Steinberger Spirit GT7

Bought it new in 1994 and still have it. When I bought it I was traveling a lot and its size/profile made it easy to take on trips. Comments identical to Craig Drabik's.

Sound with the original pickups was rather unspectacular, so I replaced the neck pickup with a Seymour Duncan "59" and the bridge pickup with a Seymour Duncan "Pearly Gates." My amp is a Crate Vintage Club 30 - so with the SD pickups, the guitar kicks ass. I'm using the lightest gauge strings they make - the 08-38's.

I don't pay much attention to factory set-ups as I always have to tinker with things to suit my style. Action, fit and finish are all excellent. Replaced the knobs with big Gibson black/clear numbered knobs. The trem system stinks and I don't use it. I have been trying to figure out a way to permanently lock it in place. Over time as the strings near the end of their life, the lock on the trem will not hold in place. So the only benefit is that the guitar is starting to tell you that it's almost time to change strings.

It holds up well. I've never had a string break while playing. The pickup switch is very solid, so no chance that it will wander from the position you have selected.

Have never had any problem with the guitar that would have required dealing with the company.

I've been playing for 35 years. A long time ago I had a Gibson Firebird and an SG. I was never too crazy about them since I have small hands and the Gibson necks were just to wide for me, but I HAD TO HAVE A GIBSON. The Steinberger neck is slim and is great to play. However, if the guitar was ever stolen, I would not buy another Steinberger.

The Steinberger Spirits are lower cost versions of their GL and GM brothers with wooden construction and passive pickups as opposed to composite construction and active pickups. My 1993 GT7 came with EMG select pickups in a H-S-H configuration with a 5-way selection switch. The Select pickups aren't anything to write home about, but they do have coil-cutting in the 2nd and 4th positions and don't hum. Tuners/Trem system is the Steinberger R-trem and headless double ball micrometer. The trem can be locked. String changes on this guitar can be done in about 30 seconds. It's that simple. No gig bag included, but I bought one from Steinberger (you won't get it to fit in anything else). The fingerboard is 24-fret Phenolic just like the other Steinbergers, and it does not wear. The feel of the next is incredibly consistant. The store I got it from also threw in a cool little stand which perfectly holds your GT7 and folds up to fit in the pouch of the Steinberger gig bag. A 10 except for the Select pickups.

This guitar is very chameleon-like. Even though the construction and electronics are different from its more expensive brothers, this guitar still retains the ability of a Steinberger to sound like just about anything. Noise is minimal, and its sound is probably closest to a Jackson or Ibanez. The pickups could be hotter though.

This thing was an absolute beauty from the get, and she's worn well

This thing has been with me for 5 years now and hasn't lost a step, excpet for a fried output jack. The replacement was made under warranty and hasn't acted up since.

Output jack was replaced by the store promptly

This guitar is going to the grave with me, and I plan on acquiring another Steinberger really soon! It outplays everything under $1000 IMHO, and if you take the time and $$$ to drop in EMG active pickups, you wind up with a phenominal guitar. I also own a Strat but it pales in comparison as a workhorse!