Axeman...Thanks for reinforcing my decision to buy one of these knarly axes! I'm no pro, but I love guitars. Your video is a teaching tool for me as well. Peace...
Really well done demo. I've the G3T by Hohner. Same guitar in all respects except the pickup configuration is H/S/S. These are extremely well balanced instruments. Almost effortless to play. Some don't like the headless design. I personally love it. One of the most intelligent and ergonomic designs ever. Thanks for making an exceptional review.
A lot of people like the Steins, and a lot of people like to rag on them. I tell you what, I have been playing guitar now for at least 35 years, and have played and owned Les Pauls, Strats, teles, SGs, Vs, Kramers, Charvels, and you name it, I have had a lot of them over the years, and I have spent a lot of money on them over the years, but when I strapped a Steinberger around me, everything changed. I grew up in my late teens, early 20s in the hair metal glam band scene, and played that stuff, and like I said, Kramer and Charvel I played mostly. I cant play Les Pauls or strats, or teles, or any other tradition guitars with headstocks any more. I hate the neck dive on them, plus at 51, I have lower back problems, and the Steinberger is awesome. Its so light, and stays where I put it. Where has the Steinberger been all my life....
I'm 40 and I'm considering the Steinberger very seriously. I bought into the whole tonewood thing at one point and even had a Gibson Les Paul. Now I have a Godin, an Epi 3399 and an Epi Nighthawk. I don't want to get rid of any of them...but I also play them rarely. And if I have the chance to travel, no way I'll be able to take any of them with me. Now that I am sure tonewood is pretty much a myth, I care a whole lot more about my back and ergonomics. A small but capable light guitar sounds very appealing...and I don't have any with a trem!
I love these. I had one in the 80's and got the Spirit when it came out. They all have EMG american made p/u's on current models. I have since bought the Transcale. I love its piezo p/u and its active electrics. You can get some amazing sounds. I really think the movable capo is great. I usually play in standard tuning but this guitar has led me to experiment. Steinbergers rock. The standard Spirit is very cheap in price and I can't praise them enough. They rock.
I have the same guitar in video and the tremelo is able to function perfectly both ways. It's probably more stable than many locking ones I have double ball gives strings locking action. The locking lever easily engages and disengaged so floating is not a problem. Never goes out of tune. It's the most resilient guitar I have.
Great video that shows off the Spirit in all it's glory . I have one of The GT Deluxes in white and also the Deluxe GU7R which has the full body and bolt on neck. They have the same Select pick ups and R Trem. I hated the GU model initially as it seemed to be against what I thought Steinberger was about(a compact guitar). It has grown on me though. You do need to use the volume as there is a volume drop going from H/B to single coil or both. I think you showed how it works and sounds brilliantly. I like the pick ups although some people moan about them. The biggest issue is people not knowing how to set up the Vibrato/ Tremelo. (Thanks to Fender wrongly calling it a Tremelo has led to everyone using the term). It is the easiest thing in the world to set up yet people still don't get it. People seem to think it's a floating bridge that is like a Floyd Rose. It is a brilliantly designed piece of engineering. I keep mine locked as the sustain seems stronger. Thanks for the Video
These are SUPERB Guitars! Easier to play than normal, look better, easier to change strings, never go out of tune, easier to carry/travel with plus have the WOW factor! I Have just brought the Synapse in Trans Blue & its mega! If you want to hear a true Steinberger being played check out the tracks on youtube by STEVE HILLAGE 'And Not Or' and also 'Before The Storm'.
+landryland3 I have a few Steinbergers including ones with R tems and have worked on many.. The R trem doesn't really pull both ways. It's not designed to. You can set it like that but you risk damaging the bridge and you certainly can't lock it if you have it floating or you would put it out of tune.. I have seen many damaged trems because if you have it set floating then the whole bridge assembly and the stresses are resting on just a pair of posts. The bridge is only a cast alloy and will snap. The correct way to set it the trem is to simply, Lock the bridge. Tune it. Unlock it and then turn the master tuner (That is what the large knob is called by Steinberger) until all the strings are in tune. That is how it's meant to be done. If you then break a string while playing you can lock it and it stays in tune. If you have it floating as you say then if you lock it you will have to detune it first and if you break a string they will all go out of tune. Drop D is just lowering the bottom E down to D. If you have it set floating that isn't possible without adjusting all the strings.. If you change the tuning on one string all the others go out of tune. My R trems go one way like they are meant to.
+Paul Evans Im thinking of getting one. I wouldnt want to use the trem feature so basically hard tailed I would just want to be able to tune to c tuning. Do you think it could handle this and would the action be suitable?
It's like any other electric guitar, passive pickups which will plug into any guitar adaptor/interface for ipad etc, many available from £8 onwards (iRig, Tascam etc). Hope that helps.
nice demo, guitar sounds great, since the spirit model is no longer including EMG pickups, I think i will get the synapse, guess I will be more than happy with it. Thanks for the video.
I wanted the blue but they only had amber in stock at the time and I wasn't going to wait a month. I own one of these Spirits too but the transcale with the piezo is amazing. I like the fact I can play with my fave Ernie Ball Super slinkys with the locking clamp as standard. Great guitars.I have a largish collection and I only seem to play my Synapse now. I'm jealous of your blue one :-)
Do you find it comfortable to play when sitting down like you do in the video? Enough support for wrist/forearm to keep guitar from toppling over? A lot people seem to cradle it under the ribs more or less. How does it feel?
The only useful Steinberger tremelo demo I can find is a clip of Eddie Van Halen. Is Eddie the only person that is able to demonstrate the tremelo using it to transpose chords???
Either the guitar is really small or you have HUGE hands. I was thinking about buying one, but I saw the price tag (277euros on musicstore) and became very suspicious about it's quality since there are models way more price. Is this worth the price? I have been playing on a shitty 250 euros Stagg for some years now and don't really know that much about guitars, i'm just a casual player.
Great guitar , stays in tune! ( TRICK : I put some oil on the bridge and the nut , where the strings are having the friction ) But i have a problem with the tremolo handle bar.It falls from the tremolo after a while.How did you solve the problem? Have a good day!!!
I've had one of these for many years. I've just never been able to grow to like its sound - too brittle and characterless. I thought it might be the fault of the Select pickups so I swapped in some others (Bill Lawrence), and it was different but just as un-loveable. Also, the neck feels huge and uncomfortable to me, even though I have big hands and like a fat neck. On the plus side, it's a great travel guitar and it's quite comfortable and ergonomic, once you get used to its absent headstock. Someday I'd like to try yet another set of pickups - maybe that will be the magic missing ingredient. And maybe shave down the neck profile a little. In the meantime it sits in my closet gathering dust.
I just bought one of these used. It didn't come with the whammy bar and was wondering if that was replaceable or any old whammy bar would work. Nice video. Thanks!!
They are specific to the guitar I believe and a google search might get you one, failing that, they are not too complicated and one could be made from another similar one with same diameter
+Jim Atwood I know this is a year old but I had a Stratocaster bar that snapped off leaving the screw threads in my beloved Strat. I thought I would try it in one of my Steinbergers as it is longer. It fitted fine. I did have to file the end so it was slightly more rounded.
+Paul Evans THIS IS JUST GENERAL STUFF: There's quite consistent thread size bars around - but you do have to figure what the threads and diameter is. I have quite a lot of screwing in my history, so in my odds'n'ends category I have three of every imaginable thread size screw, just find the match. If screwing a lot isn't gonna work for you, you can just take the bar to your favorite dusty little hardware store and the dusty little man behind the counter can get you answers pronto! NOT giant megalithic ACE HARDWARE - those fresh-outta High School guys are even dumber than me! You should thank him effusively and pick up a spare box of rat poison or something for your home while you're there.
As big traveler I am considering buying this guitar. I would like to use it with my Ipod (iRig and amplitude). Has this guitar an autonomous built in amplifier and/or battery? I come very often on places where there is no power (airplanes, boats, Africa...) Thanks for any help.
It's a great travel guitar, although it looks a lot like a small rifle in its gig bag. Try a Vox AC30 plug-in headphone amp or something. It does not have a built in amp. I'm glad it doesn't because built-in amp technology would be obsolete after a while.
Easy! It takes about 45 seconds to change one string. The strings have a barrel at each end, so you slack the string until it can be released from the tail piece, then remove the string, slip in the new string onto notches in the tail piece and the top of the neck, no winding no fuss no muss, tune it up and you're done! Buy one!
+German Coro Early 90's are Korean and later are Chinese. The main difference is the Chinese have Steinberger written on the pick ups and the Korean ones have EMG Select pick ups. The majority are Chinese.
Paul, I'm afraid those "made in China" are fake copies(like Rolex watches...) To the best of my knowledge, genuine Spirit (by Steinberger) are made in Korea.
its got a trans trem man.... not even close to feel or sound of a hohner model. Trans trems are kinda hard to describe. You gotta play one to understand, sorry.
Axeman...Thanks for reinforcing my decision to buy one of these knarly axes! I'm no pro, but I love guitars. Your video is a teaching tool for me as well. Peace...
Finally a guitar demo where you can enjoy hearing the pickup voicing and its not 5 minutes of shredding. Lol subscribed.
It has a fantastic sustain!
Very good demonstration. few words, muc music and pure ampli, that's important to hear the right sound of the guitar. Thank you.
Really well done demo. I've the G3T by Hohner. Same guitar in all respects except the pickup configuration is H/S/S. These are extremely well balanced instruments. Almost effortless to play. Some don't like the headless design. I personally love it. One of the most intelligent and ergonomic designs ever. Thanks for making an exceptional review.
I have 8 guitars and my preferred is this one , on the stage,every where...
A lot of people like the Steins, and a lot of people like to rag on them. I tell you what, I have been playing guitar now for at least 35 years, and have played and owned Les Pauls, Strats, teles, SGs, Vs, Kramers, Charvels, and you name it, I have had a lot of them over the years, and I have spent a lot of money on them over the years, but when I strapped a Steinberger around me, everything changed. I grew up in my late teens, early 20s in the hair metal glam band scene, and played that stuff, and like I said, Kramer and Charvel I played mostly. I cant play Les Pauls or strats, or teles, or any other tradition guitars with headstocks any more. I hate the neck dive on them, plus at 51, I have lower back problems, and the Steinberger is awesome. Its so light, and stays where I put it. Where has the Steinberger been all my life....
I'm 40 and I'm considering the Steinberger very seriously. I bought into the whole tonewood thing at one point and even had a Gibson Les Paul. Now I have a Godin, an Epi 3399 and an Epi Nighthawk. I don't want to get rid of any of them...but I also play them rarely. And if I have the chance to travel, no way I'll be able to take any of them with me. Now that I am sure tonewood is pretty much a myth, I care a whole lot more about my back and ergonomics. A small but capable light guitar sounds very appealing...and I don't have any with a trem!
@@joetowers4804
6:34
Great demo of such a quirky and usual guitar design you'd think it was made for a Dalek to play. The whammy bends sound awesome.
Great video and demo, thanks for posting.
Thank you
Got one of these, but the bass version. These guitars are truly amazing
I love these. I had one in the 80's and got the Spirit when it came out. They all have EMG american made p/u's on current models. I have since bought the Transcale. I love its piezo p/u and its active electrics. You can get some amazing sounds. I really think the movable capo is great. I usually play in standard tuning but this guitar has led me to experiment. Steinbergers rock. The standard Spirit is very cheap in price and I can't praise them enough. They rock.
I have the same guitar in video and the tremelo is able to function perfectly both ways. It's probably more stable than many locking ones I have double ball gives strings locking action. The locking lever easily engages and disengaged so floating is not a problem. Never goes out of tune. It's the most resilient guitar I have.
Thanks. Great demo. I love my Spirit.
I love this guitar, sound amazing
Great one! Thanks!! 👍
This is NOT a trans trem. It's a locking trem. In other words, you can lock it and use the guitar like a hardtail.
Great video that shows off the Spirit in all it's glory . I have one of The GT Deluxes in white and also the Deluxe GU7R which has the full body and bolt on neck. They have the same Select pick ups and R Trem. I hated the GU model initially as it seemed to be against what I thought Steinberger was about(a compact guitar). It has grown on me though. You do need to use the volume as there is a volume drop going from H/B to single coil or both. I think you showed how it works and sounds brilliantly. I like the pick ups although some people moan about them. The biggest issue is people not knowing how to set up the Vibrato/ Tremelo. (Thanks to Fender wrongly calling it a Tremelo has led to everyone using the term). It is the easiest thing in the world to set up yet people still don't get it. People seem to think it's a floating bridge that is like a Floyd Rose. It is a brilliantly designed piece of engineering. I keep mine locked as the sustain seems stronger. Thanks for the Video
the EMG Select pickups that came in these were passives, just like the Steinberger pickups they spec now
i'm from indonesia ( central Kalimantan Palangka Raya city) i like your skills
I have this awesome guitar in white and is my main guitar. Love it!!!
i like the kickstand on the bottom lol, looks convenient
Great review. Thanks.
honestly looking to use something like this because I'm tired of practicing on a a 9lb guitar haha
Excellent demo!
These are SUPERB Guitars! Easier to play than normal, look better, easier to change strings, never go out of tune, easier to carry/travel with plus have the WOW factor! I Have just brought the Synapse in Trans Blue & its mega! If you want to hear a true Steinberger being played check out the tracks on youtube by STEVE HILLAGE 'And Not Or' and also 'Before The Storm'.
Great review ! Thank you .
thank you your test
me encanta esta guitarra... su nombre lo dice todo... no necesitas mas que eso
The Tremelo has pulls both ways. It has a cool lever that flips up and locks the Tremelo in a stop position great for drop D.
+landryland3 I have a few Steinbergers including ones with R tems and have worked on many.. The R trem doesn't really pull both ways. It's not designed to. You can set it like that but you risk damaging the bridge and you certainly can't lock it if you have it floating or you would put it out of tune.. I have seen many damaged trems because if you have it set floating then the whole bridge assembly and the stresses are resting on just a pair of posts. The bridge is only a cast alloy and will snap. The correct way to set it the trem is to simply, Lock the bridge. Tune it. Unlock it and then turn the master tuner (That is what the large knob is called by Steinberger) until all the strings are in tune. That is how it's meant to be done. If you then break a string while playing you can lock it and it stays in tune. If you have it floating as you say then if you lock it you will have to detune it first and if you break a string they will all go out of tune. Drop D is just lowering the bottom E down to D. If you have it set floating that isn't possible without adjusting all the strings.. If you change the tuning on one string all the others go out of tune. My R trems go one way like they are meant to.
+Paul Evans Im thinking of getting one. I wouldnt want to use the trem feature so basically hard tailed I would just want to be able to tune to c tuning. Do you think it could handle this and would the action be suitable?
very nice Video thank you
Nice sounding guitar.
I just picked one up. I like it, but the pickups on mine just say Steinberger on them and no battery any where. Not active pickups.
Nice home! 👍
It's like any other electric guitar, passive pickups which will plug into any guitar adaptor/interface for ipad etc, many available from £8 onwards (iRig, Tascam etc). Hope that helps.
lose tune after divebomb?
nice demo, guitar sounds great, since the spirit model is no longer including EMG pickups, I think i will get the synapse, guess I will be more than happy with it. Thanks for the video.
I wanted the blue but they only had amber in stock at the time and I wasn't going to wait a month. I own one of these Spirits too but the transcale with the piezo is amazing. I like the fact I can play with my fave Ernie Ball Super slinkys with the locking clamp as standard. Great guitars.I have a largish collection and I only seem to play my Synapse now. I'm jealous of your blue one :-)
I'm still waiting for those Fender sounds.
Do you find it comfortable to play when sitting down like you do in the video? Enough support for wrist/forearm to keep guitar from toppling over? A lot people seem to cradle it under the ribs more or less. How does it feel?
Found a lefty in the USA have it coming over next week.
Great demo, I am looking for a Lefty version of this guitar having already purchased the Bass version.
The only useful Steinberger tremelo demo I can find is a clip of Eddie Van Halen. Is Eddie the only person that is able to demonstrate the tremelo using it to transpose chords???
nice review; useful to test the tremolo bar ;)
Either the guitar is really small or you have HUGE hands. I was thinking about buying one, but I saw the price tag (277euros on musicstore) and became very suspicious about it's quality since there are models way more price. Is this worth the price? I have been playing on a shitty 250 euros Stagg for some years now and don't really know that much about guitars, i'm just a casual player.
great I would like to buy one guitar
Thanks for your quick answer. I am still doubting between iRig or Tascam or Peavey Amp kit. I want to use it with my Ipod and with my Macbook Pro...
The pickups is not EMG's..that's the standard steinberg active pick ups..
@bladerunner2125 I believe they are ampidexterous
@kflip2indy That is correct, clever little guitars :-)
Great guitar , stays in tune! ( TRICK : I put some oil on the bridge and the nut , where the strings are having the friction )
But i have a problem with the tremolo handle bar.It falls from the tremolo after a while.How did you solve the problem?
Have a good day!!!
threre is little screw to lock bar
nice playing man
Very kind thank you
Is the trem stiff like on the HOhner models?
I've had one of these for many years. I've just never been able to grow to like its sound - too brittle and characterless. I thought it might be the fault of the Select pickups so I swapped in some others (Bill Lawrence), and it was different but just as un-loveable. Also, the neck feels huge and uncomfortable to me, even though I have big hands and like a fat neck. On the plus side, it's a great travel guitar and it's quite comfortable and ergonomic, once you get used to its absent headstock. Someday I'd like to try yet another set of pickups - maybe that will be the magic missing ingredient. And maybe shave down the neck profile a little. In the meantime it sits in my closet gathering dust.
I just bought one of these used. It didn't come with the whammy bar and was wondering if that was replaceable or any old whammy bar would work. Nice video. Thanks!!
They are specific to the guitar I believe and a google search might get you one, failing that, they are not too complicated and one could be made from another similar one with same diameter
Got me on that one but I'm sure if it fits, it'll work.
Check eBay for a term bar.
+Jim Atwood I know this is a year old but I had a Stratocaster bar that snapped off leaving the screw threads in my beloved Strat. I thought I would try it in one of my Steinbergers as it is longer. It fitted fine. I did have to file the end so it was slightly more rounded.
+Paul Evans
THIS IS JUST GENERAL STUFF:
There's quite consistent thread size bars around - but you do have to figure what the threads and diameter is. I have quite a lot of screwing in my history, so in my odds'n'ends category I have three of every imaginable thread size screw, just find the match. If screwing a lot isn't gonna work for you, you can just take the bar to your favorite dusty little hardware store and the dusty little man behind the counter can get you answers pronto! NOT giant megalithic ACE HARDWARE - those fresh-outta High School guys are even dumber than me! You should thank him effusively and pick up a spare box of rat poison or something for your home while you're there.
sounds good. what amp
can you block the guitar bridge so that it does not move with the lever.
And how to do?
Yes you can, the trem assembly has its own locking mechanism, very clever and well planned!
As big traveler I am considering buying this guitar. I would like to use it with my Ipod (iRig and amplitude). Has this guitar an autonomous built in amplifier and/or battery? I come very often on places where there is no power (airplanes, boats, Africa...) Thanks for any help.
It's a great travel guitar, although it looks a lot like a small rifle in its gig bag. Try a Vox AC30 plug-in headphone amp or something. It does not have a built in amp. I'm glad it doesn't because built-in amp technology would be obsolete after a while.
Hi great video. If I invest in this guitar, how do I change the strings?
Easy! It takes about 45 seconds to change one string. The strings have a barrel at each end, so you slack the string until it can be released from the tail piece, then remove the string, slip in the new string onto notches in the tail piece and the top of the neck, no winding no fuss no muss, tune it up and you're done! Buy one!
So it's special strings for these? Are they quite a bit more expensive than standard electric strings?
So this is NOT a trans trem, right? So you can’t bend an entire chord in tune?
nope, it's a bit like Floyd Rose.
Is that a rosewood fretboard or some sort of epoxy? thanks
It is rosewood
How far can you get crazy with the Tremolo? Can you pull it up like in the Floyd Rose Tremolos?
a bit i just tried i didnt know for shure. i dont wanna blow a string,sorry my scandinavian english
yes
No. Only down.
+Maximilian Dyhr NO
I want one so bad but does anybody now where to get one with just a neck and bridge pickup instead of this one that has the pickup in the middle
Just drop the middle pickup down and it's out of the way.
Very tasteful playing! Nice sounding on top 3 strings, but the bottom 3 are not as good-- to my ears
HI, originals Pickups ?
Yes whole guitar is completely original as it came.
Ben de bir adet Kore malı GT PRO Standart aldım, şimdiye kadar çektiğim boyun ve bel ağrıları boşunaymış...
Sorry but that is NOT the the ‘exact’ sound of the guitar. That is the sound of the guitar WITH some ‘reverb’ added in. Just saying.
i got one but one hundbucker and to singel....... its nice
Dayi sen turk musun
Evet Caner, eski bir Turk :-)
koreana? American? German?
Korea
+German Coro Early 90's are Korean and later are Chinese. The main difference is the Chinese have Steinberger written on the pick ups and the Korean ones have EMG Select pick ups. The majority are Chinese.
Paul, I'm afraid those "made in China" are fake copies(like Rolex watches...) To the best of my knowledge, genuine Spirit (by Steinberger) are made in Korea.
its got a trans trem man.... not even close to feel or sound of a hohner model. Trans trems are kinda hard to describe. You gotta play one to understand, sorry.
its SOOOOO expensive
I just googled it and you can get one new for 400€.
Oops, wrong model. That one's for 445€
It sucks dude o-o
Ugly guitar o-o