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Steinberger Spirits

#701
JRT64 said:
From all the video demos I've seen, these Steinberger Spirit basses sound really good. I wonder if the neck profile is the same as the originals. The one I tried in the early 90's, had a thick ball bat neck. Not what I would have expected from a bass with a composite neck.
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Don't let those videos fool you. The pickups and pots are really sub-par. The fretwork is pretty hit-or-miss on many of the ones I tried, but sometimes you can find a good one.
Swap out those electronics though.

Despite their reference to precision building and the heritage, they really don't do the name any justice.

Yes, when the Steinberger were introduced, Ned stuck with a kind-of rounded-C shape neck. You get used to it pretty quickly.
 
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#702
Frankie- Hey- this is a thread for those of us who've enjoyed Spirits. They were not intended to be as good as the original Ned graphite models. We got that. They were a hell of a lot less expensive too.

We like the design principles that the Spirits embody. They are not the same as the original graphite Steinbergers in any sense other than being headless. All that has been discussed to death everywhere, including Talkbass, already.

I personally have owned and enjoyed three Spirit basses since 2000. There is nothing wrong with any of them. I've modded mine in different ways because I can, and I liked the results for the most part.

A lot of other Spirit owners here will definitely agree.
 
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#703
Michael Vee said:
Frankie- Hey- this is a thread for those of us who've enjoyed Spirits. They were and are not intended to be as good as the graphite models. Got that. We like the design principles that the Spirits embody.
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Yeah, the only problem is that there seem to be runs that were good and ones that were bad. The latest ones I tried were not built as well as the earlier ones - even though they were all built by Gibson (WMI?) Hopefully whatever Gibson plans to do with Ned turns that around. The last round of them were really poorly made, unfortunately.

I'm not even comparing them to the graphite models... Because you simply can't. I'm comparing Spirit to Spirit.

I sold my older one, and thought I'd pick up one now to use as a fly-date travel bass. I was pretty disappointed. I should have kept the old one.
 
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#704
Yeah. I've honestly had a fair share of bad Spirits myself. One in particular where it was impossible to adjust the truss rod because of how they went about it...

3C031A3A-92F2-44B3-8159-CCFF9645A1F1.jpeg


However, my other Spirit is a great bass I enjoy playing! Would love to have another in a White 4 string which I am still on the hunt for...
 
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#705
frankie5string said:
Yeah, the only problem is that there seem to be runs that were good and ones that were bad. The latest ones I tried were not built as well as the earlier ones - even though they were all built by Gibson (WMI?) Hopefully whatever Gibson plans to do with Ned turns that around. The last round of them were really poorly made, unfortunately.

I'm not even comparing them to the graphite models... Because you simply can't. I'm comparing Spirit to Spirit.

I sold my older one, and thought I'd pick up one now to use as a fly-date travel bass. I was pretty disappointed. I should have kept the old one.
Click to expand...

I'm having quite the opposite experience. I purchased a Spirit 6 string in the 90's, which was decent quality. The Spirit bass I purchased this year is every bit as good as that one quality wise.....maybe better. Perhaps they have QC issues....and perhaps I got lucky?
 
#706
I’ve owned 3, all bought new back in late 90s early 2000s. They were all great quality and wish I still had the fretless. I gigged the crap out of it and the other 5 that I kept. It has had a ton of mods the neck has been shaved and had some super mojo :) and I’ll never part with it. I’m on my 2nd custom body with that neck and still love it.

I just received the updated v2 of the custom brass headpieces I had made for it with built in grub screws for normal strings and double ball ends. I’m using those headpieces on all of my custom builds now too.
01A17163-C600-4C94-B0D2-BA68CE82B64D.jpeg
 
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#710
Barticus said:
I’ve owned 3, all bought new back in late 90s early 2000s. They were all great quality and wish I still had the fretless. I gigged the crap out of it and the other 5 that I kept. It has had a ton of mods the neck has been shaved and had some super mojo :) and I’ll never part with it. I’m on my 2nd custom body with that neck and still love it.

I just received the updated v2 of the custom brass headpieces I had made for it with built in grub screws for normal strings and double ball ends. I’m using those headpieces on all of my custom builds now too.
View attachment 4733676
Click to expand...
Here’s a better view side-by-side, new one on the left.
E57FB78F-1DB3-47F3-B304-E5D3AF86B8AE.jpeg

A25E4C64-5C72-475C-B3C9-E712B54E3045.jpeg
 
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#712
My theory is the name comes from the fact that they have
"the spirit but not the substance" of the original Steinbergers.

I'm very happy with my XT25, bought used last year. The pickups don't have
any name badge (or any other markings at all), so I think they were replaced
but previous owner didn't know. Sounds good.

Also have a couple spirit guitars that are quite nice. The stock pickups have ok basic tone,
but are very low output and a bit dull. One i put in SD black winter neck and alternative 8 bridge
and sounds great now.
Next one still deciding about pickups, but have it tuned down to
C standard with EXL148 heavy strings. Interesting tones.

peace
 
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#713
J Wilson said:
Are the pickups in the Spirit basses regular guitar humbucker size, and are the fives the same size ?
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Here’s the actual dimensions from a 5

The original pickups are passive EMGs with a brass bezel around them. They’re not bad pickups they’re just low output and I suppose adding an onboard preamp would make a huge difference however originally I chose to swap pickups for EMG DC40/TW with BTC.

Here are photos front and back of the original pickups, these pickups are well worn with a ton of gigging miles on them! they served me well for a period of time. :woot::smug::D
55281341-D196-4132-BE34-0EB673AA2617.jpeg
0D43D48C-B365-42BC-B29A-C489F1F71B42.jpeg


Here are photos of the pickup dimensions themselves
1D0D574B-9C1A-48B2-9B8A-C32C70993692.jpeg
358CFB77-2A25-4698-BD13-6BA7F4BA967B.jpeg


Here are photos of the pickup bezel dimensions
DFD66431-5182-4EE0-B896-27364B9D1292.jpeg
FB7EBC37-7F55-4AF4-B50A-4ECD80014A0A.jpeg
 
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#714
Barticus said:
Here’s the actual dimensions from a 5

The original pickups are passive EMGs with a brass bezel around them. They’re not bad pickups they’re just low output and I suppose adding an onboard preamp would make a huge difference however originally I chose to swap pickups for EMG DC40/TW with BTC.

Here are photos front and back of the original pickups, these pickups are well worn with a ton of gigging miles on them! they served me well for a period of time. :woot::smug::D
View attachment 4734080 View attachment 4734081

Here are photos of the pickup dimensions themselves
View attachment 4734082 View attachment 4734083

Here are photos of the pickup bezel dimensions
View attachment 4734084View attachment 4734085
Click to expand...
That's awesome. Correct width and a fraction more length and the 40 will be fine by the look of it. Cheers.
 
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#717
Maynor, as we talked about via PM, the EMG HBCS pickups with the BTC will fit in the stock routing, and it's pricey, but it is a dramatic change in clarity, cut, and punch. Very much like the Newburgh era instruments, but maybe a bit more mellow due to wooden neck and body. Best of both!

I paid a bit over $200 for my XZ-2 as it was a MusicYo b-stock. It had slightly mismatched grain on the three body pieces. Otherwise it was perfect. I had some qualms about spending more for the EMG set than I did for the bass!
 
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#720
Michael Vee said:
Maynor, as we talked about via PM, the EMG HBCS pickups with the BTC will fit in the stock routing, and it's pricey, but it is a dramatic change in clarity, cut, and punch. Very much like the Newburgh era instruments, but maybe a bit more mellow due to wooden neck and body. Best of both!

I paid a bit over $200 for my XZ-2 as it was a MusicYo b-stock. It had slightly mismatched grain on the three body pieces. Otherwise it was perfect. I had some qualms about spending more for the EMG set than I did for the bass!
Click to expand...
Will they still fit the 5 string? I'll likely do some measuring when it arrives to see what options will work.
 

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