Steinberger Club

[Gfkfloyd]

If ya'll are still giving out numbers, I'll gladly join with this uber later Newburg era Q4 I found at the Philly guitar show. These basses are something seriously special, I can't believe so few people talk about them these days.

Is there any advantage to replacing the entire headpiece with a JCustom that takes single ball strings or just save the 40 bucks and get the standard string adapter?
Thanks!

 

[BergerHead]

If ya'll are still giving out numbers, I'll gladly join with this uber later Newburg era Q4 I found at the Philly guitar show. These basses are something seriously special, I can't believe so few people talk about them these days.

Is there any advantage to replacing the entire headpiece with a JCustom that takes single ball strings or just save the 40 bucks and get the standard string adapter?
Thanks!

This one has Grand Piano qualities, even better than the Ls, but the L2-5's tone is top of the notch looking for P-like sounds. Btw, both of clampings waste off the ease of string changing, i personally would't ...

 

[Gfkfloyd]

I still have to try an L but this bass has blown me away and you're dead-on when it comes to the piano-like tone it has. First bass I've had in a long time that give me no desire to swap electronics or modify.

 

[BergerHead]

Old L2-5 claw with roughed B thread, irish rebuild 1:1 in 2016 (Matthew?/fb

 

[Gfkfloyd]

This one has Grand Piano qualities, even better than the Ls, but the L2-5's tone is top of the notch looking for P-like sounds. Btw, both of clampings waste off the ease of string changing, i personally would't ...
View attachment 3219877

Have you found a good source of double ball strings? There as rare as hens teeth near me.

 

[BergerHead]

Have you found a good source of double ball strings? There as rare as hens teeth near me.

You gotta go ebay, or La Bella or GHS, pay not more than 15-20$; ime i'd rather go Light for them basses, all got a pretty nice bang on the pups.

 

[Gfkfloyd]

You gotta go ebay, or La Bella or GHS, pay not more than 15-20$; ime i'd rather go Light for them basses, all got a pretty nice bang on the pups.

View attachment 3219940

Thanks for the advise, that price is perfect and I love small guage strings. I've been wanting to try those Labella Steel strings but I've read somewhere that our Steinbergers have soft frets. Any of that ring true in your experience or just go for the strings and stop worrying? haha

 

[BergerHead]

There's some bad fret muncher on folks i know; but ime the Berger frets are quite long lasting, i still have more than 95% on my '83 L ... for a time a had the GHS .135, but they did not sound that good, too much mass imo.

 

[BurningSkies]

Have you found a good source of double ball strings? There as rare as hens teeth near me.

I've been using the new D'Addario NYXL's They're not 20$ or anything but I like them and haven't needed to change them often.

 

[BergerHead]

From time to time i boil mine for 3-5 minutes and drop them in some cold water then, since i do fingerstyle only (no pick, no slap) they last forever and a day; i never faced a broken string on the Bergers.

 

[BurningSkies]

From time to time i boil mine for 3-5 minutes and drop them in some cold water then, since i do fingerstyle only (no pick, no slap) they last forever and a day; i never faced a broken string on the Bergers.

String hack: Don't use water. It gets in the wraps and will corrode strings in places you can't see it. Use denatured alcohol (get the stuff at the hardware store that is 99.8 or whatever pure (no water)...It cuts the oils and lifts out the dirt and oil...and you never ever have to worry about corrosion. It also evaporates out quickly so beyond a real quick wipe with a paper towel, they're not 'wet'...and you can use the same denatured alcohol for a year or more.

 

[Gfkfloyd]

I've been using the new D'Addario NYXL's They're not 20$ or anything but I like them and haven't needed to change them often.

Considering NYXLs happen to be my favorite string and they do last forever and a day when cleaned.

Guess I'm just paranoid about the supply of these strings drying up (I'm a car guy and it seems everything I'd like to make a project out of is made out of unobtanium).

 

[BurningSkies]

Considering NYXLs happen to be my favorite string and they do last forever and a day when cleaned.

Guess I'm just paranoid about the supply of these strings drying up (I'm a car guy and it seems everything I'd like to make a project out of is made out of unobtanium).

I understand all about hard-to-find strings. My main players are (obviously) Dingwalls, which need special strings too (very long multi-scale). I order them in quantity (usually 5-10 sets), and I use the alcohol bath to extend their use. I rotate two sets across about 60 gigs worth of shows (about half a year), with one being in the cleaning container one being on my main playing bass. My other Dingwalls go through strings much slower. If you're not playing as much especially in a gig situation (where strings get dirty and dead way quicker than rehearsal or practice) cleaning/rotating a couple sets could last a year or more.

For me the Steinberger is a travel bass...I got it for a pickup fly-gig that I didn't want to check one of my Dingwalls into luggage going out of country. It worked perfectly for that, and a few sets will last me a year or more. I have a set of NYXL's on it and one waiting to go.

 

[BergerHead]

I bought 5 sets La Bella .128 - .045 for 50$ in '13 ... that will last my days. My main is the L2-5, a fave in tone & handling.
I'll sell the XQ5 and the XL5W one of these days, i never really befriended with the capricious HAZLabs.

 

[xrob]

They ain't cheap, but I wholeheartedly recommend Status Graphite strings. You can buy them online here:

Status Graphite. The finest hand-made graphite basses and guitars. Made in England.

If you order a few sets at a time, it helps with shipping. I've been using these for the past 8 or 9 years and have only had 1 defective string, which Rob Green promptly replaced.

RH

** NOTE: I should say they aren't cheap when you figure in overseas shipping to the US. But they are pretty reasonable, actually.

Have you found a good source of double ball strings? There as rare as hens teeth near me.

 

[Gfkfloyd]

This is a gold mine of information for me, thanks to all of ya! I gotta try those status strings one of these days.

 

[Razman]

NBD - Woohoo, just picked up a Spirit XT-25 in white from a shop in Miami! Already have it cleaned and set up (need to polish the frets and oil the FB still) and it is nice. The prior owner was a lefty because after they got it they mounted the leg rest on top of it - now I have two holes in the finish I need to fill in or cover up. Argh!

That said, it has miniscule wear, if any; the frets look pristine (even the zero fret has almost no markings on it at all), the neck is arrow-straight, and the finish is otherwise in mint condition. Almost new looking! I set the action reeeeealy low and it plays fantastic - I'll live with the other niggles just for that alone.

I know I'm in violation of several unwritten TB rules (like no pics yet - going to add them after I post this as they're on my phone) including not searching for this stuff yet, but I'm going to ask anyway and if anyone is patient enough to help I'd appreciate it.

1. What is the best way to fill and refinish screw holes that have the finish chipped around them? Pics of that coming later...
2. Any other ideas besides $50 for a string adapter from EvilBay? I found an electrical grounding strip at Home depot years ago that I used with my four stringer but they didn't have one that had five holes in it at the time.
3. Has anyone routed theirs for a battery compartment and put active electronics in it?
4. Cases - I suppose I can find a plain-Jane rifle bag for it so TSA doesn't harass me when I fly overseas with it next March...?
5. What's the widest string that will fit through the headpiece? My apologies, I'm on vacation and don't have a feeler gauge with me (but maybe my B-i-L has one, hmmm....)

My background: my first electric guitar was a white Hohner G3T. I have owned a GM4T at one time, along with an XQ4 in fire-burst; a Hohner "The Jack" guitar, and now this Spirit. I probably sound like a giddy little girl; I know it's not the "real thing" but for my purposes (bringing something else on a trip instead of my custom five string) this meets the need. And it's headless!

It seems to have the tone I need although I've only played it through a little Roland I have, and as others have said that output isn't very hot at all. I'll see if I can adjust my other bass to match it volume-wise so I can use it as a backup without too much fuss. And I'll start digging for info on these things later.

Gotta run for now, thanks in advance for any assistance!

Eric

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Your best chance to fill the screw holes is probably a “drop fill” of white laquer just proud of the surface paint (assuming it’s just white paint with no clear coat) scraped flush with a razor blade with tape at the outside corners so it doesn’t dig in. Then wetsanding and compound to get back to gloss. More complicated if it’s clearcoated. Search YT for “drop fill paint repair” or similar. Chances are it will still be visible though, if you really want it invisible, take it to a pro or just refinish it. The decal could be scanned and reproduced. Or...... just squint a little and play it as-is.

 

[Shannon]

So, just throwing this out - I just bought a new Spirit XT via Zzounds and I wasn't sure I could join.

I am a beginner, and I was having trouble in the tiny teaching studio with a much larger bass + case, the instructor, amps, and more. The plan is to use the Spirit for these lessons while the bigger basses stay home.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

Good plan, that’s why Geddy played a Steinberger for a while, he got tired of whacking the headstock on cymbals and mike stands.