Steinberger XZ-25F 5-String Fretless

Korean made Spirit by Steinberger Bass:
24 fret, fretless (no fretlineS just marker dots) double ball 5 string.
2 passive EMG pick-ups, and (500k) volume, volume & (500k)tone controls, with complete interior control rout sheilding.

It seems kinda heavy for its size, a multi-piece Swamp Ash body
with Honeyburst finish and highly polished coat.

The tech that lined up the seperate pieces of Ash took the time to match wood grain, density and tone, very eye pleasing grain and hard to find joints.

No runs or ripples... PERFECT!
Stinberger bridge... PERFECT!
Meaty solid maple neck & Sweet rosewood (soft) fretboard.
Size-wise, this is about the size of a Fender P-Bass Lyte,
just lop off the headstock.
The cord goes through the south side of body edge, with a sturdy well made jack.
It came with roundwounds, when due I'll switch to brite flats.
Also came with a typical gig bag... don't like em' I put it in a standard 7/8 size case.
Had an option for a standard 1 ball string adapter, didn't order it.

I've got a 200+ watt Peavey Rig - 15" Black Widow & 210 TX
Everything sounds good - Very, very multi-purpose....
P bass to Jazz tone... and more.
You could dial in virtually any sound, and get it.
If you play with out sufficient low end support, play a low B,
you've got a motor boat...

Rating "10" Sounds great! That is if your equipment is up to it.
If it's not, don't bother!

The bass arrived by Fed-Ex and all it needed was a truss rod adjustment,
1/4 turn (release) and it was perfect. Intonation and string height
were right on.
The p/u were as shipped low. I adjusted to suit.

BUY ONE!

Well, it always stays in tune and the pots are slightly resistive to movment (smooth). This is good.
The finish looks THICK. I have no doubt this guitar is built to last.
I've used it without a back-up and will continue to do so.

BUY ONE!

I don't know.
I ordered it, 4 days later I got it.
Very easy process.
I'll do it again, for accessories, or another guitar.

I have some other rewiews for other basses elsewhere here so for this one all I I'm gonna say is:
If I'd have known it would be this good, I would have got one
years ago! Quality Steinberger pieces make a QUALITY BASS!

If you had an 11 for a rating, this is one case where it really
would be justified!

This Bass is easily worth $800 new.

MUSICYO sells wholesale to the public, a great idea.
They've got a 10 day return policy... they don't need it!

BUY ONE!

Five strings, made in Korea, two-piece ash body, maple, headless neck. Neck is one piece but feels very solid. Kind of wide compared to many current 5-string necks but it feels realy good. If you like the standard Steinberger 4-string spacing (which I love) this is the same only with five.

Pickups are nothing to write distant family about but they do sound good. They are not "lively" or "active" sounding though because they are indeed passive, budget EMGs.

Before I go any further, let me say that this rating is very difficult because of the VERY LOW PRICE of these basses. It's not fair to compare the features, sound, or anything to basses that cost, literally, three to six times more. But while we're on the subject, the FINISH of this bass is a 10 and totally compareble to an $1,800 instrument--no joke. It's beatiful.

But replacing the pickups would do this fine bass great justice though this will probably mean routing the wood as I cannot find interchangeable replacements

One modification I have already made is to coat the rosewood fingerboard with epoxy. Rosewood is not a good choice for fretless fingerboards for a bunch of reasons but it doesn't matter if you're going to put epoxy on and in this case IT HAS MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE. (But use slow-setting epoxy!)

Overall, I was thrilled with the bass--for the price but also just in general. The neck was set up wierd but that was easily fixed. One thing that bothered me was that the 12th fret side marker is two dots on either side of the actual note position. I put my own dots in with a Dremel drill and white enamel paint.

Oh yeah, EXCELLENT pots and that incredible steinberger bridge

Again, are we rating it for the price or compared to all other basses? It sounds very good; but more of a deeper, warmer tone than the trendy super-treble, and the output is not high. But damn, what a great bass. And the B-string, in my opinion, sounds full, deep and fantastic through my SWR. This bass would sound great in any situation where bright, active treble and high output aren't required.

I'd rate the "honeyburst" finish a 10+ because it really is great. But factory set-up was strange. That kind of stuff just doesn't bother me, though, especially on a bass you get in the mail. I just made the adjustments, like I would have anyway: lowered action, re-set intonation (trippy on a fretless) and adjusted truss rod. There was a bad buzz when playing F on the D-string. As I suspected, this was due to the rosewood grain and the epoxy finish took care of it.

Everything seems fine but I bought a hardshell case as the included bag would protect it from dust and spit only.

Sole distributors MusicYo.com are email only. But I got immediate shipping and a credit when they dropped the price a few days after I bought mine.

Been playing off and on for many years and am getting back into it so that's how I got this bass. I have always loved Steinbergers. I cherish my original, all-graphite XL-2. But many people are just not into the headless look--even though it is truly a better design. People also say they don't like the "too-perfect" sound of graphite. Although I don't think that makes sense, these Spirit models are all wood and this one has a nice, "custom" looking body.

The big question in rating these basses, as I have stated before, is whether they should be compared to all others or those in there price range. Folks, these basses can stand head to head (no pun intended!) with basses three to four times their price. But regardless of that, they are what they are and I am impressed enough that I bought a fretted version a week later! On your rating scale, it says "10" is a "Fantastic Value" and I would have to say that this is the case. This is a classy looking, nice sounding, well playing bass.

Bought this from MusicYo - I think it's a '99 model, but that was never really clear.

Korean-made, fretless, 5-string bass. "Honeyburst" finish. Bolt-on neck, passive pickups - 2 EMG Select Bass bars. Vaguely P-bass style body, although headless and a little more "Ergo" in design. Uses the Steinberger "direct-pull" tuners. Rosewood fingerboard (unlined), fairly flat, thin neck for a 5-string. Has three knobs on it - one for each pickup and then a tone control

Came with a flimsy gigbag and a coupla allen wrenches for adjsting the action.

Sounds pretty damn good for a $300 fretless. Very nice fretless "bwah", and a rich variety of tones with the pickups - I've dialed in everything from very dark bass to almost guitar-like twanginess. The pickups seem very quiet, although they do pick up my computer monitor if I get too close, but not nearly as much as my active Ibanez. The only complaint I have is that the pickups are a little quiet. I've tried it mostly clean through a Seasound preamp into a set of studio monitors, although I've added a few effects to the path on occasion. Sounds massive with chorus.

Came reasonably well setup, although I did have to adjust the action a smidge to my liking...although I like my actions higher than most people. That was extraordinarily easy, though - loosen the set-screw and turn the action screw, voila. Came with reasonable instructions on how to do that, although the instructions were obviously written with the Steiny guitars in mind (many instructions about the trememlo system).

The finish was unmarked and without any cracks, lines, etc. I was very impressed. It's a beautiful-looking instrument.

Came with a set of steinberger double-ball strings. They sound okay, nothing fabulous. I did get the "regular string" adapter but haven't used it yet.

This thing seems to be built like a tank. Strpa buttons are screwed-in tight, the hardware is all solid metal, the finish looks fairly rugged. I haven't had it long enough to know how often the truss and intonation needs to be adjusted. I think this sucker could take a serious beating. I dunno if I'd gig without a backup regardless, but this mother is solid.

MusicYo.com - I think I got emailed by a human once when UPS sent me the wrong tracking info. Everything was very efficient and quick, although I don't think people were actually involved.

I've been playing electric bass off-and-on for about a decade. I've got an Ibanez fretted which I love (although it's a pain to change the action on), but I think this Steinberger bass really makes my set. It was damn cheap for a fretless, and a 5-string no less. The closest I saw in the price-range was a 4-string Dean fretless and even that was more expensive. I do wish this thing came with a lined fingerboard (just the dots, no fretlines - acceptable, but I'm not a good enough fretless player yet to exist without them 100%) but other than that - gorgeous, head-turning instrument, quality sound, never goes out of tune, 5 strings, fretless...I don't think I coulda gotten a better deal.