Steinberger Synapse SS-2F Guitar with Gigbag, Antique White

by Steinberger

Product Features

• Maple body
• Maple top
• 25 1/2 scale
• 25 1/2" inch scale
• Maple body; Maple top
• Broader bandwidth for unique and robust tone
• Unique Steinberger Combo headpiece improves balance, ease of tuning, and tuning stability

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 13 x 40 x 5 inches ; 10 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 10 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• Shipping Advisory: This item must be shipped separately from other items in your order. Additional shipping charges will not apply.
• ASIN: B0018TDDLU
• Item model number: SS2F-AW1
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,808 in Musical Instruments (See Top 100 in Musical Instruments)

Product Description

Designed by Ned Steinberger, the Synapse guitar is a HYBRID instrument combining the strength, rigidity and clarity of graphite with the warmth and beauty of wood. The result is a guitar of unequalled performance. At only 31.75" in length, this full-size instrument makes the ultimate travel guitar. Low-impedance EMG USA humbuckers offer a broader bandwidth for unique and robust tone and are mounted on stabilizers that keep them from tilting. Improved intonation from a zero fret. Unique Steinberger Combo headpiece improves balance, ease of tuning, and tuning stability while the patented Direct-Drive double-ball bridge lets you change strings in seconds then tune up once and not have to tune again until you change strings.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Cool Idea - Bad Execution, June 13, 2009

By 

B. Scalise (West Covina, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Steinberger Synapse SS-2F Guitar with Gigbag, Antique White (Electronics)

I've always liked the efficiency of the minimalist Steinberger. I mean, why have more guitar than you need? The day I got my Steinberger Synapse it already had problems. An annoying buzz from deep in the guitar. I contacted Gibson who referred me to one of their local warranty luthiers. He removed the buzz after a week in the shop. Since there's so little to the guitar, I wondered how they could miss something so fundamental. I wanted to go a guage lighter on the strings. Double-ball end are hard to come by, so I loaded regular single-ball end into the guitar. The hex screws that were supposed to hold the strings didn't. The head-end has a design flaw so that any string under a certain gauge will wiggle right out of the clamp that is supposed to hold the string. The last straw came when I went to adjust the action and intonation. There is a hex bolt that keeps the bridge pieces from flopping around. I needed to loosen that to do anything that moves the bridge, like adjusting action and intonation. The problem is, the hex screw was half-way underwater, that is the head of it was so low perpendicular to the body of the guitar, that in order to insert a hex wrench you would need to drill a divot into the guitar body to insert the wrench. I can only assume this is problem of execution, because the instruction manual pictures show the screw head above the guitar body. Now I have to pack up a a brand new guitar for RMA at Gibson. Who knows what I'll get back. Support from Gibson has been slow. I don't think they care too much about their Steinberger brand. Now that I know how poor their execution is on making a guitar, there is no way I would buy a Les Paul.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent all-around guitar, December 11, 2010

By 

gort (Southern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Steinberger Synapse SS-2F Guitar with Gigbag, Antique White (Electronics)

Given that these guitars are actually built in China, it's quite possible that there's some variation in the adherence to the specifications. I haven't had any of the aforementioned problems and as a result, I'm going to discount the only other review here because I can really only afford to buy one of these and I don't want to say the other guy's problems aren't real.

That said, the unit I received (new) over two years ago is fantastic. It's a very solid guitar for as little material as there is here. The adjustments work as advertised. I am able to switch between a high action for slide work and back to low action for standard flat picking or finger picking. Because of the lack of size here it makes an excellent travel guitar but the quality of the unit overall and flexibility of the sound makes it a good all around performer.

I've had a least fifteen guitars (including Ibanez, Carvin, Fender, Parker, Gibson and so on) over the years and after paring down my collection this is the one electric I go to time and again. Another plus is the fact that I can tune it here in the US and then land in Europe, pull it out of the bag and not have to tune up again. Better than the old Steins of yesteryear, you don't need double-ball strings. You can drop in standard strings, tighten up the screws in the "headstock", clip off the excess if you like, tune up and you're ready to go. Because it's electric and utilizes the EMG's the sound is quite malleable. It really depends on what you do with the signal downstream.

If you intend to travel with it keep in mind that *some* TSA agents will not allow you to take the hex wrenches... so send some ahead or pack them in your checked luggage (if you have any). I bring them along and cross my fingers - sometimes they just don't bother. They're standard wrenches so you can always get another set over seas if necessary.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Zero Fret became a problem, January 9, 2011

By 

T. Dibiasi (Windsor Locks CT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Steinberger Synapse SS-2F Guitar with Gigbag, Antique White (Electronics)

I have this guitar for years then the Zero Fret started to grind and catch the strings when bending. I gave it to my guitar guy who set it up and fixed the fret. The problem is returning. You can see the grind marks in the fret. It's a problem. Other than that the action and tuning is amazing.