Against the Blue Wall- Steinberger Spirit Deluxe

Steinberger Spirit

As a guitar player and a traveler at some point I wanted to be able to play guitar where ever I go. I started looking for portable guitars. At first I thought I wanted a classical guitar to play flamenco, but that idea ended pretty quickly. I am not well versed enough in flamenco to buy a flamenco guitar. Then I thought about a travel steel string but as with other acoustics, you need a large enough chamber to resonate, that adds volume and reduces portability.  So I landed on electrics. I have single coils on my telecaster. Which if you read other blogs posts you know I love. Anyway, I wanted some humbuckers. I also wanted a guitar that was comfortable enough to play at home and could double as a travel guitar.

So I ended up getting a used Steinberger Spirit, 2 humbuckers and 1 single coil. I saw a lot of travel guitars with a single pickup and I didn’t necessarily want that. I wanted the combinations that you can use with 2 or 3 pickups.

Steinberger is known for being very innovate and making interesting and well made guitars. Steinberger was one of the first to use a headless guitar. This means the tuning gears are next to the bridge. It also takes double ball strings which are specially made for it.

here are the Specs

24 frets

set in neck

rosewood finger board

Maple body

2 humbuckers and 1 single coil in a h/s/h configuration

volume and tone knob

black hardware

5 way selector

lap stand

Overall length is 30.5” but the scale length is 25.5” which makes for a nice full sound

Tremolo bar
There are also 2 tremolo entry points and 2 sets of strap knobs, so it can be played left or right hand.

Close up of the bridge

There is also a Spirit regular and it has 2 single coils and 1 humbucker but it looks like the go for the same price. There are a few main reasons I got this guitar one is travel, two humbuckers and three high fret access. Sometimes you need to make it scream. Unfortunately the sound does get lost in the upper frets. One problem I have with this guitar is that it has a wider neck. I am used to a thinner neck and it is a little disorienting to play fast on it. I also wish they had made a shallower neck instead of the full c shape it has. However,  for what it is, it is great. I’m sure many people make it their primary guitar. Not necessarily this model but this size of guitar. Another thing I found it that the paint job was a little haphazard and the pickups rock a little bit. This is also the cheapest line of Steinbergers and I paid just under $290 for a used one so I try to take that into account. on the positive side, it stays in turn pretty well, its solid and it puts out some power. I like the white color and the finish is not too glossy where I find my hand sticking to it.

Any thoughts on travel guitars? Steinbergers? I also was seriously considering the Cordoba La Playa but it seems to have mixed reviews. Does anyone own one? Have any opinions?

Humbuckers? I got 2

On the side you can see that black bar. It folds out into a lap stand for comfortable playing. I had always wondered what that was.

Body Shot, the neck looks really long. It's not that's just the angle.

Headless. Robespierre would be proud. So would my history teacher.

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