Steinberger XL-25A Used Bass Guitar VERY RARE XL25A Narrow 5 string with Extras

Description: I’m officially hanging it up. So, it’s wistful days ahead for me, happy days ahead for you.I've had three of these for the last 15 years and recently sold my #2 XL25A - see feedback for reference. This auction is for my #1. The new images are full resolution. I didn't realize ebay takes large file sizes now so these should be very clear. Any blemishes seen are the result of glare etc.... This has been “my baby” for 20+ years. I’ve used it exclusively and gently at church playing Christian worship covers; everything from David Crowder to Hillsong etc…. There is no better TIGHT LOW B on the planet and is ESPECIALLY so when looking to provide sustained low end register within a worship environment. The tensile strength of the graphite one piece composite neck-through body design has allowed me to use a .135 Status round wound string for a *tight* LOW B. IYKYK – trying to use a thick low B string like the .135 to resolve a “floppy B string” on a wood instrument (or even graphite bolt on neck) will bow, displace, or even snap a wooden neck from the tension. If you’ve ever experienced the floppy B string on bass you know it just SUCKS eggs…but for the new owner of this bass – “not anymore”. (For reference: Pink Panther Strikes Again - Woman: “But that’s a priceless Steinway! Inspector Clouseau: “Not anymore”) This XL25A is serial number 7528. The XL25 consists of standard narrow neck, by definition, vs XL25W. This bass is wired for 18volts (two 9 volts wired in series) to accommodate the additional head room required of a .135 B string. In other words, it’s an XL2 5 string bass offered on the original XL2 4 string width neck outfitted with 2 low impedance active EQ pick-ups connected to a HAZ Labs active electronic board consisting of volume, blend and stacked bass/treble pots. PLEK It was PLEK'd by Peekamoose in New York about 10 years ago Regarding passive vs active designation: The Steinberger term "active" (designated by an 'A') actually refers to the EQ (tone knob) electronics. Passive EQ simply rolls off high frequencies. Active EQ can boost or cut the frequencies (down with the lows / up with the highs) and needs external power to do this. So it needs a battery. It should be noted that HAZ Labs made virtually all of the active EQ boards for Steinberger from the mid 80's until production ended. Custom Boomerang Strap Attachment: In addition to the standard flip down leg rest IT ALSO COMES WITH AN EXTREMELY RARE CUSTOM MODIFIED NS Designs Boomerang (see picture) strap attachment system. Ned Steinberger personally customized the attachment hardware so it would be a simple swap out with the original pivot plate. It is the most comfortable bass strapping system EVER produced on earth. Multiple adjustments for pitch and yaw make it, in reality, the Pivot Plate PERFECTED. Go ahead, make my day and show me a better, more ergonomic strap system. It does not exist. Seriously, if you have the finger calluses, you could wear this playing for 8+ hours with ZERO fatigue. I can’t tell you how sublimely comfortable this Boomerang is to wear vs the pivot plate or ANY OTHER STRAP SYSTEM DEVISED BY MAN. It perfectly distributes the weight of the bass and can even be set to isolate/lock the orientation/position of the bass in place if desired. This is actually priceless because it was special run done for members of the Steinberger Yahoo group run by Andy Yakubic and, to my knowledge, never offered or made again. 5 String Narrow From the beginning Ned realized that the strength and rigidity of his graphite neck would allow much more tension on it without bending - much more so than a traditional wood neck anyways. So, in 1982 he introduced a narrow 5 string bridge. This bridge had the same footprint/width as a normal 4 string bridge but accommodated 5 strings (either low B or high C). Steinberger offered this on new basses (dubbed the L-2/5 at the time), but you could also pick up a 5-string narrow bridge and accompanying headpiece to swap on your existing bass. Extras worth $350+ 1. Ritter Gig Bag with 3 large overlapping pockets on the front and a rectangular pocket up top. Tons of room 2. Wiha Hex Drivers for adjusting the hardware: PicoFinish Hex Screwdriver 7/64" x 60mm – Faceplate Screws (these attach the faceplate to the one-piece neck-through graphite body) PicoFinish Hex Screwdriver 2.0mm (5/64") x 50mm – Saddle Set Screws (these hold the saddles in place after adjustment) PicoFinish Hex Screwdriver 1.5mm x 50mm – Saddle Height screws (these allow for adjusting intonation and relief) Precision Hex Screwdriver 1.3mm (.050") x 40mm – Tuning knob screws (used to tighten the strings) 3. Strings: 1 new 500M 4 string set + 1 brand new .135 Status Roundwound (I kept this set as spare in the bag along with the hex drivers) 5 new .135 Status Roundwound If you need any specific photos let me know. I’m not a pro photographer and taking accurate photos of these gloss black bases is notoriously difficult. Packaging will be professional and FULLY padded all around.

Price: 7000 USD

Location: Ventura, California

End Time: 2025-01-19T17:24:25.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD