The Steinberger TransTrem SZT3 Custom Electric Guitar is truly awe-inspiring.
No other guitar on the market is quite like it. With this offering, you get the legendary Steinberger reliability and performance. Many guitarists will be delighted with the somewhat more traditional look of the SZT3. But you still get the dual humbuckers that will practically do it all. We can almost guarantee that once you play a Steinberger, you won't want to play anything else.
ZT-3 Custom: Since the introduction of the first Steinberger instruments in 1980, the Steinberger name has become synonymous with evolution, innovation, ergonomics and performance. Continuing that tradition, Steinberger announces the ZT3 guitar with the revolutionary version of the TransTrem transposing tremolo system. As it was with the introduction of the first Steinberger’s equipped with the original TransTrem, the new ZT3 is the world’s ONLY guitar capable of transposing keys and bending chords in pitch. Simply move the tremolo arm to the un-locked playing position and dial in your key. The TransTrem can take you from standard
E tuning up to
F and then to
F# or down to
Eb or way down to
D. Lock in the key by moving the arm back and you’re ready for anything. And, when locked, the tremolo acts much like a
fixed bridge in that sustain is improved and should you break a string, the other strings still stay in tune. In the un-locking position, the TransTrem acts like a regular tremolo capable of extreme pitch bending with smooth and renowned Steinberger accuracy.
But the ZT3 isn’t just about the TransTrem. The
Z design created by Ned Steinberger is a HYBRID instrument combining the strength, rigidity and clarity of graphite with the warmth and beauty of wood. At the heart of it’s construction is our Cybrosonic neck featuring our patented graphite U-channel with adjustable truss rod uniquely crafted into a 3-piece, hard maple neck. We then add a smooth and durable phenolic fingerboard to create an instrument with distinctive tonal clarity, sustain,
pop and response as well as excellent stability.
Two custom-made USA humbuckers combined with an innovative switching system lets you tap into 8 different combintations. By using a push/pull switch on both the volume and the tone controls, you can use the ZT3’s pickups
in series as you would other two humbucker-equipped instruments but also “in parallel” to create single-coil tones but without the noise typically associated with stand-alone single coil pickups. The result is a guitar that works for a variety of styles – from rock to blues, jazz to country.
Other features include a a gorgeous flame maple top, zero-fret for improved intonation, the new Steinberger Combo headpiece to allow for the use of DoubleBall and single ball strings and our patented Direct-Drive double-ball bridge with 40:1 tuners for tuning ease, accuracy and stability that only a Steinberger can provide. With Steinberger, you can change strings in seconds, tune up once and not have to tune again until you change strings again. Provided with a premium, padded gigbag, the ZT3 also makes a great travel instrument measuring only about 35 inches in length and capable of fitting into the tightest of places including overhead airplane bins. The result is a guitar of unequalled performance, comfort and flexibility. Steinberger; State of the Instrument.
A few words about the TransTrem system...
Trans-Trem is a guitar tremolo system developed by Steinberger in 1984. It's main feature is that it keeps the pitches of the strings in proper intervals with each other when the pitch is bent. This allows entire chords to have their pitch bent while remaining in tune, whereas a conventional tremolo system would cause the strings to go out of tune with each other. The system also allows the musician to transpose the pitch of the guitar as a whole: the pitch of all the strings could be raised or lowered from the standard EADGBE tuning to one of several preset positions. No other tremolo on the market today is available with this feature.