In 1975 Ned Steinberger started to design industrial furniture in a woodworking co-op, Brooklyn, NY. He shared space with Stuart Spector, a bass luthier. That’s how he began to design NS models for Spector.
L2 was designed by Ned in 1979. the National Association of Music Merchants show introduced the model among its new exhibits making John Entwistle from The Who and Tony Levin from King Crimson interested.
In 1980 Ned Steinberger patents his L2 bass design and founds Steinberger Sound Corporation. L2 continued to conquer the world in 1981 at the Musik Messe in Frankfurt, receiving numerous awards and soon having the demand exceed the supply tremendously. Two years later Steinberger moves to Newburgh, NY, in order to keep the production at the required level. NAMM 1984 introduced TransTrem. That same year XL-2 and GL-2 replaced the previous models.
In 1985 Ned Steinberger released the S-Trem which presented both tremolo and fixed bridge operation. The XL2 bass was chosen to exemplify the "Best in Contemporary American Design". In 1987 GM Series were created featuring a classic maple body with a double cutaway. Steinberger gets purchased by Gibson Guitar Corp. GK Series were produced in 1988 owing to collaboration between Ned and Steve Klein.
In the beginning of the 1990s there were some new series announced: XQ Bass, redesigned GM and XM models. “Spirit by Steinberger” line was produced after the relocation to Nashville – the line would be re-introduced a bit later in 1999 after a year of production suspending. Reintroduction of GM and GR models happened in 2004.
Steinberger Synapse line continued the traditions of the brand’s famous guitars of the 80s. In 2006 it was released featuring the revolutionary CybroSonic Patented Graphite U-channel combining the "warmth" of wood tone with the unwavering stability of composite materials.
The latest version of the TransTrem transposing tremolo system appeared to be the core of ZT3 model unveiled by the company in 2008.