Schecter A-7 Diamond Series 7-String

Generic string through fixed bridge. Double Duncan designed humbuckers with one volume, one tone, and a 3 way switcher. 24 frets too.

I play metal mostly and mess around with jazz fusion sounds and ideas. Unfortunately this guitar's stock pickups are really bad sounding. Any kind of chord sounded uninified and gritty. Not a very solid tone. Don't expect a tight or articulated sound out of this either. The pickups have a decent output, so i guess that's cool for metal. One last thing: If you play legato you will need to change these pickups, they have zero sustain and even simple tapping became a chore.

I bought this off a friend and the action is great. The playability is as good as I can expect from a 7-string. I've played expensive carvin and ibanez guitars and they don't really destroy this guitar like i had thought they would. It's got a fast neck with good fretwork
i don't think theres a better 7-string for the buck. Finish is beautiful and it looks fairly sturdy.

Stays in tune well and it seems like the hardware will hold up against any other guitar.The guitar sits well in the strap buttons without me getting nervous about the strap falling off. Very solid and dependable so far. No need for a backup (who can afford one anyway).

Never had to deal with them.

For a 7-string at this price its unbeatable. Once I put some new pickups in here it'll be just as good as any other 7-string you can think of. It easily compares to more expensiive 7strings . I'm very picky with guitar playability and I feel that this is a great guitar for any price save the crappy stock pickups.

As you probably know this guitar was chopped from a tree on krypton and is full of kryptonite. It is, as is know in the trade, "nails". Nuff said................
Simple two 'buckers and fixed bridge. Perfect!

I play everything from real gentle easy-listening jazz types to the sort of sonic hurricane that would embarras slipknot. It deals both beautifully and damned outright rudely as is required.
I use it thru my pod and a constantly (ebay updated) changing plethora of distortions and envelope filters into my pod and thusly thru my old fender jam into the atmosphere.Oh yeah, and i own a digitech whammy which never leaves my side!
It has a wonderfull rich and clear sound which warms the cockles of my heart and when heavily distorted just cuts me up. It is just so addaptable its shocking. Its also real easy to play and the extra string has really been a chore to get my head round but has taught me soooooooooo much............

ah. ok now-i must admit that the saddle tension screw on the high 'e' was different to the rats and that pisses me off. But otherwise the finnish is shockingly good! It was good to go straight out of the box and i had it set up again (after two years of hard use) just reicently and it came back just the same!!!!!!!!!!!!

i have no reason to doubt this wonderfull instrument at all in any way shape or form.

n/a

i just love this guitar and would not be without it. Nuff said? Damn tootin.............

Import 7 string with dual humbuckers and bolt-on neck.Strings thru body bridge.

The pickups seem to be rather muddy and nasal sounding to me. I played it through a V-amp, a Digitech RP200, and a Line 6 Pod. It made all my usual presets sound pretty bad. After spending some time tweeking the presets, I was able to obtain some usable sounds. I think I will end up replacing the pickups.

The action on this guitar is excellent.It has a very fast, flat radius neck.It is wide, but it is not as awkward as I thought it might be.I like the odd body style,and the finish was nice.I replaced the strings with heavier gauge. It helped the sound a little.

Seems O.K.

No Contact

I have been playing for over 25 years. I have played most every brand of guitar. This one has it's faults, but they can all be fixed. The fast neck on this 7 string makes up for those faults. I am impressed that you can get a guitar this playable for so little money.If you can still find one, it offers a great bang for your buck.

You've already read this in other reviews.

I play mostly metal.

I use it with a Line 6 Spider 112 and a boss GE7 equalizer pedal.

What I like best about this guitar is it's awesome tone! It has a really rich bottom, making it great for nice, clean sounds (to which I like to add chorus). The best word for the tone is incredibly warm, which is exactly what I want. Big thumbs up.

The action was set up quite low, but it still had great sustain - probably owing much to the strings-thru-body construction. I changed from .009's to .011's right away, and it didn't need a truss rod adjustment. The action on the low B, which I have detuned to an A (i play in drop A) was too low, though, making it buzz. This was quickly fixed.

Unfortunately I can't seem to get the intonation right on this string,, bnut of course it may just be the low tuning or my lacking skills... I don't know.

The tone knob has contact with the body, so they're grating a little against each other when it is turned - I've just pulled it a bit up...

The pickup adjustment was quite bad. There was hardly any difference between the combined and the neck position, and the bridge position sounded to tinny, so I had to adjust those as well.

And finally, the diamond inlays in the guitar are quite... ugly... in the border between the "filling" and the fretboard. Looks a little bit like it's been filled with PVA glue, that hasn't quite dried up yet. But some of my freinds say they look great, so I guess it's in the eye of the beholder.

I have nothin to complain about in this category - all seems fine. The finish is extremely sturdy.

I have no idea.

I love this guitar. It's easy to play, looks cool and has absolutely KILLER tone. The things about the pickups and action have all been adjusted by myself, except the intonation thing. If these problems hdn't been there, I would have given it 9 or 10. But that's just too many flaws in a new guitar. This in mind, it should be rated about 6 or something. But on the other hand, I would still have bought it if I had known these flaws were present. So I don't know how many points I should award it. Judge it yourselves. If you can fix problems as these by yourselves, you like the look and feel of of it, and especially the tone - then by all means, buy it.

Black 1998 7 String with 2 humbuckers, volume, tone, 3 way switch, 24 jumbo frets and grover tuners. "Duncan Design" pickups. Came w/gig bag. I have had this almost 4 years now. I dunno where it was made, but it was not made in America.

I play blues/jazz and a little rock. This can hold it's own in each category. The neck has a flat radius which is great for blues bending. Right now I play through a Peavy Classic 50, but I have in the past played through the Classic 50, Fender Blues Deville, Hughes and Kettner tube 100 (half stack), and a Fender Ultimate Chorus. It always has a rich, full sound. The pickups have a lot of output, but complex chords still stay reasonably defined. (This depends on the amp a bit too though). If you are looking for a straty blues tone this won't come close(i use a strat for that). If your looking for a singing Robben Ford humbucker sound it can be found here. If you are trying to mimick a hollowbody jazz guitar sound this does a reasonable job with the pickup selector in the inbetween position and the tone rolled off a bit. The shielding inside works well.

The setup was great, the pickups were fine. Everything seems to be routed correctly, fitted correctly, etc. There were no flaws. I am not especially careful with it, and after 3-4years of gigging with it it has gotten a few dings and scratches. It has also taken one or two tumbles off a 5 foot stage and not been damaged, much to my surprise (don't try that at home though)

The only reason i rank a 9 in this category, is because of the neck heel. It really is this big clunky piece of wood you have to deal with when playing around the 19 - 24 frets.

This guitar is a tank. I have played it live at least weekly for 3 years now. Not only does it get banged around, but I play lots of blues gigs and i have a tight grip. Not only has the body and neck held up well, but the frets haven't worn too badly. The finish is thick. The only thing i have replaced is the pickup selector switch which went bad after about a year. The trade off is that it is a heavy guitar. I am a young, semi-physically fit guy and 4 hours with this on my shoulder hurts my back.

No warranty, no nothing as far as I know. No help when my switch was broken. When I emailed the company with a question about it I never recieved a reply.

This is my favorite guitar. It is the best guitar I own, but I have played with some regularity a parker fly and a srv signature strat, as well as other single coil and humbucker strats. This isn't as light as the fly or as smooth to play as the SRV, but in a way i feel like they are all apples and oranges. If you want to tap you can, but it is really at home with some searing Robben Ford licks, or for some hip comping with that seven string. Don't expect that low string to twang like a baritone guitar. The scale length wouldn't be nearly long enough.

its ok. the fact that it was the 1st CHEAP 7string help =)

never played it clean. why bother? its a shred guitar. its ok at that.

they messed up the volume knob and it cut into the paint. damn it. the action is, acceptable?

ive dropped it, didnt scratch the paint.. that was cool

who knows

ehh, its okay for a budget 7 string, to see if yo ulike the idea. I paid half as much for a dean, and actually play it.

Man this guitar kicks ass... let me tell you. I think its 2000 leftovers but oh well who cares! 24 x-jumbo frets.... biggest i've ever played! I was looking for a good 7 string and i found it here. And a warning... when you pick this guitar up and put it on... you'll feel like the KING of guitars, every other guitar you pick up feels like they were made for babys. I don't like the duncan designed pickups, but i have dimarzio blazes on order. No tremolo, which is good. Passive eletronics. Oh yeah very nice Grover tuners, feels like your turning hot butter.

Like i said before, the pickups dont sound all that good. The low B turns to mud. If you buy it plan on getting some new pickups.

Nice low action... not as low as my friends jackson(hahaha you cant tune his to Drop D without bad fret buzz). Pickups didnt need adjusting. No flaws at all.

God i would use this guitar for live playing so many times, the hardware is very sturdy. I dont know about the finish. At least this thing doesnt fall off the straps. I would definatly use this without a backup.

never had to deal with them.

I've been playing about 14 months and i own a Squier Strat(very cheap) and some no-name acoustic. I am so happy with this guitar i wouldnt trade it even for a PRS or a Gibson. If it was stolen i would track down the motherfucker that stole it and beat his ass with it. I like everything about it!

2000 leftover, but brand new. I got the Gunmetal-Grey one.
Awesome lookin!!!!
The horn on top is kinda gay lookin', I thought. Otherwise I love the "spacey" look.
The pickups are passive( Ididn't see mention of that here)

I only play Heavy shit, so this thing rules!
Even though I've never even played a 7 stringer, before I was really amazed at how thick this thing sounds, even thru my Digitech RP200 and Suqire Champ 15w practice amp.
Man!!!
As soon as you throw this thing over your shoulder, you feel like hurting someone....It's just so heavy and mean feeling in your hands.

Purchased from Woody's Music. Setup was nearly flawless. It was almost in tune when I got it from UPS.
I tilted the pickups just a little, but they really didn't NEED it.
The wood in the fretboard looked like it had player wear at first, but it turned out to be the grain and color of the wood. it's kinda cool, really.
I went over it with a fine toothed comb, and couldn't find one defect.

If I were playing a gig, and a riot erupted, I'd use this MOFO as a weapon!

n/a

I v'e only been playing for 2 years, and on a Parker Fly Deluxe.
After playing the A-7 for 2 days, then pickin' up the Parker, I felt like I shoulda' had a friggin' pink skirt on.
Two COMPLETELY diifernt worlds.
I chose this axe because I wanted a heavy mohagany body, 2 Hums, 7 strings, and everything else it has.(I woulda payed extra for a set-neck, though) I almost went with the ESP LTD H-307.
I could buy 3 A-7's for what they're askin'.

US assembled, Korean made (I think, maybe Mexican). No problems out of box, reliable string action, perfect condition. 24 jumbo frets, seven high quality strings, Duncan Designed pickups (about as good as you ever get out of the box, but I plan on replacing them with Seymour Duncans or D'Marzio's shortly). Sleek, classy look, unique yet attractive body style, great resonance. Bolt-on neck (sort of a bummer), solid top (I think), high quality materials, satin finish, tune-o-matic bridge with locking tuners. Honestly, this is a great piece in this category.

Almost perfect.... varies from a true bass guitar sound in the low register (through a bass amp of course) to a stunning lead sound, including everything between. The mids really show this baby to perfection though: crunching rhythm sounds perfect for rock, alt rock, metal, classic rock, fusion, etc. The only reason this gets only an eight is a slight buzz on the B string. After some fiddling with the bridge it fixed itself, but I plan on getting it checked out with a local dealer anyway to make sure the hardware integrity is good despite my work.

Action is masterful - this is truly the guitar to buy if you are looking for a seven string. Despite the necessary wide neck of any 7 string, I can play faster and sweeter on this baby than I can on my Ibanez or my Epi. Very enjoyable.
Everything came as I expected, without flaws and with the exact specs I ordered... thank americanmusical.com for that, they haven't missed yet and they always have a better price than any other discount store on the stuff I'm interested in. In addition, the overall setup - pickups, bridge routing, assembly, etc. - was much better than I expected. I got this guitar so cheap that I was anxious about setup flaws.

This guitar is a beast. Regardless, I've only played it at a couple of gigs so far, and I play keybaords more often than guitar in my band. However, all the buttons and knobs seem solid, the finish is superb, and the sound quality has been dependable as of yet. I'm leaving this blank... only time will tell, I guess.

Schecter is friendly, but we have had any major problems to sort out. American Musical Supply is friendly, but their delivery was so prompt (free shipping in one business day) and their product so good that I haven't had to call them since they arrived.

This was a great deal. I can't give this a 10 because of the buzzing low B string, but I have never played on a seven string that got this time of tone quality or this speedy action - and I've played everything by Ibanez, Jackson, etc. I would snap this up, especially as Schecter is hustling in newer lines of equipment - I have seen this as a closeout deal at many stores online. My band loves its sound, and our lead guitarist - who is much better at guitar than I am, since I'm mainly a keyboardist - keeps looking at it and then at his explorer in a wistful way.

1999 Made In Korea, inspected in the USA, (someone takes a glance at one out of every hundred made). 24 HUGE frets, biggest I ever played. Its solid mahogany body with a maple neck and rosewood fingerboard. Two Duncan Designed pickups with a three way selector switch, two rather large funky knobs, one volume and one tone. Dark metallic blue (not my first choice) and string-thru body bridge.
Grover tuners, and large wide but thin neck.

Easy, Sounds Good!
First, I had to adjust the action and make it higher because of the strings resonating on the frets. Then, I took off the God awful strings they put on and replaced them with some Ernie Balls 10-56. I play it through a new VS2000 AVT50H into a VS412A (Celestion Goldbacks). Sounds Good to me! Before I got this guitar, I only played a Les Paul Standard by Epiphone, but this sounds better. Not just because of the low B string, but it sounds, (to use an overused buzzword for lack of a better term) "fat". It just seems more thick and rich then the Les Paul. This means I am going to have to replace the pickups in my Paul, no big deal.
Second, People seem to complain about 7 strings being to muddy, well, dig into your lower strings. It took me a little bit to realize if I dug into my 1-6 strings I could cut into and hold my own with the low B string. I had to get a thicker pick and be more aggressive with my playing, but its worth it.

Guitar was setup was all right, buzzing because of the strings to low to the fret board, So I raised the action. The paintjob, and the over all construction of the guitar rocks. Its sturdy as a rock. Like my Teacher said in his review of the A-7+ of you want to bash this guitar you better take your vitamins. It is a big Heavy guitar, it isn't for those who are looking for the lightest nicest thing around, it has some gonads! Its big, its heavy, and it sounds good! Personally I like big heavy guitars, I never thought I would like any other guitar but a Les Paul, but this has proved me wrong.

This is a Kevlar vest with strings. It is built incredibly well, so well it astounded me when I first played one. The finish, the wood, the workmanship, this thing is going to last you.
You shouldn't gig without a backup, but if you can somehow nock this thing out of commission that you cant use if for a show, you got some serious problems. I bet it could withstand me backing my s-10 over it. (but I wont try it) it just feels that well built.
Oh, I don't use the strap buttons, I put strap locks on it instantly (because the strap I am using is a p.o.s.)

Answerd e-mails withen a day, seem friendly, website sucks, but oh well, cant have it all.

My friend turned me on to this guitar, and from when I first played it I knew I loved it. Its big, its solid, and its really comfortable! It sounds better then my Les Paul, and the neck makes it easier to do some stuff on the lower strings where my hands seem to be strained less then on the Paul. It took me a little bit to learn you have to play it hard, almost like a cave man, but I am good at that. I could swear the thing was made of concrete it is so heavy, but it sounds really good. The diamond inlays are neat I guess, and the headstock is a little funky, but hey, to me its all good. The only headstocks I really don't like are the ones made by fender.

A quick follow up. First of all sorry for mentioning the A-7 at times as the C-7. The review is of the A-7 although I've used a C-7 as well, it too is a very good sounding guitar (and beautiful to boot.)

The A-7 has held up well in live play and studio work. It is a great deal and worthwhile launching point for seven string guitars.

Schecter has been great about customer support.

Probably made in 2000 in either Mexico or Korea, set up in the US.
24 frets, solid mahogony body with volume, tone and 3-way selector for dual neck and bridge Dunkin designed passive Humbuckers.
The neck is maple with XJ rosewood fretboard. The headstock and body are glossy black and are dust and fingerprint magnets. The "A" series body style is an exagerated type of super strat with through body strings, quality bridge and Grover tuners on a 25 1/2" neck.
My A-7 came with a gig bag of reasonable quality along with hex wrenches for truss rod and bridge adjustment.

This is the first and only 7 string I played. It took some getting used to. The neck is fast, thin but significantly wider than traditonal 6 string guitars. I use this almost exclusively through a board with either Valve FX/Control 1 or GT-3 effects. The pickups are decent but I see a replacement for the bridge pickup eventually. Here's something interesting I found. A lot of people have mentioned how the pickups sound similar or how the bridge pickup is muddy. However, as I try different styles of amp models and distortions the bridge pickup at times shines and the difference between it and the neck are very pronounced.
This is a big sounding guitar but it is highly dependent on the system you are using. If you play it direct into amps you're going to find certain combinations that fit this guitar incredibly well while others will leave it very monochromatic sounding.
With decent processing this axe can sound spectacular.
I'd have to say the A-7 is not for purists.
Overall I enjoy the sound of this guitar, it is inspiring although it could be improved with different pickups- this is important- this guitar sounds good with it's stock pickups, it plays well, but there's tons of players that like specific pickup sounds and it's not unreasonable to swap out what appeals to you, I see people with $3k Les Pauls doing this all the time.
Part of making your sound is having some control over design.

The setup was buzzy out of the box. A few minutes later it was much better except for the low "B" string which still buzzes a bit.
The bridge could have been beveled as it sometimes is a bit sharp to the touch. I dislike the volume and tone knobs, they'll go soon.
The pickups are slightly misaligned, especially on the low "B" string but do not seem to effect the sound.
Beyond that this guitar plays well and for it's price is a steal.

This is a heavy guitar that plays well and has stood up to my at times aggressive playing. The hardware is solid and of high quality. The design is excellent. It is my only 7 string and I feel comfortable using it without backup. Actually it's my gigging 6 string guitar's backup, it just gets used a bit more as I like hitting those lower notes and chunking up the sound.
I use this guitar for experimental and electronic music. I don't shred a lot although you easily can on this guitar. If I don't do something stupid on stage I can't see things going wrong with the C-7.

Impressive service. I had a few questions and had answers within 5 hours via email. Beyond those answered questions I've had no need to talk with support and hope to keep it that way.

I've been playing for over 30 years, I've had many guitars none of which compare to the C-7. In terms of build it is far better than any sub $800 guitar I've played. It makes me want to buy a 6 string Schecter. I also have a C-5X which kicks my ass and blows me away in equal amounts. The C-7 sounds good and works well as a backup 6 string with additional capabilities.
I really hate the control knobs but this is a minor thing. I like this guitar quite a bit, it is inspiring to play and helps me stay creative.
For it's price I can't think of much that compares.

I believe this guitar was made in 1998 seeing as how thats when I ordered it but the place I ordered it from didnt recieve it until 1999 so I'm not exactly sure. I believe it was made in mexico and setup in the U.S. Okay enough of the stuff I'm having a hard time remembering and onto some things I know. It has 24 jumbo frets (no buzz on any of them) 1 volume, 1 tone, 3-way toggle switch, two duncan designed passive humbucking pickups, mahogany body, hard maple neck, Awesome gunmetal grey finish, Offset strat style body, String thru body bridge, grover tuners, rosewood fingerboard, Came with gig bag (which is falling apart badly) two allen wrenches and a thin little instrument cable.

It sounds perfect for my style of music (Thick, heavy, downtuned metal like Fear Factory, Morbid Angel, recent Slayer, etc.) It also sounds good clean on the neck pickup for almost jazzy tones. The bridge pickup sounds like ass without distortion. I'm running it through a very simple setup. Just a Marshall JCM 2000 DSL and a Randall 4x12 cab. It sounds beefy as fuck cranked up. It sounds just thick, probably thanks to the mahogany body cuz I know the pickups are nothing special. One thing I don't like is the sound of the bridge pickup on clean. It just sounds way to thin. And the pickup selector is kind of hard to get to in the middle of a song so Its sometimes difficult to switch to the neck pickup to remedy the problem of the thin clean sound. It also tends to get a slight bit mushy sounding when playing fast and with a bit of bass, so I kind of need to keep my tone a bit on the trebly side, But I beleive a pickup upgrade would fix any problem I have with the sound.

The guitar was setup perfectly. I just recently learned how to set up a guitar, and after owning the A-7 for about a year and a half I went to go check the setup and I found it didnt need any adjusting at all. Even after tons of gigging and taking the guitar up to my dads in the mountains and stuff and through climate changes its still set up perfectly. The only thing wrong with the setup was I think the bridge pickup was too close to the strings at first because Id get a small bit of distortion even while playing through the clean channel at low volumes. I lowered the pickup just slightly and it fixed the problem. One seemingly major flaw when I got the guitar... The screw was missing from the 7th machine head. Thats a big thing to overlook. I replaced it and Ive never had a problem with it even after a year and a half though.

This guitar is built like a tank. My friend knocked it off a table and all it did was put the smallest little knick in the corner. It didnt even go out of tune. It feels really solid. Its built like a les paul (besides the bolt on neck) and those are tried and true. I know I can depend on this thing for years to come. Ive used it at gigs without a backup plenty of times. Ive even broken strings on itduring gigs without a backup and id be back up and playing in five minutes.

I didnt deal with Schecter at all.

Ive been playing for about 6 years now. I owned an Epiphone Les Paul before my Schecter and I must say the Schecter sounds better. I wasn't dissapointed with anything about this guitar. I dont care for the pickups much, but hey what can you expect, they're stock. If This guitar were stolen I'd maybe try out a Schecter C-7. I love how solid it feels and sounds with distortion. Overall- Great guitar for the price. If it had good pickups it would be perfect.

This has all been covered before...
The gig bag kinda pisses me off though, because it isn't shaped for the head and takes it out of tune.

I play a lot of different musical styles, and I find that it suits all of them pretty well. I mostly play metally stuff, though, and it seems like that's what it was meant for, but I can get pretty good blues and jazz sounds out of it. I really like the pickups with a clean sound.

The action was set a little low. I like a low action to be able to play fast, but I get a lot of fret buzz from the seventh string, and even some from the other wound strings when they are fretted in certain places. The pickup height seems pretty good, but the poles are a little out of alignment. My 3rd string won't stay in tune right, which irritates me, as does the fact that the volume knob cuts out sharply at a certain point.The body is also easily dentable, althoough that finish ain't coming off (which is very good). Except for that, I really like it. I was impressed with how fast the neck plays.

I 've only had it for a little over a year, but this thing seems like it's built like a damn tank (maybe that's overstating it a little, but you get the idea).

Never dealt with the company, hopefully will never have to, but you gotta love the lifetime warranty.

I've only been playing for a little over two years, so I'm no gear expert yet, but I know that this guitar is pretty fine. I really like the looks, and it plays well. I've played other guitars that I don't think even matches it in this regard, although I've played an Ibanez RG-7620 that pretty much blew it away. I wouldn't be able to compare the sounds of the two, though, since I played the Ibanez through a Fender amp that I didn't like. If it was lost or stolen, first I would throw a huge fit, then I would go out and definately get another one.

This is a '98 Diamond series A-7 in gloss black. It has a 24-fret maple neck with rosewood fingerboard bolted on to a heavy mahogany body. It has two passive Duncan Design (import pickups based on USA Seymour Duncan JB and Jazz pickups)humbuckers, a tone control, a volume control, and a 3-way selector. Hard-tail string-through bridge. All Black Hardware. Super Jumbo frets. 25.5 in. neck scale. Reverse head stock with tuner for the low string on the regular side. Came with gig bag.

I originally bought this guitar to play super-heavy, bassy new age metal (Korn, Limp Bizkit) and I guess it is pretty good for that style but I now have a very different style. It is a pretty one-dimensional guitar which appeals straight to korn-heads and such, kind of a fad guitar in my opinion. A year ago I was a huge fan of korn and other similar bands and i bought this to play their music. I thought I would never not like this kind of music but now here I am a year later and I don't like that stuff at all. This also true with many of my friends. Now I do not have much use for this guitar. As far as tone this guitar is very muddy and dark sounding. Combined with the crappy pickups, it really lacks clarity. Not very noisy. Very bassy. Mahogany body guiatrs really need maple tops to tighten them up in my opinion.

The setup from the factory was pretty bad. Action was too low and it buzzed a lot. It came with 9-46+56 strings. In my opinion you need a lot heavier low string. I raised the action and got heavier strings (10-52+75 in dropped A) and the guitar sounded a lot better. Barely and fret buzz. The finish is nice but the painted chips very easily. The soft mahogany body is also very prone to dings. Stays in tune pretty well. Also I really like the finish on the neck; it is very fast. The neck profile is pretty thin, not my personal preference but adds to the fastness of the neck. One problem is that the bridge pickup pole pieces never align with the string no matter what I did.

Pretty reliable and sturdy. I would gig with out a backup.

Never dealt with them

Pretty good guitar for heavy music, but that is really all. It does play pretty well though.

This Schecter was made in Mexico and assembled in Los Angeles. This Schecter has 24 frets, Rosewood fingerboard, Jumbo frets, Heavy-ass mahogany body, Grover tuners, high output Duncan design pickups H-H configuration, bolt-on neck, string-thru set bridge (NO TREMOLO), passive electronics. This guitar is shaped like an upside-down BC Rich Mockingbird. It is black. I like my coffee black... and I like my guitars black. This guitar looks AWESOME sitting next to my Ibanez Universe UV777BK. The guitar came with a nice, above-average gig bag. I don't mind the gig bag.... but a guitar this nice should come with a hardshell case. I purchased a hardshell case separately and it is on backorder. It will probably be months before I get the damn thing. I'm NOT flaming AMS for this... but usually backorders take forever no matter who the dealer is. AMS is the best musical catalog to order from... if you live near or around the East Coast. Every time I order something from Musician's Friend it takes two weeks for the product to reach me through regular mail (UPS). Oh yeah... it has two pots and pickup switch selector. I think the pots look cool as hell.... better than the traditional strat numbered knob/pots that are on most strats and superstrats.

This guitar sounds massive with high-gain distortion. I play METAL and this guitar is perfect for that genre. The pickups are good.. but not the best. Power chords sound awesome. Lead guitar sounds awesome anywhere on the fretboard. Blues and jazz licks sound great anywhere on the fretboard. The only beef I have with the sound is the palm-muting. I also play an Ibanez Universe and it seems to be much easier to achieve a good palm muting "metallic" distortion sound on the Ibanez than on the Schecter. Don't get me wrong... I can get good palm muting sounds out of the Schecter.... I just have to attack and mute the strings differently with Schecter. I am quickly adapting to good palm muting technique on the Schecter. The overall tone is NICE and FAT!!! It's like a cross between a Les Paul and high-grade Ibanez 7-string (UV). This guitar sustains for miles and miles. This guitar can easily do jazz and blues with clean sounds on the neck pickup. The low B sounds great with or without distortion. Clean sounds are nice on the Schecter. This guitar could be used for just about every genre of music EXCEPT Country. Why would a country guitarist want a 7-string???

The action suited my taste straight out of the box. It was set up LOW, LOW, LOW!!! Actually, it was set up just like I set up my Ibanez UV. The pickups were at a PERFECT distance from the strings for my style of music. Jazz players may want to back off the pickups from the strings.. just a little bit. The electronics are nice. Cosmetics are INCREDIBLE.
The neck has taken a few days to get used to.... since it doesn't have the All Access Neck Joint like the Ibanez UV. I like the neck on the Ibanez UV better. It is harder to reach the extreme upper frets on the Schecter than on the Ibanez.

This guitar is solid as a rock. The hardware is nice, sturdy and well constructed. This guitar will be used as a "feature" guitar for songs with alternate tunings on the 7-string, plus it will serve as a backup to my flagship guitar the Ibanez Universe. If I didn't have the UV, I would definitely use this guitar SOLO... during a gig.

Never dealt with them. Hopefully I never will.

I have been playing guitar on and off for about 12 years now. I would definitely get this guitar again if I lost it. I tried a Schecter A-7 out at local guitar stores along with an Ibanez RG7421 and an ESP H207. I thought the Schecter blew the other two away in overall tone and quality. I decided to buy the Schecter A-7 through AMS... since it really is a NEW guitar.... and not some DEMO guitar-shop axe that every snot nosed kid and their brothers have played on. I know that sounds evil to local dealers... but can you blame me when the price is so much better through a mail order catalog??? I am very pleased with this guitar. I needed a "set-bridge" 7-string for alternate tunings... and I got a good one! Thanks Schecter.

7-string solid mahogany body with bolt-on maple neck. I got this one in "gun-metal" grey. It has a rosewood fret board w/24 x-tra jumbo frets. The bridge is a fixed string thru body in a black finished brass. It came with gig bag.

This is a very dark sounding guitar. It sounds very one dimensional. But I can manage to pull some pretty decent harmonics out of it. This instrument was meant for heavy in your face power chords, but that's about it. Can get a little muddy.

I was a little disappointed at the workmanship. Nothing about it could be described as set-up. It had mondo fret buzz and the intonation was way out. I spent a couple of days on tweaking the bridge and am still not 100% happy with it. There are some small flaws in the finish but the neck/body fit is tight. The volume pot cuts out abrutly at the low end of it's sweep. This guitar is very heavy and the frets are huge(which I don't like). I can play reasonably fast on it but it just doesn't cut it for soloing as far as I'm concerned.

This thing will last forever. It could be used for a boat anchor.

You'd be better off spending a little more money on an Ibanez or other higher end makes. I'm sure schecter makes a better 7-string than this one. If I had to do it over I would have saved my pennies up for something a little better.

This is a 1999 model USA made Schecter guitar. The full two-octave neck is maple with a rosewood fingerboard and jumbo frets. The bo0dy is carved mohagany and the neck is attached via the common four-bolt joint. The guitar is equipped with two duncan designed humbuckers, one volume control, one tone control, and a three-way toggle switch -- all controls located on the lower bridge side of the body. I chose the solid black gloss finish as I think it embelishes the radical body design. Push pull tone pots, or the les-paul style independant volume/tone controls would have been prefered had I ordered this guitar with a custom set-up.

I believe this guitar could find it's proper place in any musical style. This is the one category where I have absolutely no complaints. The bridge pickup is meant for soaring distorted leads and chunky rythms. The neck pickup can deliver a perfect country twang, or(using tone control) the mellowist jazz sound you've ever heard. While no guitar could ever sound EXACTLY liek a Gibson, playing this guitar reminds me remarkably of everything from a Les Paul to an ES-335 according to the tone knob/pick-up combination.

The overall condition of this guitar was pretty good straight from the factory. I've tuned the guitar down one full step across the neck and it held it's intonation remarkably well. THe action is a little low to the frets for my particular playing style, but not so low as to render undue fret buzz. A player with more speed oriented leads would find it most-likely perfect. The string-through-body bridge offers wonderful ringing sustain and the tuners grip tightly to eliminate most tuning problems. When playing live with this guitar, I re-0tune once a set and fingd only mild tunign discrepancies -- I attribute those to the lowered tunign and tension on the strings. Th pickups were adjusted to the perfect height and sound wonderful.

NO ONE SHOULD GO TO A GIG WITHOUT A BACKUP!!! But this is now my favorite live guitar. I hate to say it, but my Les Pauls, Strats, and Guilds are no longer in live use (save songs that require a special open or dropped tuning.) If anyone would have told me a year ago that a $650 guitar would replace one of my $2300 Les Pauls I would have called them crazy, but the Schecter has done just that. I originally bought this guitar solely to perform numbers requiring the seventh string, but I've since learned to incorporate the seventh string into all of our music or simply leave it out when it's not required. THis guitar was meant for live use. It's rugged, sexy, and the pickups are hot as hell.

No need as of yet.

I have been playing guitar for 17 years, I own three Les Pauls, a Strat, a Tele, a Guild Bluesbird, and several acoustics. I own a Fender Twin 2X12, Bassman 4X10, and a Soldano head and 4X12 Cab. I use Digitech FX and Vox Wah pedals. All of my questions were answered by my dealer, and I encourage anyone thinking of mail order for an instrument to consult a dealer first. If this guitar was lost or stolen I would purchase another in a heartbeat. I'm even thinking of purchasing a C-7 to use as my back-up. The dealer told me there were no performance differences between the low-line diamond series and Schecter's pro-line, having owned the guitar I would be quick to believe him. THis guitar is a gem and could improve very little over it's current production. I will most likely pay extra for the C-7 just to get the extra control over my pick-up tone and pick-up volume, but that would be the only reason..... GO BUY ONE NOW!!!

I'm not too sure what year this was made in, but i'm assuming it was '99. i bought it mail order and paid about $630 total for it, the case, and shipping. it has two humbuckers, a single volume, and a single tone control. it's got a full 2 octave neck, carved mahogany body, and a maple neck with rosewood fingerboard. the body style is unlike any i've ever seen before, and just screams that this guitar is different. i'd like a choice of pickups and perhaps a choice in body and neck/fingerboard woods (but you caould always go through schecter's custom shop and get one i suppose).

first off, i haven't read any of the other reviews for this guitar yet because i don't want to risk letting someone else's thinking influence mine. this guitar has LOTS of aggressive potential. clean sounds have that smooth texture--not too bright, not too mellow and when you add some distortion to it, it really kicks some ass. the pickups are sensitive and sometimes they remind me of some of the more hotrodded varieties you can find for standard 6 strings... very nice. i'd say with the right preamp/effects, you could play anything from classical to death metal easily.

when it was delivered i noticed that the action wasn't right and there was a load of fret-buzz. i didn't even bother to look at the intonation or truss rod. i took it to the local dealer and had them restring it with some thicker strings and set all the technical details for me (i'm lazy). nothing seemed out of the ordinary as far as construction went--everything looked like it should for a brand new guitar. craftsmanship is good, but it could have been better adjusted before it was shipped. the neck is pretty thin, which i like, and a little wider (what do you expect for a 7 string?). i like it because i feel like my hand isn't likely to hit adjacent strings as easily (my hands are big and i've always felt that a normal 6 string doesn't leave much room). takes a little getting used to, but i wasn't totally in the dark when i picked it up. on a side note, the case schecter makes for this guitar really pisses me off. for some reason, the interior isn't contoured for the headstock and the weight of it rests on the low E tuning peg when you put the instrument into the case. i was hoping it would be made out of that kick-ass material the SKB cases are made from but it's not. the interior has some sort of nasty citrus smell that i have no clue about. i know *i* never put anything smelling like that in there.

this seems like a reliable and well-built instrument. i had some piece of shit $100 guitar and IT withstood live playing, so i know the schecter will. since i've bought it i haven't played live, but when i do i won't be concerned with the instrument letting me down. any company that provides a lifetime warranty feels that their equipment has some durability. i'm sure it will accumulate the normal scratches and dings like all guitars do, but cosmetic things like that don't matter after you've had the instrument for a few years.

never had a problem yet. it's got a lifetime warranty, so i'm not too worried about having problems.

this is the first guitar i've bought without playing it, and i'm relieved that i didn't get shafted on the deal. i love this instrument. the carved body makes it feel so comfortable. if i had to due to some nasty, unthinkable incident, i would buy another for sure. on a side note, a local music store lackey said that schecter holds the patent on the 7 string guitar and is filing a lawsuit against ibanez and other 7 string makers. i found that interesting. their new instrument, the cello-blaster, sounds awesome. you can get a sample on their web site. it's got some extreme low end to it and i'd like to get my hands on one.

Well, I'm pretty sure it was made in '99 because the guy I bought it from sent it to me a few days after recieving it from the factory. I think it was made in korea or something, but I know it was assembled in the US. 24 jumbo frets, 1 tone, 1 volume, 3 way selector. H/H config. "Duncan Design" passive humbuckers, at first I thought this was some copy brand of pickups, but later I learned they are actually Seymour Duncan. Carved Mahogany body, maple bolt-on neck, rosewood fretboard. hard tail bridge, black hardware. Mine is ebony satin (very cool), and has an ebony satin headstock too, but i'm not sure if I just happened to get the same color as the headstock. It also comes in black, green, red, and some more... Very cool, unique body shape, although very heavy. I give 8 because it's not a parker fly deluxe, and no fernandes sustainer... but it does have 7 strings!

I play punk and metal/industrial. But I dont use this guitar for punk. This guitar growls like a mofo! Dark, loud, and angry. I thought i'd be getting new pickups, but the stock ones sound awesome. Sounds pretty good clean too. Only thing I dont like is that the bridge and neck pickups sound exactly the same. But it's OK because they sound good, clean and dirty.

The action was high, which is no big deal because i can just lower, but the intonation was way off on like 6 of the strings... After about 30 minutes I had everything set up good though and it sounded great. Pickups were fine. The finish is beautiful, I love the looks of this guitar. One flaw was the neck wasn't perfect. The fret board on the B string side of the neck is about a milimeter away from the body. This doesn't seem to really affect anything though. I think this would only bother someone that must have a "perfect" instrument.

Seems very sturdy, I would trust it, I will buy a back up eventually, but I don't think it'll let me down. Everything on the guitar is firmly in place, and doesnt seem like it would ever fall out or get loose.

life time warranty... otherwise, i haven't dealed with them at all.

I've played for 4 years, and I have a standard strat and a vintage fender bullet. This guitar basically rocks. If it were lost or stolen that would suck majorly. Sounds awesome, and I

This guitar is increabible. It has a Mahogany, arched-body, a fixed bridge, an awsome feeling neck, and ass kickin' humbuckers.

It sounds great, better than the Ibanez's do, in my opinion. The pickups are very versitile... you can go from an all out devestating crunch, to soft delicate jazz and blues tones. I ran it through a Crate Blue Voodoo amp, and it sounded amazing, especially in the bridge position. The only problem i experienced was that while tapping on the higher frets a lot of the other strings make a lot of noise.

Built to perfection, the A-7's playability is flawless. The only thing i had to do was lower the sattles on the top 3 strings.

This guitar is built to last. The wood and hardware will last a hell of a long time. Good paint job too. The only reason i would need a backup guitar at a gig is if a string snapped, and my backup guitar would also probably be an A-7.

I've never dealt with the company, and it's never needed repairs. It comes with a limeted lifetime warranty.

Before i bought the A-7, i swore by Ibanez, but couldn't afford an RG-7 string, so i got the Scecter A-7. It ended up being a much better guitar, even if it costs less. I own some Ibanez guitars, but prefer my schecter over them. I enjoy every aspect of the A-7, especially it's looks.

It came with a gigbag(which i would say is pretty damn thick), Grover tuners, Dual humbuckers ,maple neck, rosewood fretboard, dark green metallic, Fixed bridge, black hardware VERY wide neck.24 gigantic frets with diamond inlays.

This guitar sounds PHAT!!! I am trying to start my band which is really heavy but mixes in funk, blues, jazz, and rap. I play this through a Fender Deluxe 112+, Digitech RP-3, and a shitload of DOD pedals. The only bitching i have is the pickup selector falls out of the bridge position. Otherwise this guitar can get an extermly wide variety of tones. GO BUY ONE NOW!!!!!

This guitar was set up directly ready to play staight out of the box. The action is great and everything is set up. I had to do no adjustment to the pickups. The color kicks mad ass too, i mean dark metallic green.(made for Drumcityguitarland).

This guitar would definitly uphold in a live preformance. The hardware seems great. The finish is great and it has alot of play in it. I havent had the strap fall off, these things are SOLID. I would definitley use it w/o a backup (eventhough its cheap enough to buy a backup)

This guitar is so awsome. Dont get an ibanez or ESP get the schecter A-7 Diamond Series. I used to play a Yamaha tuned down to A but im gonna keep on playing this guitar. I also got 11 picks a strap t-shirt free set of strings.

1999 model BODY: Contoured mahogany body NECK: Slim, ultra fast bolt-on maple neck with rosewood fingerboard FRETS:24 extra jumbo PICKUPS: 2 custom Duncan Design BRIDGE: Custom non-trem thru-body 7-String

Contrary to guitar world article about the C-7s duncan design pickups ,The pickups sound awesome through my amp.(soldano sp-77/alesis quadraverb/mosvalve power amp) Great Punch and not at all muddy. The B string was kinda loud so i lowered its pole piece and its fine..The Neck pickup almost sounds like a piano..BIG FAT and Heavy..

Factory setup to MY specs (that really impressed me). The action is great and I was very impressed with the feel of the neck..It reminds me of those unfinished jackson necks of the late 80's. The finish is and hardware are flawless.

Haven't used it to play live yet..But i liked it so much I'm re recording my guitar tracks..The finish is built to last..For the price I paid for this guitar I could afford a backup.

I've never had to deal with the company direct but the guitar was setup exactly to MY specs as i told the salesman.Limited Lifetime warranty. The only thing that irked me was that only black and green were available (in the 1999 models)other colors start production in about 5 weeks. BUT at this price i can afford to by another one when they come out.

I have benn playing for about 15 years. If this guitar was lost/stolen I'd buy another. I LOVE this guitar. I havent felt this satisfied with a guitar purchase in years. At $450 you can't go wrong with this thing.. It plays awesome..It reminds me alot of my Jem7FP (feel of the neck ,sound without the seventh string)and it didn't cost $1100!!! The guy also hooked me up with a genuine schecter Hardshell case for $105 extra and $25 shipping and insurrance. I used to own a music store myself ,(we were mostly a BC Rich / Ibanez shop) and I think I have never seen a guitar packaged up this well..everything was neatly wrapped and secured for shipping.

Korea (I think), but it has a sticker stating 'Set Up to Play in the USA) I has an arched top, 2 Duncan Humbuckers <passive) Non trem style 7-string bridge w/ strings thru the body.. Shape... looks like the guitar that J. from WHITE ZOMBIE used on last tour. It has Grover tumers and has a really cool thin neck with BIG frets

This guitar has an extremely ballsey sound! Smokes my old Ibanez RG 7-string! Sounds simply brutal through my Mesa Rectifier.

I got this guitar via mail and it came to me set up amazingly well.. far better than I had hoped.

So far so good, and I am planning on getting a second as I never want to be at a gig without a back-up!

Warranty is 'limited lifetime" ... not sure what that really means, but the guy at Schecter was very cool when I e-mailed them about the string guage used ... they even sent me a few sets for Free!

glad to find an alternative to the Ibanez 7-string ... and to play a very cool looking guitar... that does not look like KORN! I am planning on getting another A-7 sson, as I have been told they will have a version with a Floyd rose tremolo out soon.

this is a "pick it up and play" guitar. straight foward 2 seymour duncan custom humbuckers, tone, volume and 3-position pickup selector. extremely playable, even for a seven string! i have small hands and have no trouble at all. 24 jumbo frets, a super fast, somewhat slim neck, and what i really like... the string spacing is perfect for me. they set it up at the factory before they ship it, and they do a great job! like i said, pick it up and play!!! another pro, in my mind is the bridge... no trem given you a pain in the ass here. by the way did i say i hate wammys! i want to play, not fuss about with something! another bonus, strings go thru the body...individually! peace a cake to change em!!! i only give it an 8 because of the fact there aren't alot of features, although, this is why i like this thing so much! oh, i forgot to mention, the tuners on this thing are solid.

i am in a band that plays rapcore or something like that...a mix of hip-hop, metal, funk...among other things. i play my a-7 thru a mesa-boogie dual rectifer usually with tons of gain. amazing! the fact that its strung thru the body really gives it a big ass tone with a really solid low end. i've played a couple of the ibanaz 7's and they didn't come close to this full ass tone. let me put it this way...the schecter's sound could be compared to say a les paul, where as the ibanaz is more liken to a strat. if your looking to get a 7, this could be a huge deciding factor. this guitar sounds great clean as well. just using the tone control you'll have a moltitude of sounds from spanky bright, to full bodied and lush. i love flipping up to the neck pickup and throwing in some echo. sweat!!! one word...VERSATILE!

i already answered some of this above. it is a beaut! my a-7's finish is gunmetal gray. to be honest, the color title doesn't represent the color too well. i would call it "thundercloud gray". if you don't like fingerprints everywhere, get ready to do some cleanin! personally, it's no biggy for me.

i've already played this sucker out quite abit although i've only had it three months. and beleive me, we(my band) are very aggressive live! it's taken the beating this far! i put a dimarzio locking strap on it and and its solid! i wont give this section a ten because i don't think i've had it long enough to give it a fair rating!

this is my 6th real guitar and it is definitly my favorite. and i know now that i will be buying more schecters in the future. maybe, exclusively. the one thing i want on my a-7 is an automatic drop tuner for the low b(a switch on the back of the headstock that drops the low string one full step). i know schecter puts this on their higher end 7's. this guitar is very well built and sounds great. i now know that i am a true convert of the 7-string guitar...and of schecter!!! I'M ADDICTED...CAN'T EVEN PLAY 6-STRING ANYMORE!!!!

1998 diamond series seven string, made in korea (i was told) shipped to schecter in l.a., then to stringfellows in lynchburg,va. 24 jumbo frets, ultra fast, 1 volume, 1 tone, 3 way selecter, h/h config., body-mahogany neck-maple fingerboard-rosewood, metallic red finish, avenger body style, black grover tuners, "non-trem" bridge, string through body, pretty thin neck, jumbo frets (as stated before), came with a scechter diamond series huge gigbag (well made, about 1/4 inch padding on each side). i love this guitar, the body shape has the body is elevated in some places, sunk in others, the duncan humbuckers sound great, the one volume/tone knob each is exactly what i wanted, two tone knobs is too complicated, diamond inlays on the fretboard, the head is a reverse tuning-peg type style, six pegs on the bottom one on the top, black hardware, which i was also looking for, the point on the top of the guitar looks very nice and ads good balance to it, huge guitar...heavy too, which i like, the only fault i see is that the knobs for a strap are really tight, but it could be my strap, i have to "wrestle" with the strap to make it fit but that doesnt really bother me too much, but other than that its almost perfect, although a perfect guitar is impossible, i give this a 10 because i think every feature is worth a ten

the sound is great, the seventh string really cranks, the tone knob has great range. the guitar really implies my music style, i play a hard rock/metalish type music to even a bluesy kind of music and this guitar supplies the kick for all of those types,its not noisy, except when i crank up my gain on the amp, but every guitar is like that on my amp, the guitar has feedback when you want it, none too out of place, i like the humbuckers, and as i mentioned the seventh string sounds great, the mahogany really sounds great, sometimes on some unknown setting, the bridge humbucker (i think it is the position for the bridge humbucker) kind of whirs when i play it, and it doesnt exactly "strike my fancy" for some of the music i play but it does for other

the guitar was well set up when i got it, only i bit out of tune because i bought it from a shop and it was a floor model and people played it but thats ok, pickups i didnt adjust, they are fine where they are, bridge was good, action was great, i mean super fast great, not slide playing great, but lead, rythem, rock great, the only thing i dont like is that it is a dust magnet, it picks up smudges and dust, i have to clean it every fifteen minutes to make it look great

i havent played any on stage gigs, but it would probably hold up, the strap buttons are very solid, very tight.....if you get your strap on, its NOT falling off, i'm not rating this categorie because i cannot comment on some of the aspects of this category

lifetime warrenty, the people said they would fix it if it messed up and i believe they would hold true

i've been playing for about two years, and really wanted a seven string ever since hearing vai, and korn, and the other seven string pioneers of rock, i was looking at the ibanez, but i came by this one by luck...i had bought a fernandes s-revival in the summer of 98 and the neck pickup did not work, so i called the place (l'opplemun, i can spell it, but its said like that) and they said they would fix it, so i was taking it back on january 2'nd 99 and they were closed, so i went to another place, just looking, they were closed, so i wanted just to look at some guitars not planning on buying anything, so i went to another place, they had pretty much nothing except epiphones and peavys, which are ok, but i was looking for seven to see what it sounded like, i asked if they ordered ibanez and they said no, so i gave up the guitar hunt and pursued my other hobbie, cds...i went into a place, bought the orgy cd, and the new steve vai, and the guy said "do you play guitar" and i said yes, and he asked what kind i had and i told him about my good fernandes, and said i was looking for an ibanez seven string, so he said that there was this place called stringfellows that sold schecter sevens, and that they were cheaper and sounded just as good if not better, so i said thanks, went to this place and saw this guitar, i loved it, i tried it out and it felt right, looked right, and sounded right, i bought the guitar took it home and only put it down to sleep and eat, i play it 3-8 hours a day, and i especially enjoy the one knob thing for each thing (volume and tone) its much easier to keep track of, and the humbuckers are much more rich that the single coils, i would HIGHLY reccomend getting this beauty if you were looking for a seven string