Schecter C-1 Hellraiser
Contents |
Information.
Original author: 29a (Jonas)
Weapon: Guitar
Make: Schecter
Model: C-1 Hellraiser
The Features:
- Mahogany Body.
- Quilted Maple Top.
- Mahagony Set Neck.
- Rosewood Fretboard.
- Abalone Binding.
- Grover Tuners.
- Graphtec Tusq Nut.
- String through body.
- EMG 81TW/89 Pickups. (Splitable)
First Impressions.
Now when inspecting the guitar a bit closer at home I noticed that it was made in Indonesia. So it seems to me that Schecter did also move away from South Korea to Indonesia like ESP LTD did. Probably because of the new minimal wages in South Korea. Not really good behavior and at least in the LTD's case the quality seems to have suffered. So I went on to look for flaws.
And I've found some. The first thing I've noticed is that the wood on fretboard didn't look very even (color wise). After cleaning and oiling it it's already looking far better.
Next thing: The binding around the upper Cutaway is a bit uneven. It's almost invisible but you can feel it. Then there were some tiny glue residues on the "Schecter" Logo on the headstock.
Also the quilted maple top was not as deeply figured (what's the correct way to say this in english?) as the one on my Schecter C-1 Classic. The body consists of two parts of mahogany glued together. I know this is often done but still, I don't really like it. Finally the setup seems to be wrong, maybe I just messed it up by switching from .010 to .009 Strings.. These are all the flaws I could find when carefully searching for them. Most of them are virtually invisible and do not affect playability.
Build Quality.
Now enough ranting let's look at the positive side. The build quality is comparable to what I saw from ESP LTD's 1000 Series, which I consider good. Not as good as my "perfect" C-1 Classic though. The playability is about equal (after a proper setup). The neck is clearly thicker than an Ibanez Wizard neck but still thinner than I'm used to from Les Pauls. Comparable to some of the BC Richs. But don't let that fool you. The neck feels just right (for me). Thinner does not always mean better. It's also a light guitar. Lighter than my Ibanez S470! And as far as I can tell now it's going to be my new primary axe! And the reason for this is.......
Sounds.
The Sound of this guitar is great. Thanks to the EMG 81tw/89 set you can go from almost acoustic cleans to smooth leads to bone crushing metal. I'll write a bit about the settings I use:
My metal rhythm setting:
Tone and volume cranked using the EMG 81 tw. Lots of attack, clarity and bottom end punch. It sounds a bit scooped though so I added a bit more Mid on the amp.
My lead setting:
The EMG 85 in the neck. Volume cranked, tone a little bit dialed back. Very smooth and warm and dynamic. For some applications it might actually be to smooth. But I mostly like it. It's easy to add some grit/dirty on the amp.
My clean setting:
Using both pickups, both set to single coil mode. It sounds almost like an acoustic. Great!
Conclusion.
This guitar clearly isn't for everybody. If you don't like EMG's, you'd better stay away from it. If you are, however, looking for a great versatile Metal Axe at a great price the Schecter C-1 Hellraiser is worth serious consideration.
--Sensible Jones 18:33, 4 April 2009 (CEST)
