Steinberger XZ-25 5-String

5-String headless bass made in Korea. Unlike the more famous "Broom" body styles, it has a somewhat more common (like a P-Bass) Maple body that I perfer.
24 fret, full scale, you can cover whatever you need to on this instrument.
I perfer the classic dark bass sound and the passive EMG Select humbuckers can easily be dialed in for dark lows and crisp highs with the two volume and master tone knobs.
I give it a 9 because of the more common body style and the headless neck. I just think it looks like one sleek little rumbler.

I prefer a black velvet (low and smooth) sound in the majority of my playing, but I also love to "Funk". I normally use the neck pickup in my playing with the tone set at around 1-3. When I'm ready to slap and pop, I'll turn up the tone if I want a more crisp sound. The bridge pickup I normally leave down.
I haven?t done any studio work yet, so I don?t know how it will sound recorded. In the band, I run it through either my Peavey Mark III head and two 15? cabinets or my Fender Baseman 400 combo and I am able to get the sound I want and keep the band mates happy.
Flaws are that it is a passive system. I own some active and passive basses (8 in total) and if the mood strikes me to switch from a passive to active guitar, I have to do a little sound work on my rig. Boohoo, I know, but I am also still searching for that perfect sound which I haven found yet. At least, not yet within my price range.

Out of the box it sounded great. It was a little dusty, like it had been sitting exposed in a warehouse for some time.
The action setup was damn near perfect for me. Low without buzz. I immediately plugged it into my Peavey Basic 112 practice amp and was happily playing along to my practice CD within minutes of arriving.
After a few weeks, I did take it into my workshop and set the intonation.
I received the bass in mid spring and it is now late fall. The G-string is buzzing a little on the 9th fret so I may have to adjust the height and/or T-rod in the neck a little. But this would be a common practice with any good instrument due to temp and humidity changes.

We haven?t gigged out yet (in my current band) but it hasn?t let me down during any rehearsals. Right now I am using it at home to practice 1-5 hours daily and it has held up. I just have to adjust the tuning every two to three days.
As for gigging, I would never go without a backup if money was involved. But if I was younger and all I could afford was one instrument, I would play the Steinberger show after show without worry.

I haven't had to deal with the company at all so far. I don't forsee a need in the future either.

My only real flaw with Steinberger is that if there are any retailers besides MusicYo, I haven seen them. I would prefer to try out a bass before I buy it. Being an on-line retailer, that is hard.
I imagine you can return the instrument if you aren't satisfied, but you still have to front the money and risk before hand. In a local retailer, all you have to do is put it back on the rack.
As for the strings, I like the sound and ease of changing the double ball ended. I, however, don't like the lack of local retailers once again. I can't just go pickup a set if I need them. I have to preplan my needs and order them to be mailed.
All in all, this is an outstanding bass compared to the competition, in and above its price range. If insurance refunded it, I would buy another if it was lost. I am also preparing funds to purchase a "Broom" style XT-25 due to the fact that I am military and it would be optimal to travel with to the "Sand Box" in a deployment.

This is a 5-string headless bass made in korea. I've been playing on this particular bass for about a year and a half. it has 2 emg humbuckers Passive... and three control knobs

its really got a bright sound to it. It has a ton of sustain. that is good.. I play through an eden/nemesis NC210 200 watt combo amp and I can really get it to boom. I run my bass through a sansamp bass driver DI and Man I get some amazing sounds. The package that I have really isn't the most expensive one. but i've been playing bass for 5 years and here at college money is an issue. This bass gives me a good sound when i run it through MY equipment

looks good.... thats all i can say

never had a problem with this bass. I use it as my main and I have no backup. I'm in a 3 piece band Piano/bass/ and drums and we play a good bit. We play alot of different genres of music and my steinberger can change sounds reletively easely. I like this bass.

never had to contact them

Good bass for the money. I would pay a good bit more for a bass like this.. Sounds great and looks neat. It'll turn heads.. I am however, looking at a G&L L-2500 bass. That is one heck of a beast there... but the steiny is a good bass to have.. i am happy for now