trev hatcher Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 hello from trev in the uk. this is my first post and i am happy to be part of the headless family....i have always loved the steinberger design....wether they be hohners or spirits the quality has always been good and a pleasure to play. but having only ever had the r-trem on these which is great anyway. i wanted to try the s-trem and i recently bought through ebay a usa gm7sa. well its 13 yrs old and it cost me a grand, it has a bit of wear but i didn't expect it to be new. it feels great and sounds wonderful but i have a couple of quality niggles.....why do the neck bolts not sit flush in the plate? and having a lovely maple striped top why does it have an orange peel look to the finish. can it be polished out?..... is it cellolose?.... ok then thanks for reading this...be lucky...trev. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Be.eM Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 ...but i have a couple of quality niggles.....why do the neck bolts not sit flush in the plate? and having a lovely maple striped top why does it have an orange peel look to the finish. can it be polished out?..... is it cellolose?.... ok then thanks for reading this...be lucky...trev. Hi Trev, is it possible to show some photos of the problematic parts in question? This way it would be possible to compare it to other guitars of the same decade... haven't seen an "orange peel look" on a Steinberger yet. Just an "yellowish old paper" look on my (formerly) white '90 GM-4T ;-) Bernd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trev hatcher Posted July 17, 2008 Author Share Posted July 17, 2008 hi bernd..not sure how to upload pics on here but, the screws go in straight and the backplate follows the contour of the back, so one edge of the srews are not flush..is that normal? the finish sort of looks like someone has spayed hair laquer on it... sort of a bit motley...probably a good polish would do it but not sure what to use. after the quality of the spirits i would have thought that this would have been perfect. or is it because its a teenager...13 years...trev. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Be.eM Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 hi bernd..not sure how to upload pics on here Hi Trev' date=' you can't upload pictures here, but you can link to them if you've got some webspace elsewhere (this is my GM-7 :-)): [img']http://www.meissner-dokuteam.de/Files/bm_GM-7_IMG_9925.jpg[/img] the screws go in straight and the backplate follows the contour of the back' date=' so one edge of the srews are not flush..is that normal? [/quote'] Hmmm, not sure. My only Newburgh model (the GM-4 you see as my avatar) has a straight back at the neck, so the backplate is also straight and the screws are flush. OTOH my GM-7 has a bevelled (?) back at the neck, and the screws are not mounted using an additional plate, they're sitting directly in the body. Do you have a third version? the finish sort of looks like someone has spayed hair laquer on it... This may come from wrong (long-time) storage, e.g. within a cheap guitar gig bag. Some materials can cause a chemical reaction with the guitar's finish. Bernd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted July 17, 2008 Share Posted July 17, 2008 The bolts will not sit flush because of the angle of the neck plate. The finish issue you mention is common on figured woods due to the wood grain structure. The bodies used on the GM series were manufactured out of house (probably Korea) and finished on urethane , any actual orange peel effect can be polished out if you are careful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trev hatcher Posted July 17, 2008 Author Share Posted July 17, 2008 ok, thanks for that. i was worried in case it had been altered. funny that such a well designed guitar has a less than satisfactory neck plate.... as for the body i thought a good polish would do it but i wasn't sure what the finish was... ok then thanks again and to finish of......this had got to be the best guiar i have EVER played......trev. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trinity Posted July 20, 2008 Share Posted July 20, 2008 the screws go in straight and the backplate follows the contour of the back' date=' so one edge of the srews are not flush..is that normal?[/quote'] This may be an after-market mod. I have an 88 GM, but the neck plate is flat. On my newer GMs, they don't have a neck plate at all. I've heard of some people putting neck plates on them, however, to help with sustain. Are there any markings on the neck plate? Can you tell what it is made of (e.g., brass)? Have you had it off? If so, are there counter-sunk holes for the neck bolts in the body with little grommets in them? If not, it probably came from the factory with the neck plate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trev hatcher Posted July 21, 2008 Author Share Posted July 21, 2008 hello mate... never heard of adding a neckplate before but sounds interesting. the serial no is a TN so i am told that shows thats it was made in nashville. no marks on the plate but it is black. one of the screws has a slight churn to it so someone must have had it off of tried to tighten it. i haven't touched it myself. i have looked at loads of pics but they never seem to show the back of the neck. i love it like it is. it plays and sounds great. i'm just trying to establish if it is original like that....many thanks...trev. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Be.eM Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 hello mate... never heard of adding a neckplate before but sounds interesting... i'm just trying to establish if it is original like that....many thanks...trev. Trev' date=' on this page you can see the back of a Newburgh GM-4, with the plate on the flat neck: GM-4 back Interesting enough: MusicYo shows an image of the *new* GMs, which includes a plate: MusicYo GM-7 I myself own two GM-7s from the MY era (2005 and 2007), which don't have this plate on the back: But obviously there seems to be an official (post-Newburgh) version including a plate, as the MY image shows. Bernd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trev hatcher Posted July 21, 2008 Author Share Posted July 21, 2008 hi bernd. now that is a version without the plate and with four screws and ferrules which is the same as my spirit. but the gm has a plate and five screws, also this one shows a battery box. mine has the battery under the control cover. mm..curious.....perhaps mine has been made up..trev. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Be.eM Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 ...but the gm has a plate and five screws' date=' also this one shows a battery box. mine has the battery under the control cover[/quote'] Hi Trev, this definitely sounds more like a pre-MY Steinberger, like the GM-4 I linked above (maybe you've overlooked the link, because they aren't highlighted here). Since you said the guitar is about 12 years old (this would be 1996), it's even possible you've got a Newburgh model. So here is the image which I've been talking about: (Source: http://www.real-guitars.net/product/gt_product/steinberger_gm-4t/index.html Bernd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 hi bernd. now that is a version without the plate and with four screws and ferrules which is the same as my spirit. but the gm has a plate and five screws' date=' also this one shows a battery box. mine has the battery under the control cover.mm..curious.....perhaps mine has been made up..trev. [/quote'] No yours is standard production from the 90s complete with a 5 bolt neck plate. Originally the heal was not tapered (pictured above) and the bolts fitted the countersinks exactly, but when the tapered heel was introduced the same bolts and plates where used only now the angle makes them a poor fit.(All five bolt tapper heals are like this.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trev hatcher Posted July 21, 2008 Author Share Posted July 21, 2008 hi again bernd...you are a star...how did you upload the pics?....a close look shows uneven wear on the screws so that must be because they are protruding a bit.... what about the battery, is it usual to be under the control cover....trev. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trev hatcher Posted July 21, 2008 Author Share Posted July 21, 2008 hi eagle and thanks lads.....what a helpful bunch you all are... i thought i'd bought a pile of bits and pieces, but the more you tell me the better i feel. as for the finish someone on ebay is selling jars of magic gibson guitar polish that removes scratches and makes it like new again....well....i'll let you know if it works....thanks again..trev. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 hi again bernd...you are a star...how did you upload the pics?....a close look shows uneven wear on the screws so that must be because they are protruding a bit.... what about the battery' date=' is it usual to be under the control cover....trev.[/quote']Normal for the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Be.eM Posted July 21, 2008 Share Posted July 21, 2008 ..how did you upload the pics? If you look above the text box (while writing an answer)' date=' you'll notice a small button looking like "mountains and sun". Clicking this button puts [ img '] [ /img] tags into your text. Simply paste the link to the image between these tags. ....a close look shows uneven wear on the screws so that must be because they are protruding a bit.... what about the battery' date=' is it usual to be under the control cover....trev.[/quote'] As Eagle already wrote, this has been standard in the 90s. My GM-4 looks exactly like that, with the battery packed where the electronics are. Bernd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trev hatcher Posted July 21, 2008 Author Share Posted July 21, 2008 ++++++ EXCELLENT ++++++. im happy now.....trev. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trev hatcher Posted August 4, 2008 Author Share Posted August 4, 2008 just as addition to this. i did try to polish up the finish and didn't have much luck, so i have bought a jar of gibson scratch remover polish from a guy in the u.s. on ebay. you tell him the make of guitar and he supplies the appropriate polish. it says that it may take a few goes to see an improvement.......well i've done it twice now and it certainly has worked on the orange peel effect and its gleaming its head off....so thats where its gone..ha.ha..seriously though...its looking 100 times better and i'm well pleased....trev. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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