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Thank you, slagbass! From what I can tell the bass is set up pretty well. I play hard so.... I get a very slight fret buzz here and there in the 5 minutes I've thumped on it. I THINK I can raise the action a smidge at the bridge without wrecking the set up. Obviously, the neck is what it is. To me it seems nice! I hope folks do ring on suggested strings. I'd love to hear what folks are using. Thanks again!
I can't tell if I've responded or not, y'all.... A thousand pardons if this is a duplicate reply.
I think that it looks about right - the rubbery bushes hold it in place once the hex bolts are done up.
I have a couple of these , but I also got a couple of sets of Rotosound round wounds that are double ball end for quick string changes.
I put a 5-string double ball end set of Rotosounds on my XT-25. The E string barely fit, and the B string was so short it barely came to the edge of the tuner cover when tuned up to pitch. (See photo) I was afraid that the string vibrations could pop it right out of the saddle. I contacted the vendor I bought them from, who contacted Rotosound. Rotosound told me that this was the way it was supposed to be. I have over 30 years experience with Steinberger, and I know that this was NOT the way strings were supposed to fit. Those strings now reside in a landfill somewhere. I've never bought another set of Roto Double Ball Ends, and it was a couple years before I could bring myself to buy any Rotosound strings, period. I do not appreciate being lied to. That being said, the pickups on my XT-25 are dark-sounding, so I wanted stainless steel wound strings to add some articulation. I ended up buying a single ball end adapter and using stainless steel wound Elixirs. They're a great match in every way on that bass.
When all this came down, as an experiment I swapped the EADG from this 5-string set onto my '88 XL2, and the E string was equally short. Obviously, the lower pitched strings need to be manufactured slightly longer to make up for the fact that it takes less turns of the tuners to bring them up to pitch. I put a tape measure on both my XT25 and XL2, and they are the exact same scale. Traditionally on my XL2, I use D'Addarios, and I've never had this problem with them. In the past, I've even strung it up BEAD with D'Addarios, and they fit fine, though I eventually switched it back to EADG. As much as anything else, I was frustrated that Rotosound lied to me and told me that strings on Steinbergers were supposed to fit this poorly. I've played Steinbergers for 35 years, and I know better. I use Rotosound Nexus strings on one of my basses and Roto 77 Monel flats on another bass. They're great, but I'll never use another double ball end set of Rotos.
I believe that is a myth when it comes to these newer Spirits. I saw those same reports, so before I bought the strings, I put a tape measure on this bass and also on my XL-2. Both were exactly the same length from the ball ends at the end of the neck to the cradles at the bridge / tailpiece. (See pics below. 2018 XT-25 is red; 1988 XL-2 is white.) Then after seeing how these strings fit on the XT-25, I swapped the Roto E string onto the XL-2. It fit poorly--the same as on the XT-25 (see third pic). I also swapped the D'Addario E string from my XL-2 onto the XT-25 and it fit perfectly. My theory is that when Gibson / Epiphone first built the Spirits (in the 90s?) they built them a little off in length for some reason, maybe just an accidental flaw in the design. But these newer ones (2015-ish and later?) are the same length as the XLs and any double ball end strings should fit either if they're properly manufacturered--or neither if they're not. Could I have safely played this Roto set on my XT-25? Probably. At the time, several people on this forum said they'd been playing theirs all wonky (scientific term
) like that for years without a problem. But they spooked me hangin' out like that--especially the B string. I would've just put a set of the D'Addarios on the XT-25, but (1) I don't think they make a 5-string set, and (2) I really wanted a stainless steel wound set for the XT-25 because the pickups are dark-sounding and needed brighter strings. I finally bought a single ball string adapter and solved the problem.
