Schecter Stiletto Studio 8

I believe all of the Schecter products are made in Korea. It's a nice looking bass. Maple neck with walnut inserts, neck-through design. Body wings are mahogany and the body is topped with bubinga, and the entire instrument has a satin finish. 34" scale, two EMG-HZ pickups, volume/volume controls and 18 volt active EQ (bass, mid, treble). The machine heads for the octave strings are Grover, and the larger ones are no-name Schaller look-alikes. The hardware is finished in gold satin and compliments the look of the satin wood finish. I don't know what year mine was made, but it has the 8-saddle bridge. I bought it used in 2004 or so. Overall, the bass has more features than I want or need because of the active electronics, but some people can't seem to live without that. Based on the quality of construction and materials, it's probably the best 8-string value out there.

I use this bass primarily in a four-piece classic rock/alternative cover band, usually for straight-ahead, driving rock numbers and an occassional ballad.

In stock form the bass has a decent, basic 8-string sound. I've had several instruments with EMG pickups and never liked any of them. The EMG-HZ's in this bass I found to be somewhat lifeless and uninspiring, and an instrument should sound good with its EQ set flat. The active EQ itself is another sore point. It doesn't seem to have a great range in tonal variation, and the frequency centers for the bass, mid, and treble don't suit my tastes. The useless preamp is particularly aggravating because this is an 18 volt system, and there's a huge hole routed in the back of the body to accomodate the two batteries.

My first experiment was to rewire the bass as a purely passive instrument and by-pass the preamp. With this scheme each pickup went to its volume pot and then to the output jack, with no tone controls and no batteries. This resulted in slightly more volume and a bit more clarity in the sound when compared to the stock setup with the EQ controls set flat. Still, it wasn't a sound that was particularly impressive.

After that experiment I replaced the neck pickup with a Bartolini M34CBC. I left the EMG-HZ in the bridge position and left the bass wired as a passive instrument. This yielded the sound I wanted. The Bart has more output that you can hear and feel, especially in fundamental tone. A strong fundamental is especially important for an 8-string, because that ringing octave sound that sounds so great in your bedroom tends to get washed out when you mix it into a live, loud band situation. When I play an 8-string I only want that one sound, so I never use the EMG that's still in the bridge position.

So, in stock form, the sound is okay but not great, but it can be improved upon.

I bought the bass used but it was in excellent condition. I really like the satin finish on the wood and hardware. Everything is well made with no obvious flaws, although the battery compartment location looks like an afterthought and mars the appearance of the neck through design when viewed from the back. The audience may not see it, but I know it's there. Have I mentioned that I hate active electronics?

I always do my own setup whether I buy something new or used. This bass has an 8-saddle bridge which is necessary because the intonation settings for the fundamental and octave strings can vary quite a bit. Intonation adjustments are a pain, to say the least, both because of the bridge design and the number of strings. As is, the range of adjusment is just barely enough because I have the saddles for both G strings as far forward as they'll go.

So far the satin finish of the hardware has help up, which is good because I really hate typical gold hardware since it pits and flakes so easily. As mentioned earlier, I've bypassed the active electronics so there shouldn't be any electrical issues to worry about. I never take backup instruments to gigs.

Never had to deal with them.

I've been playing bass for 25 years or so. I had an early 80's Ibanez Studio 8 a long time ago and probably should have kept that. With the Bart pickup, the Schecter is probably as good as that bass was. Before buying the Schecter I bought a Carlo Robelli 8-string from Sam Ash but returned it after one day. It looked cool but the sound was amazingly weak.

I really like the design and quality of Schecter instruments but I wish they'd move away from using EMG's and active EQ in so many products. They could stick passive Barts in this bass with no active EQ and have a better sounding bass that costs less to manufacture, but active EQ has become such a common feature that it almost has to be there more for marketing purposes than musical need.

Bought in September 2005
Mahogany & bubinga, 8-saddle bridge, Schecter (Gator) hard case,
Rosewood Fingerboard, 24 fret, Grover Machine Heads
Thru Body Neck
Scale 34"
EMG Hz Pickups, 2-Vol, 8V EMG Active 3-Band EQ

Loud! Even Acustically this thing is loud.
Imagine a guitar player dubbing the bass player exactly and you will get the idea.
Active 3-Band EQ is amasing. You can get a huge range of tones. I typically crank the mids, set the bass halfway above neutral and treble a hair below.
This bass sustains for years.
Schecter has solved the intonation problems of previous posts. My bass has a fully adjustable 8-saddle bridge. I can get perfect intonation.
Newer Studios have one volume and a master blend. I am not impressed with this "upgrade." I feel that two volumes, like my bass, gives you a better range of tones. I run my bridge pickup full out and my neck backed off a hair. this would be impossible to do with a blend knob

Schecter Guitars come right out of the box ready to go. A quick tune up and you are ready to rock out. I have tweaked the action a bit and set the intonation based on personal preferance.
All schecter basses come with elixer strings which I am not a fan of at all. I run Rotosounds on every guitar I own (4-String P/J Bass, This 8, Schecter TSH-12, Ibanez RG350, LaPatrie Concert CW)
The only problem I ran into was that one of the two batteries that power the 3-band EQ was wired to itself(therefore not doing anything). A quick wiring job solved that problem in 10 minutes. Runing 18 volts verses 9 volts makes a huge difference in the 3-Band EQ's Headroom.

This bass is built solid and I think it will last forever. The Finish is pretty Durable. I have a little ding on it from a CD case falling on it(3 foot drop and making impact with the corner of the case) Other than that there is normal aging of the gold hardware. I always gig with my 4-String but I am not worried about this bass kicking out on me at all.

I emailed Schecter when I discovered that the one battery was not powering anything. They got back to me the next day and gave me a few suggestions on what to do. They apologized for the mistake and were very helpful in solving the problem.

Schecters are the best guitars for the money on the market. This bass cost me $700. A Neck-Through 8-String with EMGs by any other manufacuturer would cost well over a grand.
I would replace this bass immediately if stolen (after dealing with the theif)
Be prepared to fire your guitar player, because you will have no need for one anymore.
(Wear Earplugs)

Mahogany & bubinga, 4-saddle bridge, Schecter (Gator) hard case,
Rosewood Fingerboard, 24 fret, Grover Machine Heads
Thru Body Neck
Scale 34"
EMG Hz Pickups, 2-Vol, 8V EMG Active 3-Band EQ
With an 8-saddle adjustable bridge I would have given this bass a 10.
This is a very heavy bass, made of a thick slab of wood.

The Active 3-band EQ allows you to get an incredible range of tones out of this beast, from low rumble to crisp & clear. Intonation of the pairs is very close, but not absolutely perfect according to my tuner. This slight imperfection is not really noticable, however.
The body is very solid and dense so the strings vibrate forever. It's hard on the back, but great on the ears...

I bought this bass used, so I don't know how much of the setup is attributable to the first owner. When I got it, it was set up perfectly. I don't like judging how well an instrument is set up at the factory. All I care about is how it plays after I set it up to my liking and how stable it is.
Physically, the instrument is impeccable.

This bass will last a lifetime. The finish is satin, so even if it gets dinged here and there, it should keep looking great. I use this as my only 8-string, but not my only bass...

As the other reviewer said, Schecter customer support is ver resposive with email. This is my third Schecter and I've had nothing but good experiences with the company

Been playing for many moons. I love the tones and the colors you can get out of an 8-string, and the active eq and the mass of this bass really helps make the Stilletto a great bass. This is the only 8-string that I have actually played. I bought this one because buying a premium Schecter is a pretty low risk purchase. There was nothing else available that could beat it.

Body Mahogany w/ Bubinga
Bridge/Tremolo Diamond Custom (bass tuneomatic)
Case Included None
Fingerboard Rosewood
Frets 24 Jumbo
Hardware Satin Gold
Machine Heads Grover
Neck Joint Neck- Thru Body
Neck Material Multi-Laminate Maple / Walnut
Nut Width 1.58"
Scale 34"
Pickups / Electronics EMG Hz
Controls 2-Vol w/ 18V EMG Active 3-Band EQ
Inlays Offset Dots

I didn't have it long enough to really run it through its paces, but it sounded pretty good. It didn't sound like an Alembic, but like I said, I didn't spend a long time running it through different amp sims in the VBass and such. These usually sound best with a touch of distortion to give it some growl. It would be better if it had separate outputs for each pickup so the bridge pickup could get the distortion applied and the neck pickup could go through clean. When you apply distortion to the entire bass signal you sacrifice the clarity of the bottom end.

I wound up returning it for a pretty crappy reason. It's not the bass that's the problem. It's me, as a part-time guitarist and even less part-time bass player in home recording. I just don't have what it takes to play a 34" scale 8-string bass. I can do it but the string stretches at the 1st position combined with the finger pressure make it so that I'd have to play very slow sustainy lines on it and I wanted to be able to play faster John Paul Jonesy Zooma stuff.

So I decided that if I'm going to have an 8-string it's going to have to be a short scale like the Hamer B8S and just finesse it to get as much decent tone as possible. It just so happens that Hamer USAs pricing is outrageous, though, so I'd have to either wait for one used or have a custom one built by a more reasonable luthier. A white B8S recently sold for $999 on Ebay so it's not exactly a bargain there either.

So I'm planning to ultimately have a custom one built, probably a doubleneck with a Bass VI neck on the bottom to provide all the bass flexibility I'm looking for in one.

But for those seasoned bassists out there, they should be very happy with this.

To me there is no substitute for the honest to goodness 8-string sound.

When I got the instrument it looked as though the low E string had its outer coil snapped. It turned out to just be bent. The low E and A fundamentals were slightly bent. At some point the package must have gotten banged around and the strings banged up against the 24th fret. This scratched the fret pretty badly there. The strings still worked but I probably would have replaced the strings had I kept it (more on customer service)

The action was really set too low so there was too much fret buzz. But I didn't bother to adjust the string height. It probably would have fixed the problem.

Other than that the fit and finish is excellent at this pricepoint. There is simply no other 8-string on the market with a neckthru under a grand.

It has a very light finish that would probably nick easily if you didn't take care of it properly.

The gold finish is very light and will wear off almost instantly.

But other than that it looks like it would hold up.

The neck has a volute and looks very solid. I think people have learned how to make 8-strings by now.

Schecter is good to deal with on email but hard to reach by phone.

I bought this bass based on a lot of back and forth emails with them discussing the saddles. The original Studio 8 uses a 4-saddle bridge which is simply unacceptable in this day and age when cheapy Dean, Carlo Robelli, and Galvestons use 8-saddle bridges.

Schecter was good in providing detail on when to expect the new Studio 8s to arrive.

The bass I got was one of the very first 8-saddle Studio 8s to ship to dealers.

I'm surprised I'm the first to review this here, given that other Stilettos have reviews...


I've done research on 8-strings available these days. All of them are bolt-ons except the Hamer (set neck, overpriced) and this one. Actually, BC Rich USA might still make 8-string Bich's to order but they would also be overpriced for what you get.

Like I said, this is a one of a kind instrument. It's a neck-through 8-string for about $650-699. A luthier would probably charge $1,500 or more to make something like this as a one-off.

If you do get it, make sure it has the 8-saddle bridge as some remaining inventory must still be at dealers. If you get a 4-saddle bridge you may be able to bug Schecter for an upgrade. I think they realize how important it is for some people.

While ultimately it wasn't for me, I'm giving this very high marks. Those with the chops who are looking to get an 8-string should consider this before all others.