Steinberger Spirit GT Pro

Who writes all these good things about this guitar?? I have bought one, and it is built like crap! And in my opinion it is too expensive for european customers. I should have bought one in the states!

Basically a wood-body (as opposed to space-age plastic body) Steinberger. Headless Steinie design (double-ball end strings), 3 pickups (H-S-H), tremolo that LOCKS (nice touch). Pots and switches are good, fine-tuners a little stiff and touchy.

Not bad--GREAT for the money. Pickups are Select (budget EMGs)--passive. Single pickup sounds are pretty good, blended pickup sounds less convincing (positions 2 and 4 on the 5-way selector won't make you want to sell your strat). Excellent sustain, very even response. A little thin, not terribly warm, but more than acceptable.

Again, great for the money. One high fret (buzzes), but otherwise quite good fret work. Very staight, true neck. Arrived with good setup, exemplary finish.

Very solid feeling, stays in tune quite well. Well built. Easily gig worthy.

Purchased through musicyo.com, an internet music company. While I'm still not sold on internet commerce, this is currently the only way to purchase this guitar. I must admit, I'm impressed--the instument was packed well and shipped promptly. A minor problem with ordering strings was handled quickly. While they claim to do everything online, they did offer phone support when I had the string problem (good for them!)

It's nice to have a cheap guitar around that desn't feel and play cheap. It won't make me forget any of my (substantially) pricier instruments but, for the money, it's a steal--vastly better than flimsy asian knockoffs that typically dominate this price catergory. If you need a spare guitar, something you're not afraid to leave in the car or throw over your shoulder when you go teach lessons, or a travel guitar (remember--it's a 25 1/2" scale, even if its overall length is just over 30"), you just can't beat this. Very pleased.

24 Fret Korean made headless guitar with EMG-Select pups and an EMG select single coil between, licensed Steinberger tremolo, 5 position switch, knee stand, and an amateurish black finish. The guitar came with a gig bag, trem bar, tools, and documents. I also picked up a case, and the string adapter so I can use conventional strings. I needed a travel instrument, perhaps I was in error.

This item sounded terribly for the money. I cannot for the life of me understand why they put the single coil in, except to fill I the area between the pickups, and add some price to the final cost of the guitar. Without the proper wood density, the pickups would need to take up the slack, however with the weak EMG select pickups the sound was dead and lifeless. However, due to my 30 years of playing ability and guitar technology, I replaced the pickups with some real hot humbuckers and a Bill Lawrence single coil. Properly set up the guitar and NOW for the money it isn?t a bad string stick

This guitar was set up terribly, the intonation was out and the guitar just played poorly. Nothing seems to fit correctly, the paint reflects the quality of the rest of the product. When it arrived the playability was substandard, but I was able to correct all of its shortcomings.

haven?t possessed it long enough to justify an opinion. However given the quality of what I can see I?m not going to test it?s durability.

Here is where it gets scary. I thought that I was dealing with a reputable company. However it seems that the only way to correct issues is by e-mail. If you have problems with this, do yourself a favor, don?t buy. I was shipped the wrong color item, I tried to get this rectified, however I would have to wait for the item that I had purchased to be returned to them, or place another order. And wait until they send me the wrong item again? I have never had such poor service in my life. And I have purchased well over 30 guitars in my life

Caveat Emptor ! I have not referred to this item as an instrument. IT IS NOT. It is a POOR representation, or better yet a kit to build an instrument. It suits its purpose as a travel item. However that is its only strong point. The company needs some development in the service end of the business. If ya need a travel companion, in a kit form, and you don?t care if you get the right color. This is the item for you.

2000 model; made in Korea; 24-fret scale; solid body neck-thru; Maple neck w/Rosewood fretboard; 5-way selector; Double-ball string system; HSH EMG Selects; Steinberger R-Trem.; Standard Gig bag.

For the money, you can't go wrong on this one. Forget about the 80's stigma of this guitar. It can hang with any of today's pricier "guitars de jour", like the PRS. I was a bit skeptical of a Korean-made axe but was pleasantly suprised once I played it. Every review I've read says the passive EMG Selects could be hotter but I think they sound great as-is. The active pickups I've played in the past tend to be "hummy" when not played forcing the use of some kind of noise gate. Not so with the Selects. I play it thru a set of Rockman Rockmodules and quite honestly I'm absolutely pleased with the sound I get. If the intonation is set up right it has impressive sustain. The bridge p/u has quite a range from sparkly Strat-esque to chunky grunge due largely to the wide tone control range. The neck p/u does a fine job for blues or jazz stuff. Mix in the reversed phased single-coil on either and you've just about got all your bases covered. I looked at my Jackson Soloists and said, "Boys, you've got competition!".

When I got it from MusicYo.com, I had to due minimal setup work (slight intonation and action adjustments). It came stock with the double-ball MusicYo strings. Here's a tip: splurge and get the single-ball string adapter that lets you use regular strings. The stock strings are pieces of crap. If you absolutely have to have double-ball strings, D'Addario DSXL110's (high E = .010) are available at Musiciansfriend.com or try your local store. The neck is a little thicker than I'm used to, coming from playing mostly Jackson Soloists but the action is just about right. You also have eyeball where the frets are when playing. Not having a peghead in your peripheral vision as a reference is a little disorienting but with practice this fades away. The R-trem will make you think "Why doesn't everyone do it this way?". Unlike a Floyd Rose, it's a non-locking design with the same, if not better, performance. Forget about the dinky springs associated with a Floyd Rose. This thing has a single spring that could have come from an off-road suspension system! When used, the spring is compressed rather than stretched which means more accurate returns to center and longer spring life. Plus the fact that you can lock the trem in a "neutral" position allowing non-trem stop-tail playing as with a Les Paul gives it that much more flexibility. My only gripe is with the lower trem arm hole (the trem has 2 - upper and lower). The arm doesn't snug in and will actually fall out if it swings enough. This may be a one-time flaw and not indicative of the unit as a whole. You can use the upper hole just as well - it just takes a little getting used to.

I don't play live anymore but judging from what I've seen it looks like it could take road use, no problem. It's small size doesn't take up much space and will even fit into an overhead bin. Another tip: spend a little more and get a hard shell case. TKL makes a line to fit the Spirit and the GU7R models (guitar and bass) that aren't too pricey and built well. I'd get 2 of these and keep one as a backup when not playing the other or one of my Soloists.

MusicYo is a pretty good site. I had a small gripe with their checkout procedure and they promptly returned my emails. Haven't had the guitar long enough to comment on Tech Support but I bought it online and it was into UPS and on the way the same day - 'nuff said!

If you're looking for great sound on a budget, don't hesitate on this one. The small size takes some getting used to but the sound is well worth it. A++!

I got this one new in 2001, made in Korea 24 frets, solid body, neck thru, Steinberger Trem, HSH pickups with five-way switching, one tone, one volume, That steinberger headless double ball tuning system. Came with the Gig Bag. I got what I expected...It's a Steinberger... love it or don't

This guitar has an awesome sound, with the switching, I can get from jangly, to sparkly to cut it with a knife thick. Really quiet, sounds nice distorted, sounds really nice clean with chorus. Quite a versitile tool for studio or live.. For this price, I couldn't ask for more.

I credit myself for messing up the trem adjustment, but I got it set back. Intonation is great, and the fret work is fine. Finish is great, one slightly uneven paint line, but that's getting really picky. Looks great in White. The action was set lower than I am used to, but I'm not changing it. The neck is a bit thicker than my others, but not enough to make it a big adjustment. All is well on this Guitar... a drop of oil on the tuners are all I think was neglected. The trem keeps things in tune... that's a miracle for guitars at this price... can't beat that.

This thing doesn't seem to be very breakable... not much plastic... just wood and metal. Everything seems kosher on this unit. I bought it to travel with and as a back-up... but I really like it for in studio. Havn't had it long enought to be certain, but with the way I care for my gear, It should be here and functional for a long while.

You got 30 days to decide... then you are on your own. I have RMA'd items at MusicYo before, and they take care of it. Their customer service is not conventional, but it works ok. Short warranty isn't great, but hey, I knew it going in.

Great value if you like that steinberger sort of thing. Awesome unit at a mediocore unit's price. Go for it if it's your thing.

korean made, headstockless, tiny little, white little guitar.
Strat, emg select pickups (select meaning passive not active) 5 way selector, incredibly easy to operate tremelo, neck-thru design, etc.
What more could you ask for?

I play a cross between death metal and bluegrass. I call my band "meatbanjo". The gtpro can really nail it. Its high output pickups do the trick. Some people say that the gtpro is "sterile sounding" but i do not agree. Excellent guitar but for the sake of not sounding like an idiot i give it a 9.

The intonation is sooooo easy to adjust! just push the saddle forward or backward!! And the bridge tension is controlled by turning a knob- no more unscrewing a back panel get to the springs!! WOW!

DOES NOT GO OUT OF TUNE!!! ( for a long time )
I saw a picture of a guy standing on one- like one of those things that the olympic girls stand on and do flips! (only he didn't do any flips) But the guitar is STRONG!!

I was taking a dump yesterday and it really hurt. You know what i mean? It was killer! I hate it when that happens. I probably don't eat enough fruit.

gETTY lEE PLAYS ONE OF THESE (THE BASS OF COURSE) ENOUGH SAID.i SHOULD TAKE THE CAPS LOCK OFF. There we go.

This is a 24 Fret Korean made headless guitar with Two Cheapo EMG-Select pups and an EMG select single coil between. This has the licensed Steinberger (style) tremolo, 5 position switch, flip out stand to sit on your knee, and a simple black finish. The pups are passive and have none of the charm or appeal of real EMG active pups. The guitar came with a gig bag, trem bar, tools, and lousy docs...). The one little interesting issue is that you must buy special strings for this guitar since it has a non existent headstock. This guitar was finished poorly with paint filling in pock marks in the wood (or whatever this thing is made of). This guitar was set up horribly with buzz in four spots. The intonation was lousy and the guitar just played poorly. The frets were placed well enough and the rosewood board was adequate for a cheap instrument...I should really be kinder in reviewing a $250 guitar, but this thing is made like crap and really should be ignored except as a nifty travel instrument.

This guitar sounds ok for the money. The pup selector would seem very versatile and they really had no need to give you the single coil pup in the center of this guitar. For the money it is pretty versatile, but the sound is a bit dead to my ears. I would rip these pups out if I kept this guitar and perhaps throw in some real active EMG's. I just don't think the body could handle it and would likely need routing. This guitar is a bit noisy and the pup selector was not solidly soldered so it made noise with every move. I like the design idea, but I got a bad instrument here. They all can't be this bad.

This is where you can tell you got a $250 guitar. They glued in the neck and they slapped on the paint. This instrument was likely built by poor starving Korean women and children on no sleep and under the abusive supervision of American capitalist pigs!! It is made terribly and an embarrassment to the proud tradition of makers like Tokai who can make great guitars cheaply in the great nation of Korea.

This guitar was not in my ownership long enough to test this out. I think the construction was weak and the design while solid was not executed well in this lower level guitar. If you need a cheap electric to travel with and to put ideas on tape this may indeed meet that need for you. It will fit in your overhead compartment on the plane, but don't lay any luggage on it for it is likely to break on the headstock (all plastic parts like a child's toy!!).

Musicyo is a great company doing nice things on the wholesale side of the retail market. They are classy and responsive to emails. I returned this item with no problems (haven't been paid yet, so more may follow in terms of comments). They let you print pre-paid return labels on line and treat you like a human (no real person contact...all email..no phone....kinda scary, but they responded to all my emails within a 6-12 hour span). They get the benefit of the doubt here.

This is one cheesy guitar for the money. If it had a headstock or bigger body it would be even more laughable since it would lose all travel appeal. It is not even suited for a cheap first guitar for your kid since it is so lame looking he won't want his friends to see it. If it got stolen I'd laugh my ass off and be happy the curse was passed to some poor idiot. Caveat Emptor on this item. If you want a relatively cheap electric for travel...maybe it will be what you want after you change the pups....I hate this guitar.

Got it new last year, features like all the others below.

Real cheap sound, so I replaced pu's with 2 dimarzios and a fender. Sounds better, but the solid maple body makes these pickups sound sharper that when they were in other guitars.

Great neck, no flaws. One problem, I got the white finish. Looks great. With that big white neck and those little white dots on the topside of the rosewood board, you can't see where you are on the neck. I had rhinestones installed in place of the white dots. Thank you Mr. Danny Gatton.

Very reliable, I have gigged with it. It is my backup and third and fourth set ax. The whammy bar won't stay in anymore. I don't know why.

NA

Great deal for the money. great backup, travel guitar. Looks cool, very light.

Features : Easiest to take a look at MusicYo.com to check all the features. I've had the guitar for almost a year now and really like it a lot. everything about it smacks of a quality job. I bought it because I wanted something different. I give it a 9, because I wanted a bit more flexibility by being able to spli the humbuckers, but I bought it knowing I'd need to change the pickups to achieve this.

I play blues, but not in a band,just for my own pleasure. I play it through a Sessionette:75 and can get just about any tone you can imagine from this set up. I've changed the two EMG Humbucker pickups for a Sky pickup (neck) and a Seymour Duncan JB4 (bridge). These have been wired to give me a split out of phase sound in positions 2 and 4, so this helps massively with the variation in tones available from the GT Pro. It's get's a 10 now, but from the factory I guess I'd give it a 7. It didn't sound bad, but as it's my only electric guitar I really wanted the increased flexibility of splitting the humbuckers. Now this guitar sounds as good as anything else I've heard.

Out of the box, the guitar was perfectly set up. But beware of the strings which come on it. The first bend of the top E broke the string. So have a spare set of strings in your house ! There were no flaws on any of the woodwork, and the frests were perfectly set. All in all very impressive from MusicYo. 1 point off for the broken string, otherwise a 10.

I haven't used this guitar live, but I can't imagine where it would let you down. Indeed I think the method of holding the strings in would be a definite plus point, should a string break during a gig. Everything about it is well made and well screwed together. During the year I've had it, I play it for a while every day and nothing has gone wrong.

I've not tried to contact MusicYo. I've not needed to.

I played a lot as a teenager and have just started to get back into playing after a long time without any guitars. This is a fabulous guitar, and with the changed pickups I think it's pretty well perfect. I've had everything from Tele's to vintage Strats to Les Pauls in the past and this guitar is as good as any of them. Once you get used to the lack of body (it kinda throws you'r hand positioning out at first) and the brilliant little fold out knee rest, you'll soon wonder why all these other guitars need to be so big. Would I buy another - definitely Yes, but I'd still change the pickups. Doing this really makes the Spirit GT Pro sing.

I have had my Steinberger GT for nearly a year and have sufficiently put it through its paces, so time for a review I thought. I have been playing for about 12 years and the GT is by far the most comfortable guitar I've owned, even more so than the Parker I had. A year or so ago I played a Steinberger GL7T which is the top of the range carbon boat oar type guitar, I fell in love with it straight away because it was so comfortable but it was already sold and no more to be shipped to the UK. When I saw the GT I snapped it up. The finish & workmanship is top knotch by any standard, the neck is just perfect for me and very easy to play. The GT is now the only guitar I've got at the moment, I've always ended up selling guitars because I found them cumbersome to hold and play, especially strats which are heavy and has so much wood under your arm. The GT comes with EMG Select pickups which are excellent for a whole range of sounds but for that extra crunch and sustain on lead sounds I thought it was lacking a little kick in the bridge pickup but the neck pickup gives that flutey Santana sound. The tremolo is fantastic, the R trem is such a fantastic invention, stays in tune very well and allows for such expressive playing. Such good value for money considering in the past I have paid three times as much for an axe which was nowhere near as good as the GT.

The sound of the GT is again very good with the EMG's, but saying that I am changing them to Seymour Duncans because I will have more output for sustaining leads. The EMG's as they stand are good for Jazz, Blues, Funk, anything, but Seymours are just my personal favourites. Also considering the size of this axe, there is plenty of sustain and body to the sound. I play my GT through a korg Pandora II,
Mesa Boogie Triaxis with TCE G-Force. Although I've given an 8, its only my personal preferences getting in the way, aside from this, it deserves a 10!!.

As I said earlier, the build, workmanship & finish is excellent. Usually with a sub #500 guitar you'd expect a slight kniggle in the paint work or build but its all put together perfectly, I know some people have bought a GT with a dent or uneven paintwork, I just think its bad luck on their part as most people who have submitted a review here have been very happy with it. The setup of the GT again was good, but the trem needed a little adjustment but thats expected on this model of trem.

Everything on the GT looks and feels very solid, on the musicyo site now, they have an advert which hightlights the strength of the GT by having a man stand on top of the GT whilst its balanced between two amps, I would'nt like to try it on mine but it does show how sturdy this little axe is.

Not needed to contact Gibson or Music yo. Music Yo did deliver the GT from the USA to the UK where I live in 3 days and I was very impressed. Gets a 10 for delivery alone.

My finals thoughts : This guitar is my only guitar so obviously is my main axe, I have an upgrade plan for my GT. In Feb 2001 (when I have the money!) I am having a Seymour Duncan Jazz put in the neck, Cool Rail in the middle and JB humbucker at the bridge. This is my pickup configuration I have used in other guitars and is a very versatile setup. I am also getting an internal roland GK2A synth pickup installed as well. The guitar tech at the shop has told me that he can do all the work, he will also move the volume control next to the tone control and put the G2KA LED light in its place, the volume pot location does get in my way a bit. Once all this is done and all is ok, I will buy another GT (probably a black one to go with my white one) and do the same upgrade to that as well. I will be buying the Roland VG88 which my GT will be plugged into so that I can get acoustic, nylon and any other type of guitar sound out of my GT. After this upgrade the GT would still have only cost me around #750, not much for a pro guitar. Be sure that once all this upgrade is done I will submit another review here of the duncanfied, roland ready Steinberger GT-Pro. All the best.