Schecter S-1 Elite

[Neeradj]

I had encountered one on one of Jolly's pics and it looked amazing! So I looked up the specs and it seems absolutely perfect, except for the fingerboard being rosewood (very minor influence on the tone anyway). So what's my question then? Experienece, other S models will also do fine, perhaps Jolly could help me or something? I want to know about the weight, playability, looks. Is the top solid or does it have a layer of veneer on plain maple? Where is it built? Upper fret acces seemed great, but is it? How about the neck, I was looking for a neck thinner than normal Les Paul guitars kinda strat like if you will medium-rounded. Is it like that or at least thinner?

Any other info would be great, I already read two very positive reviews on harmony central, but maybe you could be more detailed.

Thanks!

[Neeradj]

Re: Schecter S-1 Elite

Yeah I figured I could trade the Duncan Designed pick ups here, perhaps for another genuine Duncan and buy a DiMarzio Humbucker From Hell or Duncan Jazz for the neck position. Are the necks fat like Gibsons, or thinner? I'm not that intimidated by Korean made guitars, though I don't own one and never have. I have played tons though

What do you mean by blocky? As like the oposite of rounded? I guess that wouldn't be too much of a problem unless the neck was fat.

Thanks for the info, it really helped. More feedback would still be appreciated

[Skullkrusher]

Re: Schecter S-1 Elite

The necks are on the thin side. Infact that's the only drawback that I have found to my Schecter C-1 Elite. I'm sure the S-1 has the same thin neck. It's not to bad though.

[Neeradj]

Re: Schecter S-1 Elite

Yes I checked and the necks are pretty much built the same way, I might mail Schecter about it to be certain. Could you compare the neck to another pretty famous neck? I presume you don't like thinner necks, I play lots of lead stuff and fast rhythm parts so a thinner neck is ideal for my playing. I don't mean Ibanez Wizard thin (although I don't have any problems with that kinda thin), more like Jackson Soloist thin or old Charvel thin. If you know what I mean

[italic zero]

Re: Schecter S-1 Elite

My schecter's neck is thicker than a strat and thinner than a LP. I like it a lot, but it's not a shred guitar.

[JfromHouston]

Re: Schecter S-1 Elite

not to hijack the thread but I think the S-1 has one of the most kick ass headstocks in the industry.

[JOLLY]

Re: Schecter S-1 Elite

I want to know about the weight, playability, looks. Is the top solid or does it have a layer of veneer on plain maple? Where is it built? Upper fret acces seemed great, but is it? How about the neck, I was looking for a neck thinner than normal Les Paul guitars kinda strat like if you will medium-rounded. Is it like that or at least thinner?

Any other info would be great, I already read two very positive reviews on harmony central, but maybe you could be more detailed.

Thanks!

I'll just try and go in order of your questions. Some of them have already been answered, but I'll answer them again anyways.

The weight is surprisingly light. If I were to take a wild guess I'd say mine probably weighs in at about 7-7 1/2 pounds. It plays absolutely great. It has great action. The scale is 25.5 scale. It's looks are really stunning. It has gold hardware, abalone binding all around the body, fretboard, headstock and inlays. It has a 1/4" flamed maple cap on it. They're built in Korea. It looks like it has great upper access to the frets and in a way it does and in a way it doesn't. I find that my hand kind of hits the bout awkwardly when I try and hit the 21st and 22nd frets. It doesn't bother me that much cause I rarely play that high on the neck. The neck is somewhere in between a Les Paul slim taper (60's) neck and a Strat neck. It has a Tone Pros bridge and Grover tuners...both of which are really outstanding. It also has a push/pull tone pot for coil splitting as well. I kinda have a gripe with that, but it's not too big of a deal to me. The problem I have is that the 2 volumes and the tone are kinda recessed into the body. When you go to pull the tone pot to go into single coil it makes it kinda tough to grab a hold of. Like I say it's not really that big a deal to me though.....just thought I'd mention it. All in all for the price I paid for it($350).... it was still a steal and worth every single penny of that and then some more......and yes, the headstock on it does rule!! Hope that helped somewhat.

[JOLLY]

Re: Schecter S-1 Elite

Oh yeah....while the Duncan Designed pickups are ok/decent....they just aren't really me. I'd suggest a pickup swap, but that's just my own personal taste.

[Neeradj]

Re: Schecter S-1 Elite

You've covered a lot of ground there Jolly, thanks
I'm kinda curious about the neck, it's joined on the last two frets right? The bad part is that I can't have the heel trimmed down, because it's part of the body. I'm not really sure what pick up combo I'll replace it with. I thought a Custom and Humbucker From Hell combo would be excellent since I've always wanted to try the HFH, but it's much brighter than the Custom so I think an Air Norton would be better. I'm also going to disconnect the Tone pot. So brightness wouldn't be a problem! Maybe I'll replace the two volume pots with Push-Push pots, though I have to find a place that sells them first. I'm thinking about having a piëzo built in and the slot of the original tone pot could serve as an on-off switch for it

$350 is an awesome price, did you get it off' EBay? I thought the dark flame looked awesome, but I didn't like the gold hardware so I think I'm going to get the Quilt Cherry.

Thanks guys!

[JOLLY]

Re: Schecter S-1 Elite

I actually bought it and a PT Custom for $350 each brand new from Musicians Friend. They were having a blowout on the Antique Honey colors a couple of months back.