Thoughts on Schecter guitars and basses

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blackba

blackba

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Never played a schecter, just curious what the prevailing opinion is on them. A friend of mine has a schecter 5 string bass, not got a chance to play it yet. I have been holding out for a Musitcman Sterling 5string bass used.

Guitar and bass experiences with schecter are appreciated....
 
I really disliked mine. The paint was ridiculously thick, and the hardware felt cheap (Schecter Hellraiser C7). It also had a huge neck, which some people may dislike. The tone wasn't bad, though.
 
I don't know much about the Diamond Series. The USA Custom shop stuff is great. I owned two CETS(think Anderson Drop Top). Incredible guitars.
 
I never liked them even though I tried to. Even the nicest most expensive Schecters still seemed kind of cheap somehow. I agree with code001, and will add that I don't like the headstocks. Their guitars seem bulky to me and I play Les Pauls. All of that being said, there has been some rare occassions where I've heard players getting great sounds with them.

It's in the hands man. If you like it and it works for you then you'll sound good. One thing I generally don't like is basswood guitars. SOMETIMES there are some that I like, the JS1000 for instance, but generally don't. Schecter seems to use basswood a lot. The active pickups are another thing I personally don't care for.

I put them on the same level as foreign made Dean guitars and ESP LTD's.
 
I've only played two Schecters briefly in a store (one 7 string, one 6 string) and wasn't all that impressed with them...however these were the lower end models and not the more expensive ones so I don't know how much that was a factor. They just seemed to have no real life to them before plugging them in- whether it was the wood used, or the paint, or both, I dunno, I just didn't jive with them. I went with a cheap Ibanez 7 string instead because it was way more comfy, although I'm kind of regretting it now because the intonation on it is f'n brutal...

I know you're one of the main bass players on the forum, if you're saving for a sterling, it will be well worth it!! My 4 string sterling is my baby and I can't imagine playing anything else, if you got your hands on a 5 string I'm pretty sure you would not be disappointed! Just my two cents :)
 
I have 2 Schecters, and really like them. One is a C1 that I just picked up cheap. Mahogany set neck, mahogany body flame maple top, 24 frets. Very light and rings like a bell unpluged. Got it for $250. I also have a 7 string. I got it to replace my Ibenhad. It's a much better guitar. I would say I'm very happy with my Schecters.
 
i owned a mid-range schecter guitar many years ago. the tone was pretty good, but as with others i didnt like the thick paint or the neck, and another thing that bothered me was how the guitar was wired out of the box. its not like a fender, it was like a mix b/w a dean and a les paul. i never got used to the guitar, traded it for a floyd rose beat up POS ibanez + cash and parted the ibanez out for the pickups. sold it for parts.

goes to show what i thought about the schecter otherwise.
 
I don't play bass so I can't comment on that area....but I've played a few Schecters and have never been real impressed. They're good guitars for the money but I wouldn't ever spend close to a grand on one. They seem to be much more of a metal guitar than anything else.
 
If I had had to use an adjective to describe how playing Schecters feels to me, it would be "clunky", maybe "ungraceful". It was the shape, the quality of the parts, and the paint that made it feel that way.

They don't sound too bad, but don't feel very good to me.
 
i hate big necks.

i hate painted necks.

i hate abalone binding.

see where i'm going with this?

i think that, for the price, they are awesome guitars. there are obviously some things that would have to change before i'd own one, but if those things don't bother you then it's a solid choice.

i am talking only about the diamond series stuff here. never even had my eyes on a USA schecter in person.
 
I think someone needs to bitch-slap whoever in Schecter's marketing division feels EVERYTHING needs to have fucking abalone binding. I mean, I like abalone, but there's a point where it just because gaudy like a pair of $10,000 tits.
 
My wife bought me a blue C-1 Classic a few years back, and I really love how it plays and sounds! I think for under a grand, it is one of the best deals around. I've never had any problems with it, as it seems well built and feels like a quality made instrument. Nice nut, Grover tuners, SD pups, nice finish.

One of the best things about it is how it stays in tune very well for bends; much better than my LP's. The neck feels good to me and is less bulky than either of my LP's. I love the neck through/string through body also. For the money, the C-1 classics are fantastic. I can't comment on any other models, but I would think in this price range (7-800) they would all be pretty good. :thumbsup:
 
I've played a couple schecters and owned 2 and in general I've had a pretty good experience with them. One was a Hellraiser with EMGs and a Floyd and the other was a C-1. The C-1 had great action, the stock pickups weren't that great so I swapped em out but I thought it played great and nowadays you can get them used for pretty cheap. The hellraiser was pretty good too. The licensed Floyd stayed in tune more than a lot of Floyds I've owned. I guess my opinion on them would be that I think that with schecters you usually get more guitar than you pay for. I'd pick one up way before I'd ever get another LTD again. I briefly owned an EC-1000 and I thought for the money it was pretty much junk. Just for the record I've never played a schecter bass but the ones I've seen looked pretty classy/well made.
 
Go for the Ernie Ball. Much better made & way better tone than a Schecter... IMO.
 
When I first started playing, Schecters were USA custom shop traditional guitars.

Now they are guitar center, brootz flogger, poseur pieces of shit for 15 year olds with gawdy, disgusting abalone all over them covered in cm thick poly.

Hmm, let's take random pieces of something like mahogany, glue it together, and put good pickups on it.

Yep, still feels and sounds bad.

Thanks.

but no thanks.

yeah, no. :thumbsup:
 
blackba":3eounfnp said:
Never played a schecter, just curious what the prevailing opinion is on them. A friend of mine has a schecter 5 string bass, not got a chance to play it yet. I have been holding out for a Musitcman Sterling 5string bass used.

Guitar and bass experiences with schecter are appreciated....
Click to expand...

Hold out for the Music Man. The only Schecter that I have ever played and liked was from the original USA series.
 
VH4_BigRig":31fjvss9 said:
I've only played two Schecters briefly in a store (one 7 string, one 6 string) and wasn't all that impressed with them...however these were the lower end models and not the more expensive ones so I don't know how much that was a factor. They just seemed to have no real life to them before plugging them in- whether it was the wood used, or the paint, or both, I dunno, I just didn't jive with them. I went with a cheap Ibanez 7 string instead because it was way more comfy, although I'm kind of regretting it now because the intonation on it is f'n brutal...

I know you're one of the main bass players on the forum, if you're saving for a sterling, it will be well worth it!! My 4 string sterling is my baby and I can't imagine playing anything else, if you got your hands on a 5 string I'm pretty sure you would not be disappointed! Just my two cents :)
Click to expand...

I think you are right about saving for the MM sterling 5 string. It should be worth it.

I think its interesting to see the wide range of opinions on schecters. I don't see them mentioned much on the forums.
 
Decent guitars for the money.

I bought mine for $250 shipped in a hardshell case
13532_183479245562_678335562_3534229_6868007_n.jpg


The stock Duncan Designed were lifeless muddy junk, so I replaced them with real Duncans and it sounded great.
I then swapped in some EMGs cuz I thought I wanted EMGs again, turns out I was wrong.

13532_183485045562_678335562_3534289_467078_n.jpg


I took the EMGs out and sold it for what I paid a couple months ago.

Decent guitar, came stock with Grovers. The book match was actually pretty decent on the top too. Played pretty good after a decent set up, sounded pretty good after swapping pups.
Not the best guitar in the word (REALLY think poly like said earlier) but for $250 I think you'd be hard to beat it.
 
blackba":3dw3gonu said:
Never played a schecter, just curious what the prevailing opinion is on them. A friend of mine has a schecter 5 string bass, not got a chance to play it yet. I have been holding out for a Musitcman Sterling 5string bass used.

Guitar and bass experiences with schecter are appreciated....
Click to expand...

I only have one, a fixed bridge Blackjack 7 I paid $600 new for back in '06.

Sounds/plays great for it's price point, at least mine does. Yes the neck is thick, it doesn't bother me at all though personally.

Action was super low and the frets didn't need any work like some new guitars. Despite the "Mahogany" not having the grain/color of any Mahogany I've seen (Nato wood? :lol: :LOL: ), the guitar still sounds good in spite of the lower grade wood lol.

Having said that I have no desire to buy any more of them. The Blackjack made a nice backup 7 to my Ibby 1077XL.

I just can't figure what kind of wood Schecter is using and advertising as Mahogany. Even on my Edwards LP the grain/color of the wood looks like Mahogany but the Schecter... :confused:
 
I've own three of these puppies...a fixed bridge Hellraiser and two fixed bridge Exotic C1s (the old version with the non plastic finish!)

The two Exotics sounded great in all ways...the Super Rock II pickups are outstanding and have coil taps etc. ... I still own one of these...$450/$425 stunning bargain (used of course.)

The Hellraiser sounded dead with the stock strings even though they were brand new...once I changed strings it had some acoustic life to it. It also had that stunning red flame top..this is an EMG (81/85?) based guitar so was uber brutz..sounded it's best downtuned IMO. A fantastic guitar for the money ($599)..the later version came with different PUs and a coil tap option too...
 
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