I've got a question. What do folks think about the Steinberger Spirit bass sound over the typical American made Fender Jazz bass ?
They sound different. If you prefer a vintage J bass tone, you're not going to get it from a Spirit; there is a recent Hohner version with a pair of J pickups that might be closer, but it's also got a pre. They have different types of pickups, HB vs SC, and different construction, all maple NT/ RW FB vs BO with a variety of body woods and fingerboards.
've got one of the Spirit bass XT models and I was wondering if the instrument should be shelved (or sold) if it's not going to get the sound quality, and overall quality, of a higher end Fender instrument ?
Well, I'm extremely biassed, but I don't really see anything much in the US Fenders to justify thier cost. If you like a Fender's tone and feel, then play that, but there is nothing inherently wrong or substandard with the Spirits compared to a Fender. Remember though that a US Fender is typically 3x+ the list price of a Spirit so it's fair to expect some fit and finish differences, but in terms of the rest of the hardware, it gives nothing away. The Steinberger bridge is a very solid piece compared to the bent plate Fender.
I love to play this bass but I don't want, say, a cheap instrument to limit what I can do technique wise. One plays differently with a higher end, more refined, instrument, if you know what I mean (I generally have pretty decent technique coming from years of classical guitar).
If you love to play it, then play it and be damned what we think.
I don't buy the better gear = better player argument. If the instrument is functionally OK and set up well and you have no ergomonic issues with it, then it's not the instrument that's going to hold you back. There are plenty of seasoned Pro's here that use SX basses and gig with them stock over more expensive instruments; JimmyM is the first to spring to mind.
I have quite a few basses, everything from an Alembic Series 1 to a plywood body Samick and the instruments are not the limitation. I have preferences and favourites amongst them, but none are a limitation to skill development. All are set up at least decently well.
There are also many examples of players of great skill learning to play on POS instrumrnts.
There are problems with it. I don't know if it's the relatively thin maple neck or not lacking stiffness, but I've noticed that the relief isn't terribly uniform. I expect that a relatively loose truss rod would more apply uniform relief instead of concentrating the curvature mostly over the farther frets. I've notice a rather severe fret buzz at fret 7 on the G, which is fixable (I'm an amateur luthier), but highly annoying. The fret buzz is the least of my concerns. I'm more concerned with design and construction of the instrument as it effects sound.
Thin neck? Mine are baseball bats, and are as stable as hell and very strong. It sounds as though yours has a QC issue, but at the same time nothing that I haven't seen from other manufactuers at a variety of price points. If you're capable of giving it a setup, then do it. I assume that all basses that I buy will need some work to get the action how I like.
The Fenders tend to seem more solid overall as an instrument. I'm not sure if it's the weight of the body and/or the thickness of the neck with graphite reinforcements, but the overall construction quality seems to be much better with the Fender than the Spirit. The use of graphite reinforcement plus weight seems to be a potentially strong influence on things such as the vibration of the string fundamental as well as sustain for the Fenders. Comments ?
You're entitled to your opinion as to solidity of feel, but I certainly don't agree. I'm speaking about construction here. Some people don't like the XL's and clones because the small bodies feel insubstantial to them. I like them and find large 'ironing board' bodies like the J and SR are usually very uncomfortable to me. Horses for courses.
There is nothing wrong with the Steinbergers, nor with the Fenders, they're just different. As I said, mine never need adjustment and stay in tune for ages, so I'm not sure if the graphite rods would be much use. If I were to build a SteinClone (and I've thought about one) then I'd use quality pultruded graphite bars in mine, more for peace of mind and because I don't see any disadvantages with them. But based upon my experience, they're not neccessary. Note though that someone earlier in the thread had lots of stability issues.
Weight vs string resonance has been discussed a lot in the past on this board. My 2c is that a stiff / rigid, relatively massy NT will be superoir to any BO because of the contiguous structure of the same material, and the lack of impedance dicontimiuties with different neck and body woods, the join, speeds of sound and density in BO's. However, it's a tradeoff as to the effects and one isn't better than the other. The most resonant instrument I own or have ever played BY FAR is my Status, which is an extremely rigid graphite monocoque (one piece moulding) of about 10lbs. It sustains forever which indicates to me that far more of the energy of the string is staying in the string and not being lost in the structure.
Again, I'm worried about how the construction of the instrument (neck + body) effects sound over a Fender. I remember one gentleman discussing the selling off his Spirit for a G&L on this forum, but the post wasn't terribly specific why he was motivate to do such a thing.
Why would you worry about it being a NT? There are bajillions of them out there by many manufacturers. NT's and BO's sound different. Play the one that gives you the tone and feel you like.
Why someone changes instruments is very dependent upon a huge number of factors, few of which I believe are due to NT/BO differences. Maybe he just liked the feel and tone of the G&L better, but that doesn't mean another instrument is inherently worse.
Sounds like you have a preference for US Fenders and you'd like us to justify your decision to change. You need to work out twhat works best for you and be happy with that. A Spirit isn't going to be much of a limiting factor in your playing if the setup / ergonomics conditions are met.
I'd hate having to either mothball or sell this instrument if there are too many limitations with it.
There are no particular limitations with it. Play it, mothball it or sell it (big market demand for them secondhand), either way, enjoy playing bass.
Sorry for going on so much, but I really love these instruments and they get a bad rap often for silly reasons. I'm also bedridden today (feeling crook) so I had time to rant. I should also point out that my experiences are with owning two of the Hohners (B2ADB and B2V; made in the same factory as the Spirits) and playing couple of Spirits. I prefer my H's, but am prepared to admit that is most probably just a bias on my part.
All the best.
