Steinberger Guitars Spirit XT-2 Standard Bass BK

I have played this bass for many years live and in the studio. I find the building quality to be of very high standard with this bass, both technically with the hardware and the electronics and soundwise.

I give 4 stars on the construction parameter, and even the pickups sound great.
My only critical point is the strapping knob on the back of the neck joint. I really would have loved a more balanced solution where the Synapse solution would have done wonders to the Spirit model(s) for making the bass hang naturally. The original swirl system of the legendary L2 cannot be expected on the Spirit model. So - here is room for improvement.

Apart from that - another great fetature is the double ball system so you just need to smack a couple of fresh strings on - no cutting or tiresome winding. The portability speaks for itself - nice and handy.

The XT-2 is a bit lighter than the XT-2 DB or the XT-25 model, and you can achieve a great funk bass tone from this XT-2, if you crank up the bridge pickup and the tone up from 50 - 100%. Having played jazz, rock, pop and funk my drummer and the guitarist say that this XT-2 has a really fundamental rock tone, that growls and snaps at the listener. Regarding middel tone all you have to do is to open up both pickups and then find you tone, then sweeten it op by open a bit up for the tone control, just 1 - 2 notches is sufficient, and you can feel the resonance and tone of the bass comes right at you.

You can of course underpin the bass more effectively if you buy a bass preamp pedal, like One Control or the EDEN DI/preamp pedal for a budget solution, but the bass itself -paired with a good bass combo take you a long way.

Using the XT-2 through any i.e. Gallien Krueger bass combo really validates my statement, and no other band mates have complained of the tonal flexibilities you can get out of it.

I own an XT-2, two XT-25 and an XT-2 DB - and they are all great basses. I would recommend the XT-2 since I rarely use the XT2 DB drop down function. My best recommendations!

The instrument is a great practisetool, i can honestly say that its conveniant size has allowed me to practise more and has helped me to polish my fingertechnique. wich in effect has made me a better bassplayer.
It has a pretty high level of craftsmanship (for its pricerange) and it can take a fair amount of abuse before it fails you.
It might not have a top end clean tone for the big rig, but it takes you all the way there (and with a decent stomp/outboard effect you reach the finishline.

And to tip the scale from a great to an excellent deal, Thomann Musichaus was (as usual) outstanding.
I might live in another country, around 3000kilometers away, but Thoman still feels closer than my local musicstore.

Sound of this bass is really bright and growly, neck pickup especially is brighter than some ibanez basses that I own.
It is really light weight, fit and finish are good for the price, and it is comfortable to play sitting down. However, standing up is another story.
Bass is very body heavy so the neck goes almost vertically, and strap hooks are in a weird position which makes it uncomfortable to play standing up.
All in all, good quality for the price if you need a travel bass.