Hohner G3T

I bought this in late 1999, so it was probably made sometime around then. Features pretty much as described by other reviewers, except I changed the pickups to real EMGs in the S/S/H configuration.

This is my travel guitar - looks like a case of tennis rackets when carried on, and fits into a suitcase (diagonally) if necessary. With a Korg Pandora PX3/4/5 and headphones, this is my music machine when I am away.

The original "Select EMG" pickups were kind of weak, and sounded patchy. After changing to real EMGs - SA/SA/81 combination - this machine sings!

I lost the push/pull vintage knob capability with this change, but there's plenty of sound options with the tone knob and three on/off switches.

I like to use the G3T when playing fusion/jazz.

Factory setup leaves much to be desired ... the guitar was playable, but needed to have neck straightened, action set, etc. Fretwork was not even and the strings "buzzed" on certain frets. Eventually fixed with a fret job.

This thing is built like a tank ... well almost. Almost 9 years now, and looks like it will last another 90 maybe.

N/A

Reasonable value for money ex-factory, but needed some work.

However with some setup work and the real EMG pickups, this has become a killer machine. All of these changes added much to my acquisition costs. Still costs less than some of the travel guitars on the market today, and arguably I have a better machine now than the real Steinberger.

My other guitars include a bunch of Strats, Gibson 335, Gibson LP, Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion, Ovation acoustic, etc.

If I lost it, I would look for another G3T etc. and make the changes again.

(Just looked up Musicyo which has two versions of the "broom" - Steinberger GT-PRO (made in Korea) will cost about US$320 but is out of stock. The Steinberger USA GLB-2S Electric Guitar made in Nashville, TN with real EMGs for US$999.99 but that is not available either.)

Get any sound you want with this guitar!
These are much better than the Steinberger Spirit, I bought a Steinberger Spirit and sent it back very fast The Hohner is better made, better customer support

The sound quality is very good, yes the pickups are not the best, but with all the quality effects around and a bigger volume control on your amp and you will have no problem!

You can take the action down to a really good level, in general this guitar is solid in all ways. It does take a bit of time getting use to the guitar but I would not use anything else now, I have had Strats Tele's and a Gibson Les Paul.

All Great, very dependable guitar.

As I bought mine second hand I had no paperwork with it, I contacted Hohner in Germany and they sent all the stuff I needed within a week. Very pleased!

I have been playing live for well over 30 years, as I have said take time with this guitar as it does take a bit of getting use to. I also bought a string adapter from the states approx ??20.00 well worth investing in, saves getting ripped off with double ball end strings.

This is the broomstick style headless guitar, a copy of the Steinberger headless designs. It has one EMG passive humbucking pickup in the bridge position and two EMG passive single coil pickups, one in the middle position and one in the neck position. It has the Steinberger trem, which works ok if you're into trem. The trem locks, which I like, so it stays in tune. The tuning knobs are a bit small and a little bit fiddling compared to standard tuners, but they work fine once you get used to them. A little lube on the threads was required to smooth them out. The lap rest works great! You'll probably want to add strap locks. Mine came with a soft case.

As mentioned, the pickups are W.E.A.K. but neutral in sound. Right from when I first played it, I knew the pups would need to be replaced. Cranking up a preamp to get the level up to something usable can cause noise to increase. But the sound is good in quality otherwise. Classic rock, country, and blues all sound good. With the switch setup, you can have any combination of pups on at any time, so you have a full variety of sounds to choose from. Sustain is ok, but not extraordinary. Even though the trem locks, a fixed bridge would help sustain a lot. Better pickups would help sustain also. Once it was properly set up, intonation all the way up the fretboard is excellent. Bar chords on the upper frets are in tune, and open chords are surprisingly in tune.

Overall the action, fit, and finish are excellent. Yet, I have to rate it poorly for two reasons. First and most important, the edge of the fretboard is poorly finished. There are some machine marks in the wood where it wasn't properly sanded smooth. It doesn't affect playability, and you have to look pretty closely to see it, but even cheap imports don't have this kind of flaw. Secondly, the setup was horrible. Not even close to playable or intonated. This guitar was drop shipped from the manufacturer, so it was a factory setup and not a store setup. Yes, I expect to have to tweak a setup on a new guitar, but it shouldn't be mandatory. The setup couldn't have been worse.

Otherwise, the finish is superb. The paint is flawless. All the hardware is properly installed. The neck and frets are excellent with no high or rough frets.

This guitar seems very durable. I do gig with it without a backup. No worries about the reliability or durability.

Never dealt with customer support.

I've been playing 30+ years, and this is now my favorite electric guitar! The only complaint is the weak pickups. Hohner should have put on better units, like DiMarzio or Seymour-Duncan. They could have skipped the trem bridge and used a fixed Steinberger bridge, applying the cost savings to buy better pickups. It is just wrong to have to replace pickups on a new guitar out of the box. The strings stay in tune better than a standard guitar, and the ball ends make it very easy to change strings. All guitars should come with double ball strings! The position of the volume knob is a bit frustrating at first, but you learn to work around it. A smaller knob might solve the problem. There just isn't space to put the knob anywhere else. I'd replace this guitar if it was lost/stolen.

Im wrting this review to demonstrate ease of transport using commercial airlines. Basically, this is a very,VERY sweet guitar. My job requires that I travel all over the world, so I needed a compact travel guitar. This one is PERFECT! No one went into detail about flying with one of these when i was looking in to it, so to follow is a thorough description of airline policies and personal experiences.
I have flown with this guitar as a carry on piece in addition to my laptop backpack to with several national US flights, never a problem. For the UK: you are allowed to carry this as a SECOND piece of hand luggage. Yes thats right, the one piece of carry on luggage does not apply to a musical instrument, it the only exception to the rule. I have flown through Heathrow several times in the last few months, never a problem (you do get hateful stares from other travelers for being allowed to carry two huge pieces of hand luggage! lol) If flying from the US through the UK to anther destination, the US wont check you all the way to the final destination if you intend to carry this in as a second piece. Easy solution: Check in to the UK (the US will allow you to carry it then) and then, just check in for the rest of the flight in the UK (bit of a hassle to recheck checked baggage, but its worth it if it means carrying your guitar with you). Fits VERY easily in overhead compartments of commercial size flights (not propeller planes!) If you want to avoid hassles from stupid air hostesses, get a soft Hohner carry vase for it, buy a hoodie jersey and "dress" your guitar in the hoodie. It looks like your carrying a jersey and not a hoodie! :) Hope this helps other a bit! To keep things travel smart, I use a Zoom G2.1u...it plugs into my laptop when I want to or can be used on its own with headphones. Brilliant little multi effects pedal for this purpose (fits in laptop backpack) and its pretty light! Its even USB powered so you can practice anywhere!

Pickups are high quality, middle of the road (i.e all music genre, that means non high output so the metal riffs sound a tad bit weak)

Very Nice

Tough as nails...Ive hauled this thing with me in choppers to rigs, where it got tossed in the baggage compartment, it has traveled over 4 continents and hasn't even sustained a single dent.

See other reviews

Brilliant travel guitar for practice.

Features where mentioned below. I bought it new a few months ago. Dont know when it was made. It takes some time to get used to the Pickup-selector-switches. Stock PUs are EMG Selects. Bought it, because my Godin XT-SA is not good for my back anymore.

I play drum n bass/house/techno. An unusual setting for guitar. You can guess it is sometimes heavily effected. I play Boss GT-8 with a Hughes & Kettner 20th Anniversary Edition. The sound is, as already mentioned, neutral. The PUs could use more Power. I like the Humbucker, but I will change the single coils. Noisy when you combine single coils with the Humbucker. Good sound in a Band context but the PUs should be hotter. A little bit of work and I think I can get it to sound the way I like.

The factory setup was OK, but of course I set it up to suit my playing. The cutout for the big screw on the top of the guitar was flawed, but you have to look close to see it.

I took it immediately on tour. It is one of the most comfortable guitars I played. Seems very reliable. Contrary to other comments it does not stay in tune. If the tremolo is used, it will get slightly out of tune, like most guitars I played.

I asked Hohner for the String adapter, it took a few days, but they answered very nicely. (No, they dont have any ;))

I've been playing for 20 years. I have a Godin XT-SA (awsome but too heavy), H & K 20th Anniversary Amp, roland Jazz Chorus, Boss GT-8, Digitech Synth-Wah. I love the comfort and playability of this guitar. Althought I am not totally happy with its sound it is my favourite guitar now. It is a love/hate guitar. When I went on tour, one of the crew members asked "will you be playing this the whole tour?". It is worth the price. If it was stolen I'd buy it again.

You can look up the specs of this guitar or read other reviews.

Overall the features make this guitar a great value.

One thing I really like is the ability to mix and match pickups with the switches and \ volume knobs.

I find the EMG's sound very neutral but not bad at all. Many people seem to find this a shortcoming on this guitar. I don't. Plus if you don't like them you can easily swap them out.

With the EMG's this guitar is very neutral sounding. Not a bad thing. I guess it depends what each player is looking for. I have other guitars with various pickups so I like the change in tone on this one. I won't be swapping my PU's out!

Very nice sustain and tone overall.

I have played this through my Vox, Carvin Legacy, Crate and a Clarus 2 R amp. It sounds great thru anything. ( probably because it's a neutral sounding guitar ? )

WOW. Wow.

I own other electrics : Ernie Ball EVH and a John Petrucci, 2 Ibanez Jems, and 2 Ibanez Universe's among other's.

Point: This guitar plays just as nice. Period. Yes, it feels different, but I can shred on this just like my others! The neck is a bit thicker than my usual tastes, but feels solid.

It makes me wonder why we all seek 1000 dollar plus guitars?

It's simply a very solid guitar.

The guitar will last. It's built very well. Feels very solid. The trem is out of this world. Again, I own other trem systems on other guitars and this one is just as good. It stays in tune and is simply rock solid.
My only issue is it's a bit stiff but not a big deal.

I would suggest getting strap locks for this guitar...

I would certainly use this guitar live without a backup.

The Hohner support team is THE BEST support I have ever had. Here is why:

I bought my original g3t from Ed Roman. ( BIG, HUGE mistake. I should have known better reading all the negativity surrounding his name. But I thought this is not an Ed guitar so there shouldn't be ANY issues. ) Never buy from this guy. I should have know better. My guitar came WITHOUT A LAP REST! ( Ed put a piece of foam there instead and called it a custom job!) It was also missing the button straps. ( I'm guessing he needed these parts for his other 'custom' guitars )

So, I called Hohner without hesitation, they sent me a lap rest!

After a month or so I noticed there was an issue with the guitar. I think it needed some neck work but wasn't sure. I sent it in. These guys were super at keeping me in the loop on what was happening to my guitar.

It ends up that it needed some fretwork and that they didn't have time to work on it so...THEY SENT ME A NEW ONE!!!

This new one has no issues at all. It plays and sounds fantastic.

I would give them a 20 for support. Simply honest, great communication.

I have been playing guitar for over 20 years. I have played and owned many guitars.

After playing my buddy's G3T I went out that evening to order mine. That's how amazing this guitar is for the money. Really.

Overall this makes a great addition to anyone's collection. I would almost say a "must have" for the money...

Bought it with two original single coils and some Bill Lawrence humbucker, which I did not like. So I replaced all pickups with an EMG SA/SA/85 active set. Exceptionally comfortable guitar in terms of balance and weight. Small single switches for the pickups give a lot of possible combinations, but are not for fast changing of sounds on stage. I mounted push-pulls to get my favourite sounds. Steinberger bridge stays very good in tune.

With this set of pickups, not noisy at all. Still somehow neutral sound; played alone, it doesn??t have a noticeable character. I play blues, jazz and fusion. Tone is not spectacular, but very functional within a band.
I am using it with either a Jim Kelley FACS or a Seymour Duncan 8450. Not much addtional effects, just a delay and chorus sometimes.

After some adjustments the action is just perfect. The neck is quite thick but good to play.

When I bought it, it was intensively played over 15 years. Frets are quite down, but still usable after some polishing. Had to change the output plug. Bridge was worn out and touched the wood when moving. Asked Hohner if I could buy a new one. They send me a new one without charging, even paid the transport. This is incredible. All that was normal wear. Now it is fixed up and will last another 15 years.

Exceptionally.Contacted Hohner in Germany and they send me a complete new brigde without charging for it, and were anwering all my questions very friendly and competent.

I am playing semi-prof since 30 years. Have had a large guitar colletion and still have several treasures (??63 strat, ??59 tele, ??61 ES 355, ??61 LP Special and some goodies more). Bought that guitar for travelling. Now, after a year playing on it, it turns out to be my favourite guitar on stage. I am really in love with that little thing. It is good for my old back, and plays extremely well. Yes, it doesn??t have the tone of my old strat, but it is a working tool which could??t be better built. If you buy one, take some time for getting used to it. If you are, you don??t want to play something else any more. If it were lost, I would definitely get another one.

With 40:1 tuning ratio this guitar has the most accurate tuning ever. Most people complain that the tuning on theses are stiff but its not. lubeing up the thread on the bridge can damage it. Also it stays in tune for a long time!! Unlike other guitars that, when you pick them up you have to turn them in again, you can play this guitar for months before having to even think of tuning it again. The bridges on these guitars are the best in my Opinion. The rest of the features are standard that you can find on most guitars.

This guitar has neutral tone. It don't favor a single style of music unlike other brands. The pickups are a problem. Quiet for passive pickups but active pickups will always beat them. The first thing i did was change them to active pickups. This suits my music style, but for a standard guitar for a beginner the pickups are good. Not band for a guitar as cheap as this.

Dose anybody ever play a guitar that was set up in the factory??? I never do.. Actually i think that setting up the guitar in the factory is a waste of time. I always set up my guitars when i get them myself.

The finish on these guitars can vary alot. Most guitars nowadays are made "fresh" thats is they haven't stood in a wearhouse years and they are made to order but sometimes "old stock" thats being hanging around for years are sold. Luckly mine was new so the quality of the finish was execlent. That is there was no visable chips or dents or other types of damage. (Also factory seconds are being sold) So be wary of the true age of your guitar.

Thsi guitar is "soild". It does not break at all. This guitar will last forever if looked after. There is one flaw.. The volume Knob. Who ever put it there???? It's in the bloody way espically if palm muting. Good soild construction. Going to Lst forever. But saying that it reilable. Want break down for no appreant reason.

haven't had to deal with them.

Good soild guitar. My main one at the moment. Small, light. Alot of good points. What a shame about the falw in the design, but this flaw is also on the spirit of steinberger designs. Thsi guitar is good for beginners and pros. Good for the price.
this is a good price for a headless guitar. For people who have looked on the steinberger website there guitars are expansive and the spirit of steinberger guitars (even though cheaper)would be too expansive to import in to britian.(dam import duity)
just one last point::
Just be wary about the true age of the guitar. Just because it's new dosen't means it's new.

Satin black, paddle or broom shaped, steinberger licenced trem and tuners. Vol, tone, off/on for neck, off/on for center and off/single/dual for the bridge humbucker. Passive S/S/H
No push pull pots on this one.

I also bought the adaptor that sits on the end of the neck and allows you to use regular guitar strings. A very elegant solution to allow using all string types and brands.

The neck is not too small and the finish was very good. On some guitars the fret ends will actually cut and hack up your hand, not this one, the feel is quite good.

The trem seems quite good although I seldom use it. It has a very good locking mechanism for keeping it in tune when you can't be bothered with the trem and it's effects.

The advertising I've seen says that it fits in the overhead compartments of an airplane. That's true but you won't get it anywhere near the overhead compartment because it is longer than the current regulations for hand carry on luggage. You do have to check this guitar in. The Hohner hard case doesn't have locks on the latches so that sucks and the handle of the hard case is in the center, which is not the center of the weight of this guitar. So all the issues I have are with the case for this thing, isn't that weird?

I like rock, blues, EVH to Jimi to Clapton. And I'm trying to play the new stuff so I expect the guitar to be neutral. I can add the effects with my fingers or little boxes.
This guitar is, to me, neutral. Maybe that is because of it's shape/size or maybe by design but it doesn't seem to favor any sound category. I can't make it sound jangly like a telecaster so far but everything else is doable.
It is not noisy.
I will probably change the neck pickup to a 'blade' type as I find that I can really bend the strings on this guitar.

I didn't like the setup and I don't hold that against the guitar. The string height is a preference, I like mine high enough that the strings never buzz and it just took a quarter turn on the saddle set screws to adjust that. The intonation was way off and when I switch to my regular brand of strings I assume the intonation will have to be set again.
It's a shiney piano black and looks all business and cool.
There is a place to the side of the control cavity cover on the back that looks bad. Like the router chattered on the wood and they just kept on with the manufacturing so that now it is a very shiney piano black 'dent' or depression. I expect to inflict much greater wounds.
I would prefer the jack to not be were it is on the bottom, I may just remove the tone control and put the jack there. I'll have to see if I get used to it or not. (for sure the tone control never gets used on any of my guitars anyways.)

I bet that except for the 'ears' on the side of the pickups, I could run over this guitar with my truck and pick it up and keep playing with no other damage.
I've never had a guitar just stop working on me and so I don't expect this one to either. The trem locks so that should prevent any catastrophe if a string breaks.
My only worry;
I have a feeling that over time the strings will slide sideways on the zeroth fret while bending strings. I can make up a 'nut' to prevent this if it bothers me too much.
The tuning, as someone else pointed out can be quite stiff. The small knobs don't provide alot of leverage. I'm going to lube the threads up with so anti-seize the next string change to help out in that department.

The center pickup didn't work. They say they are sending me a replacement for free. I didn't even bother plugging it into an amp in the store so it was my own fault I suppose.
I'll write another review if they don't come through with the pickup like they say.

I bought this guitar to take when we go camping in a small pick-up truck camper. My other guitars were getting damaged when they wern't just getting in the way. When the other guitars were catching string ends on bedding and pillows and body parts (there is very little space in a 7.5 foot camper) this one doesn't. It even fits in the cupboard that only normally fits shirts, about 34 inches tall. It stays in tune, period.
It is quickly becoming my favorite guitar. For lugging it around for hours on end it is perfect it's so light. You can sling it around to your back and make yourself a sandwich whithout it getting in the way. It is, to me, a medium quality guitar, much better than a beginners guitar and much cheaper than a real steinberger while having all of the same attributes.
Better than a standard strat because the neck is not bolted on and not as good as a lespaul because the neck is not bound.
I would buy this again in a heartbeat, unless I could come up with the price of a steinberger and that's not gonna happen any time soon.
My preference would be a dual humbucker version because I seldomly use the center pickup.
After having this guitar for a short while I couldn't figure out why we aren't all playing something in this configuration. Why do we still buy guitars that look like teles and strats and lespauls. It has really changed my perception of what a guitar needs to be or to have. Every guitarist should live with one of these things for awhile and see if they don't get a great big grin on their face because of it.

You know the features if your reading this. The 40:1 tuners made me thing they would glide effortlessly but not the case. They can be kind of stiff. But I will get some teflon oil in there and that should do the trick. The bridge seems very dry right now. I'm not sure how old mine is and how long it's been in a warehouse as these seem to have taken a back seat to the Spirit models. I think it was money well spend (or it will be once I make the payments)and I'll get lots of use out of it.

I play rock/metal Lynch/EVH like stuff. I'm using this with a PODxt. Bought from Musicians Friend on a price match. Music Yo keeps running out of these. It's very quiet. It has a nice even balanced tone. I like the pickups and they will stay! I think this guitar can make most any sound. But it you like a very stong pick attack like hitting a metal tool shed in a gym with a 2x4 sound, this won't do that. I have my Srat with ceramic HB for that sound. Overall the sound is very nice. I can see why studio eng. like these guitars. The Swiss Army Knife of tones. Being an old school Floyd on a Strat with a humbucker guy I'm shocked I like this guitar as much as I do. I bought it to travel with, due to all the new airline stuff plus it's size.

All guitars need to be setup to your liking. How anyone can gripe about a new guitars set is beyond me. If your a guitar player and don't know how to do a set up that's like driving a car and not knowing how to put gas in it. An hour or two and I had it set up to where I like it. NOTE THE WRENCH FOR THE SADDLE HEIGHT IS THE WRONG SIZE FOR THE SADDLE LOCK SET SCREW!! It will work but not well and it will strip out!

No flaws, frets were in very good shape very level no buzz. Neck relief set to no clearance and all notes ring true. Did have some trouble intonating the D string for what ever reason? Anf the 24th fret notes did not intonate well either. I set mine at the 12 then spot check in the lower reg. and balance between them. But no biggy.
Tried to see it I have a coil tap on the tone know and pulled the tone knob off. Not sure if it's there or not. Was having too much fun playing it to care.

I really wish this had a 1-11/16 wide neck and some med-jumbo frets. IMO 1-11/16 should be standard width. 1-5/8 is the new narrow. Fret are med. IMO. No one else seems to have an issue with neck width.

I first descibe this guitar both sound and ergonomic as "transparent" it was funny only today to see Ned himself say the same thing on his website. This guitar does not get in your way. You don't feel like you fight with it. This is a Zen guitar, it flows well.

If they make a new Synapse with a trem I may have to pick one up. The Synapse I think has the wider neck. Again never in 100 years would I have saw myself playing one of these but this is starting to sell me. I think Ned was a bit ahead of his time but now times are changing.

This thing is a friggin' maple baseball bat. You could slay dragons with it and it would still play in tune. I think it will hold up well. NOTE: I play hard and wear frets out like no tomorrow. I opted to use some nickel wound GHS strings (google them up) instead of the La Bella or Steiny Stainless strings. I'm hard enough on frets as is I don't need more help destroying them. I bought this to take on biz trips but it is also becoming my main guitar for backing track do to it's quick detunes and even clear string response, it sounds great in tracks as heavy as Korn or Dime stuff. I still like my Floyd Strat though for solos and the obnoxious pick attack LOL. Being able to keep up my studies while travling was my main concern.

Not yet.

Been playing too long!