Modern Guitars, Then and Now.

Here is a pic of the jam trem
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Here is a video of how it works

You will be hard pushed to even find a picture of a GS7J and most of the unit made were used up on Epiphones sold in Japan and Australia.
Remember this guitar came out in 1990 just in time for Nirvana to trash the market for rock guitars.
 
Next up should really be a Jackson Soloist. A guitar that pushed the boundary of just what playable meant and demonstrated that you could expect a lot more and without even telling anyone put a compound radius and 6100 frets on. Grover has made many questionable decisions over the years but this guitar is what made him ( yes I hear you all saying "NO it was the RR1".) The RR1 gave him the opportunity to build the SL1 .
 
Now add a hand machined steel bridge and you can see the profit margin disappearing rapidly.
This is before you factor in the carbon neck.
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This stays in tune like a Floyd and was designed so you could put a Floyd on the posts . I have never tried it and suspect the routing may get in the way but the stud position is the same.
All that innovation, and still use flatheads on the pivot screws is kinda funny.
 
All that innovation, and still use flatheads on the pivot screws is kinda funny.
Totally, He bought those in from an OEM . Probably started looking at the bills. They are the same ones that were sold at the time as a Floyd Rose upgrade because Floyd original only offered the wood screws. Schaller made the ones we have now for their own trem along with the collar arm mech from about 89 but they didn't become standard on both units until a bit latter.
 
This is actually Identical to the 1990 SL1 USA but with better QC and fit and finish .
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This one is not in as good a condition as I would like but it's getting hard to find these.
 
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In 1990 they did away with the 4 degree neck angle and recessed the bridge in to the body.
They also did away with their garbage trem (JT6) and opted for a Schaller Floyd with Jackson branding. This also had the huge advantage of an original Floyd Rose nut instead of the Kahler style garbage of the JT6. On a Jackson neck the Floyd nut uses a different neck with space for the nut shelf before the headstock starts. This makes retrofitting a Floyd nut an obvious mod.
 
The pickups and electrics are numb high output ceramic with an active mid control .I would rip the whole lot out if I was using this.
The only mod is again 57110 SS fretwire.
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The 1990 cutaway heel;
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And a rather handy Allen key holder;
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JT6 was a great design, especially for playing comfort. But it might as well have been made of pewter the metal was so soft.
 
Old and new, the Steinberger GS7TA is still my favorite guitar (although I have another "player" that has the active tone control without the stacked pots which I prefer) and you addressed with yours the thing I would most like to change as stainless frets on my EBMM JP's and Majesty's are nice. For the modern, stainless frets, unfinished/gunstock oil neck and piezo are a preference as is a 7-string option. I have never used a TransTrem in B as the string tension gets too low for my heavy right hand although transposing down to D without having to grab another guitar is handy.GS7TA_1.jpgGS7TA_2.jpgKoaPetrucci7.jpg
 
I actually like the Kahler style behind the nut style locking. My hand doesn't crash into the much smaller actual nut like it does on Floyd nuts. . But yeah, again crap pot metal and the locking plates were poorly sized and would spin in the nut as you tightened them.
 
The thing about the Stagemaster was the neck was not as good for me in fret size (6150 instead of 6100) or profile. Those are basically ESP horizons, great guitars .
 
Old and new, the Steinberger GS7TA is still my favorite guitar (although I have another "player" that has the active tone control without the stacked pots which I prefer) and you addressed with yours the thing I would most like to change as stainless frets on my EBMM JP's and Majesty's are nice. For the modern, stainless frets, unfinished/gunstock oil neck and piezo are a preference as is a 7-string option. I have never used a TransTrem in B as the string tension gets too low for my heavy right hand although transposing down to D without having to grab another guitar is handy.View attachment 89795View attachment 89796View attachment 89797
Wow a Gibson era GS7TA, that version TT2 works the best. Refreting a Steinberger in stainless is quite a drag of a job but you would only do it once.
 
Awesome, The Evertune is unnerving when you first try it.
I picked up an ESP/LTD with one a couple years before I went ahead and ordered something more expensive with it. I really enjoy it. It's got it's own quirks but IMO they're nothing that can't be adjusted for. The primary thing I had to adjust to was it being just slightly less responsive to very light vibrato. I haven't tuned it in 5 months, still in tune. Can't complain lol.
 
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