Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Steinberger Spirits
- Thread starter Michael Vee
- Start date
That's awesome, to me it sounds like it IS worth it as a useful tool that will create income, so it'll pay for itself for that project. Nice upgrades!
Wow, pb! I am seriously impressed, as I'm sure our other Spirit brethren here are as well. I can't get over how nice the bass looks with the pickups and rings. That is an excellent electronics upgrade.
You have set a new high standard for modding a Spirit bass. Certainly one of the bigger outlays of any of us. I am envious. You have "done real good" with this bass and we're all looking forward to hearing about how your music is shaped and evolves from playing it. And we want live pics, too!
Congrats and well done, sir! -- MVee
Last edited:
Somewhere back in this thread I have pics of where I mounted counter-sunk Dunlop strap lock receptacles in the back of the body. One at the neck strap button location, and one further in on the back of the body - not the end where the original one goes. That shifted the entire bass to my right a couple of frets and make the positions more akin to how my other basses hang when I play them. Wasn't 100% there but closer and more playable for me. If what you have works for you now, that's great too.
I was considering making a custom wood structured molded block that sat atop the neck like an extension of the body, continuing to the 14th fret. I would then mount it to the body and top edge of the neck looking akin to "single cut" bass neck, where the body extends over the fingerboard. Then I could mount a standard strap pin/lock insert. Paint it to match the body for aesthetics. I think it would make for a far more aesthetic solution than a steel prong screwed into the back of the body.
Ned made a great design, but it added parts that could be/are many times taken off to be lost, misplaced. For example, the tilting single point strap lever. I had an XL2 20 years ago, and the tipping of the bass was annoying on the single point support. I ended up drilling into the bass and mounting the pins where I wanted. ( I know, I drilled into a Steinberger) Also, the original removable leg rest. Another item to lose/misplace.
If the top line of the body extended over the 14th fret, you could lose the single pivot strap lever, and save cost on an additional device. The removable leg rest was replaced with a mounted one, which is very effective and can't be lost. And likely less expensive to produce. But a metal prong? Screwed into a body, with a hook at the end?? Cmon.
Ned made a great design, but it added parts that could be/are many times taken off to be lost, misplaced. For example, the tilting single point strap lever. I had an XL2 20 years ago, and the tipping of the bass was annoying on the single point support. I ended up drilling into the bass and mounting the pins where I wanted. ( I know, I drilled into a Steinberger) Also, the original removable leg rest. Another item to lose/misplace.
If the top line of the body extended over the 14th fret, you could lose the single pivot strap lever, and save cost on an additional device. The removable leg rest was replaced with a mounted one, which is very effective and can't be lost. And likely less expensive to produce. But a metal prong? Screwed into a body, with a hook at the end?? Cmon.
Glad you're having fun! These Spirit basses are really great mod platforms
I still own my XL2 I bought new and the PP doesn't slip and I play it far more vertically than post people would.
Im thinkin my body wasn't conducive to a flush position, perpendicular with the floor. I just remember the bass feelin too…..floppy? With the single pivot point. It's definitely felt far more secure and familiar with two wider points for the strap. But again, a separate device required for playing with a shoulder strap? yea….no.
Makes way more sense to me to do it Ned's way than with typical FSO and similar ergonomics. I'd rather play an instrument how I want to play it, not decided by by some non-player from 70ya. A more vertical playing position than the typical close to horizontal, gives a much better wrist angle on the fretting hand. I realise many are so used to the status quo that something unusual is simply uncomfortable and therefore rejected as it's not the norm. Look at all the old 4 string players who won't even try a 5 because it's not what they're used to.
Bill Wyman played very vertically with trad strap mounts. But Hey, whatever your comfortable with….great. My bet is the majority of L-2, XL-2 etc guys were fine with the single pivot point set up. But requiring a 2nd device to play your instrument with a strap? I can't think of any other guitar, or instrument for that matter that has that requirement.
But I can certainly see from your perspective. Since the strap bracket is bolted to the body, it isn't likely to be lost/misplaced. And to most may not be considered a separate device. Simply a part of the instrument.
So yea, I get it.
But I can certainly see from your perspective. Since the strap bracket is bolted to the body, it isn't likely to be lost/misplaced. And to most may not be considered a separate device. Simply a part of the instrument.
So yea, I get it.
Makes even more sense once you've tried it. Yeah you can play it without but IME it's just way more comfortable with. As they say, YMMV.
This. I purposely built my mod so that the hook went out to the twelfth fret. My steinie when from the most uncomfortable to one of the most comfortable basses to play in my collection with that mod.
So for whatever reason i am fixated on. Headless bass a-la steinberger/hohner. This is after moving too slow on a duke. The used prices for the spirits and B2's are a little ridiculous. Even the Kramer's and westones.
Are the current crop of spirits complete junk. My suspicion is they have the same pickups as all the 300$ epiphones and that manufacturing is in China. Which is fine if there is some QC but based on a thunderbird I had I'm not hoping for much. Anyway. Are the current spirits redeemable in any way? Or do I hold out for a hohner or Korean spirit?
Are the current crop of spirits complete junk. My suspicion is they have the same pickups as all the 300$ epiphones and that manufacturing is in China. Which is fine if there is some QC but based on a thunderbird I had I'm not hoping for much. Anyway. Are the current spirits redeemable in any way? Or do I hold out for a hohner or Korean spirit?
Hey Dave. I would not say the current Spirit XTs are "complete junk", not at all - they continue to sell well enough that Gibson is keeping them available. Are they worse than the original MusicYo era Spirits? Tthey are probably about the same quality, although you'd want an opinion from someone here who has owned both eras, which I haven't.
Yes, the older Spirit resale market is a little bit overpriced overall, but that's true of a lot of older instruments that are no longer being built. In general, from what I've read elsewhere and also in this thread, the quality is still comparable for these instruments being built to a specific price point, then and now more on the low end of pricing. You don't hear of a lot of bad quality control for Spirits, more that people find the stock electronics and pickups to be a bit on the neutral side. Those are the people who say, this is an inexpensive platform that I like, and I can drop in some other pickups and electronics that would get the bass closer to the tone I want it to have. Then you have the people who buy an XT and don't like the way the instrument hangs on a strap, but that's not quality control, it's just the design. Those folks either sell the bass or they engineer some sort of a strap extension.
We do have some people on this thread who have purchased a recent XT and will probably reply to you with their own reactions. In the meantime, do work your way through this thread for further insights into these basses. I'm glad you posted here and you will find that most of us really do like our Spirits.
Yes, the older Spirit resale market is a little bit overpriced overall, but that's true of a lot of older instruments that are no longer being built. In general, from what I've read elsewhere and also in this thread, the quality is still comparable for these instruments being built to a specific price point, then and now more on the low end of pricing. You don't hear of a lot of bad quality control for Spirits, more that people find the stock electronics and pickups to be a bit on the neutral side. Those are the people who say, this is an inexpensive platform that I like, and I can drop in some other pickups and electronics that would get the bass closer to the tone I want it to have. Then you have the people who buy an XT and don't like the way the instrument hangs on a strap, but that's not quality control, it's just the design. Those folks either sell the bass or they engineer some sort of a strap extension.
We do have some people on this thread who have purchased a recent XT and will probably reply to you with their own reactions. In the meantime, do work your way through this thread for further insights into these basses. I'm glad you posted here and you will find that most of us really do like our Spirits.
Last edited:
The only way to find out is to order one. So I did. Now we wait.
Good for you! I think you were pretty much decided even before you posted here!
Who are you getting it from, and was it in stock?
We'll be waiting for a pic or pics, and your impressions.
Was in stock at an online retailer called Alto Music. Local greater NYC outfit.Good for you! I think you were pretty much decided even before you posted here!
Who are you getting it from, and was it in stock?
We'll be waiting for a pic or pics, and your impressions.
Agree with this assessment. I had an XT from '14, and I just sold my XZ. The pickups are probably the weakest link. Not terrible however - perfectly fine for a backup or something you want to take out instead of a four-digit valued custom bass. A preamp can boost output as it did in my XZ.
Yeah, the prices are going up. I still have two sets of brand new Status Graphite strings that will stay moth-balled until I get another headless - I know it will happen again eventually. Deals are harder to find though. The GC near me has a Hohner four string in red that's priced at $500. Not worth it to me, but at 3-350 it would be a good buy. I took pics and sent it to my band, threatening to buy it and a Spirit boat-oar guitar. I got a little tongue-lashing for that.
I'll have to own another one day just to generate some reactions.
Raz, did your XZ-25 sell? I didn't follow the FS thread. If it did, if the buyer is not one of us here, you should invite him to the thread.
Latest posts
-
-
-
-
-
Guyker 4 String Headless Bass Bridge (and headpiece) report!- Latest: Matt Liebenau