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Steinberger Spirits

#41
YEE HA!!!

There's going to be a Spirit playing in San Antonio next Saturday in the Texas area marching band competition as the children's band won in the region meet yesterday. :D

BUT

I've got a gig in Houston from 7:30 am to 10:30 am that day :bawl::bawl::crying::crying:
Should I:
1) Live with it?
2) Zoom down I-10 from H-Town to SanTone if I can make it?

ARRRGGH!
Why oh why couldn't this event(the band comps for this area) be in the Houston area?
 
#42
billh said:
I think some of the problems with sustain are the result of using the stock light musicyo strings.
Click to expand...

Yikes!! The first thing that has to happen when one buys a new Spirit is that the stock strings go straight to the trash and quality, heavier gauge strings go on.

The stock strings are worthless, and are obviously the cheapest things they can put on the basses so they can be sold.

A9X has mentioned Status Graphite, and they are great strings. I've recently started buying D'Addario double ball strings from juststrings.com and like those a LOT for the money. I haven't tried Smith 2xball strings.

Here ya go: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
#43
MichaelVee said:
Yikes!! The first thing that has to happen when one buys a new Spirit is that the stock strings go straight to the trash and quality, heavier gauge strings go on.

The stock strings are worthless, and are obviously the cheapest things they can put on the basses so they can be sold...
Click to expand...

The stock strings are actually heavier than the LaBella's (0.040) I got from Music Yo, so I'm not sure how this is going to play out. I just ordered some D'Addario .050's. Any opinions about that ?
 
#44
billh said:
The stock strings are actually heavier than the LaBella's (0.040) I got from Music Yo, so I'm not sure how this is going to play out. I just ordered some D'Addario .050's. Any opinions about that ?
Click to expand...
Son seems to have no problems with the stock Spirit strings BUT for the music they for the music they do(marching band and jazz band), they sound fine to me as well(in that context). If they were on my basses, they'd seem like strings that were nearing the "change me" time.

Now the Corts with tired necks here did go to lighter strings with pickup heights raised. The sound and playability differences are day and night. MUCH better with that done.
 
#45
Next topic in the Megathread- Pickups!

The Spirits are equipped with passive EMG Select humbuckers. The size is exactly the same as the humbuckers used on guitars.

On my XZ-2, I replaced the Selects with active EMG HBCS pickups, which are the custom order version of the original Steinberger Sound (SS) pickups.

Tons of difference over the stock pickups. The HBCS pickups are very deep and bright. Very different sound from the Selects.

The Selects are not bad pickups- at all, but I'm considering replacing them in the XZ-25s with some other humbuckers, just to see where that takes them, soundwise.

Rick Hunt at EMG told me years ago that the guitar humbuckers they make sound pretty good for bass. He specifically mentioned the H3/H3A and the H4/H4A. I've emailed him this morning to get his current opinion.

Nordstrand is reportedly working on a guitar-humbucker-sized pickup for bass, but it may be some time before this becomes available.

Have any of you Spirit owners done a pickup replacement other than me? If so, what'd you use?

Have any of you heard about other guitar humbuckers that might sound good in a Spirit bass?
 
#46
MichaelVee said:
Have any of you Spirit owners done a pickup replacement other than me? If so, what'd you use?
Click to expand...

If you have a good tech nearby, don't be scared to have them mod the bass for more standard shape bass pickups. See my post on page one. My Spirit fiver now has a set of Bart BC4 Classic Bass series pups and the Bart three band eq, and the tech did an amazing job of it. It looks great, and you would never guess it was not a stock bass. The sound however, is amazing! It has a tone that sits in a rock type mix perfectly. It has a nicely even tone from lows to highs, with just the right amount of grunt to work great in a live setting. Honestly, it's one of the best live sound basses I have! The BC4 was a great choice because of the blade style pickups, and the fact that the five string Spirit has 15mm spacing over the neck pup. It's really narrow and not many pickups have pole pieces that would be close to lining up with that. The Barts are wide enough, and spacing is a non issue, and they sound great. Only downside is it more than doubled the cost of the bass, but I know it was worth every cent. My Spirit was a super fun bass before, now it's a super fun bass that blows people away when they hear it. And BTW it still has it's original strings on it, which are at least three years old by know...:cool:
 
#49
Hi MichaelVee,
I am new to this forum. After I've read this thread and your review on the EMG HB pickup recently, I am planning to upgrade my Spirit XZ-25 with this PU. I checked the EMG website for the wiring diagrams but they don't tell much about how to combine 2 HB pickups. Could you please give me more wiring info on how to combine 2 HB pickups for the Spirit? I don't have any experience on guitar modification but I have no problem on soldering or other electrical wiring job.
Thanks
Jim
 
#51
Dang, Jim, I had posted a reply yesterday, or at least I thought I had! Sometimes the TB software doesn't run correctly for me- either on the server side or here in my browser. Anyway- let me retype it and see if it takes this time. The following is based on my experience of buying and installing the HBCS pickups back in 2002. Things may have changed, or probably not.

I ordered my HBCS pickups as a custom order through Peekamoose. Apparently, they were/are the only EMG dealer who EMG will accept an order from for the HBCS. Warning- anything you buy, or have done, through Peekamoose is going to be high dollar.

The HBCS pickups ship singly and not as a set. Each pickup comes with a prewired passive harness consisting of a single volume and tone control, and a switching jack that is not wired to the volume/tone.

To install a set of two in a Spirit, you must desolder and remove a volume pot from one of the harnesses, and then solder it to the other volume/tone set in a standard V/V/T wiring configuration. Invalid Link Removed This diagram shows you everything you need to do the wiring, assuming a basic level of soldering skill.

The HBCS is a perfect fit in the Spirit basses, and is an excellent, though pricy, upgrade. I do like the sound of the stock passive EMG Select pickups, but the HBCS offer a great deal more high end response. In a Spirit, they produce very close to the sound of a graphite Steinberger, proving that much of the classic Steinberger sound was the electronics.
 
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#54
billh said:
So my deadspot is C# on the A string (Spirit 4 string neck through). What about yours ?
Click to expand...
Bill, I missed your post when you made it, and just revisited the MT today. I can't address your question, since all my Spirits are bolt-on XZs. I don't have an XT (neck-through). I don't notice any dead spots on the XZs, though.
 
#55
Not quite a spirit but...

After buying a Hohner Steinberger off ebay sight unseen, it turned out to be a lifeless uninspired piece even after electronics and string replacement. The kicker was the neck, it was a 2 X 4! It must of missed the profile shaping station in Korea.

So, after planking the bass and using some scrap Poplar and Maple, it morph'd into this Steinbicki (Steinberger's and Kubicki's love child).

It is passive using upgrade pots in a v/v/t configuration with the original Select pickups. It is designed with a removable pickup plate to facilitate other types of pickups and configurations. Just mill a new plate for the new configuration. For example, I have some Tele pickups to install next for a test drive. The neck was shaved to a slim C, it weights a little under 7 lbs. It is balanced and sounds kind of like a polite Ricky.

I use this or a Spirit Steinberger (and that thing sounds unbelievable - it is a fluke. I thought they all sounded like this one but so far none have been close), they are so small that I take both and either one is the back up.

Here is a brief pictorial and a little more verbage: Invalid Link Removed
 
#56
I recently acquired a 5 string Steinberger Spirit bass that someone had already defretted. I have owned several Steinbergers, including a 4-string XL-2, a 5-string Synapse, and a 4-string Spirit. I like Spirit best because they have a more natural tone being made of wood, they're lighter, and there is more space between strings--almost like a Fender jazz, which is my main bass so muscle memory is familiar. My goal was to give the 5-string Spirit a woody, upright-like tone.

To compliment the fretless, I installed new passive pickups: a Bartolini 72M45C-B on the neck and a Bartolini 72M45C-T on the bridge. These pickups have an EMG 40 shape so only minor routing was required to slightly lengthen both ends of each pickup cavity. The Bartolini pickups are dual coil humbuckers that provide a deep tone, adding warmth to the naturally bright tone of an all-maple body/neck.

I also installed an active Bartolini 3.4 Preamp. A single 9-volt battery compartment was routed into the back to power the preamp. The preamp provides sweepable mid-range adjustments for substantial flexibilty in dialing in tone.

Finally, I installed Status Graphite black nylon tapewound strings.

I got my wood tone with this configuration. I was surprised to find the bass can also sound like Jaco. Startled me when that sound jumped out!

Moral of this story: think outside the box with Steinberger Spirits. In addition to their useful form factor, you can really stretch their tone in a lot of directions depending on electronics and strings. Here are some pics:

SFront.JPG


STopangle.JPG


SBottom.JPG


SBridgepickup.JPG


SBack.JPG


SFretboard.JPG
 
#57
Hey Talkbass Steinberger Spirit guys.

I just thought I would post up here for the first time. I just picked up a unused Steinberger XZ 2 Cherryburst 4 string fretted bass on ebay tonight. I had a Paddle shaped spirit some years back and loved the thing but the body shape was just too small and it got just beat to hell. I usually play on two Carvins, both Walnut/Maple/Walnut bass, on a BB175 fetless and a LB 75 fretted, but as of the last 4 months I have been experimenting with a jazz bass made of spare parts and nylon wrapped flatwounds. In the process I have found a combination that really speaks to me and I have found "my" sound. While this combination is great the jazz bass has its limitations to include nasty dead spots and other jazz bass typical issues, such as weight and as much as I love my jazz bass (with issues) and my Carvins (very large) I remembered how stable and travel friendly my little spirit was so, I did some digging and found out that the wooden spirits are about to go the way of the dodo with Musicyo and found one at a great price on ebay, this time with a guitar shaped body. I read the thread and was delighted to find and order the Status nylon wrapped springs, (I play on the Rotosound Tru bass strings) as I am primarily a jazz player and this is my sound, a half upright half fretted bass sound. I also order a set of Rotosound swing bass stainless steel strings (the kind I use on my carvins) for a spare set. Now that I have to strings in order, what do you guys recommend I replace. From the sound of the previous postings the pickups might need a change, but that would be long term but what of the pots? I have built my own basses before so changing pots and pickups is no seat for me. Is it still possible to get a Moses neck for this instrument? Will I really need one? Is it worth it. I ask about the neck because a former teacher, and guitar monster (Dan Phillips) has a Klein and he had his neck replaced with the Moses and couldn't stop telling me enough good things about both Steinberger and Moses, and he was really picky about his guitars. Anything you guys can provide would be great! I want to make this a great playing, travel instrument, capable of "my" sound.
Thanks!
 
#59
Hey guys

Got my Spirit where I like it with strings and pots, man what a difference! but I still had a question. What replacement pickups would fit without routing? The selects are ok, Ive played on worse pickups but if I wanted to do better what are my options? The pickups look like they are guitar sized? Is that the case? Also has anybody used q-tuners in a wooden steiny before?
 
#60
FWIW, musicyo.com isn't doing Steinberger parts anymore, but Musiciansfriend.com is. The world famous Synapse Bass strap hook is evidently available, but is pricey:
Link Removed

Peace
Paul K
 

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