Schecter guitars................just how good are they?

I've recently purchased a brand new Schecter Hellrasier Tempest and I am really impressed with it!! The finish, the build quality, the electronics, pickups etc just seem so good that I have to laugh at the £450 I paid.

I've read a lot of good things about Schecter and just wanted to know what everyone's opinions are, do you have one, would you consider buying one, have you played one????

I have owned an epiphone SG, epiphone Les Paul, Gibson flying V, ESP ltd flying V, and a squier strat. Obviously they are not amazing guitars but I have also played top of the range Ibanez's and PRS' and have to say that the Tempest holds up against these. I have always believed that you get what you pay for and dreamed of one day owning a top of the range Les Paul or PRS. However since I got the Tempest I can honestly say that I will always try Schecters before trying Gibsons, PRS, Ibanez, Fender etc.

I paid £800 for my Gibson flying V and it was horrible to play and the electronics were awful. Obviously that is only my opinion but I get the impression that if you want a nice Gibson/PRS, you will have to fork out big money for it (not that there is anything wrong with that!).

I am really impressed with the Schecter but you don't see many people play them, considering they are a mid-low budget guitar they play amazingly well and in my opinion..........worth twice the money I paid!

They are absolutely the most overlooked values available. Great fit & finish, sound, brand hardware, etc. I bought 2 & am happy as a pig in sh1t!

haven't bought one but from the ones i have played i thought they were pretty good. Their seven strings are nice but i find that the neck is a little to beefy for my liking.

My old roommate had a C-1+ and it was a pretty nice guitar. A pickup change would help, but otherwise they are pretty **** good. They are definetly lookers, but i really don't like the feel of them, feel too much like Les Pauls to me, very thick neck and fairly heavy.

AustinK said:

haven't bought one but from the ones i have played i thought they were pretty good. Their seven strings are nice but i find that the neck is a little to beefy for my liking.

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+1

I didn't played any 7 stringers, the guitars I played were a bit thick to me but nothing you can't adapt to.

In my opinion they arent very good guitars at all. Finishes are cheesey, the tops are overly ornate and look cheap...the HORRID binding that they slather on them looks like something from a 70's pimps nightmare. Terrible looking guitars....the quality on the ones I have played is all over the place. Compare them with really nice guitars and I would go as far as to call them toys. Expensive Schecters are well over the 1K mark....way overpriced.

Sorry Schecter lovers but I think the guitars are firewood. It is a shame that they use the name Schecter because b ack in the 80's Schecter was a name that meant high quality. Guys like John Suhr and Tom Anderson got their starts in the American Schecter company...when ownership went overseas they (wisely) bailed.

Sorry if anyone is looking for a sugar coating on all the answers. I won't do that.

I dunno...I've played a few that played pretty well.

I agree about their "upper-end" (and I use the term LOOSELY) models. Their photo-flames look a bit ridiculous.

Other than that, the Duncan Designed pickups tend to suck. Spend the extra $150 or so, put in a set of GOOD pickups, and rock out.

Schecter fills a nice niche in the market. In my opinion they are a go to intermediate guitar. Decent sound from the duncans, great playability, and not too hard on the eyes. These are often the best choice for the salesperson and the buyer.

What competition do they have? From my experience there are a few Korean strats that would be very similar save the type of tone. The PRS SE series is inferior in tone and playability, and looks for that matter. Not a lot of ibanez save a a higher end prestige are going to match up well. I'd prefer them over ESP.

I'd like to hear about other guitars in the range and how they match up.
The last of my .02
-entry level schecters don't stand out at all
-exotic schecters without the duncan pickups, lack tone and a good finish
-elites and E/A C1's with the peizo are great
-Schecter basses can't hold a finger to fender

Ha ha, I knew there would be divided opinion on this

I must admit that the cheap, bottom of the range Schecters don't look or feel great at all. And I can only talk about the ones that I have seen/played. But my Hellraiser Tempest just plays so well and feels (and looks) superior compared to the £800 Gibson Flying I had. Plus the EMG 81/60a pickup combination is killer![/img]

I think the Korean PRS and Hamer import lines (not slammer) blow Schechters away.


And they dont look like they came out of a childrens cereal box.

I have a C1 Elite and I love it. It's actually become my primary guitar and I'm pretty much sold on Schecter guitars. A C1 Hellraiser is in the cards next, probably will end up replacing my Ibanez 1570 which I hate with a passion.

Rocky said:

I think the Korean PRS and Hamer import lines (not slammer) blow Schechters away.


And they dont look like they came out of a childrens cereal box.

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c-1 classic smokes the prs se 8) actually its pretty close but i like the neck of the c-1 alot better so i guess that ones up to preference

A lot of schects are korean also. It'd be interesting to do some research on the korean guitar shops, because they've all been putting out good quality instruments.

If this a worthless looking instrument, Rock, I'd like to see a good looking one. Bonus points for the same price range.

The Korean made guitars are all made by.....you'll never guess.....Samick. They all come from the same company, just different jigs and such.


I have a C1 Classic, and I have to say that it's the best guitar I've owned in a long time. It has the real Duncans in it, and sounds great. I love the feel of the neck, and it's heavy. The only thing I wasn't fond of was the vine inlay, but it kinda grew on me (no pun intended).

Having said that, I played almost every Schecter I could find before buying the Classic, and I wasn't too impressed with the lower end models. The Duncan Designed pickups sound like poo to me. But for the money, they definately beat an Epiphone anyway.

Samick is the biggest factory in Korea but there are also factories owned by the World Music Corporation (they do the PRS imports and Brian Moores imports among others) and Cort (who make import guitars for Hamer and Dean among others)

A buddy of mine who has worked in a music store most of his life told me that, and it was a few years ago...that may have been before the others came about. I don't know.

His words were something along the line of "80 percent of all guitars are made in Korea by Samick." At the time, they may have been the only factory in Korea.

At least I know there's more than one company who does Korean guitars now.

I knew a guy who had a diamond series once. It sounded okay when it was heavily distorted. It sounded bad clean though. Real bad...

I remember hearing something to the same extent about the korean guitars.

Rocky, unfortunately, there aren't any Schecters that really peak over the $1,000 as far as guitars go. Really the closest they get is the Loomis FR model, which is $900. They look quite visually pleasing, and I don't see where you draw that from to be honest. The binding makes it look ornate and the quality is top notch for the price in every one I have played.

Yeah there are more than 1 korean factory making guitars for companies. Ibanez uses Cort and they SUCK compared to whoever is making Schecter's. The korean made Schecters play really really really good compared to the korean made Ibanez's. Leading me to believe that they don't use the same company. I have high standards for Ibanez though so my view might be a little biased. I'm not really a Schecter fan but, I played a Schecter Damien 7 and I was absolutely astounded that it was a $399 korean made guitar. I could have sworn it was closer to $699. I spent about 3 days playing it and I'd have to say it blows Ibanez's $399 guitars away.