Steinberger GM4T

There is a design flaw in my opinion with Steinberger's use of a zero fret. The strings are not locked down close to the zero fret, but instead are locked down approximately 3/4" behind the zero fret. When you bend the string at any fret, the string always slides a little at teh zero fret as well. Over time, this small amount of sliding causes steep, narrow grooves to form on the zero-fret. This is especially true of lighter strings within the first several frets.

Statistically speaking, the zero fret wears down much faster than all the other frets. For example, imagine you do two string bends on each of the first 7 frets of the b string. The string would slide around and make 2 microscopic scrapes on each of the seven frets. However, since the string also slides a bit on the zero fret each time, it would get a total of 14 microscopic scrapes instead of just 2.

They've tried to compensate for this by providing channels for the strings to sit between in the 3/4" prior to the zero fret. This doesn't work well however because they are channels, not grooves. V-grooves will force contact with the string in two places. Parallel channels don't force contact, but just offer retaining walls for the string to slide up against. It doesn't take much motion (half a millimeter of slide will do it) to allow the strings to slide and eat away at the fret.

The irritating thing about these grooves is that they are very narrow, so as you bend a string at the 7th fret for instance, the string makes a tiny 'popping' sound when it jumps in and out of the groove. Additionally, the feeling under your fingers as it grinds away reminds me of someone scratching their fignernails on a chalkboard.

STEINBERGER: FIX THIS PROBLEM, its easy.
1) Create more of a downward angle for the string before the zero fret to create more downward force on the zero fret. Currently, there is very little downward force on the zero fret.
2) Run the strings through a V groove, instead of a parallel channel, which butts up against the zero fret and provides more lateral-movement resistance.

I have to rate this poorly. As the neck is made from synthetic materials (i believe fiberglass?), I doubt it is as easy to replace frets. The neck has great playability feel, but as soon as the zero-fret wire starts wearing down and making popping sounds and preventing smooth string bends, the guitar is basically a $1400 paperweight.

Customer support with MusicYo is weak.

I've been playing guitar for 12 years and own several electrics, acoustics, and basses.
I want the perfect guitar:
1) Flawless Zero Fret design (NO)
2) One which stays in tune (YES)
3) Fully adjustable bridge and saddles (YES)
4) No Trem, or one which stays in tune (Sort Of)
5) Excellent Sustain (YES)
6) Pickups which provide equal output strength for all strings (Sort Of)

I thought this guitar was it, it isn't. It has a good start, but execution and follow-up is poor. Only a customer focused company would have enough vision to 1) consistently play their own guitars to discover flaws like this and 2) solicit feedback from their customers.

1988 Steinberger GM4T. N.Y., USA Made.
24 frets
Solid Hard Maple Body
Volume, Tone, 5way switch
S/S/HB EMG SA/SA/85 Active Pickups
Original Steinberger Blend Composite Neck
Black with white binding
Strat style I guess
Trans-Trem Transposing Tremolo
Gigbag

I play in a bar band which plays approximatly a three and a half to four hour set list that covers songs from country to metal. And, I would have to say that this is in my experience probably the finest guitar for this scenario. I play through Boss GT-6 and a Fender solid state 100 watt half stack. Pretty simple setup. I previously used two guitars on stage (mainly for tuning purposes, one standard and one a whole step down). And, of course the trans trem eliminated the need for this. However, I do have to tune when I switch the trem...I don't use calibrated strings. This is not nearly as time comsuming as it would be on a regular guitar (Overall, about 30 to 60 seconds depending on how may beers). At any rate, the sound quality is in a word "veristal". You can play many styles of music. Also, the EMG 85's are great! I used to be a die hard EMG 81 guy. But, I've found that the 85's (and the construction of the instrument) are much richer and have eliminated all the feedback and noise issues I've had with the 81's. Now, the bad. The graphite neck resonates a lot. Sometimes too much. And, although this is good in most senarios, it can have a tendancy to be too bright and harsh. If your looking for a guitar that has a warm tone...look elsewhere. You could say they have an almost synthetic sound. But, that's not to say it is bad...just a little different.

I bought mine used off ebay. The previous owner, for the most part had it completely rebuilt. Refretted, refurbished bridge, new pots, new everything, professionally set up...you get the picture. Overall, he had put about $1,200 worth of work in it and believe me, it was worth every penny. This thing plays like a dream. Low, fast, and no buzz. The neck is straight and the action is beyond any other guitar I have owned or played for that matter. It is quite simply as near perfection as you can get...nuff said!

I'm from Minnesota. And, if you know anything about this part of the country, you know that the weather goes from one extreme to the other. I have had nightmares with my other guitar, especially in the summer when we play a lot of street dances, where after a couple of hours of playing (or just letting it sit for twenty minutes) the neck goes totally out of adjustment. This is definitly not the case with this guitar. I have not made any adjustments to this day. Very dependable guitar.

Haven't had any problems yet. Although, I've heard nightmares about Gibson's support. And, I'm sure someday I'll run into problems with part and service because the one I own is an 80's model. And, from what I understand some of the parts aren't interchangeable with the new ones.

I'm probably going to stick with this guitar for quite some time. It's versitile, durable, sounds great, and plays even better. Also, it's quite a conversation piece. It seems like every gig someone comes up to me (musicians included) and asks what's the deal with the missing headpiece. There are some drawbacks. Typically, your local music store doesn't carry double balled strings. And, good luck finding someone who works on these things. But, overall the positives out weigh the negatives. Additionally, the resale value seems to be quite high. They go pretty fast on ebay.

1988 Steinberger GM4T. N.Y., USA Made.
24 frets
Solid Hard Maple Body
Volume, Tone, 5way switch
S/S/HB EMG SA/SA/85 Active Pickups
Original Steinberger Blend Composite Neck
Strat shaped style body white with black binding
Trans-Trem Transposing Tremolo
Gigbag, Trem adjustment wrench, Steinberger sticker, Nylon logo strap, & cable included.

This guitar was used for various styles of music over the years. Country, Rock, Alternative, Jazz, Blues, Metal, Funk, R&B, Orchestras & Plays, & various other styles. I must admit though, that blues is the only style I tendeded to use other guitars as well. But I think that had more to do with the EMG's. I don't conceider them a very good pickup for blues. But work fine for Blues Rock music. When it comes to amps, you name it, I've uesed it. When I 1st bought this guitar, I used 2 Fender Blackface Twins for clean, 2 74' Marshall halfstacks for dirt leads (slightly delayed for more thickness in tone during leads, & A Mesa Boogie combo Mark4 Combined with a Howard Dumble Overdrive Special Half Stack for Dirty Rhythem. Obviously age factors in going lighter as you tire of lugging that kind of SHIT! around all the time. Today I Use a Line6 Pod Pro with a 74' Marshall Halfstack Or Just Direct for Dirt, & a BOSS SE-50 Mulit Effect Rack Direct to the board for all my clean playing. The Stien was always quiet. Good tone & Consistant.

Never did any adjustment after purchase for a least a year. By far the most comfortable guitar I have ever played on. Anything you do on it just seems effortless, & because of the scaled down body & headless design, It really opens you up on stage for mobility.

Has always been reliable. Even over the last 2years, needing a refret badly & with the bottom portion of the body cracking slowly across the body (due to being thrown across stage floors & flung to the ground because I'm an idiot & I guess I thought this was tank I was playing!) This continued to be my main guitar over all my other 10 guitars I had over this time. I would rather play around dead fret worn spots & Buzzing then play my other perfectly fine guitars instead.(Even over my PRS Custom & Custom Modified Fender Strat!)

Through all this, the Trans-Trem is still rockin! So are the EMG Pickups. Paint is solid other then where the crack is. Which is my fault, not Steinbergers. But even in its condition from years of my abuse, I would still perform a concert without a backup with it. In recent years, I have retired it for a MusicYo GM7SA Steinberger & just recently, A newer GLB-2S Steinberger. I will miss this guitar, but will use it again once I find someone I trust to refret it. Can't fix body since that would require repainting, & I don't want to lose some influencial signitures I have on it for sentamental reasons.

Support was great up until Gibson fully took over. Then Prices on parts & service rose conciederably! They did offer to replace my body during discussions because they said it should have held up, (even though I did not ask for them to do this, I was simply asking about replacement bodies & costs) but would not cut off the part with the autographs to send back to me. I would have had to give up the body completly. But of course this was before Gibson completely took over. After that they would not do it after I decieded to lose the autographs. I guess you could say it has charactor now. :-P
So My rating is for post Gibson-era & not Pre. Pre era to me would score & 12!!

I've been playing guitar for 20yrs now. Music for 25yrs. Own too much shit to list. I do wish I had bought more than one of them guitars over the years. But I basically replaced my retired GM with a new one since I put my Trans Trem on to the new guitar. I do kind of like the new neck better with its slenderer design. I love everything about these guitars, the only flaw & dislike I have is gibson running it has a intermidiate guitar line so it would not for-shadow the "Gibson"! line of guitars!. Which is why they, like fender as well, like to buy out competiton. I am sick of these guitarists who talk about "The Tone"!! Maybe if these so called guitarists ever performed some concerts & not some stupid bars & bedroom shows, they would realize that it all sounds the same through a huge concert system!! I never hear my amp on stage, only the monitor system speakers. So the bottom line should be comfort, feel, & looks. That is unless you truly have concern for how good the wood's tone is for your stupid 8x8 club stage or garage music room!

I played Steinbergers from 1987 to 1999. Overall I think I had maybe 9-10 differnt GM4Ts over that time period. The guitar were really great. I opted to replace the EMGs with passive pickups and 250k pots. The guitars have some great features and are really easy to play. I like the 24 frets and the 25.5 inch scale length. The transtrem is the best trem ever invented. These guitar are real great if you travel and can take the punishment of any environment or humidity level. Real winners...

The sound is modern and its versitle although it won't do everything. The composite material is great but it can be a little stiff sounding. You'll never really nail an "alderly woody" Strat tone out of it. The composite does restrain the sound a little bit and adds some compression. I like the steinberger sound for certain things but it will not do all sounds. I suppose that is a good thing... that means it has its wound character. A warm instrument it is not but there are some fantastic sounds in this guitar and it is in a league of its own.

These guitars are well made. Most of my GM4Ts were pre horror-show Gibson so I was lucky for the most part. So... the action, fit and finish category gets a solid 8

Here is where it all goes south. The Transtrem is made from a "cost-effective" material, zinc-oxide. It is a little better than "white-metal". The problem is that zinc oxide cannot with stand the lifetime of force that is exerted by the main (and only)trem spring. The end result for some owners will be a destroyed, cracked or otherwise non-functional Transtrem. I've seen many main spring blocks cracked and broken. That is something to consider when spending 1200 on a guitar that supposedly has a LIFETIME warranty. Although the guitars are really realiable the warranty, however, is not. Its kind of coincidental that Steinberger just reapperaed after a long period of dissapearance.

If you really want the lowdown on this email me.

I still like Steinberger Guitars but, I'm just wondering if the many folks out there with warped/twisted composite necks and cracked and split transtrems will get any kind of warranty from this newly ressurected Steinberger Guitar Company.

Mine was made in 1991, so it's not a pre-Gibson, but in that period Steinberger were not yet build in nashville. It features the Steingerger 24 Jumbo frets graphite neck (phenolic resin freatboard), s/s/h EMG active pu (2 SA and one 85), Trans-Trem bridge, 2 controls (volume and tone), 5-way selector and a solid strat style body (i think an alder one). The finish is a simple (and in my opinion not so good) clear red.
I think this guitar has got a lot of goodies an feature that makes it a unique and versatile one.
I didn't succed in tuning the Trans-Trem properly (to use the trasposing feature) but i've got it for only 2 weeks. However the bridge is grate and the strings are always in tune. A great feature is that you can lock it and use it as a not-movable one; when you need it you can use the lever, and when not, just put down the lever and it will automatically LOCK!

I think it sounds grate for fusion, pop, jazz, blues and rock. The humbucker at the bridge is powerfull and strong, giving grate basses and mid-high frequencies response. The center pu is grate for fusion, the neck one just blues!
The overrall tone of the guitar is very bright and resoluted, and the single coils are gratre for pop sounds.
However the guitar can make a grate variety of tones and with the help of some effects can sound as you want.
I'm planning to install a preamp booster on it to boost the neck SA pu, having a fatter distorsion and giving me the possibility of playin' also heavy rock with it

I've bought it used from a guy who didnt appreciate it and never setup it correctly, so i can't say. Now i'm slowly setting it up but surely i'd prefere to buy a new one.

The graphite is a strong and durable material so that the neck does not have a truss rodd and stands straight by itself.
I've heard the Trans-Trem is a little weak and if you force it too many times you risk to break it, but however my 91' transtrem still works grately and remain in tune perfectly, also when it's unlocked.
The finish seems to be good but (in my opinion) not so good...
Actually i think it's a very reliable and durable guitar

i don't really know, i've never dealed with Gibson, but the warranty is a lifetime one

I think it's a good guitar for playing jazz, fusion, blues and some rock, i think EGMs are very good and the graphite neck GREAT, i love it, it's a flash neck and the phenolic resin of the freatboard just feels sweetley!
I dont really like the distorted neck single coil sound.
So, if you want to play heavy metal or hard rock, i think you'd better buy a gm7ta or a gm7sa, with 2 splittable humbucker.
I think that this guitar with splittable EMG 89 at the neck and the brdge is "THE GUITAR". Without it's just a GREAT guitar:)

I have 2 steinberger gm4's. One is an original from the Newburgh factory with a trans trem and the EMG spx presence boost and the other is a new model gm4s from MusicYo.com.They both have the same pickup setup, both SA's and the 89 humbucker, the only diff is the older steiny has the eq active.

These guitars are certainly strange to the onlooker, but from a players standpoint... a gigging musicians standpoint...there is no equal. period. Both guitars sound unique..the older model from the Newburgh factory is a bit more transparent and liquid sounding. I think it has a few more sounds in it because of the active EQ, and I prefer it. The newer MusicYo Steiny I bought is the less expensive GM with EMG's. I didn't want to pay extra for the rans terem as I already have one. May upgrade to the SPX eq in the Yo. The Yo is fatter, more vintagey..somewhat bottomier, thicker and fuller. They definately sound different..those who thought the originals were sterile will like the musicyo's more traditional sound. I kind of like the original better in so much as the tone sings quite a bit more with distortion..almost unique to any other lead tone I've ever heard..fluty and violin like, less traditional.Less bluesy.More modern

Do not be afraid of the musicyo website, i got my guitar 2 days after I ordered it and it was mint. The neck feels so good. The newer guitars are definately warmer than the originals, thats because Moses Graphite is now making the necks and they changed the chemical mix to suit you vintage guys. Not a bad thing at all, the guitar still screams out!Pickups could have been put in better, they were tight into the body, had to loosen the set screw out and insert again to adjust both SA's, hence the 9.The shielding is awesome. I set action up as I like it anyway, but it was very playable outta da box.The action, once set will stay forever, c'mon, thats incredible. Just get one and don't analyze everything.

This guitar can withstand a scud missle. I have a backup, its a Steinberger.

musicyo was good to me, and I still order all kinds of stuff from them. They responded within a day of every email I ever had.

I have had every make guitar ever made, played 'em all. These guitars simply scream, stay in tune and sound unique to any wooden necked guitar in a good way. I like to play in tune more than anything. Its important, I play professionally and it doesn't look pro when you have to tune up after every song of the night. I wish I had 100 of them.

It has just what it needs. This is one of the newly announced USA models made in Nashville by Gibson in 2002. Mine has a flamed maple top on an alder body. The neck is a one piece graphite composite bolt-on with 24 frets and a headless design that uses double ball end strings. The bridge is Steinberger?s patented TransTrem that either floats or locks in one of 6 positions. It features active EMG SA and 85 pickups in a SSH configuration, a five way switch, and master volume and tone knobs. The graphite neck is stiff and incredibly resonant. It feels great in your hands and acoustically the whole thing pumps out the bass like a dreadnought. The feel of the guitar against your body is one of its strong points, with the size and balance being just right.

For quite a while, I have been a Fender Stratocaster guy, so that is my sound standard. The Steinberger is bright and clear and punchy, and after playing one for a while, a Strat sounds muddy and weak. There is less difference between the neck and middle pickup than I am used to on a Strat. The bridge pickup has lots of output and really crunches. The pickups are perfectly quiet, with no hum. A wide range of sounds are available, from jazz to country twang to smoky blues to shred, but expect to tweak your amps? settings. The interaction between the EMGs and your amp is much different from standard passive pickups and you will need to dial down the treble a bit. The combination of the stiff graphite neck and the active pickups makes for quite a different feel, so expect to adjust your touch a bit to get he sounds that you hear in your head.

Stunning high quality flamed maple top, beautiful amber finish, perfect fretwork on a perfectly set up neck. The TransTrem was perfectly adjusted right out of the box.

A very tough guitar. It arrived, after FedEx overnight, perfectly in tune. These things are famous for this.

It is a little disappointing that it arrived from the factory / store with absolutely zero documentation, no instructions on TransTrem tuning or adjustment, no warranty card, no tools, nada, nothing! However, an email to MusicYo was answered within a day promising the appropriate tool, so that is good.

I have been playing for more than 30 years. My recent favorites for electric guitars have been Fender Strats and various PRS. But this guitar shouldn't be compared to those old-fashioned standards. A Steinberger just is what it is. There is really nothing else like it, so if you like the style and the idea you will love the execution. I think that the guitar compares in fit and finish to much higher priced guitars from Gibson and PRS, so the price ends up being pretty reasonable. You would need to spend a lot more money to get a comparable guitar new from any other manufacturer, and of course none of those guitars would have the super high tech graphite neck, TransTrem, and EMGs.

This is hands down the most innovative guitar ever made. Made in the US Nashville factory, this Steinberger has all of the specs of the original Steinberger GM4T made in New York. Steinberger blend carbon graphite/fiberglass/kevlar composite neck sealed in epoxy. No headstock, 24 frets, TransTremelo, EMG active pickups (SA/SA/85), black finish (no binding), strat-style body, 25.5" scale, fairly flat radius, and the neck isn't a baseball bat. Body is wood and the TransTrem can do 6 different tunings. It has a 5-way selector switch, 1 volume, and 1 tone knob. I got the Steinberger gig bag and the whammy bar with it as well.

First of all, my favorite sound for a guitar, as far as the pureness and sweetness of tone, is a Fender Stratocaster. I bought this guitar however to play hotter leads and have a wild tremelo that you could rip off the guitar and it wouldn't go out of tune (I'm kidding, but not by much). I also wanted it because it had 24 frets. That being said, it looked like a great guitar for playing heavy metal lead stuff like Steve Vai. Well, as far as good lead tones go, the guitar is great. I can get so many sounds from the pickups using just a combination of different amounts of gain and different EQ settings. I plan on adding the mid-boost control to fatten it up even more, but it sounds great as it is. Now for the clean tones...excellent in my opinion. They are much different than anything I have ever heard. Super clean, clear, sparkling. The sound is brighter than a strat with the tone up all the way, but the clean tones can come in really hand for getting sounds that are crystal clear and original. As with most active pickups, you can get a fair amount of string noise -- need to be careful with the EQ to avoid too much noise in this area. I wouldn't say this is the greatest guitar for all styles, but then again, why in the hell would jazz guitarists need a transtrem? But for heavy metal, rock, exotic blues, and I would even say you could do some decent country, this would be a really nice guitar (Think David Gilmour and Allan Holdsworth). EMG makes a really nice, unique product, and offers endless variability with all of their electronic options. If you are playing straight up heavy metal or rock, I give the sound a 10 because I don't think you can beat it. For covering all styles of music, I would give it a 6-7 type score, probably closer to 7.

I received the guitar used and it was setup fairly well. I worked on it a little bit, and was able to get it even better. It is usually agreed that all American made Steinberger guitars play really well. This one is no exception. With the neck being made from a graphite composite, the guitar is super solid, straight, and requires very few adjustments once you set it up right. The action is really low, and it could even go lower if I had the frets leveled and crowned. The strings are easy to bend and fret, and another cool thing is that they don't rest on a metal saddle on the bridge end, but rather glide through a pulley, reducing that point of friction. The volume knob is a little noisy and the G string slips out of the nut when you do a bend around the second fret (does not go out of tune however). But know that this is a used guitar and I doubt these problems existed when it was purchased new. These are fairly easy repairs anyhow. Guitar had a lot of many hairline scratches that are only visible in a lot of light. But again, it is a used guitar and nothing you couldn't almost buff out completely. Awesome playability is the bottom line. You have the easiest access all the way up to the 24th fret.

Ned Steinberger first amazed everyone with his design by showing the durability and great construction of these instruments. It is said that he repeatedly dropped one of them on the floor at a musical product convention, only to pick it up every time and show that it remaained perfectly in tune. The graphite neck is my favorite part of the guitar, and I think they even claim that it is stronger than steel. The body on this model is wood, but it is not customary for me accidentally "break off a horn" on my guitars or anything like that. I would play this guitar anywhere without a backup. I'll give it a 9 just because the body on this model isnt made out of graphite as well (however you can get this in the GL model).

No idea, never dealt with them. Gibson makes Steinberger now, and the factory is currently shut down.

I have been playing for five years and Steinberger are the best playing guitars I have seen. They also have the greatest consistency in playability since the neck is graphite and perfectly straight. I would definately get another one if something happened to this one, but I don't know if I could afford it. I was extremely lucky to get this one at such a cheap price, considering that Gibson put list price on these guitars somewhere around $3500 before they closed Steinberger down. I like the overall sweet sound on a Strat better, but for hot leads and screaming solos, this is the guitar. Excellent stage guitar because it is light, small, and easy to play. I considered several types of "heavy metal" style guitars before choosing this one, and I am convinced that nothing compares to Steinberger. I have to give the guitar an overall 10 because I think these are a milestone for the innovation and development of guitars in general. Feel free to email me and ask any questions you may have, or even to share your thoughts or information.

Mid-80's(pre-Gibson)MADE IN THE USA,I custom laminated the top with carbon-graphite,Has original neck (still straight).I got it used and the prior owner opted to remove the Emg's(I couldn't handle that!!!)so I installed a new set Of EMG's (SA/SA/89).The 89 humbucker is pretty much the same as the original 85 but with splitting capabilities.I also replaced the volume pot with another switch pot(like the one that comes with the 89)and used it to switch between 9 and 18 volts(two batteries hooked in series)Trans-trem....nuf said. Has Steinberger gig bag(fits like a glove)

When I got it ,it had been played hard and put up wet.Now that it's revamped,it doesn't get any better.Very quiet(except when voltage switching)It can have a loud pop.Using different voltages through the Emg's,and being able to split the humbucker gives a wide range of tone possibilities.I hated the noizy Duncans that where in it.I mostly play through a Rocktron Voodoo Valve with an ART mutiverb in the effects loop into a Rocktron 250 stereo power amp,and use Crate speaker cabs.I give it a 9 because I don't like load pops.

Being used and thrashed on a little,It played excellent.Only need slight adjustment to make perfect.The top was cratched pretty bad,but I took care of that.Aside frome body damage NONE of the metal parts where rusty or corroded and barely worn.Do I need to mention the pickups?

This thing will withstand just about anything(ask my kids)Since I got it set up like I wanted ,you will not find any other type of guitar in my house(as far as electrics go anyway)I would use it without a backup,even if I was playing a gig in the rain.

never tried,Gibson doesn't seem to care to much about a guitar thats better than anything they have come up with.

Ive been playing for about 15 years and have had many different guitars.I've alway's wanted a steinberger but never got around to getting one until lately.It's everything I knew it would be and more.There is one problem ,prices have sky rocketed,you may get lucky and find one under a grand.Buying a new one is out of the question(for me anyway)