Things have admittedly been a bit quiet in the world of Steinberger. . .
MusicYo has posted a couple of guitars for sale, but production is still painfully slow. They've now confirmed Gibson will be making bodies as well. We're not sure if this is for all of them, or merely filling in the gaps when inventory of the Terada bodies are unavailable. It takes 2-3 months for the Japanese bodies to finally make it to the assembly. It is also possible using Gibson could make small custom runs possible. We'll let you know when we find out more.
We've also had a chance to talk with former Steinberger endorser Reeves Gabrels. He was kind enough to set the record straight on a few "legends" including his inspiration for the legendary Tin Machine chrome GL's. Click here to read the real story behind them.
Posted by andyyak 7/24/2002 08:36:21 AM
This month's 'Ask Ned' column is now up. Ned addresses the argument of equal temperament tuning and shares his thoughts on recent inventions that "improve" it. A very insightful article.
Posted by andyyak 7/10/2002 08:53:05 AM
It's time for another update from MusicYo. Here's what's up:
NEW GUITARS- The new Japanese Terada bodies are actually going to be on sale soon. The first batch of ten were received and will be assembled alongside the NOS ones. You'll recall they've been sitting on the new necks for these for a while; the NOS ones discovered in the trailers required a special order from Moses Graphite (old style 5 bolt neck). So it turns out these new ones will be interspersed with the old ones in the short term. The next batch is probably several months out.
Apart from the heels (4 hole pattern with indivudal inserts, no plate) and the seperate battery holder they are identical to the Nashville ones like they are selling now. So you won't be able to tell the difference looking at them from the front and far as I know they will make no mention of the difference on the site.
In the long run the ultimate goal is to offer the same colors as before. They'll be posting a color swatch once they get more of the new bodies in to photograph. But like any figured wood tops the grain, pattern and hue can vary slightly from body to body. Things are still ramping up and far from being settled in so the "trickle effect" on these will still be in play.
Oh yeah, they'll be putting TT's on most of them. Those seem to sell through faster.
PARTS - They have replenished the TransTrem inventory (which started with only 12 units) and also added the TT tools. They are generally pleased with the parts sales. If anything they don't want to sell through too much stuff (namely ST's & TT's) as they these for their new guitars too. Once they get a feel of the sales pace they will revisit some of this. No progress yet on Phase 2 of the parts; they still need to get more finished guitars out the door.
PRODUCTION LOGS - I inquired about these again. Since the trailer has been totally unpacked they are going to check on their status/availability. They seem inclined to share these records if they do still exist. It would be great to have a comprehensive database and see how many of each style, color and feature(s) were made. Been trying to get this info for well over a year. All in good time.
SPIRIT XP BASSES - Surprisingly no update. My contact guesses they are on the water but couldn't find any info. Unsure at this point.
One other piece of promising news: All of the new stuff Ned is working on will be specifically for Steinberger branded instruments. I got the sense earlier that he was indeed doing work for MusicYo but that it wasn't necessarily 'berger specific. Turns out it is. Wouldn't be surprised to see things like maybe the TransScale guitars. I also happen to think a 'berger with that Les Paul type body seen on the prototype would be popular as well. They've not shared any specifics so that's just speculation on my part.
As always will share additional details and updates when available.
Posted by andyyak 7/1/2002 10:25:00 AM
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