Schecter C-1 E/A

See the other reviews.... nice feature layout... nothing fancy or different.

What makes this (and other piezo-electric hybrid guitars) so unique is the ability to plug into an acoustic amp (I have a Marshall AS50R) and a regular electric amp (I use a Fender Deluxe) at the same time. The result is astounding. You can (with the guitar knobs) control the amount of "acoustic" sound you get and the amount of "electric" sound you get at the very same time. Its AWSOME.... BETTER than two guitarists. SO full, so rich. When on full (or mostly) acoustic setting its actually a weird feeling to begin with. I said to myself - "WOW, was that ME making that sound?"... the acoustic sound I get from the Schecter through the Marshall amy is much better than what I get from a quality Epiphone 12-string with a good Fishman pickup. Very clean. If you want an acoustic, then buy and acoustic. If you want an electric, then get an electric. But you if want to get into that hybrid 2-amp world then you wont go wrong with this guitar.

Excellent. Even the intonation was pretty good right out of the box. Action was fairly low with no buzz.

Its a semi-hollowbody, so you cant expect to run over with a truck. But its a quality built guitar. Very nice feel and very nice balance.

dont know

Worth more $.... excellent value. I was (and still am) so excited about the possibilities this hybrid guitar brings to the band.

I'm now looking at a Carvin AE185-12 for the 12-string version of this type of piezo-electric guitar. General reviews for the Carvin AE185 have been similar to the Schecter so you might want to look into that before you buy. Main difference seems to be the body styling. For a lower priced guitar, look at the Hamer DuoTone. NOTE: Personally, I've only played the Schecter.... BUT ...... stop being a cheapskate! Either get this, or one of the other hybrids I mentioned. You wont be disappointed. This hybrid thang is a whole word in and of itself.

ps: I finally gave up waiting for the sunburst version (its backordered at Musicians Friend) and went for the "black" and I'm glad I did. Its not jet black like a strat, but semi-transparent with some wood grain showing through.... almost lie a very very dark gray. With the cream binding, its a nice looking guitar.

Mahogany body and neck with quilted maple top on the body and headstock. Rosewood fretboard. Very nice contoured neck joint makes playing up in the high register a breeze. I had to look real close to see the neck joint. Thought for a minute that it was all one peice. Nice weight and balance. Duncan "designed" humbuckers.
Active RMC Piezo bridge with Tone Pros bridge set up. Volume and tone for piezo and volume and tone for humbuckers. Toggle switch for humbuckers. Wish it had a toggle switch for going between the peizo and humbuckers. Would be much easier than turning one down and the other up. If not for this I would give it a "10".
Two output jacks enable you to mix the piezo/electric signals through one, or send each through a different jack. This way, you can send the piezo signal to the PA or acoustic amp, and the humbuchers to your guitar amp.
Grover tuners and could be a graphite nut(?)

The Duncan Designed humbuckers sound good to me. I'm not an expert on humbucking pickups, however. I've played single coils for years, so this is taking some getting used to. The piezo played through the acoustic simulator patch on my Digitech RP2000 sounds killer. No different from my Fender acoustic played through the same setup. maybe even better. The Tone Pros bridge gives this thing sustain for days. Good balance between the volume of the electric and acoustic sounds.

I found the action to be a little high out of the box, but the overall setup was good. I believe it was strung with 10s, which I changed to my preferred 9-46 set. A little tweak on the neck and bridge adjustment and I got it right where I like it.
I must say that I am amazed with the quality of this instrument for being a Korean import. You might think you are playing on an expensive US made guitar. If ever I've played a guitar that feels like it "plays itself" this is it. The neck shape and size are pretty close to my Strat. Maybe a shade narrower. It feels just right in my hand and is truly a pleasure to play. I got the See Through Black finish. Absoulutely georgeous. Double check the tightness of the allen screws on the bridge and tailpiece as this is what helps give you that wonderful sustain.

Seems to be a sturdy, well constructed guitar. Hardware and components all seem high quality. Only time will tell how the finish will hold up.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing for 35+ years and I would have to say this is the nicest guitar I've ever had. Almost everythig I've owned has been imported though, so I can't say It's going to stack up to a PRS or something similar. The line seems to be getting more blurred between the production US and Korean instruments, and this is a great example.
I would buy this guitar again if I had to do it over. I bought it mainly because I wanted an electric/acoustic hybrid. This covers both bases extremly well. Even though it is a semi hollow, it does not have problems with unwanted feedback. It does, however enable you to get that nice controlled feedback though, due to the wonderful sustain you get from the Tone Pros bridge system. If you're thinking about buying a hybrid type guitar, this is a great one. An excellent value.

made 2003 in korea.
CONSTRUCTION:
Set In
BODY:
Mahogony w/Quilted Maple
NECK:
Maple
FINGERBOARD:
3pc Mahogany
FRETS:
22 Jumbo
SCALE:
25 1/2"
INLAYS:
Split Crown
BRIDGE:
TonePros System w/RMC Piezo
BINDING:
Creme
TUNERS:
Grover
HARDWARE:
Chrome
PICKUPS:
Duncan Design HB-102
ELECTRONICS:
Master Vol / Tone / 3-way / Piezo Vol / Piezo Tone
FINISH:
Dark Vintage Sunburst

included allen wrenches and a couple of cheap 1/4" cables

great features, exactly what i was looking for in one guitar. i was looking for something that most of my other guitars don't have, i.e. set neck, peizo, hard tail, etc.

I play rock mostly thru a marshall dsl 401, avatar 2x12 cab or peavey classic 30, dg stomp effects or digitech gsp21. the guitar has a great sound, rich and warm in the neck position and hard n heavy in the bridge. ran the Piezo thru a PA system with a little reverb, sounds great! combining the Piezo and a clean patch (or even overdriven) with the humbuckers thru the amp really gives alot of variety in sound, which is what i was looking for. so far i like it alot, sounds great and plays great. i havent played it enough yet to say what i dont like about it, i'll follow up if i find anything wrong.

the guitar came setup pretty good. i think they were 9's or 10's which is what im used to. the guitar was even pretty much in tune when it arrived, heh! the action was slightly higher than i'm used to but that's easily adjusted. all the controls seemed well put together and tight, this is a well made guitar, solid. the only cosmetic thing i noticed was that the binding was slightly unconnected on the headstock. you only notice it if you look closely but the finish on top of it was smooth and not broken, so, not a big deal.

i have yet to play out with this guitar but i plan on it soon. i think it will be just fine. the hardware, finish, strap buttons seems solid too, it will last. seems like a dependable guitar.

re:Would you use it on a gig without a backup?
i dont think i'd ever not have a backup for any guitar playing live. if you break a string you need to have something to grab right away.

havent had to deal with them yet, and i hope i dont ever have to.

this is an extrememly nice guitar, i dont give 10's in any category because that's perfection and i dont think i'll ever find that, hah! but this is a damn fine guitar, made me want to play.

i've been playing for over 23 years, i've got lots of equipment, guitars, etc.

the guitar is a little small for me but i'm a very big guy, not a big deal to me.

if it were stolen or lost i'd definitely get another one, although the vintage sunburst is very difficult to get these days. i had to wait like a month to get this one.

i love the overall look of the guitar and it's features, it's just a great guitar.

i compared it to a prs hollobody and archtop (which is one the extreme high end and next to impossible to find) and a dean boca (which is on the low end but no piezo). i choose this one because of it's look, price and features.

only thing i wish was different about it is it's size, if it was a little bit bigger that would be better for me. but i can live with it.

Wow - I'm the first to review this model, which is new for 2003. I've been playing mostly acoustic guitar for about 25 years, but occasionally venture into the electric world usually buying Fender US Strats and Gibson LPs. The piezo pickup and semi-hollow body of this Schecter appealed to me though, so I thought I'd roll the dice on this new model. Features include: Set In maple neck, Mahogony body w/Quilted Maple Top, 3pc Mahgany fingerboard, 22 Jumbo frets, 25.5" scale, split crown inlays,
bound body, neck and headstock, TonePros Bridge System w/RMC Piezo pickup, chrome Grover tuners, Duncan Design HB-102 pickups, 3-way toggle, 2 volumes + 2 tones controls (one each for the magnetic pickups and the piezo). Hard tail (no trem).

The main feature of the guitar is the ability to blend or split the two pickup systems. It has two MONO output jacks -- one is blended, so you can dial in as much piezo or magnetic pickup tone as you want and the other is magnetic output only. It would be possible, for example, to run the piezo straight out to a PA while sending the magnetic tone out through effects and an amp. There's a lot of room for experimentation here, and I like that a lot. Feature-wise, I'd give the guitar a 10 for that, but I've got to gig them at least a point for not supplying a case with such a beautiful guitar.

I play mostly blues in three distinct styles (Clapton, SRV and BB King). With this guitar and a VAMP-2 amp simulator, I can nail all three sounds. It's hard to tell how much that success is based on the guitar or the VAMP, but I'm very satisfied with the guitar sound. As a semi-hollow, it isn't very loud played unplugged, but I think it helps shape the sound, especially when going for BB's tone.

Aside from being able to get the sounds that I was hoping for out of this guitar, it's a lot of fun just goofing around with blending the piezo (or sending just the piezo tone) through the VAMP with some weird effects. You can get some decent acoustic simulation when you throw in some chorus and reverb. Add ping-pong delays and such and it gets really spacy, but again, that has more to do with the VAMP (also a terrific product).

I think the Duncan "designed" pickups are more than adequate for most people in this price range, though I admit I tend to trick out my electrics with hotter pickups at some point. Again, the guitar has a lot of versatility. I can still get (indistinguishably close -- for me at least) to a strat sound without splitting coils, so I'm happy.

I'm amazed at the quality of this guitar. The setup from the factory was a little high for my liking, but that's almost always the case. The quilted top is stunning and I could detect no finish flaws at all. I got the Vintage Sunburst which is not as red as the Schecter site shows (more brown), but it's still an amazing look.

The fretboard feels like a Strat, while the body feels like a LP (heavy). All the controls were tight out of the box and nothing was loose or poorly joined. I have no complaints about the construction of this guitar. When I put it away, I feel like I should be putting into a nice plush hardshell case like you'd get with a $2000 guitar. I guess for under $700 you get to buy your own case.

I don't gig, so I won't put a rating here, but this guitar feels as reliable and solid as any I've owned.

Never had to deal with them (and hope I never have to), so I dunno.

I've been playing over 25 years and have owned some very nice (and many expensive) guitars from Gibson, Fender, Martin, Taylor and other lesser brands. This is my first Schecter and I'm very impressed with the looks, build quality and sound of this axe. There is nothing that I don't like about this guitar. It is extremely versatile and really encourages experimentation, which is a good thing as we tend to get into playing ruts from time to time.

I wish it had a case, but hey, for $699 delivered (I later found one for $619+shipping), I guess I can afford to buy my own.