1987 GM1TA
- General: This is a very early example of a Steinberger GM1TA, exactly the way, Mike Rutherford of Genesis and luthier Roger Giffin conceived it. Rutherford was very fond of Steinberger guitars in the eighties but he was looking for a more conventional body design and approached Steinberger with this idea. Roger Giffin conceived a more traditional body and attached a GP neck and hardware to it. Ned Steinberger liked the idea and introduced this new guitar line at Summer NAMM 1987. This GM was made shortly after.
- Date manufactured: September 1987
- Body: Hard maple, original black finish with white binding. The white binding has changed into a very nice vintage cream tone. A handful of guitars in the first run were painted matte black. Apparently, this was too time consuming, so Steinberger quickly switched to a glossy black finish, as seen here.
- Neck: This is an original Steinberger bolt-on neck using five screws and no neck-plate. Has original frets, with a little wear.
- Bridge: TransTrem 2
- Hardware: Steinberger
- Pickup: EMG 85. The GM-model started as 1 pickup guitar. Very soon, other pickup configurations were offered.
- Notes: When I bought it, the body had lots of surface scratches. I managed to return it to its former glory by lots of buffing.
