Steinberger Guitars relaunches the Spirit Collection with the GT-PRO Deluxe guitar

02 Feb 2018 by Jef |

5,0 / 5,0 | Approximate reading time: 2 Minutes

Steinberger Guitars GT Pro in Hot Rod Yellow · Source: Steinberger Guitars

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Steinberger Guitars were a huge deal back in the Eighties and the company has many famous players that have tried them over the years. The firm has decided to relaunch the Spirit Collection with the GT-PRO Deluxe model in new colours for 2018. Does going this retro have a future?

GT-PRO Deluxe

Love or hate them, the Steinberger GT-PRO Deluxe stands out from the crowd (I owned one myself in the early Nineties). Looking a little bit like a Flying V that has had it’s winged clipped and lost its head, the design is minimal, to say the least. Ned Steinberger’s guitars and basses were first introduced in 1979 and took hold in the 1980s you saw them everywhere. They then faded away in more recent years, though the brand still exists, now owned by Gibson.

GT Pro Deluxe in Hot Rod Yellow

Double Ball End

Loaded with the patented R-Trem system and headless design, (you’ll need Steinberger’s ‘double ball’ end strings to play them) they use a 40:1 ratio Direct-Pull system to tune them. The tuning system is down at the bridge end, and it does take a little getting used to. Some players shun these guitars because of their looks, but actually the trem systems are really efficient and I always found these instruments fun to play.

GT Pro Deluxe in Hot Rod Red

Spirit Collection

This new series has a poplar body and a three-piece maple neck with a 1960’s style SlimTaper -D profile. 24 jumbo frets are fitted to a Granadilla fretboard (the more recent ones have used rosewood, so CITES has probably the reason for this) that also has a zero nut fret. The pickups are a set of Steinberger’s own HB-1 bridge and HB-2 neck humbuckers with an SC-1 single coil pick up in the middle position, all controlled by a Master Volume, Master Control and a 5-way pickup selector switch.

GT Pro Delux Yin Yang

Travel Guitar

Possibly the best travel guitar you can own, the GT Pro has a full 25.5″ scale length and yet is still only 30.25″ long. That makes the Steinberger design very portable indeed. You need to use the little pull-down knee/leg rest for playing it resting on your lap, similar to the ones used on Flying V guitars. These also slide off your leg when played sitting down.

Available in Yin Yang, Black, White, Hot Rod Yellow, Hot Rod Red, and Frost Blue