Steinberger L
| Steinberger L | |
|---|---|
 Bass player Victor Wooten with Steinberger L2 |
|
| General | |
| Type | Headless electric bass |
| Manufacturer | Steinberger ; United States |
| production | 1979-1984 |
| Construction and materials | |
| Scale length | 34 in. (864 mm), long scale |
| Body | Carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) |
| neck | Continuous neck made of CFRP |
| Fingerboard | Phenolic resin , zero fret + 24 frets |
| Mechanics | 4 × at the end of the body |
| Footbridge / bridge | Two-part made of metal: bridge with individual saddles and tailpiece with integrated mechanics |
| Pickups and Electronics | |
| Pickups | |
| Tone control | active; Preamp : Supplied by a 9 V battery
|
The Steinberger L-Series with the two models Steinberger L1 and Steinberger L2 is an electric bass type introduced in 1979 by the American musical instrument manufacturer Steinberger Sound Corporation . Both models are among the instruments with active electronics . The Steinberger L-Series has several new features that were classified as radical when it was launched. These include the production of body and neck in one piece of carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic - laminate , the minimalist, almost rectangular body shape as well as the lack of a top plate . The tailpiece is located at the upper end of the instrument neck, the tuning mechanisms of the instrument are located on the body foot; a design that was often copied by other manufacturers in the 1980s. The Steinberger L was produced until 1984 and received several design awards. The successor model to the L-Series presented in 1984 is called the Steinberger XL2 .
Construction form and design
The Steinberger L was the first (in a series of headless English : headless ) E-bass and electric guitars -models different manufacturers. With this type of construction, the instruments do not have a headstock, instead the tailpiece for the "lower" ends of the strings is located at the upper end of the neck. The tuning machines are located behind the bridge on the body foot . For reasons of space, the tuning pegs of the L-basses do not have heads similar to wing screws, but rather cylindrical screw buttons. In contrast to the conventional design, the strings of guitars of this type are not tuned with the gripping hand but with the touch hand (right-handers for right -handers, left-handers for left-handers ).
The body and neck of the Steinberger L1 and L2 are pressed from a laminate of carbon fibers and synthetic resin ; for reasons of weight saving and thanks to the high stability and rigidity of the material, the interior of the entire instrument is hollow. The traditional material wood for plucked instruments has been completely dispensed with. The body is reduced to a minimum and has a square shape with slightly rounded corners, which gave the instruments ironic nicknames such as “toothbrush” and “ paddle ”. On the back of the body, the Steinberger L2 has a rotatable, screwed-on kidney-shaped plate (also known as a "pivot lever"). The plate is used to attach the two ends of a strap ("guitar strap") and, thanks to its mobility, enables the instrument to be conveniently positioned. The jack socket for plugging in a guitar cable is also located on the back of the body . On the lower narrow side of the body (" frame "), a separate support bracket can be attached to early models of the Steinberger L so that the instrument can be played comfortably while sitting; Instruments produced later have a fixed support that can be folded out in the same place.
The electronic equipment consists of one (model L1) or two (L2) low-resistance (with low impedance ) electromagnetic pickups from EMG as well as two (L1) or three controls (L2) for volume and tone of the electrically amplified sound. The pickups have integrated preamplifiers in order to be able to reproduce the widest possible frequency spectrum of the string vibrations (active electronics). The electronics are supplied with voltage via a 9 volt block battery , which is connected in a compartment in the instrument body.
The Steinberger L- E basses have a very clear " high fidelity " sound with a high level of brilliance and treble. The reason for this sound lies in the hardness of the mixture of epoxy resin / graphite used in combination with the active electronics of the instruments. This “clean” tone was not only met with approval: some critics described it as “lacking in character”. Another effect of the material hardness is a particularly long Ausschwingdauer of being played strings (ger .: Sustain ).
Design awards
- 1981: Industrial Designers Excellence Award (Industrial Designers Society of America / IDSA)
- 1981: Five Best Designs of 1981 ( Time Magazine )
- 1982: Reinforced Plastics / Composite Award (Society of The Plastics Industry Inc.)
literature
- Dirk Groll: Radical Reduction - Steinberger L2 Bass . In: Electric Guitars ; Special issue of the magazine Guitar & Bass on the history of the electric guitar, p. 172 f. MM-Musik-Media-Verlag, Ulm 2004. ISSN 0934-7674
- Jim Roberts: American Basses - an illustrated history and player's guide . Backbeat Books, San Francisco 2003, ISBN 0-87930-721-8
Web links
- Steinbergerworld - The L Series (English; with some photos of the model L2 )
- Steinberger company history with list of design awards for the L2 (English)
- Steinberger L-Series on the Vintage Bass Guitar website (English; with illustration of a catalog page with price list from 1980)
(All accessed February 26, 2012)