Steinberger Spirit GT-PRO Deluxe Hot Rod Red

Needed a guitar that was both full-size to learn on and small enough to keep nearby without being in the way - perfect. And cool to look at obviously.

When Steinberger guitars first appeared in the 80s they were so different to anything we had seen before. Of course the originals were made of carbon fibre in the USA, and were EXPENSIVE (over 2000USD in the mid-80s, at a time when the most expensive USA-made Strat listed for less than 900USD). These latest 'Spirit' series are of course not the same (they are more traditional wood-construction, passive pickups, HSH configuration, jack location, strap buttons etc etc, Chinese factory - not sure which but possibly Cort?) but it means I can get the headless 80s vibe without spending a ton of money. Sure, the setup out of the box needed some tweaking (intonation adjustment, some saddle heights and a bit of neck relief) and there was a bit of sawdust, but considering the price I cannot really complain too much. The stock pickups are fine for what they are, and the 5 way switch offers a wide range of useable tones. Thru neck construction seems very solid, and overall impressions are good. Of course I could point out some minor cosmetic flaws but again at this price point it is a terrific little guitar for the money. The neck shape is a bit more vintage Tele shaped C than my more usual modern Wizard-styles but gives a very solid feel to the guitar. The gig bag is not particularly protective, but again is perfectly acceptable. I guess my reaction to it after the first few days must have been positive, as I have started to think about buying a black one too!

I wanted a travel guitar, having had a blackstar carry-on, which is fine but the scale is short and so licks I practiced on it didn't immediately sit under my fingers on my full sized guitar (it did sound good though). This is the other way round, I like the look, the intonation and tuning is super stable, once you've got it right it just stays there, brilliant! The only downside is the huge volume difference in the pickups, using the 5 way switch you get loud & bright on bridge, ok stratty tone on 2, middle pickup (position 3 is hardly audible), then pos 4 is a nice neck strat sound and the neck pick up suddenly beings you to bridge level volumes. I have tried adjusting them but I don't think they are amazing pickups (unless you only play positions 1 & 5 in which case fill-yer-boots!
I'm happy with the guitar, and it is definitely a keeper, but I will probably swap out the pickups when I have time & budget. I would definitely recommend with those caveats.

The Steinberger system has always been an expensive UFO in the music world. Today a summary of it is inscribe in this cheap guitar. Material (wood, paint, false rosewood touch "stained",etc) are alright. The instrument is well built : proper tuning and proper action can always be found and set. Tuning is kept. People who say it's not are not setting it right. The accompanying manual must be red ! The electronic parts (switches, pots, etc) are very cheap. The microphones are very low quality however I found the humbuckers powerful enough and I only replaced the single coil by a slim humbucker. Replacement of the 010 factory strings by 009 strings releases the action which becomes low and the instruments becomes very very comfy after adjusting the strings heights (read the manual !). In summary I am very happy with the feel and the adjusted sound of this guitar ! It is a piece of history now which I am gonna a play for a long time !

Very comfortable to play, and to move around.

It feels really well made and it's perfectly balanced. I also dig it aesthetically, it's just cool to look at.

The worst aspect of the guitar are the pickups, they are not horrible, but they don't sound excellent either.

But for this price range, and with all the advantages its size conveys, it's totally worthy!

If you practice in a small cramped space like I do, this will help avoid some damage to the walls :D

To summarize, this is a fantastic travel guitar.