Steinberger M-Series

This is an origanal body with an early 90's neck and an standard tremolo

the sound is great. I use an EMG 81 near the bridge. It has a very high active output and is very quiet.

It Definatly gets a 10 for the action because this and the 3 other steinbergers that I have played on are the best playing guitars that I have ever played. I give it an 8 for the finish because there are a couple of runs in the finish on the back of the guitar.

NOTHING can take as much abuse as these things can and still stay in tune and play great

never delt with them

I have been playing for about 4 years and I havnt ever played a guitar better than this one. these are no question technicly the best guitars ever made. If mine was stolen I would buy another but I would get one with a trans trem. If you have a steinberger you will never have to mess with the truss rod and It will never go out of tune

This is an early 90's Nashville made Steinberger GM with transtrem. It's got two humbuckers. I replaced the EMG's with a Dimarzio Tone Zone in the bridge position and an Air Norton in the Neck. I replaced the stock 3-way switch with a Dimarzio 3-way switch that splits the humbuckers coils on each humbucker so that only the inner coil is turned on on each pickup. It sounds good. I believe this guitar has an alder body which I find to be warmer and punchier sounding than the old New York solid maple body M series guitars. I also really like the rounded body edges and the angled lower profile neck joint which gives superb access to the upper frets. This guitar is by far the best sounding berger I have played (I've owned three over the past 7 years) and this is my personal favorite guitar. I play guitar in a progressive metal band. This guitar delivers all the goods. The neck is great, it's kinda fat and has the long scale length of a fender but with narrower string spacing which makes it comfy to my hands. I wouldn't trad this guitar for anything else out there right now. The best thing about this guitar is that once you set it up the way you want it you pretty much don't have to touch it again. Since there is no truss rod, the climate changes don't affect the graphite neck. The Transtrem absolutely rocks and changing strings is a breeze. I can change all six strings and have it tuned and ready to go in 10 minutes or less thanks to the double ball end string design.

I play this axe through a Mesa Boogie Triaxis/2:90 amp, Boss VF1 effects processor and two Rectifer 4X12 cabs and it rocks my world!

The action and intonation are easy to set up. The finish is basic. There are some minor flaws in the finish but nothing that affects the playability. I hate the crappy cold sounding EMG pickups so I replaced them with Dimarzios as I mentioned earlier.

This guitar has been dropped from my shoulder to a hardwood floor in the padded gig bag which doesn't offer much protection. I took the guitar out of the case and struck an E chord and it was still in tune and there wasn't a mark in the finish. Need I say more...they are durable!

Never had to deal with customer support but am very sad that Gibson isn't doing anything with Steinberger. It appears they've flushed the Steinberger line down the toilet and that's too bad because these are excellent guitars.

It's a pre-gibson Red M-Series from the late eighties. 24 fret "Steinberger Blend" neck, which is a special graphite compostie. It's REALLY smooth and plays wonderfully. It has a S/S/H config with EMG active pickups (SA/SA/85). 1 vol, 1 tone, 5 way switch. The bridge, of course, is what's really great about this guitar. The Steinberger Trans-Trem bridge is definitely the coolest innovation in guitars since the Bigsby Tremolo. It can lock in tune in E, D, C, B, F#, or G. And it whammy's in tune!! I love this guitar.

I really like the EMG's. They're very quiet and you can get a large variety of sounds with this pickup combo. I'm goin to throw in an SPC and an EXG circuit a la David Gilmour to give me a few more tonal options, but other than that, this guitar is perfect as it is.

I had to set up the trans-trem so it would be in tune when i locked it in the other positions. After hearing from numerous guitar techs that this was not an easy tasks (And that i might be charged almost $70 for a setup) i was anxious to see how it would go. I was pleasantly surprised. My friend on IRC had talked with Ned Steinberger over email and found out the right way to set it up and it turned out to be quite easy and took less than an hour. The action and intonation were close to perfect when i got it and i had to make only a few minor adjustments to even it out and get rid of a little buzz. There is, of course, no truss rod since the neck is perfectly straight and will stay that way thanks to its graphite construction. The guitar itself was in mint condition and I was thrilled to get such a good deal on a pre-gibson steinberger. I've seen the same guitar on the web (from a certain web site whose guitars are "world class" ;-) ) going for over $1200.

Steinberger is known for it's portablility and durability. You could hit the neck over your leg with all of your might and you'd probably break your leg, leaving the neck still perfectly straight and unharmed. It stays in tune forever and the strings, since there's no pull from a headstock, seem never to break.

Gibson won't help you at all, but Ned Steinberger is a really nice guy who will get back to you quickly if you email him. I'm sure any problem i have with this guitar will be an easy fix anyway since it's built so solid.

I own a few other guitars and I'll probably sell most of them now. I'll be happy with this and a hollow body jazz guitar of sometime. I play a lot of different musical styles and this suits them all. If you're wondering I play guitar->ADA Flanger->Crybaby->Mesa/Boogie Subway Rocket. I'd buy this guitar again, and probably for a lot more than i paid for it.

1989 White 24 Fret Trans-Trem Steinberger M-Series guitar, made in america. It was made before the Gibson buyout of Steinberger, I'm not sure how the quality is these days. The model I've got has three EMG Gold Active pickups, a single neck, a single middle and a humbucking bridge pickup. The neck is made from the famous "Steinberger Blend" graphite space-age polymer. The tuners are the custom Trans-Trem bridge, tuned at the back of the guitar with rollers. I bought it with a gig bag and strap locks for $900 in 1991.

Well, for sound, you either love it or hate it. I'm sort of in the "I'll put it away for a while" mode right now, gravitating toward more "wooden" tones of my Tele and SG, but if you want a consistent "bell" tone, you can easily get it. I find the tone through my Super Reverb amp (w/o pedals) pretty clinical and dated. It sounds like an 80's guitar, but with a few pedals and some distortion, I'm in love again. The sound is very clear and bright. I don't recall any noise. For tremelo bar antics, I would not choose ANYTHING else. The Trans-Trem Tremelo is the ultimate. I've never played anything so perfect, and it stays in tune, no matter what I do to it. Be aware though, that the range of the tremelo is not as full as some others -- meaning, you can't push the bar down and have the strings hanging to your knees, but I'm not into that anyway.

I don't know about how it was set up at the factory, I bought mine from an individual, but it was perfect when I got it, and haven't had to change it since. The pickups sound even and balanced, but oddly enough, I think my pickup switch is backwards. In the forward position, it selects the bridge pickup and in the back position, it selects the neck pickup. I don't know if this is standard, or a fluke. I'm used to it now though, and have no problem dealing with it. The finish is great, no flaws whatsoever other than a few belt-scratches on the back of the guitar, no big deal. The Trans-Trem takes some getting used to setting up with new strings. Not only do you have to buy double-ball-ended strings, but for them to work their best with the Trans Trem, you need specially calibrated double-ball-ended strings, which can be difficult to find sometimes. I have the papers to set up the tremelo if anyone out there needs them, email me. Once it is set up though, there is nothing finer.

This guitar was built for live playing. Although I use it as a backup these days, I often find myself playing better when I use it. I play better, faster and stronger with my Steinberger, and I rarely break a string. I've only had a problem a couple of times wondering why my guitar wasn't making any sound, and then remembering I have active pickups and had to replace the battery! The pickup selector knob also fell off once, no biggie. I did have a screw break on my high e string at the tuner. I didn't play the Steinberger for a year until I got in touch with the guys at Gibson who dealt with Steinbergers. They were VERY helpful once I found out who to talk to. The sent me the replacement high E roller and screw and I was able to fix the guitar in about half an hour. I would definitely use this guitar without a backup, but I would bring extra strings just in case. Changing strings is a breeze, unless you need to set up the Trans-Trem to transpose. By this I mean, you can use the Trans-Trem as a regular tremelo, but if you want to Transpose into another key, up or down, you must set up the tremelo correctly to be in tune. Gibson also sent me a little tool to help setting up the tremelo. If you just need to put a new string on and start jamming again, you can do it in 30 seconds - EASY!!! 7 years into owning this guitar, and the finish has not worn at all. I'll have to give this guitar a 9 though because of the screw problem I had.

After a year of trying to track down Steinberger and then finding them at Gibson, I was extremely frustrated. I explained to the tech guys at Gibson what had happened, and they sent me the wrong part! They first sent me a tuner for a Steinberger Bass. I called them back the next day, and they 2 day shipped me the correct part and apologized. I can't remember the names of the people I dealt with, but they were great once I tracked them down. I didn't have the warranty, but they sent me the part for free anyway. I wish they were easier to track down, but they were very friendly once I talked to them. One major problem you may have to deal with when trying to fix one of these is that your local guitar shop probably can't do any better than you can trying to get parts for it. You are better off calling Gibson. I'll give them an 8 for being hard to find, but realize that they are great when you get through.

My overall rating on this guitar is a 9. I love it and will never sell it. I would probably buy a Parker if this ever got destroyed, but eventually, I would have to have a Steinberger again for the tremelo. I love the play and feel of this instrument. It's very unique and fits me perfectly. I hated the Steinbergers without bodies. This one was designed by Mike Rutherford of Genesis, who is kind of tall, and couldn't do much with the little Steinberger. I'm tall as well, and instantly took to it. The tremelo is my favorite feature. I hate that strings and repairs are kind of a bitch to track down sometimes, but it's worth it. It's a very unique instrument like my Tele and SG. Each has its own application and fortes. I bought it because I was, and I emphasize was, a huge Genesis fan. I saw Rutherford playing it and loved his smooth tremelo and had to have it. I also saw David Gilmour playing this model, and was sold immediately. He used this through a Boss Heavy Metal Pedal, a GK and a Fender amp for "Sorrow" on "A Momentary Lapse Of Reason." Try this guitar with that pedal, and you have got that tone. If you are at all curious as to why Eddie Van Halen, David Gilmour, David Rhodes, Mike Rutherford, Daryl Stuermer, Lou Reed, Alan Holdsworth, and Reeves Gabriels play(ed) Steinbergers, you owe it to yourself to try one out.