Steinberger Spirit XT-25 5-String Standard Bass White

Well, I’ve been playing this bass for a while now. It is so comfortable and has an unreal sound. Kick stand keeps it from sliding off the leg. Quality build. Great value…

I used to play the New York built Steinberger back in the 80's. I had to sell it to buy a Tobias Killer B-5 I bought new in the 90's. That Killer B is awesome and it's still my main bass. I also have a Carven Fretless that sounds and plays great, but it's real heavy and hard on you shoulders after long play. I always missed that old Steinberger; but not enough to pay up to $2.000 to buy a used one and sink more money into what you might end up with. This XT- 25 with the added B string I didn't have with the old one is a blast to play. I ran it through my BP 8 Processor so all I had to do was step on a pedal instead of adjusting my amp. The punch was there. Even straight through the amp sounds good. If you don't have a lot of cash and you would like to check out this style of Bass, this is the best deal around. My only advise is buy the strap extender hook that goes with the synapse Bass. It will screw right on and get you to the high frets a lot easier. Just don't be looking for it to sound like the American made Stein's of the 80's. The only good thing Gibson did when they bought out this brand was to allow it to be made cheap enough to try the body style without breaking the bank. A lot of those old brands aren't as good after buyouts.

Strings are pretty close together, but the tone is great, the tuning holds, and its extremely portable!

One of the main reasons I bought this bass is because it's lighter than most full-bodied bass guitars. I was right. By the end of a four-hour gig my shoulder and back doesn't hurt like with another bass I own.Plus this thing has a great tone and really does hold its tuning very well.

Cons:The balance is horrible and you'll be very lucky if you ever find one of the synapse strap hook extensions to fix itBalance issue makes it play like a 38" scale bass when standing. Your wrists will hate you.The tuners are a bit of pain, but keep in tune pretty wellNo place for your thumbGlossy neck (personal preference)Stock strings are absolutely horrible, don't even bother playing them. Do yourself a favor and buy a single ball adaptor and some good strings at the same time as you buy the bass. It's a huge difference in the sound.Pros:Very easy to travel with once you get a case. I have the branded one, but a Pelican would work just as well.Has a good sound for the price once you swap strings.Bridge is very tunable and makes it easy to get a good growl without fretting outEasiest truss rod access I've ever seen, good for travelling

Move the strap peg at back of neck. Move it to the top edge facing down the neck. Same place it would be for a strat. They put it on back of neck like a gibson. Thats why the bass flops forward when on a strap. Use a strap lock so it wont slip off. Then it balances right. You dont need a stupid synapse bs device. Just move the strap peg on back of neck to the upper side of body facing down neck. Issue resolved. Five stars. Oh. And ditch the EMG select crap for real EMG 35J set. Done.

My XT-25 is a very well made bass. The intonation was perfect right out of the box and it just needed a few tiny turns of the truss rod to get the action low with almost no fret noise. The tone is piano like, but with some tweaks you can get most sounds out if it. It can be deep punchy and clear as a bell.MAJOR CAVEAT - I strongly recommend buying a Boomerang or other Steinberger strap system. The XT-25 is unplayable with just a regular strap. I coughed up an additional $130 for the Boomerang, and now it plays like a dream. There are some strap extension mods recommended on Talkbass that might work for you. I tried but could not get nearly the pivot or adjust-ability that the Steiny strap systems provide.The compactness makes air travel a snap, and on a tight stage it gives room to move that a large headstock does not. The tuning system is the best. I might upgrade to EMG's or Barts as the stock pups are ok but not spectacular. Once you get used to it it is really fun to play.

I bought this for playing in my school's pep band since we're in a kinda tight area spacewise, but this bass has proven to be very useful. I especially love how effortlessly I went from a low B set to a high C set. The tone is up there. The only complaint I have is that there appears to be no strap hook system, so I essentially have to put the strap on the bottom button. That almost warrants a loss of two stars for me, but I could probably improv one. I saw someone managed to use the hook of a hanging planter for one.