EMG456

Late to this as usual but older style passive Sticks really need a buffered preamp to run in mono. It’s not that it won’t work by either flicking the switch or doing the old jack plug in halfway method but a lot of the clarity is lost due to technical reasons that I’m not fully up to speed with- impedance loading? A low cost solution is a Boss LS-2 pedal which is really useful for many other things too which is why I’ve ended up with two of them!

I must have a low pain threshold...

The very last run of Steinberger wooden bodied/ bolt on graphite necks used Moses Graphite necks with the actual blend modified in collaboration with NS. Moses are not doing musical instrument parts any more so there was a push by somebody (not necessarily Gibson connected- can’t remember!) to persuade Rob Green to start offering Steinberger compatible guitar and bass necks some prototypes were made but the project was halted, again from memory, by Rob for whatever reason. Thing is, my Steinbergers and for that matter my Status already sound full and warm. Could it be that the full frequency hi fi aspect of these instruments just doesn’t suit the sonic goals of a lot of players? And if so, would they not be just as happy with an old Precision with flat wounds and a reduced frequency capability amp setup?

Oh no. Want!

I'll give you the Frog Chorus and much of his output after Wings but Silly Love Songs is a masterclass in pop song writing/arranging/production.

Some pretty sweeping statements there. I’ll agree that the science of carbon fibre construction was less advanced than it is today but there was still a good bit of experience there and NS drew upon external expertise when designing his instrument. What has happened in the interim is that technologies like carbon fibre have become much more commodified with many able to buy off the peg materials for their projects but they’re still working with carbon fibres and resins. Also, I would put it to you that a guitar neck made from a bought in carbon weave mat will be a very different thing from one made of a carefully designed lay up which utilises specific fibres and their placement and orientation in the mould. Which “modern companies” are actually doing this better and cheaper? What are the neck issues that “many” original Steinbergers suffer from? I have heard anecdotally of a few failures but any example I have seen has stood the test of time very well. It’s fine saying that the Spirits and Hohners are decent instruments- they are- but they are also not in the same league as a graphite Steinberger in terms of sound or stability- remember they were introduced as an affordable entry level instrument for folks who would have liked a “real” Steinberger but couldn’t afford one. And as far as it being “fundamentally flawed”, it’s an internationally recognised icon of world class design so I don’t understand where you are getting that notion from.

Remember if thinking about an Ex-Factor that it is a 32 inch scale length except for the last two partial frets for the drop D. Not saying that’s a bad thing- I have a couple of 32s and they’re both great- but just in case you weren’t aware.

Here you go then. Fretted and fretless L2s XL5W XL2TA Status Custom

Easy...

Is it me you're looking for?

As was the trend at the time, when I got my first "proper" bass, I decided to turn the Avon into a fretless. I was astonished to find that the black fingerboard was in fact a maple one dyed and the actual neck was made of many thin laminates- very much like the neck on a Kubicki Ex-Factor if you've ever seen one of those. Very strange. I also can't remember where it went or what happened to it. This age thing is very annoying!

Late to this as usual... Yes- totally different manufacturing process between Status and Steinberger meaning that it was very labour intensive to build the Steinberger necks and it's unlikely that they will ever be built the same way again. The Streamline was deigned to be a similar concept to the Steinberger L series but I believe is much lighter in weight. A Steinberger L2 is not a lightweight bass, despite appearances. I like Steinbergers- in fact my original L2 is my favourite bass. There were enough of them made for them not to be too difficult to source even today unless you are looking for an unusual spec so I would suggest you see if you can find one to try. Unfortunately I'm in Scotland so a bit far to come but if you're ever around you'd be welcome to try them out. I've also got a Status that Rob made for me in the Steinberger shape when I couldn't find a Steiney 5 string a while back. It's a great bass too, as was the Hohner I used for a while in the 80s. Functionally, no one has bettered Ned's design in my opinion. One point on the necks. Ned was heavily influenced by Stanley Clarke at the time so the L2 has a very chunky neck in terms of thickness back to front and a narrow and quite parallel fingerboard. Quite like the Alembics and Rics at that time. Some folks find the spacing too tight at the bridge. This was changed with the XL2 and it's at that time that the Spirit series and the licensed Hohners were introduced so your Hohner will have that slightly wider string spacing and taper, like the XL2. No truss rods in the graphite necked Steinbergers - the neck is very rigid and just doesn't move. You can't really change the neck relief apart from major surgery so to allow this. most graphite neck builders nowadays design a neck which is more flexible and will respond to string tension/ truss rod forces. With it not being wood though, as @Happy Jack states above, once it's adjusted, it never changes. I've had the Status since 2006 or thereabouts and it's never been touched since it left the workshop.

My first bass was an Avon SG and it was uniquely awful. And it cost about £35 at the time. Did the trick though, I suppose...

Some top guys having fun - great! Anderson's voice though- wow. Seemingly no change at all over the years. And LoLing at Wakeman's nonchalant reach over at the end to play the last bit upside down!

What a great result!

I've also now got two. The Atilla Balogh Odyssey bass I recently acquired has a retro fit Kahler on it but the one I've had for a long time is a Steinberger XL-2TA which was factory ordered with the bass TransTrem. I find them fun with a bit of harmonics and reverb but of course the Steiney has the edge as far as functionality is concerned as you can lock the arm into different tuning positions on the fly so with the bass tuned as standard, I can drop to D, C or B or go up to F# or G.

Who said that?

Myth- usually perpetrated by guitarists- “The bass is too loud”.

Far too many people here obviously listen with their eyes! 😯

I like it... but then again I would! Would I buy it however? No. For genuine speed of swapping between fretted/fretless in a compact package, a headless, bodyless "plain" doubleneck would be quicker and in the long term probably, more robust.

I've been setting up my own basses since the mid 70s and have never taken a measurement once. I know what works for me and how far I can push each instrument probably better than the luthier or company that manufactured the instrument. That said, I can certainly see the value of a standard spec for manufacturing purposes or for setting up an instrument for someone else but again in my experience, no matter who's doing it, the best setups for a player will always involve a bit of "slightly up on the D string" trial and error refinement. Of course, because I like the ability to induce a bit of clank and buzz as required in my playing, it's crucial to me that the action is as near as possible to how I like it. If I favoured a high, very clean action, the setup by numbers would be more likely to succeed.

Headless for cramped gigs.

If you've got a use for it, make it 10 string. A straight octave pedal can't come close to the harmonic complexity you get with interacting octave strings. It will give you a very distinctive sound in your armoury but it's one which I personally find limited use for so if you're constrained in terms of numbers of instruments you can own/ store then it may not be worthwhile. If you have a big say in arrangements or work with band members who have an open mind to unusual things then that will help.

It was surgery nonsense for sure but I always had a great respect for the arrangements and musicianship.