Well, I finally got my hands on a Schecter C1 Hellraiser that I had been gas’n for. It’s Black Cherry, with the Floyd Rose Tremolo. Although I honestly feel its over-priced ($849), it really is a nice guitar none-the-less.
I don’t think any currently produced guitar could replace my Les Paul in tone or playability, and that was not the intent of buying the Schecter. I needed a second guitar to take some load off the Les Paul, and to accommodate the different tunings I’ve been using.
The Hellraiser is visually stunning IMO. The quilted maple top and headstock (it’s actually a thin veneer) looks great as well as the Abalone binding (very thin as well). Yes, I’ve seen better, but I’ve seen worse as well. The body appears to be two edge-joined pieces of solid wood (no plywood). Fret access is great to the 20th + and the neck is comfortable. The frets are lower than I like but that’s my tastes. The Abalone cross markers on the fretboard look great and fit their inlays well.
The set-up out of the box left a lot to be desired, the Floyd Rose needed a tension adjustment (guitar kept going flat), the action was so low it was extremely buzzy, and the intonation was so-so. After an hour or so with my tuner the guitar really stays in tune now, better than I expected. I’ve got a Tremsetter on the way as well. The frets could use a slight crowning and polishing for my tastes, and a leveling would help also.
The EMG’s are great, and the new 81TW coil splitter is a nice touch. The split-able 89 at the neck is nice as well. It’s your basic 81/85 setup in humbucking, and when split, you have a pair of SA’s, and they sparkle like you would expect.
Battery access is a pop-open door. Too bad the jack plate is plastic. Tuners are Grovers. The serial number is printed on.
Black paint is used on the top corner edge of the body and neck as a binding edging, and it’s a little sloppy at spots like it is hand painted, not too bad but still sloppy and a little cheap looking.
I’ve had the guitar for a week now and I’m just starting to get comfortable with it. It’s tuned to standard (E) tuning.
So far I’m happy with my purchase. The guitar plays well, sounds good and is comfortable to play when worn for an hour or two at rehearsal. I just wish it cost $100-$150 less maybe. I may have been happier with the price if the jack plate was metal, the black paint edging was neater, and if the OFR was setup better (the set-up is done in the US!). The guitar compliments my Les Paul nicely (which stays in drop-D flat now), but we’ll have to see if it will hold up to 35 years of use like the ’73 Les Paul I’ve had since ’84.
In summary, the guitar is well constructed and it looks, plays and sounds good, but is slightly over-priced, even though it comes with an Original Floyd Rose and EMGs.
Dom
I don’t think any currently produced guitar could replace my Les Paul in tone or playability, and that was not the intent of buying the Schecter. I needed a second guitar to take some load off the Les Paul, and to accommodate the different tunings I’ve been using.
The Hellraiser is visually stunning IMO. The quilted maple top and headstock (it’s actually a thin veneer) looks great as well as the Abalone binding (very thin as well). Yes, I’ve seen better, but I’ve seen worse as well. The body appears to be two edge-joined pieces of solid wood (no plywood). Fret access is great to the 20th + and the neck is comfortable. The frets are lower than I like but that’s my tastes. The Abalone cross markers on the fretboard look great and fit their inlays well.
The set-up out of the box left a lot to be desired, the Floyd Rose needed a tension adjustment (guitar kept going flat), the action was so low it was extremely buzzy, and the intonation was so-so. After an hour or so with my tuner the guitar really stays in tune now, better than I expected. I’ve got a Tremsetter on the way as well. The frets could use a slight crowning and polishing for my tastes, and a leveling would help also.
The EMG’s are great, and the new 81TW coil splitter is a nice touch. The split-able 89 at the neck is nice as well. It’s your basic 81/85 setup in humbucking, and when split, you have a pair of SA’s, and they sparkle like you would expect.
Battery access is a pop-open door. Too bad the jack plate is plastic. Tuners are Grovers. The serial number is printed on.
Black paint is used on the top corner edge of the body and neck as a binding edging, and it’s a little sloppy at spots like it is hand painted, not too bad but still sloppy and a little cheap looking.
I’ve had the guitar for a week now and I’m just starting to get comfortable with it. It’s tuned to standard (E) tuning.
So far I’m happy with my purchase. The guitar plays well, sounds good and is comfortable to play when worn for an hour or two at rehearsal. I just wish it cost $100-$150 less maybe. I may have been happier with the price if the jack plate was metal, the black paint edging was neater, and if the OFR was setup better (the set-up is done in the US!). The guitar compliments my Les Paul nicely (which stays in drop-D flat now), but we’ll have to see if it will hold up to 35 years of use like the ’73 Les Paul I’ve had since ’84.
In summary, the guitar is well constructed and it looks, plays and sounds good, but is slightly over-priced, even though it comes with an Original Floyd Rose and EMGs.
Dom
