Steinberger Guitars GT-Pro Deluxe HY

Got it as a travel/practice guitar. It is so small everyone thinks it is a violin in a gigbag, easily fits in the overhead bins in a plane and passes most airline's size requirements.

If you are considering this as your main guitar you might not be super happy with the quality of the electronics and hardware, this is a relatively cheap instrument for a reason, drop in a set of EMG's and it will get into the Jackson X price territory. It plays great, the access is unparalleled, holds the tuning for days.

Neck profile is a thick D, reminds the 50s Gibson. Pickups are passive with a low-medium output, clean sound is OK, distorted is also fine.

Because it has no headstock and virtually no body it feels very safe to play almost anywhere you are, you don't need to wary much for the environment or be afraid to nick those pointy parts of a normal guitar. Makes it a great practice guitar.

I have it for several months now, zero times doubted the purchase. Maybe not the greatest sound (if that is what you are looking for), but the playability is very good.

• The look is tremendous. Exact same warm yellow as on the pictures.

• Mine is extremely light, weighs two kilos and a half (I don't know if I just lucked out but I hope that's always the case for other customers!)

• Its size is awesome. You can play in really cramped up spaces without fearing to hit anything with the headstock/neck, and when you put the guitar back in its bag, it's so tiny that it's difficult to believe that you're carrying an actual guitar (it's smaller and lighter than my bag to go to work!!)

• The neck feels great. Thin enough for comfortable soloing but thick enough to give you a good grip for chords and such.

• The access to the highs and the ability to play two notes that are really far apart on the same string are tremendous.

• The pickups are a bit dull, but compared to what I heard on video, it was definitely much better sounding to me somehow. It sounded absolutely OK.*

• Combined with a headphone amp (my personal favourite is the Harley Benton Classic Rock) and some headphones, you can just practise at any hour of the day or night anywhere, for as long as you want. It will just sound and feel great.

• The tuning is really stable once you get it right. I love to leave the bridge unlocked (without the tremolo bar) and just occasionally move the bridge up or down a little as a musical effect.

• The tuning pegs are not the most comfortable to tweak, but you can use a screwdriver to tune, so it made my life quite a lot easier when I found that out. :)

• The stock strings felt great (on a very nice and low action that would allow you to bend to up to a minor third quite easily) but they got a weird bronze colour within a week of playing them, so I got other 10-46 strings from another brand, which felt VERY stiff at first. But then after a few days, the strings somehow settled and now feel as relaxed as the stock strings! (Those are proving to last longer, at least when cleaned after playing)

• The price is just exceptional for that quality. The only downside in that regard is that the strings will cost more, and you won't have a lot of choice with them. There's an adaptor to use regular strings, but read the reviews on there and check out what people say on forums online...

*My bandmates didn't like the stock pickup sound very much (it did lack a bit of character). So I changed ALL the pickups, but that was very complicated and costly (the modifications ended up costing me more than the price of the guitar new). That's because the middle pickup cannot be swapped for another standard middle pickup (it is somehow smaller and so is the hole to fit it). So I had to get a custom made pickguard as I also wanted a single-coil in the neck. The guitar now has a bit more character, but like any guitar that is so light body and neck-wise, the sound will never have as much character and punch as an instrument with similarly great pickups that has a much thicker neck and body. (I'm saying this from experience: I compared this instrument that featured the new pickups to a Fender baritone blacktop Telecaster where I also swapped the pickups for similar ones, and there was just NO comparison. I've also tried TONS of expensive instruments, some very light and comfortable, others a lot more bulky and uncomfortable, and systematically, the bulkier/thicker the body and neck, the better the sound...)

So, considering the cost and the only marginal improvement, I wouldn't necessarily recommend swapping the pickups. This instrument, to me, is the absolute perfect choice for hours and hours and years of home practising. You will never get cramps (neither in your hands nor in your back) from playing such a comfortable instrument. But do not ever expect it to have the character and punch of a bulkier instrument. As a matter of fact, in my experience, the same rule applies to any other guitar with a light body and thin neck (anything below 3 kg).

This is the first Steinberger headless guitar I ever bought having desired one of these for many years. This is a really good top quality instrument. The sound is really good and can deliver a nice fat metal sound through the bridge humbucker.

The tremolo system is really easy to use and tuning is much easier than a standard floating floyed rose type tremolo.

The fact that there is no headstock also means that the guitar is small and that is an advantage fo playing inside the house. The body is really small and takes some getting used to. Once one gets used to the shape it becomes a very comfortable instrument to play sitting down.

In conclusion this is a really great instrument for a really good price. Definetly recommend.