitar rig 2
It's got a brilliant tone, sweet sound and I like how innovative it is to have a built in capo but, Lets face it. It's Ugly, If it had full body and a head it would be just as cool and i-want-it-so-freaking-bad as the Gibson SG or the Fender Stratocaster.
I play blues and I have totally different taste in guitars obviously, but I rented one from a friend last summer for a number of shows with a rock outfit and man...it worked, great sounds I just couldn't believe that such an horrible guitar could sound that good;). I think it's due to the emg pickups and the preamp.
a baritone isnt tuned to d its duned to b
gibson custom shop slash signature les paul
And the double ball strings are not hard to find.
Old steinberger was great, now it s like you play on a plastic neck
it s completly different now
"all the way down to D" hahahahahaha
@TimJMorrison
Why? That's how it's pronounced. I know everyone thinks it's pea-eh-zoh, but they are wrong.
More character in Roy Cropper
it wouldnt matter anyway. even if you dropped that thing it wouldnt go out of tune
just because it appears abnormal, doesn't mean it isn't worthy of gigging
looks like sammy hagar with short gray hair
it sound just like an acoustic
@TravuhsWree
It's pronounced different ways by different people; this argument is pretty pointless. If you are just trolling, then you've succeeded in annoying me.
wow pretty dark sounding
*note eddie van halen made it cool to play a steinberger
"because its a baritone scale length you can tune all the way down to D"
yea, because you really need a baritone for D.
D standard not drop d. Baritone is good for d standard as well of youre a player that likes lighter gauge strings
@TJGuitarVids even still, unless you get the white one, which i have owned. and its neck is IDENTICAL to that of a les pauls neck with a gloss finish. all the other guitars have satin finished bodies, which feel the most like a natural wood finsih. he sounds like most les paul players. very ignorant toward all new types of guitars and afraid to try new things. smh.
Woosies who use these need to get the old school Transtrem Steinberger, better then these cheap looking things.
For me, the downside of the transtrem is that the tremolo can only be used in standard tuning. If you need the tremolo, the Transcale is better.
@TravuhsWree
Didn't realize I was talking to the inventor of piezoelectricity, sorry to offend your delicate sensibilities.
I've heard it pronounced both ways by credible sources (i.e. builders who actually use piezo pickups). I shouldn't have said that it's "wrong" to say it pi-eh-tzo, but I hear it pronounced by builders pie-zo more often than not.
he said pie-zo.....
a) "pie-ee-zo" and "pee-ay-zo" are both perfectly acceptable pronunciations.
b) Piezo is NOT a brand name.
Still LingYAO?
They sound like total shit, but I'd probably buy one because it looks kewl.
Heh..."Pie-Zo"
Jumper Cables look stupid!
RON
lol its blues omg re....
Today's steinbergers suck. It's all about the Newburgh or Brooklyn issue models from back in the day. I believe Leslie West (maybe someone else, not sure) dropped an original Steiny off of a 300 foot cliff. At the bottom, the guitar lay intact, even in tune. Yeah, Ned can stand on the neck of a new Synapse, but drop that sucker down a cliff and you'll find firewood at the bottom
It's a subjective thing. Ugly? How many years have Strat bodies been out? It's getting kind of old.
LMFAO
these guitars sound good but I've heard there made in Korea.i like my basses and guitars made in America.;]
Pee-A-zo
cuz of the looks?!!?!?! wtf?! ugliest guitar ever but im still thinkin bout buying 1...
Why are you buying one, they sound like shit, and you think they're ugly.
Maaaybe if your a poser with no sense of individuality.
Sounds like crap. Always hated Steinberger and the headless guitar, still hate it now.
This is almost as ugly as the Firebird X.
lmao, Pie-Zoh pickups. I don't know if I wanna trust the review from someone who doesn't know how to pronounce a Very well known brand name.