Re: I need a ton of opinions!!!
My opinion is they are both excellent guitars for the money in the general sense. Make sure the individual instruments you look at are well made, and sound good acoustically. Try more than one of each model, pick the best Schecter, and the best V from those, then have a "shootout" of those two.
I'm a Gibson whore and I'd pick a good V over a good Schecter anyday, but I think Schecters are excellent guitars.
The stock Gibson pups are so-so in a V. I suggest you drop them fairly low and *then* evaluate them sonically. They tend to come from the factory too close to the strings and they sound very "ceramic-y"..i.e. Harsh..brittle....
I've been thinking of picking up one of those faded V's myself. V's are tough to play sitting down, but like the Explorer and Firebird, I find them comfier than most playing standing up.