Steinberger Spirit XZ 5-String

Korean Bass w/ (2) EMG select HB P/U's, (2) Volume & Tone. Nice Sunburst Finish.

Out of the box & ready to play with minor adjustments.

This Bass thru a Behringer V-Amp direct into the board sounds great.
Smooth controls, Fair range of tones, No dead areas.

This Bass stays in tune,is quiet as can be & is perfect in tight setups.Most bargain basses suffer in the tuner dept & are too noisy to be practical.I really can't give a negative..

I haven't recorded with it, I'm a SB fanatic & use my L2 for that......

Action + Sound great out of the box. Minor buzz adjustment.No defects noted.

The paint on my pickup covers is coming off & red is visible, I may have sweated into the pickups.The frets are wearing.

I gig alot & this Bass has been all over. For the price it isn't an issue.It has been 100% reliable.

One minor rod adjustment done, No biggie.

This bass is solid, Not a lot to break, Yes you could confidentally gig w/it alone.A string change takes (30) seconds after all!

They shipped quickly & that's all the contact we've ever had, That is a good thing.

I've been playing (25) years,currently Clubs, Weddings & Corporate events in NYC, Long Island & throughout the Northeast.

This bass is versatile. Jazz, Rock, Slap style Dance Music,It can do it all. I will buy another to replace my current one as this is the top bargain in the Bass world today.

Made in Korea in 2004, headless 5 string bass with 24 frets. Two passive humbuckers with three controls -- neck volume, bridge volume, and tone. Pickups are bottom of the line EMG Select. Body is maple in a white color, double cutaway, fretboard is rosewood, neck is bolted on. The main attraction is the Steinberger headless configuration, which makes the bass very compact. I put away the included flimsy gig bag and use a conventional rectangular guitar hardcase. The overall length of the bass is shorter than a guitar. Scale is 34 inches. I am very fond of the headless feature, and for that I give this category a 9, since nothing is a perfect 10.

Through the use of the 3 controls, you can get almost any shade of bass tones. I use mainly the neck PU to provide bottom -- I don't do fancy bass soloing -- to give the band a solid foundation. For the bass soloist, kick in the bridge PU, play around with the tone knob, and you're in business. For inexpensive PUs, these Selects do their job very well. Rather than change PUs, just play around with your amp's tone controls. Any sound you want is available -- if not, blame only yourself and not your gear. Being humbuckers, the PUs are very quiet, even under fluorescent lights. Your amp ring should have at least a 15 inch speaker to handle the low B string; otherwise, don't waste your time getting a 5-string bass. With enough amp power and proper speakers, this bass will amaze you with its sound.

I had to lower the action and set the intonation. The Steinberger bridge is unconventional, but an allen wrench is all you need for the job. Not hard at all. The zero fret gives you the lowest possible action at that end of the fret board, so you need only to adjust saddle height to your liking. I intend to play around with PU heights, but the factory settings seems to work well. The bass came absolutely flawless in workmanship. Even though it is make in Korea, the name Steinberger on an instrument assures a high level of quality. Made in Korea cuts down the labor cost, but the materials used for this bass is still of Steinberger quality.

I think this bass will out-survive even cockroaches. It is built solid, the fit is tight, and I don't see how it could fail in any situation.

Never had to contact the dealer on any issues, and probably never will. I don't see the need to, given the high degree of quality and workmanship.

For the price, one could not get a better bass than this one. The neck is bolt on, it is made in Korea, but who care? It's built like a tank, has very nice bass tones, is compact, and has the unique Steinberger tuning system.