First the -0.5 point deduction on quality due to poor steinberger strings: I bought a red one last week, came with crappy light baritone Steinberger strings, B & high E strings were twisted so I replaced the whole set with Steinberger Std. Baritone double balls. The 5th string didn't fit the groove on the head. Too thick to fit so I switched to D'Addario flat wound chrome 11's with single ball ends, using the screws in the head to secure them. (It takes double balls or regular strings).

Then I intonated the bridge by adjusting the three screws on it after loosening the side screw. The action came out perfect, but the high E & B strings kept slipping as I tuned it. So I ended up making my own double ball on the high E by using the ball from an old discarded string and twisting the string around it at the right length.

The action is so perfect I hard touch it for perfect bar chords across the lenth of the neck now!

I put it through an Epiphone Blues Custom 30 amp and tried the various piezo/EMG active pickup settings and switched to neck, both and bridge pickups while changing the treble and bass tone knobs. The sound quality and variation in tone and timbre when rolling the capo from zero to second fret is simply astounding. This guitar a bguilingly innocent looking - but can turn into Hellboy in a second. I can take it from superb jazz tones that remind me of Lee Ritenour's Gibson L5 ($12000 guitar) on Stolen Moments all the way to AC/DC tone snarling fire on every note in two seconds flat going stright to the amp without any pedals inbetween.

I then ran it through my Roland GT-8/RC-50 looper into my headphones. Using the GT-8, I applied about 100 different patches using various amp/speaker pairs to it. The tonal range and width on this guitar is very large coming from the EMG active pickups and the awesome one-piece piezo bridge. Ned Steinberge responded to an email by me that it's one piece to ensure superb piezo tonality, although he could have done a six piece hex bridge and pickup system (I was looking for MIDI from a hex piezo PUP on this guitar so wrote to him to ask).

Despite the initial string mess I got into due to poor Steinberger string quality, the guitar is utterly astounding - the neck is phenolic - try finding that in anything under $5000 - Parker Nite Fly is probably the closest to this neck, but the graphite U channel by the truss rod that give s this guitar it's extreme stability is patented so cannot be found anywhere else.

Buy this guitar! You won't find anything better to play any style you want to! I have a Gibson original robot, an Epiphone Black Beauty, a Yamaha nylon string and three acoustics plus an Ibanez Mikro. The Synapse Transcale Custom is all I keep playing since I received it. Whatta guitar man! Simply astounding sound and balance, playability and tone. There is a slight gouge in the back of the guitar so when it's snug against your body, it tilts so you can see the entire fretboard clearly without having to lean forward. So you feel totally comfortable, and at 6.5lbs, this thing can be used all night and all day without getting your vertebrae crushed.

The rolling capo is good but you have to watch it when playing open string chords, as the side protrudes and interferes a bit with your index finger but it's easily avoided once you become aware of it. The capo shines in that I can move it around at will during a song and it yields low, thundering rumbles on baritone scale at zero fret, while going to mandolineque tones in the next moment by moving it past the 5th fret.

First the bad news. The rolling capo was not a good idea. It requires distracting grooves in the sides of the neck and you can't use a partial capo. Better to just clomp on a Keiser. The multiple fret markers are worse - instant headache. I've covered mine up with black tape (which also gets rid of the groove). The good news is the sound! The neck design makes intonation ultra-solid. The humbuckers and active electronics let you rock hard. Interestingly, though, for such a spacey looking gizmo, I find myself using it a lot in acoustic contexts. Between the resonant body and the piezo, it has a warm, jangly sound that blends with acoustic instruments much better than a standard electric. If they would make one in a standard scale I would buy it in a heartbeat. (Especially if they got rid of that danged capo!)

i played one of these in a guitar shop a few months ago and loved it.man it played great i oculdnt beleve it.ill tell you if u want i great guitar or a travel guitar get one of these.as soon as i get some more cash im gonna get one they rock i would recomend them

This is my third Steinberger. I have two bass guitars. This baritone guitar is extremely versatile. The sound is so pure that whatever effect you use, it will come through extremely pristine and clear. Makes an excellent jazz guitar or for blues/rock. Don't let the appearance scare you away--this is a for real instrument with three pickups waiting to bust wide open. The battery compartment is larger and easier to access than in my bass guitars--a welcome surprise. Don't leave your axe hooked up to the amp because battery will drain! Otherwise the batteries will last a long time and don't worry about them quitting on you suddenly. You'll know as it will cut out on you a little at a time. All of Gibson's quality is now focused on the Steinberger, and this is a good time to get one at a reasonable price.

I got it about 2 weeks ago and haven't played any other guitars since. Changed the strings (to 10's from light baritone, I think), lowered the action, and adjusted the intonation. This is a hell of a guitar. I have played for over 40 years, owned at least 13 guitars and this the only one that that stays in tune. I like to bend up a major third, but that usually (always) spells the end of being in tune. With the Transcale I can bend and then play chord melody. I play jazz mostly and the guitar has lots of suitable tunes, especially mixing in a little piezo. The tone is dry as a bone, so reverb or other stronger flavoring is essential for most styles. The only thing I'd change is the 2 different systems of fret markers. I'm playing the guitar without the capo, and I have trouble navigating the multiple markers up around the 12th fret.