Steinberger GM4S

2003 MusicYo/USA Steinberger, with Moses graphite neck, alder body, EMG SA/SA/85 standard pickup configuration, Steinberger S-Trem, in black. Tuning is excellent; you will not find a more stable tuning system. The trem is decent; I don't think it's really meant from crazy whammy-bar type actions, but I don't do too much of that myself. The neck is fat, the fretboard is not all that wide, string spacing is relatively small. (Check MusicYo for exact spec.) Case was included.

I do not like the tone of the EMG SA's, but I knew this before I bought the guitar. I'm going to swap them out for DiMarzio FastTrack and ProTrack pickups... the SA's are VERY thin sounding, and really are meant to shine through large multi-processor effects setups. Actually, through my modded tubescreamer, it sounds prety decent. The EMG-85 sounds pretty good. The real measure of tone, in my opinion, is how the guitar sounds unplugged; that is the true measure of it's potential (after all, pickups can be swapped). In this aspect, the guitar really shines; very balanced tone, warm, not too bassy. Treble is a little weaker than the mids and bass, but there is decent presence. I'm going to give the sound a 7, since I hate the EMG's, but love the unplugged sound.

Set up was very high; will definitely need to lower it. Pickups are just the right height. The bridge and pickups are routed well, and generally, I'm happy with the fit and finish. But the paint job looks average at best; nothing to write home about. There are little things here and there that imply a not-quite-complete attention to detail; the action on the volume/tone knobs is not smooth, the pickup routing is not finished really well, and the electronics cover on the back is not mounted flush. Little things, but things to note none-the-less. The premium you're paying for this instrument is mostly for the parts, not necessarily the labor and quality control. Not to say that MusicYo did a terrible job; it's just more along the lines of what you'd expect from a $400 guitar, not an $1100 guitar.

The guitar seems extremely durable. The Carbon-fiber composite next looks very solid, and the hardware inspires confidence. I have, however, read of Steinberger owners who owned the originals from the late 80's and early 90's, saying the trems tended to crack. No way to really verify this; this is my second Steinberger (I sold a MusicYo GM-7SA after owning it for a year), and I've had no problems. Do some research if you plan to buy.

I have dealt with them by phone before I bought my GM-7SA, and the person I talked to was extremely helpful (I had called to find out if their maple tops were flamed or quilted; their website just says "figured"). I have also been in contact with them via e-mail, and once again, they were very helpful. I personally have never had any problems with them.

I've played for ten years now (man I'm getting old), and I've owned alot of gear: Fenders, Carvins, Ibanez, Brian Moore, Parker, etc. I currently own a couple of Carvins, an Ibanez Saber w/Dimarzio's, a Boogie, a Fender Deluxe Reverb, and a bunch of other odds and ends. Compared to the other guitars I've owned, unplugged, my Steinberger is as good or better than any of them. I'm eager to hear what the guitar sounds like with DiMarzio's... they completely transformed the sound of my Ibanez. I'm just not a big fan of EMG's; I bought the guitar for looks, true tone of the guitar, and the S-Trem bridge. If the guitar were stolen, I'd be distraught. Once I could afford to, I would replace it. For those who are unhappy with the tone of your guitars, definitely look into replacing the pickups; they can make a HUGE difference. Just be careful to really do your research.

Covered below, nothing to add.
For more details you can visit www.musicyo.com

I give it a 9 because you can definitely cram lots of other features on there... BUT I don't need any other features than this guitar offers :)

It sounds very good! The active EMGs have a lot of power and definition, even on heavily distorted sounds. The character of the tone is very sterile, I think the graphite neck in combination with the EMGs are responsible for that. You can either like it or hate it... I know I LOVE it!

I give it a 9 because you can definitely buy a better sounding guitar for 10,000 dollars right? :)

Beautiful finish, really breathtaking. Intonation wat set-up right, the action way to high for me, I like to have the lowest action possible for smooth legato playing and I think most Steinberger players would like that :)

I give it an 8, fix that action musicyo!

Don't know... I'm very carefull of my guitars, especially this one. It looks and feels quite reliable though.

Don't know, never needed them.

I've been playing for about 6.5 years now, besides this guitar my other main axe is a Peavey Wolfgang.

I love this guitar! I heard some people talking shit about musicyo and I must honestly say I had my doubts too ( see first post on this site :S ) but really, this is totally NOT TRUE! I played 3 "old" USA Steinies before I bought this guitar and it sounds almost exactly the same and it looks and feels just as good!!!

So if you're thinking about buying a cool looking legato monster, look no further, order it at musicyo :D ( no I'm not a musicyo salesman :P )

See MusicYo for Feature specifics: Solid body, headless, 1 humbucker, 2 single coil

The design is well thought out, modern, high quality, and attractive.

25.5" scale, graphite neck

Sound is excellent. I play somewhere between Alice in Chains and Lynyrd Skynyrd. It handles those styles very well.

Everything came in good order. Took it out of the case, tuned it a little, and play it every night.

This looks like a very solid design. All hardware is black metal, strong, well-engineered trem system, excellent to have no nut.

I haven't had any problems with the guitar...so no customer support on this. However, I have tried to deal with them in the past to ask questions and such about the guitar. Their support team is a group of monkeys that sit behind desks and respond to e-mails inbetween smoke breaks. Gibson hasn't figured out that this is their best guitar, and to treat it as such.

I dislike very much not having a number available to call and only dealing with e-mail. I debated long and hard about buying this guitar just because of the poor, sluggish, incompetent interaction I've had with them in the past. But, the Steinberger is one of a kind...so you've got to get it through MusicYo and Gibson.

This is by far the best guitar I've played. I am a mechanical engineer by trade and I love the way this thing is designed.
The best features are:
1) No head and no Tuning Kobs to Bang Into
2) A Zero Fret...wonderful...all action is exactly the same for all sizes,gauges of strings (not one tension at open/nut and another at frets like other guitars)
3) The guitar stays in tun like no other. The tuners are direct pull--almost no leverage and a very even gear ratio. This means great fine-tuning and no accidental turns of the tuning knob.
4) The trem is locking and works very well. I typically don't use a trem, but this is truely a case where one can have a trem or no trem with it locked out.

The guitar is well balanced also and the action is silky smooth on the graphite neck.

The only negative about the guitar is that you can only select from a couple of string manufacturers and types of strings...unless you get an adapter to use regular strings.



My other comparisons that I've owned are a Parker Fly Deluxe (Sold it) and a Godin LGX-SA which I still own(Beautiful guitar...I only wish it was headless and I wouldn't have purchased the Steinberger).

If you want the best engineered guitar with high output and wonderful sound, then this is the guitar for you. If you are a retro kind of person who loves classic/vintage sounds then I'd stay away.

I've noticed a lot of technology hype in recent years with guitars and effects. Many times newer is not better but this is not one of those times. This guitar is an absolute jump in technology that will give you the very best instrument possible for your art. If the music sounds poor, it isn't the guitar.

2003 model made in "USA" (but not really) the body is made in japan and most of the hardware is offshore as well

24 frets (Dunlop but the fretwork appeared to have been done by a monkey)

Beautiful flame maple top. really stunning to look at.

EMG active Pickups: S-S-H no coil tap

Steinberger S-Trem (thing works great)

Huge graphite neck.

The case was lame, no tools included, no documentation, no nothing.

Good lord this guitar sounds like ass. I like all kinds of music but unless I plan on torturing small mamals then the pickups have got to go. The worst sounding guitar I've owned in 20 years by far and away. You could get better sounds out of a blender.

Think of any good description for a guitar sound and this thing makes none of them.

The top and finish are nice. The neck is a lot bulkier than I thought it would be. They are weird: the neck is super fat but skinny so your fingers get squashed into small spaces and theres not a lot of room to move around. The strings at the bridge and nut are really close together. moreso than on any other guitar I've ever played. The action was set up badly (from most people's point of view) and it doesn't get much better after tweaking it. Luckily for me I like really, really high and stiff action. I was afraid the action would be really low and buttery like the sissy boys like to use.

I don't know.

From what I hear MusicYo is a joke. Luckily there is a good website out ther called steinbergerworld.com and they have a yahoo message board. why provide customer support when you have guys willing to work for free right?

been playing 20 years, I own other guitars including a strat les paul and some others

I wish I had asked if this guitar had been one that somebody else had returned because it came with none of the stuff you'd expect and it was covered in greasy finger prints

if it was lost I'd not bother with another. they;re not that great plus they cost a lot.

I hate the sound and I like the looks

for 1200 you should be getting a lot more than this in my opinion.