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Are Steinbergers still sought after?
- Thread starter FishDub
- Start date
So Tim Commerford is playing a Steinberger now? That sound you hear is price of used ones creeping up up a few hundred dollars.
I love mine and it is my main bass (XL-2A).
The "rifle" thing is no joke - almost got shot two weeks ago in a NYC train station when a Port Authority cop thought I was armed and ignoring his orders to stop. He thought that I was bent on mass murder - but, I had headphones on and did not hear him order me to stop walking towards the train.
I also had to "demonstrate" that it was not a rifle . . .
Steinbergers even sound good without an amplifier in a train station . . .
The "rifle" thing is no joke - almost got shot two weeks ago in a NYC train station when a Port Authority cop thought I was armed and ignoring his orders to stop. He thought that I was bent on mass murder - but, I had headphones on and did not hear him order me to stop walking towards the train.
I also had to "demonstrate" that it was not a rifle . . .
Steinbergers even sound good without an amplifier in a train station . . .
I got pulled over for a routine speeding ticket. I was driving a little hatchback and the cop saw my Steinberger in the bag and asked what I had in it, and I told him it was a bass guitar. I guess he believed me, but this was also close to 25 years ago.
Those comments tend to come from bassists who have heavily invested in some other brand of bass with a wooden neck.
You will find the same phenomenon if you ever go shopping for a hybrid car. Any salesman working for a dealer that does not have them will tell you the same BS story about an 8000 dollar battery that has to be replaced within a few years. Every dealer that does sell them will talk about their reliability.
Yeah, I was stopped right after the shootings in Charleston and NYC was on high alert. Hence, the AR-15 aimed at my chest. Scary poopie.
eah
Definitely different times now. I live close to a known possible terrorist target and the cops around here are always on high alert as standard. If I gigged with a Steinberger now, I'd use a regular Mono M-80 bag to carry it around. It at least looks like a guitar from a distance.
Been playing and touring with an XL2 and an XM2(also a couple headless Status basses). I have dealt with positives and negative from other musicians, as you would expect....to each his own. Very rarely do I get negatives from the audience.
Bottom line is the bass is mega stabile and reliable, complete string changes take 2 minutes, tone cuts through, easy to move around tight stages......so many things that play into live gigging enviro's.
If fashion/vintage is a big deal, then this isn't your bass, but for the rest of us.....I'll keep playing mine Thank you.
Bottom line is the bass is mega stabile and reliable, complete string changes take 2 minutes, tone cuts through, easy to move around tight stages......so many things that play into live gigging enviro's.
If fashion/vintage is a big deal, then this isn't your bass, but for the rest of us.....I'll keep playing mine Thank you.
Steinberger is one of the few basses I have never owned but would like to.
I bought my XL2 in 1986. I'll never get rid of it.
Contrary to previous posters' experiences, mine has never drawn a second glance. I have flown with it (pre and post 9/11), carried it with me through several large cities, including NYC, etc.
Contrary to previous posters' experiences, mine has never drawn a second glance. I have flown with it (pre and post 9/11), carried it with me through several large cities, including NYC, etc.
If only I still had mine, sold 2 of them, both XL2, a hard tail and a transtrem. The headlessUSA guy is selling them now for 5-6 thousand on average, he has a couple of odd colors, one yellow and one red he's asking like $15K for on ebay. Ed Roman out in Vegas has quite a few as well.
I bought mine new in 1988. I still gig it occasionally. I have many great basses, but none of them sound quite as good as the XL-2.
There is no comparison between the modern wooden models and the original one-piece composite models.
The only reason I don't play it all the time is that the string spacing is a little narrower than I prefer these days. But whenever I get it out I'm blown away by the tone.
Now, I mainly gig a Status Streamline 5, which is also one-piece composite and headless with a small body, but it sounds very different from the XL-2. Really good, but different.
I don't play either bass for the looks but for the sound, and the small size and light weight (of the Status, not the XL-2, which is surprisingly heavy) make it a fabulous bass for grooving around on stage. No worries about smashing the headstock on a mic, LOL. Plus they both are very stable as far as tuning, etc.
Love my Steiny. Now I'm tempted to bring it out to the gig this weekend.
There is no comparison between the modern wooden models and the original one-piece composite models.
The only reason I don't play it all the time is that the string spacing is a little narrower than I prefer these days. But whenever I get it out I'm blown away by the tone.
Now, I mainly gig a Status Streamline 5, which is also one-piece composite and headless with a small body, but it sounds very different from the XL-2. Really good, but different.
I don't play either bass for the looks but for the sound, and the small size and light weight (of the Status, not the XL-2, which is surprisingly heavy) make it a fabulous bass for grooving around on stage. No worries about smashing the headstock on a mic, LOL. Plus they both are very stable as far as tuning, etc.
Love my Steiny. Now I'm tempted to bring it out to the gig this weekend.
The only good reason to play any instrument, IMO! And yeah, my XL2 weighs about one pound more than my American Jazz.
That would be an early L1 model with the single pup, then there was the L2, then the XL2 and the XP and XM which were the bolt-ons with the wooden bodies, later came the Q series towards the end of the NY plant.
