Schecter Guitars -- Opinions?

[Mind Riot]

I case you didn't know...

Schecter designs the guitars, Samick manufactures them in Korea.

I know, but "Schecter makes great stuff" is much easier to type than "Schecter designs great stuff which is then outsourced overseas to the Samick factory in Korea to be produced".

The Schecter Custom Shop is all US made, but all the Diamond series production models are made in Korea. My 007 Blackjack is by far the best Korean made guitar I've ever played. It easily competes with any Japanese Ibanez. My previous guitar was a Japanese Ibanez, and I sold it to get the Schecter.

 

[Hard2Hear]

And Samick Korea is the top quality guitar builder in asia outside of japan. All the junk is made in China and Indonesia now. Plus, there will soon be no more japanese guitars, as the company Fujigen Gakki is doing out of business after next year.

H2H

 

[tigerotool]

i'm probably going to stick with the stock duncan pickups they seem to sound fine. i had the emg zw set installed on my last guitar and they were insane.

i'm glad that schecter shows love to lefty guitarists and makes left handed versions of their guitars. you have to pay like 50 bucks extra and i can have the guitar any color i want so long as its black. but that's ok i like black. if i had as big of a market as a righthanded guitarist i probably would've overlook schecter and got an ibanez or esp. i think i made the right decision.

hey mind riot what kind of strings are you using on your 007?

 

[Mind Riot]

hey mind riot what kind of strings are you using on your 007?

I'm just using .010's right now, but I'm thinking of going to a thicker low B. It's just a .056 now, I might go to a .058 or .060. Oh, and I use an .018 wound G. I hate unwound G's, I think they sound terrible.

With the extended scale of the Blackjack, I don't really see the need for using anything thicker than .010's, but that's just me. I might even stick with the .056 for the low B; I tried a .058 once on my last seven string and it sounded a bit too overwhelming. But with the extended scale it might be a different story.

Oh, and I used to use Ernie Ball 7 string Regular Slinky's (.010's), but I got stuck once and tried D'addario's 7 string .010 set. To my surprise, it lasted a lot longer tone wise than the EB's. So I'll probably just use the D'addario 7 String .010's set, with a wound G I have to buy individually.

 

[gvarko]

Great review

I figure this is as good a place as any to put a review of the above guitar that I just got today.

I just got a C1-Elite and feel exactly the same way!!!

 

[Buck62]

And Samick Korea is the top quality guitar builder in asia outside of japan. All the junk is made in China and Indonesia now. Plus, there will soon be no more japanese guitars, as the company Fujigen Gakki is doing out of business after next year.

H2H

I agree.... that's why I bought a Samick Ultramatic UM-4 and recommend it highly all the time in this forum. It's excellent, quality stuff.

BTW, check my signature below....

 

[gvarko]

PU's changed???

Well you guys had better be right about these being good guitars cause I just traded one of my Strats for one. This one:

Those look like Dimarzio Super Distortion PU's to me.. The C1's come with Duncan Designed stock and those are not DD's to my knowledge..

 

[Hard2Hear]

yes, they're super distortion pickups...which I have always hated. I am trying to decide what it's going to get. I can either custom wire a set of Burstbuckers, which I love, so I can coil tap them, or maybe get another set of Zakk Wylde EMGs. I have also thought about putting in some PRS pickups. I haven't quite decided between the 3 yes, but it will be one of those. I'm also putting in a wiring kit from RS Guitarworks. I have been very happy with their electronics packages.

All of this is just standard fare for what I do to all my guitars. The stock wiring seems good, and the pickups are ok if you like those. I just don't. I'm not sure how the stock pickups in this guitar sound, but a guitar is not about the pickups to me for sure, cause that can always be changed. Design and build quality can not.

H2H

 

[gvarko]

Good luck...

I am trying to decide what it's going to get. I can either custom wire a set of Burstbuckers, which I love, so I can coil tap them, or maybe get another set of Zakk Wylde EMGs. I have also thought about putting in some PRS pickups.

I just dropped in the ZW set and it sounds wicked.. But I play mostly metal.. If I was looking for a more versatile choice I would go with the Burstbuckers.. All you mention are excellent choices..

 

[Hard2Hear]

I own or have owned all of them already. I found the ZW set suprising versatile. They sounded very good clean and had a good pop/rock sound to them. I thought they were only for metal but I was wrong. I have 3 other guitars I have put BBs in, I like them alot. They are just 2 conductor and rewiring them for a tap is a job. It depends mostly on what I can get a good deal on.

H2H

 

[cellardweller]

Haven't read much about the 7-string Schecters, nor the cheaper Schecter guitars... anyone?

Nice looking guitars...

 

[Lt. Bob]

Alanfc had it right about the frets. I have C1 Deluxe and the frets are big and sharped edged. I hate the thing. But ..... I bet as soon as I take a fretfile to it, I'll like it.
It is pretty ...... and it sounds ok ....... but those frets ...... they really need dressing.

And BTW ..... it's obvious if you look at the lower line Ibanezes, that they are the same git as Schecter. Ibanez has this one model that's exactly the same as a Schecter C1.
I'd bet they were made in the same factory.

 

[Hard2Hear]

My elite's frets are big, I love huge frets. But they are finished nicely. I don't know if it happened at the factory, or the store, or with the original owner, but they're nicely finished.

Alanfc said his notes were off because of the jumbo frets, but it's his playing style that causes his off notes, you cant blame bad technique on frets. Jumbo frets are great, the reason I like Gibsons so much too. I was happy that Schecter used similar frets as my Gibson guitars I'm fond of.

And they probably are made in the same factory, like 90% of the other guitars out of Korea.

H2H

 

[cellardweller]

And BTW ..... it's obvious if you look at the lower line Ibanezes, that they are the same git as Schecter. Ibanez has this one model that's exactly the same as a Schecter C1.
I'd bet they were made in the same factory.

hmm... I guess that answers my question.

I definitely don't need another Ibanez. As I've said, I don't hate mine, but I don't need another. I've recently begun favoring my epi over the ibanez, which I used to hate, ...

So which series of Schecter are the "good" ones???

 

[Mind Riot]

hmm... I guess that answers my question.

I definitely don't need another Ibanez. As I've said, I don't hate mine, but I don't need another. I've recently begun favoring my epi over the ibanez, which I used to hate, ...

So which series of Schecter are the "good" ones???

Anything above the cheapo models are pretty sweet (and the cheap ones are just as good as any other cheap guitar out there). In my opinion, the Schecter Blackjack series is one of the best values to be had in the world of guitar right now.

Mahogany body with carved top
Set maple neck
Body, fretboard, and headstock binding
Grover tuners
Tonepros tune-o-matic bridge with string thru
REAL Seymour Duncans (NOT Duncan Designed) a JB and a '59
Five way switching with coil tapping
Extended 26 1/2" scale on the seven string models and the six string C-1 EX

All of the six strings go for about $550 street price, and the sevens go for $600. Where else can you get all of that for anywhere near that price?

I personally have the 007 Blackjack seven string, and it's the best guitar I have owned. The fretwork is outstanding, the pickups work perfectly in a solid mahogany body, and the thing sustains for days and days. The 26 1/2" scale really tightens up the low end too.

Personally, I think all the Schecter's are pretty cool, even the cheap ones. They may in fact be made in the same factory as Ibanez guitars (I don't know) but they are a very different design. I really don't see how anyone could get them confused. Pretty much all of Schecters guitars, even the cheap ones, have carved tops. Very few of Ibanez' solid bodies do. Almost all of Ibanez' solid body guitars have tremolos. Schecters, with one or two exceptions, all have fixed bridges. Ibanez' have very flat and slim Wizard profile necks. Schecters have necks that are much more substantial. Almost all Ibanez strat shape guitars have 6 to a side headstocks, the Schecters have 3x3.

I don't get it. The differences are obvious. Is it just that they both have some guitars that are somewhat Strat shaped so everyone concludes that they are the same?

Anyway, Schecters are great guitars, and great values, particularly the Blackjack series.

 

[tigerotool]

i concur. i used to own a ibanez grx20 bottom end ibanez it's like the only one i could get since it was lefty. it was like pimp my ride instead it was pimp my axe. i put the zakk wylde pickup set in there. put zakk wylde strings on it 11-70. tuned it to drop c. replaced the plastic pickguard with a diamond plate pickguard from sharp-concepts.com and i jammed pieces of wood in back to immobilize the tremolo. it sounded and looked good but still played like a $200 guitar. the blackjack series weigh about 2-3 lbs more than a ibanez and the neck on the schecter is not a problem. it's a set neck and it's ergonomic. it's like a les paul only more comfortable.

i love my new schecter c-7 blackjack but i'm not sure how to play it. i've been playing about 2 years and i'm used to a 6 string in some kind of drop tuning. i'm not going back to 6 strings. i'm still debating whether or not i should tune to the low string to a B or an A. i kind of now feel like a jerk if i'm using a drop a tuning. jazz and metal guys like a low A. everyone else uses a low b. most of the cds in my car are in some kind of drop tuning ranging from d to c. not to hijack this thread can y'all recommend some books for 7 string guitar. all i know really is power chords. i would like to learn some leads solos or something.

 

[gvarko]

Same here...

My elite's frets are big, I love huge frets. But they are finished nicely. I don't know if it happened at the factory, or the store, or with the original owner, but they're nicely finished.

My elite's frets are perfect, no "bad" note problems here...

 

[gitrguy87]

I dont know about you guys, but I love my Diamond Series C-1. The frets are perfect too. The oveall sound is amazing.

 

[guitar junkie]

i am waiting to read the rest of the story about the guitars that was getting good then it was droped
it sounded cool will there be an end to the tale?

 

[Harvey Gerst]

Yes, I'll try to post Part 3 tomorrow.