Steinberger Spirit HSS pickup replacement

[Erling]

Hi All

I am considdering replasing the pickups in my Steinberger Spirit.

The two singlecoils have to be fitted with a smal mountingplate at same size as the piskupcover.
Reason is that the hole for the singlecoil picups is carved out of the body and the pickup has to be mounted without pickgard or anything.

Which kind of pickups are mounted on a small baseplate ?

I will need a balanced set HSS - for blues-rock

Regards

Erling

 

[jtougas]

Re: Steinberger Spirit HSS pickup replacement

IIRC, the Spirits came with EMG Selects... I would consider moving up to either EMG actives, or Seymour Duncan Blackouts, depending on what kind of music you do...

 

[always SD]

Re: Steinberger Spirit HSS pickup replacement

i have this guitar but in hsh

good mix= sh1+vintage rails+sh4
= more harmonics, power
but the sound is bad because not bright because of the guitare
you won't have the warmth or a les paul or strat

solution : SA SA and 85 by EMG
Sa = strat sound

i like very much emg in this guitar : a g3t by hohner

Seymour's are good but the sound is not beautiful

 

[GrooveHT]

Re: Steinberger Spirit HSS pickup replacement

I have a few Steinberger Spirits, so I'm pretty familiar with what you're talking about. I think the baseplate issue is actually relatively minor; get some direct mount screws, some fender tubing or thin springs and you can mount your pickup like that. A bigger problem is the fact that the route for the single coils in those guitars does not accommodate the flange that you normally find on the back side of a single-coil pickup. There are three ways around that, at least that I can see: order pickups that come without the flange from the factory, custom order a production model, but without the flange, OR route the pickup slot a little bigger to accept flanged single coils - I did this using a dremel and a grinding wheel, and it came out surprisingly well.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Steinberger Spirit HSS pickup replacement

I hated the Selects and regular EMGs in any of my Steinbergers. I use a 59/custom hybrid now in the bridge...but mine aren't hss, they are HH. The bodies are really bright maple, so I needed something to tame the highs. A popular combo in USA Steinbergers were a Custom Custom with 2 cool rails.

 

[freefrog]

Re: Steinberger Spirit HSS pickup replacement

The bodies are really bright maple, so I needed something to tame the highs.

Same feeling here (my travel guitar is a Spirit HSH).

The choice of pickups is not a question of brand in this case: what matters is to choose something able to match the acoustic resonance of a guitar reduced to a maple stick. This resonance is basically bright - although, as in any guitar, the shape of the instrument interacts with the wood and creates a "comb filtering" effect, giving the feeling that some frequencies are dull or darkened.

Anyway, Spirits apparently need powerful HB's. I've put two Bill Lawrence in mine but I guess that any HB with a rather high inductance would do the job.

To replace your SC sized mid and neck PU's, any pickup without triangular baseplate will work. I've personally modified a Fender single coil by cutting its baseplate and resoldering its wires differently but it sounds a bit thin.
All the Duncan SC sized rails are possible solutions, here. Make your choice according to the voicing desired.

Mounting these SC sized PU's shouldn't be difficult, BTW: if necessary, just put some surgical tubbing or springs around the screws under the baseplates to replace the foam cushion under your stock PU's.

Good luck in your choice!

 

[GrooveHT]

Re: Steinberger Spirit HSS pickup replacement

I hated the Selects and regular EMGs in any of my Steinbergers. I use a 59/custom hybrid now in the bridge...but mine aren't hss, they are HH. The bodies are really bright maple, so I needed something to tame the highs. A popular combo in USA Steinbergers were a Custom Custom with 2 cool rails.

Definitely; in my case, I picked a Dimarzio Breed and PAF Joe, and both work really well. I've also had very good success on this guitar with Suhr Aldriches, and in an HSS Steiny with a PATB-3 Blues in the bridge.

 

[erling.soerensen]

Re: Steinberger Spirit HSS pickup replacement

Thanks for your contribution - I do it help me a lot
Regards
Erling


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[Erling]

Re: Steinberger Spirit HSS pickup replacement

Thanks for your reply
Does these pickups come with a small baseplate ?

Regards Erling(Denmark)

 

[Erling]

Re: Steinberger Spirit HSS pickup replacement

Gents

I just realised the pole position is different at these guitars. B-M-N is aprox. 49-48-47 mm
What is this spacing called ?

What type shall I order ?

I have been looking for a midium output pickups HSS

Regards Erling