STEINBERGER NAMING CONVENTIONS

Most people are generally confused about the names used for various Steinberger instruments.  Some people have owned a guitar or bass for years, never really knowing which model they owned.  These names (like everything else Steinberger did really) were not traditional for the industry but do follow a specific, logical formula.

Once you understand how the names are generated, you realize that most of what you need to know about the configuration of a given guitar or bass can be learned simply from it's correct name.  This is not true of other instruments, where all of the options must be listed in additional model designations or descriptions.  Let's take a sample name:

       GL-7TA

The first letter [G] designates the type of instrument it is.  'G' is used for guitar, 'X' for bass.

The second letter [L] indicates the series model of the instrument.  The models are charted below as well as being detailed on the Instrument Models & Options page.  Know that this site is dedicated to the original graphite instruments; the all wood Spirit models are not covered in detail here.

All instruments start with a two letter designation.

After this comes a number [7], which indicates the pickup configuration.  This is sometimes shown after a dash or hyphen, sometimes not.  Official Steinberger/Gibson documents show it both ways.  For most of its history they didn't use hyphens, but Gibson has started using them again and both variations may be seen throughout this site.  Note that for guitar vs. bass the numbers can (but don't always) indicate completely different configurations on each.  Most notable is the '3' config detailed below.  In the example we've chosen above, the [7] indicates a hum-single-hum pickup configuration according to the list below.

Next come the other options.  These are listed in order, usually with the bridge hardware coming next [T in the example above for TransTrem] and active tone [A] (if installed) right after that.  Other options are listed accordingly.  

In some cases the color selection was added to the end, especially the white color on the L series.  Since this was not consistently used we have listed it below for historical rather than practical reference.

Is this starting to make sense now?

To make things even more confusing, a few later Gibson-made instruments had three letter prefixes [GSX] or suffix level name designations [GL Standard, GL Pro, GL Elite].  These additional names replaced the second alphanumeric option description and were used during the final years of production.  For example: the GL Pro had active EQ, a TransTrem and a H-S-S pickup configuration.  Traditionally this would be called a GL4TA.  See the later catalogs and price lists on the Marketing Information page for specifics on what options these named configurations possessed.

The premium "Elite" tag was an interesting one.  These were offered only on the L's and consisted of a top of the line configuration (TT's, active EQ, etc.).  The logo on the faceplate was gold colored and was accompanied by an "Elite" tag in script right next to it.  They also came with a certificate of authenticity signed by Ned Steinberger himself.  From all accounts this was almost entirely a Gibson marketing gimmick, as the same configuration could be purchased (sans logo and signed certificate) for sometimes up to $1000 less.  Interesting indeed.

These days most people now refer to all of the instruments by the older, more established alpha-numeric than the late-model Gibson name designations.

Also, the new Synapse line uses a slightly different naming scheme.  The basses sport an XS prefix, while the guitars use either an SS (Standard Synapse) or ST (Synapse with TranScale).

Below is the master list of product order codes.  This was collected from several sources including catalogs, brochures and old websites.  For some (especially the colors) we have the listing but not the corresponding code.  Again the color was used for ordering but rarely showed up in the instrument name.

Types

Models

Pickup Configurations

Options

Factory Color Options
 
** These were used mainly for ordering purposes and are seldom listed in instrument names. Not all were available at all times, but were added and dropped throughout production**