Hohner GT-2

Bought this guitar some time back in the 80's. 2 EMG type hum buckers, 24 frets and no headstock. Minimal controls, volume, tone and puckup selector.
And that weird Steinberger locking tremlo

I've played all kinds of music from thrash to modern gospel rock. Seems to handle most without any problems. It all comes down to if you like humbuckers or single coils. I like a fat warm sound so I it's fine by me. Playing at about 12th fret on the nick pickup, bit of drive gives a wonderful bluesey sound.
The only big hastle is that the pickups can cause microphoning squeels at very (very) high volumes. Apparently getting the pickups potted cures this, but I just got used to not adjusting the amp mid song.

I can not stress how easy this guitar is to play. It has a comfortable neck and a low action, which encourages shredding. The body allows easy access all the way up to the 24th fret without dislocating your thumb. The tremlo (when I used it) worked very well allowing string falling of the neck dive bombs, before snapping back in tune.

12 of the last 20 years involved it being bounced and thrown round various stages. It's survived pretty well with a few dings and scratched. The finish hasn't shown signs of wear. The neck is due for a refret as some are getting dangerously low. In recent years the tremlo master tuner has shown signs of not being able to tighten enough to balance the strings but as I normally lock it, this isn't a problem. (I guess a couple of washers packing will fix this).
The volume has also just started crackling.
After 20 years with no repairs or service, this isn't bad.

Never needed anything

I've played this guitar, pretty much daily for 20 years and it's never let me down. Ever so often, I have to dig out the Les Paul to remind myself how remarkable easy this guitar is to play.

A far-eastern 24 fret headless affair, with EMG pickups HSH and a Steinberger copy floating trem. I bought this 8 years ago after wandering into a guitar shop an picking up a 'Vito Bratta' original Steinberger. Shit that thing was heavy, but it sounded sweet. The tone he got on "Little Fighter" was reason enough for me to want one, but I didn't have two grand handy. So, the next best thing was a cheap copy with all of the features of his monumental machine...

Good grief, these EMG pickups totally suck cock!!! My brother's Ibanez RG550 made the Hohner look like a kid's toy, and apart from the transposing trem and light body I regretted buying this almost straight away. I wish I had the time to change the pots and perhaps slip in a better bridge pickup, but it all went wrong shortly after I bought it.

If only it played like it felt. The action was beautifully low, I could reach every fret with ease and it looked amazing. Apart from the crappy sound it looked and felt perfect from day 1.

The first thing that went wrong was the neck pickup. Somehow it kept working its way back into the body, and as I was inexperienced I kept taking it back to the shop. They'd fix it and it would go wrong weeks later. Then I noticed that the bridge pickup was also out of line. Shortly after, the pots started flopping around - this didn't degrade the sound, but it felt crap. Finally the trem started moving forward until I couldn't get a decent E tuning and I threw it in the bin. Worst guitar ever.

The shop tried fixing the trem and sorting out the pickups under warranty, but never succeeded. Later I bought an Ibanez, and they have had no problems sorting out it's minor problems. The Hohner was just crap.

I have been playing an Ibanez for about 8 years, and although the action is only marginally better than the Hohner, the GT was worse in every meaningful way. I'm not bitter though, because I know a guy who has had one of these for 5 years and apart from the thin sound his is ok. That's why I'm going to buy a Steinberger Spirit GU-7R Custom - I can't get two bad ones in a row. I loved the body and the action was great. Changing strings was a breeze. I'm going to rip out the EMG's and put in DiMarzios, I'll also change the pots for 1Meg ones and I'm sure it'll be a beauty.

It's hard to rate this guitar overall. Mine was a piece of crap, so I'd give it a 2. My pal's was very good, so perhaps an 8. Overall, a 5 and I can't be fairer than that.