Steinberger Spirit GT-PRO Deluxe Electric Guitar Black

In 1989 I owned a black Steinberger GL2T with a Type-2 Trans-Trem. In 1993 I sold it to another guitarist in my variety band because I always wore black clothes when performing so I bought a custom white Steinberger GL7TA and played that guitar up until about the year 2016 and sold it because it went way up in price and I didn't want to own that expensive of a guitar. 2 months ago I bought a EVH Wolfgang Standard Cream White and the Floyd Rose was way too time consuming compared to my Steinberger GL Series guitars [It only takes 1 minute to change a string on my Steinberger GL Series guitars; It takes 10 minutes or more to change a string on a Floyd Rose and sometimes the strings slip-out of the saddles because the saddles and insert blocks get grooves in them and need to be replaced when that happens]. I also didn't like the EVH Wolfgang Standard because the strap-button on the cutaway pushes the 17th fret further to the right making it more difficult to play those higher frets; The strap-button on the Steinberger is on the back heal of the guitar neck pushing the 17th fret to the left making it much easier to get at and I really like that a lot. I didn't like having 22-frets on the EVH Wolfgang; I really like having 24-frets on the Steinberger. I stripped out the high-E saddle on the EVH Wolfgang Standard because it's made with zinc metal which is a soft metal that strips easily; I was careful not to tighten too much but the high-E kept slipping out so I'd go tighter and then finally it stripped out and then I bought the Original Floyd Rose saddles and insert blocks but I still didn't like how the saddles feel when tightening the string locking screws because it still feels like those hardened steel saddles could strip out; i was hoping it would tighten down and stop when it presses the string between the saddle and insert block but it seems like it would strip out if I didn't stop instead. The side of my hand would hit the cutaway when playing the highest fret and hit the locking nut when slidding up to the 2nd fret when playing the verse to Van Halen Best Of Both Worlds; On the Steinberger GL Series guitars my hand never hit any cutaway or locking nut because they don't exist on those guitars. I didn't like using allen wrenches all the time with the Floyd Rose on that EVH Wolfgang Standard guitar, very time consuming compared to a Steinberger GL Series guitar. So I ended up selling that EVH Wolfgang Standard to my friend and first guitar teacher Drew for $178 less than I paid for the guitar and all the parts I bought for it. Then I bought the Steinberger GT Pro Deluxe in white; I was hoping the fingerboard on the Steinberger GT Pro Deluxe would be black like the black-ebony fingerboards my Steinberger GL Series guitars had and it did come that way; The photos on Guitar Center's website show a brown colored fingerboard; I did not want brown and I very happy the fingerboard came a nice solid black color; I like playing on a black fingerboard. I had to loosen the small allen wrench to get the tremolo bar in far enough, then I tightened it just a little bit so there is a little friction on the tremolo bar; I can still remove the tremolo bar and push it back in without having to adjust the allen wrench screw and I like that. The action was high so I used a long 1.5mm allen wrench I bought for the EVH Wolfgang Standard guitar and first loosened the allen screw holding all the saddles in place, then I lowered each saddle evenly using a magnifying glass and flashlight making sure both sides of the saddles are even as I lowered them; I started with the Low E string, then worked my way to the High E string; The thinner the string the lower I could go; I would press down on the string to test how low it was, and I would also hold the string down on the 1st fret with my left hand and hold the string down above the neck pickup with my right-hand pinky finger and then use my right-hand thumb to tap the string making sure there was just a tiny but of space between the string and frets just to get a rough idea where I was at lowering the action; It worked perfect. Then I noticed the lower frets had higher action than the higher frets; All I had to do was tighten the Truss Rod with a 4mm allen wrench about 3/4 of a full turn; When I first turned the Truss Rod screw there was no tension on it at all, it turned really easy so that's why I had to turn it 3/4 of a full turn; Then the action was low everywhere, almost too low but I left it be for now; I was surprised I could get it that low without any problems with major buzzing or dead notes; In the future I might go a little higher on the action but maybe not; Time will tell; I like really low action but too low of action can make it a little difficult to play sometimes like when bending the high E and B strings it can be more difficult if you can't get under them; I'm really happy with the action being so low and playing so well. I added a tiny bit of AMS-OIL Signature Series motor oil with a tiny paint brush to the threads of the tuning knobs, spring tension knob, where the bridge lock touches the bridge locking it in place, where the strings touch the silver saddle rollers, and I put some on the 1/4" guitar plug and then pushed it inside the output jack on the guitar to add some oil inside to make it easier to pull out and to help prevent wear. AMS-OIL Signature Series is the best synthetic motor oil having the least amount of wear on metal parts so I use it when I need to oil things [Guitar parts, garage door parts, door hingest, etc.]. I plan to stay with the double ball end strings because it only takes 1 minute to change a guitar string using double ball end guitar strings. I plan to switch to 9 gauge double-ball-end guitar strings [9 11 16 24 32 42] eventually. I had fun playing this Steinberger GT Pro Deluxe guitar, jamming to Van Halen music. I haven't tried the other pickup settings yet; I only played this guitar for 5 minutes; Spent about 1 hour or so working on it and playing it. I spent hours and hours working on that EVH Wolfgang Standard guitar; I didn't like how time consuming that Floyd Rose tremolo system is compared to the Steinberger tremolo. The tremolo is stiff compared to the GL Series Steinberger guitars I use to own but it still works just fine so I am happy with the tremolo on this Steinberger GT Pro Deluxe being such an affordable guitar. Someday I may install an EMG-89 at the bridge and an EMG-89R at the neck but would have to find a way to install a 9 volt battery compartment on this guitar; Then I'd want to move the volume to where the tone knob is to get the volume knob out of the way; I'm still able to play this guitar even though my pinky hits the volume knob so I'm happy about that as well; I was concerned that volume knob would make it impossible for me to play this guitar but I can still play it; I do make mistakes when my pinky hits that volume knob and when my guitar pick hits the middle pickup but being such an affordable guitar I don't mind those problems as much as the problems I experienced with the EVH Wolfgang Standard guitar I sold. In the future I may be making Line 6 Helix Patches with this Steinberger GT Pro Deluxe guitar. This Steinberger GT Pro Deluxe plays very similar to my Steinberger GL Series guitars and I Am really happy about that. I held off buying this Steinberger GT Pro Deluxe for a couple years I think; I'm glad I made the purchase; I do hope GIbson makes higher quality Steinberger GT Pro Deluxe guitars with an EMG-89 at the bridge, EMG-89R at the neck, and an option for an EMG-SA middle pickup for those who want it and sell it for around $1200 with higher quality parts if possible. This is a great low priced guitar; Currently my favorite.

Cons: Arrived with poor setup, action buzzing everywhere. Even after truss rod and action adjustment, I think I might need to level a few frets to meet my standards. Bridge saddles were not locked down, so they all fell out with my first string change. Pros: SIZE! There has never been a more comfortable guitar to wear; weighs nothing, stays out of the way, and sits close to the body. I thought it would feel weird, but nope, I love it. To store it, just put it down, lean it anywhere. Stash it anywhere in the (pretty decent) gig bag. The tremolo is surprisingly nice. Stays in tune like it should and can be locked in place. Tuning is easy and solid, not sure why other reviewers have had an issue. Mid: Pickups. I expected worse based on reviews but they're playable individually (N, M, B). I'm not a fan of the combinations, though (N+M, M+B). Tremolo feels stiff, but I don't own another one to compare it to.

I like the guitar for what it is but I want to use single ball strings and it is difficult to find the Steinberger stadg06 piece. Please email me where I can find one and cost Thanks

So many of the "classics" guitar problems are solved by this axe. First the nut, string tree and tuner problems are totally eliminated along with the headstock. The pivot point for the trem is below the bridge (not in front) so palm muting does not cause the guitar to go out to tune. It is 100% fixed bridge or 100% full floating with the flip of a switch. Humbucking pickups are very good sounding, and the single coil sounds good but very quite (takes a bit to get used to but can be used as a "feature"). The guitar is heavier than the original because of the use of wood instead of carbon fiber but that is also why Gibson/Steinberger was able to keep the price low. , I high recommend replacing the nut assembly with one that supports the use of standard stings (Bnineteenteam Headless Guitar Locking Nut).

Amazing guitar! Always wanted one, finally pulled the trigger.

For a compact guitar, it's comfortable to play and sounds great.