Steinberger Left Handed Guitars

Founder of the company is Ned Steinberger, the son of the American Nobel Prize winner, Jack Steinberger. After training as a sculptor at the Maryland Institute College of Art, Steinberger began in 1975 with renowned furniture manufacturer Thonet, before he designed the following year, the Spector NS model, his first bass guitar. While working at the Spector, Steinberger began to experiment with carbon-fiber reinforced plastic, the result of the so-called Stein-blend material.

With the L2-Bass he succeeded in 1979. A reduced to the required size rectangular body, and a neck without a head plate, mounted on the body end tuners, gave him on the NAMM show in California a lot of attention. The first three prototypes were sold to John Entwistle (The Who), Tony Levin (King Crimson) and Andy West (Dixie Dregs). In 1980 the company Steinberger Sound was founded. The following year, the L2-Bass was elected as the first musical instrument among the five best designs of the Industrial Design Excellence Award from the Industrial Designers Society of America. A year later Steinberger won the Reinforced Plastics / Composite Award from the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc., and bcame out with the GL model, his first guitar.

One of the developments of Steinberger's is the TransTrem: The vibrato system allows not only to increase/decrease the string tension (and hence the pitch), but contrary to other systems also allows you to transpose the whole mood of the guitar. This not only allows you to play in different moods, but also has the ability to perform so-called chord bends.

Steinberger instruments are characterized by a very clear, height-range 'Hi-Fi "sound that results from the hardness of the material of epoxy resin / graphite in combination with the active electronics, and found agreement with some critics, who described the sound as "unprincipled." On the initiative of Mike Rutherford, the guitarist of Genesis, the electric guitar model GM was developed. For the GM Model, the minimal composite body was replaced by a traditional shaped wooden body with wings. This was addressed to guitarists, who didn't like the radical design of the GL model.

The P-series was developed, to offer mid-priced instruments as well. Equipped with a wooden body and a neck bolted to the composite material, but with the same hardware as the L-instruments, it was possible, to keep the price low for the production, and for the end user. The body shape was a mixture of the L-Design and the Flying V design from Gibson. The cartridge turn the brand EMG pickups were installed, which are active when the logo appears at the bottom of the pickups and passive, if the logo is printed in the center of the pickup. The series enjoys a good reputation among fans, as it is an authentic Steinberger instrument, with their wooden body different from the concept of stereo sound. However, the Basses of the P-series -were not very successful, that's why these instruments have not been produced, and are now available at significantly lower prices than the L-designs.

At the end of the 1980s, the Steinberger Company was bought of from Gibson. In the mid-nineties Steinberger production was stopped completely.

Meanwhile, some instruments from Steinberger are again available.

Ned Steinberger, who is also responsible for the design of the popular Warwick Streamer bass, is dedicated to become the design and production of the so-called Electric upright basses, cellos and violins.

By Melanie Bradley