Schecter C-1 Elite

2001 Model
24 frets
mahogany/maple body, set neck
diamond inlays (12th fret)
H/H with coil tap
Tune o Matic Bridge, Grover Tuners
(look at other descriptions for more)

The sound is... very good. I haven't had any problem with the sound so far. I've had this guitar for about 3 1/2 years, and I have been loving the tone. I play through a Mesa Boogie Dual Rec solo head, a cab loaded with celestion rocket 50's, and my sonic maximizer. The bridge pickup astonishes me. Distortion sounds amazing on this, and the cleans are sparkling. The neck pickup is also pretty good- its a little bit muddy at times... but still carrys a very "wet" sound. I mostly play punk/hardcore/modern rock, and this guitar wails. The duncan designs are actually pretty nice. I was a little bit hesitant when I actually saw them stock on some squier guitars, but these pickups really arent that bad. I sometimes wish they had a bit more clarity, so I'll probably install some real duncans (JB/Jazz) or some PRS (HSF) pickups. All in all, the tone is pretty freaking amazing.

Right when I got this guitar, the action was the first thing I noticed. The factory set mine up extremely well. The action I must say was very close to "perfect". The pickups were adjusted fine...I did have a problem with the bridge. The bridge wasn't made very well.. It had a few sharp pieces of metal sticking out everywhere, and required some filing...but now its all good. I couldn't really find any flaws the way this guitar is built. Its built in Korea, and that makes me a little bit hesitant, but this plays and sounds a whole heck of a lot better then any of the gibsons and fenders I have played. I actually spent an entire day at guitar center (edina MN) going back and forth between les paul standards, fender american strats, and the schecter c1-elite. So far, the schecter is far superior... but then I tried a PRS custom 24... then it wasn't so superior, but hey, for the cash, this is pretty amazing.

Its been about 4 years with this guitar, and nothing has gone wrong. I've been gigging with it at least once every 2 weeks, and it has held up very very good. The finish is still very clean, the strap buttons are fine.. You can definitely depend on this guitar to deliver.. I would and have been using this guitar with no back up.

Never Dealt with them

I definitely give this guitar a 10. I've been playing 15 years non-stop. I've owned epiphone les paul standards, dot, sgs, PRS tremonti SE, Fender American Deluxe Strat HSS, and a Gibson Sg special. This one definitly outdid each one of these guitars. I've never had a problem with this guitar, it plays and sounds amazing, and the looks could kill! The only thing I would ever change about this guitar would possibly be the pickups, but thats just an opinion of sound.

I love thi thing, plays and feels tighter than my friends PRS. I got the guitar this year in 2005, and it seems to be the best made instrument ive ever bought for under a grand. With the pick up upgrade my total cost was still under a grand for a gutar that feels better and looks better than most in that price range! As far as features its got everything you need. 3 way sitch, volume, tone and the pull switch to go into single coil (which i don't use).

The sound was great stock, but not the sound i wanted. I play out of a Peavy 5150 2x12 combo and even though my amp is hotter than satan himself i felt that the guitar needed a boost. I threw in some dimarzios a x2n in the bridge and a evolution in the neck. Now this makes my friends prs with an emg 81 sound like my jackson with hz's, meaning it has more bite, rscream and precisness. I'm throwing a simillar pickup combo on my jackson!

The damn thing played nearly perfect outa the box, hell i still have had to have it set up and it been switched from a c# tunning back to n e tunning with no adjustments just a change of strings. Plays heavenly!

Seem like other than cosmetics this bad ride is gina last me long enough to let my kids kids play on it. I bought the pearl white finish so i know that its gona need some touching up withing the years to come.

Have not had a problem with this guitar so as of now the company gets a 10 from me!

Simply the best 600 dollars ive ever spent. Adding the DiMarzios which was and extra $130 pluss 50 dollar installation fee made this guitar close to 800 dollars, and yet i still feel like i have a gem. Ply this guitar guys you'll see what i'm talking about. Its so classy sassy and jazzy!

look at the other descriptions for this.

sound is pretty good overall. not exac exactly what i am looking for. i will probabaly change to real duncans. this guitar is pretty versitle. it has the coil tap. can go from clean semi strat tones to heavy semi les paul tones. the tone could be a little purer

set up pretty darn well. lite buzz if strummed hard. not enough to really bother me. nice strings. pickups were adjusted fine. small scratch but floor model.

i think it would withstand live playing. grover tuners are nice. the gold plated stuff is tarnishing alittle to be expected i guess,i wish it were chrome. nice strap buttons. it seems pretty dependable. the tone switch makes some weird noises sometims like a scratching.overall this is a pretty reliable piece of wood.

don't know

playing 1 year. doesn't sound like much but i play all the damn time. i have owned or still own a squier strat sold. ibanez gax70,broke it, my fault. yamaha acoustic. the schecter is my best instrument. i would replace it with a epiphone les paul or better yet save up for a few years and get an ALEMBIC SKYLARK. go for the best. i love the feel of the schecter. the 24 frets the playability. i don't like the Orange finish that much. i compared it to the epi les paul and i still don't know which i like better toss up. pretty good guitar for the money.

2004 Korean made, finished in California. Tone-pros bridge, string thru body. 24 frets, volume, tone (w/pull tap), 3-way selector, H-H duncan designed. Mahogony body w/quilt maple top and 3pc maple neck, BEAUTIFUL amber/gold finish. Very nice guitar for the price.

AWESOME!! This guitar is amazing. i play mostly blues and rock, but i dabble in heavy metal. this guitar can do it all. i run it through a danelectro phaser or a Rockdtron Silver Dragon dual distortion, into the effects return of a Kustom dual 35RC, bypassing the Kustom's pre-amp. the guitar has a very full sound on any setting. with PU selector in the first position, it has a brighter sound, but without loosing the bass, perfect for adding metal or blues distortion. the other two settings are both deep and heavy, for a nice mellow sound, you can even get it to sound like a bass if you slap the strings a little. it does it all.

set up decent from the factory, i had my guy do it right as soon as i got home. finish is BEAUTIFUL. real abalone binding as well as abalone caps on the gold knobs, wonderful amber finish.wonderful grain on the rosewood fretboard. gold finish on pup covers rubbing off a little but what else is new? my only gripe is the tone pot, which sux. it may be a unique flaw but one that still shouldnt have slipped past quality control. would be a 10 except for that tone pot

i've had this guitar for 4 months and no problems so far and nothing has broken so far. first thing i did was replace the strap buttons w/ lockers, but i do that to every guitar, as should you. tone pot sux, but it was like that originally and is not a mechenical problem. im gonna replace it anyway. NEVER EVER GIG W/OUT A BACKUP!! durable or not, strings still break regardless, and accidents happen.

worthless

ok, i saw this guitar online, read some reviews (best bang for buck out there), and decided to try one out. when i went into my local guitar center, they only had the floor model left, but it sounded good and they cut me a really good deal, so i decided to take it home and fix it up. the trus rod cover was missing, the gold on the pup covers had completely rubbed off, the pots were horribly scratchy, and the tone pot didnt seem to do anything at all.

the guys at the guitar center agreed to get all the new parts for me for free as part of our deal. however, they repeatedly tried to contact schecter (the only place to get the stock trus rod cover) and either got the runaround, or didnt get through at all. i tried to contact them, but the only contact listed on their "website" is the custom shop. after about a month of frustration at guitar center and the impossibly scratchy pots, the tech at GC gave up and ordered a BRAND NEW '04 TO SWAP FOR MY P.O.S. (much better).

however, when i got it home, i was dissapointed with the tone pot. as you roll back on it it doesnt seem to do anything at all, untill a certain point when it cuts all of the treble immediately. i took it to my local tech, and he said there was nothing broken or wrong with it, it was just a shitty pot. there was no marks on the pot to indicate what kind it was or what to replace it with, and he too could not contact schecter to find out about it.

i've since ordered a Torres Engineering 1 meg pot for it (obviously NOT stock, but why not?). i will try and report back how that goes.

dont get me wrong, the guitar sounds AMAZING and schecter can really make a guitar, best bang for the buck ever (even GC guys said so). but they probably are able to make them so inexpensive by skimping on customer service. thanks to GC for helping me out, and replacing the guitar when schecter didnt help, you guys rock.

bottom line: if something goes wrong, fix it yourself, schecter probably doesnt care.

i've only been playing for two years now, though i played piano for 12, and i know what sounds good and musical. i wish i had been able to play a new model before i bought it so i could have been aware of the tone pot problem, although i still would have bought it, and it still sounds good without being able to adjust it. if it was stolen or lost, i would order another one the next day, but i'd also order that new tone pot. i compared it to a few other guitars in that price range, including the c-l classic w/ real duncans, and a few ibanez's and a jackson, and this one sounded better than the classic, the next model up. this is an incredible guitar for this price range.

This is a 24 fret, 25 1/2" scale neck, solid top PRS look-alike made in South Korea and finished in Schecter's California facility. It has passive controls - volume, tone and pickup switch. Two "Seymour Duncan designed" four wire humbuckers which can easily be rewired to split them. It comes with a TonePros bridge with string through body and Grover tuners. The set-in neck is pretty thin and has no heal (unlike the post 1995 PRS "heel from hell"). The upper fret access is amazing. The binding is mother of pearl around the body and neck. The finish is flawless.

I can't hear any hum. I have a Peavey 212 Special amp. The C1 sounds good clean or with whatever distortion you dial in. I play mostly easy rock (Santana,etc.) and it's perfect for that. The variety of sounds is not what you get from a strat, I suppose because of the three way switch, but you could easily rewire with a five way.

I bought this guitar used so I need to tweak it bit. The low E string has a little buzz which is easily fixed via the Tone Pros bridge, although I think it might need a little more neck relief. As above, the finish is perfect. I have the amber/mahogany model. If there is any criticism at all, I guess it would be that the gold plate is rubbing off a little on the pickups.

I don't do regular gigs on the road so am able to baby my guitars somewhat. I think the finish and body, etc. would hold up well. I don't carry a backup which may be dumb, but I would definately trust this without one. The hardware is really good quality. Not too sure about the pickups. They are made to Seymour Ducan specifications by some Korean company.

It has a lifetime warranty. Haven't had to use customer support.

I've been playing probably 25 years although you wouldn't know it by the quality. If this were lost, etc., I would buy exactly the same guiter either used or new. It seems like everyone (those of us Fender non lovers, anyway)wants a PRS. I think this guitar is every bit as good as a PRS. At $600 new versus $3800 for a PRS, it's just no contest unless PRS prestige is important to you. I don't think any machine made electric is worth $3800. The later PRS's, in fact, have the huge neck heel which I think is crummy. If you go up one step, with Schecter, you get a neck through and maybe a little more sustain?
I realize this probably a glowing review, but I've not seen this kind of quality at this price, ever. I'm sure a really good player could find flaws and he should spend the big money, I guess.

Vintage 2004 I suppose. Made (assembled) in Korea. Bought new. I think this section has been covered well enough, so I won't go into many details here. The Elite had everything I wanted - a pair of good sounding humbuckers, a coil tapper, a comfortable solid body with neck and body very well balanced and not too heavy, a great neck and near perfect simplicity for controls. Something every reader should know straight up is that I took the Elite home while I waited for a Classic to arrive. It was my intention to swap as soon as the Classic came in, but when it finally did, I went home with the Elite. After almost 40 minutes of back and forth a/bing so it wasn't a real easy or obvious decision and I needed to take some time. I liked the pull pot coil tapper design on the Elite as opposed to the 5 way switch on the Classic. When you pull the tone pot out to split the coil, there's no doubt and it's not accidental. The tuners and the pots are not up to the standard of the Classic. They are a bit mushy by comparison and will need to tightened up somehow or replaced. The abalone inlay which goes all the way around the edge of the guitar (neck & headstock included and inset on the pot tops)is a beautifully understated and elegant touch. Way better than the overdone and extremely confusing "vine of life" on the Classic. The first time I sat playing it and the evening sun came in through a window, it made it almost light up and sparkle and I was amazed and delighted by the sight.

I play a lot of different styles from blues and rock to jazz, r&b and a little country. This guitar has all the bases covered. In my opinion, the supposedly inferior "Duncan Designed" humbuckers sound better than the real Duncans on the Classic. It sounds more musical, clearer and a tad more powerful. Here's a parallel using guitar ampifiers to get my point across: I've got a Rivera R55 112 that came with a custom celestion speaker. Most of my guitars with the exception of a jazz box sounded considerably better through my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe 112 which had a supposedly inferior, defintely cheaper Eminence in it. I know, I know, they're very different amps but...(I've since replaced that speaker with a Celestion "greenie" and it sounds a lot better).
The guitar sounds as good as a Les Paul (with considerably more possible sounds) and almost as good as a PRS.

Right off the rack this thing was set up about as perfectly as any guitar I've had my technician tweak after I've brought it home.

We'll see how well it holds up, but I don't doubt it'll hold up real fine and be very dependable for performing. The "gold" plating will probably wear off but who cares.

No experience yet.

Been playing all kinds of guitars since I was 12, which would make it 37 years. I also have a Robert Cray artist Strat which I love. My jazz box is an Ibanez. I've owned literally dozens of electrics from very expensive to cheap. Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gentleman, '67 Strat, Gibson SG, Washburn Hawk, Fender Starcaster, Kramer etc. etc. Crappiest guitar I've ever owned was a made in the US Gibson Les Paul standard double cutaway. I traded in a Japanese Strat re-issue that I'd put emgs on for the Elite. (The price I cited for the Elite was a pre-trade cash price quote FYI that we still used as our bargaining price). The strat was a very nice ax but it didn't really sound like a strat after I put the emgs in and I hated the fact that I had to remove about a dozen screws to replace the battery and never had any way of knowing when that was going to suddenly go south. Try as I would, I'd inevitably leave it plugged in over night or sometimes for 2 or 3 days having forgotten. Meantime the battery's draining. If the battery craps out on emgs, you get NOTHING which is not something to look forward to in a gig situation, even with a back-up (totally different and probably wrong sounding guitar for the song anyway) at the ready. It's not like changing a string. As I mentioned earlier, I really thought I wanted the Classic, and the one that came in that I was checking out was a real beaut, I must say. But I left with the Elite and I'm not looking back. Don't buy this guitar if you're a collector because it's a players ax as I think someone else mentioned here. Schecter turned out an excellent guitar and a great value with this one and if it got lost or stolen I'd replace it in a heartbeat!

Features have been covered well in other posts, so I won't detail them. My favorite thing about it is the neck, it's a very fast playing and slick neck thanks to the jumbo frets. Second favorite thing is the pickups, then the looks and styling of it. Not too impressed with the tuners, they seem to pull out of tune pretty easily. But the feature set really dovetails well with my style and what I look for in a guitar. I received no accessories with it. While I like the look of the blank fretboard sometimes it can get confusing, especially when you are teaching others; they can't always tell where you are.

A fairly dark, bassy tone to it when played clean. I think you could get by without a bass in your band at all, if you had one of these going as rhythm. I play mostly rock, with brief forays into metal, blues, and folk/country, using an older Peavey Bandit 112 and a Digitech RP80 processor. I keep the amp on the clean channel and use the RP80 for all my effects.

I can always get the sound I'm after with one exception: the neck single coil bluesy Claptonesque thing; but the coil tap gets me close enough. Mostly play with the bridge pickup distorted, it really snarls and is a great strong PU. This is the best sounding guitar I've ever owned, better than my Jackson DK2 and a few other Asian copies, and right up there with a '67 Gibson SG. The guitar is also very quiet, no hum or noise, and the volume pot works very well, it isn't just on/off, you can get a great range of sounds with it.

There is only one change I would make: either replace the neck PU with one that sounds better coiltapped, or install a good SC right above it.

The action is excellent, I believe it came with .09's. Very fast playing. Low action with a little fret buzz but no dead spots or problem areas. The action could be raised a bit in my opinion but it is fine the way it is. Everything is right where it should be. I bought the guitar used but no flaws were found. Cosmetically the only flaws were that the finish over the abalone binding is a little cloudy at a couple of spots. The strap buttons tend to loosen up over a week or so, as do the screws holding the input jack. The electronics controls are quiet and reliable. The only thing I'm not crazy about is that it seems to go out of tune more than it should, though I'm not convinced it isn't because of the cheap strings.

It seems to be a good solid instrument and I would have no problem using it without a backup. Short of breaking a string or dropping it, I don't see any reason to worry about it. And this one is not a string breaker, I have been playing with the factory .09's for about 6 months now. Just glue in your strap buttons and Loctite your input jack nut, and you should have no problems.

Never dealt with support, so I can't say.

Amber finish, gold hardware, full binding, tribal inlay on 12th fret, nice quilted top showing through. "Duncan Designed" pickups, and the coolest look on the guitar, the abalone caps on the vol/tone knobs. Through body string, TonePros bridge.

Great sound, the stock pickups really wail. I also have a C1 Classic, and the "real" Seymour Duncans. These "Designed" pickups are not as strong, but they have a real nice tone, and the coil tap is really cool, although I seldom use it. I mostly play through a 20 year old Crate amp, and only for my own enjoyment, but really like the way it screams. Neck PU and clean sound real nice, especially backing a touch off the tone. Very versatile for the home/garage band type of player.

I bought this as a 2nd, it is boldly stamped on the fretboard. That means it was not set up AT ALL! I have done my own setup for 20+ years though, and after a bit of monkeying around, the thing plays exactly like I want it to. I like a low slinky feel, and like jumbo frets too, and this guitar set up just right for me. The finish is great, excepting the goof in the stain on the neck that undoubtedly caused it to be sold as a 2nd. I can see it looking down, but no one else can.

I doubt the guitar's finish will wear off, but the gold.....ahhh, I expect it to. Never seen any that did not, if the thing is actually played. Strap buttons, even garage players ought to replace them with Schaller's. I don't gig out, but when I did (ahh, the olden days), I ALWAYS had a backup. Short of string breaks, I doubt the backup would get much call.

No warranty, since it is a second, but having had the Classic for some time, I never have had to call them.

Great overall rating. I love Schecter guitars, and actually sold a black C1 Elite so I could get my hands on the Amber finished one. Would I replace it? I *DID*! I have the aforementioned Classic, have owned 3 Les Pauls, Currently have a Takamine 12 string, an Alvarez Pd80S Acoustic, and just got an Epiphone Sheraton II. I have compared this thing to many others, and it just plain fits me, and my "style". I still am a strat-style guy, with a room full of various manufactured strats, but this style Schecter about has me won over. WAY good bang for the buck!

2004 model. Made in Korea.
24 Frets, archtop.
3-way selector, 1 volume, one push/pull tone coil tap. (cool)
H/H config.
Passive "Duncan Design" pickups.
Body wood is mahogany with a "beautiful" (really is orange) amber quited maple top with a high gloss finish. Mahogany 3 piece neck with side dots only and a mother of pearl diamond at the 12th fret. The entire front of this axe has cream binding and genuine abolone inlay.
Kind of a Strat style body. All gold hardware. Tone pros fixed bridge. Grover tuners.
25.5" scale neck with rosewood fretboard and jumbo frets.

I play rhythm guitar and handle lead vocals in 2 bands, one country (where I play mostly acoustic) and a classic Rock/Blues outfit. I wanted this guitar for use in the latter, but have used it on some gigs in the country band. This guitar sounds "great" thru my late 80's Fender M-80 amp. I also have an ATV series Marshall combo, but I am not happy at all with clean sound from that amp (but thru the distortion channel the Schector sounds awesome). I mainly gig with the M-80 now but I'm shopping for an amp that gives me both worlds.

I walked into a local Guitar Center about 3 to 4 years ago with my then 16 to 17 year old son to just check out new stuff...etc. (just goofing around really!) and I looked up as we walked in the door and there on a platform display just above eye level was this guitar ! I fell in love with it's looks first. We sat down with it and a Fender Deville and my son and I played it for awhile. Fell harder for it! I couldn't afford it and that's the way it stayed until 3 weeks ago.
This guitar shines it is so pretty. The quilt maple is nearly a pefect bookmatch. The clear coat is perfect. I am a Gibson / Fender guy and I am used to some bad finish work, this one is great. The set up was perfect. I do agree with a former poster about the fret height. I learned real quick that the lightest of touches is all you need to get around that.

The gold will probably tarnish at some point but who cares?
as I said the finish is superb. I replaced the strap buttons with Schaller locks. (If you don't do that for every guitar you own....your nuts!) As another poster mentioned, who the heck would gig without a backup?

First Schecter, so I don't know

I have been playing for 20 years. I own.....a 1978 Les Paul Deluxe,
a 1996 Gibson Chet Atkins Country Gentleman w/Bigsby, a 1997 or 8? MIM Squire Telecaster, a 1999 Stratocaster, an Ibanez RG100, a Takamine (Guild lawsuit model) 12 string, a brand new Fender (maple) acoustic electric cutaway, several Ibanez acoustics and a Danelectro 12 sting Hodad. The Les Paul is my favorite and I feel it is the best designed electric guitar ever. But that axe is all original and is appreciating in value every year and I am terribly worried about it being damaged or stolen at a gig, so I rarely play it out anymore. The Schector fills that hole nicely and between it and my Srat and my Tele, I'm pretty much ready for any song we do. If it were stolen, I'd definately by another.

2004 model. Made in Korea (extremely well made I might add!).
24 Frets, archtop.
3-way selector, 1 volume, one push/pull tone coil splitter.
H/H config.
Passive "Duncan Design" JB (bridge) and Jazz (neck). How do they compare with USA Duncan pickups? Who knows, they are good enough that I won't be replacing them! This is a good report since I don't have stock pickups in any of my other guitars!
Body wood is mahogany with a quilted maple top. Mahogany 3 piece neck with side dots only and a mother of pearl diamond at the 12th fret. The entire body/neck/headstock has cream binding + abolone. This is one classy looking guitar!
Transparent amber finish with gloss.
Strat style body, PRS style headstock. Thick neck (but then again, I'm used to Ibanez guitars). It doesn't slow me down though.
Tone pros fixed bridge. Grover tuners.
25.5" scale neck with rosewood fretboard and jumbo frets.
I made the salesboy at Guitar Center bring me one still in the box. Included with the guitar was a cheap throw-a-way 1/4" cable and allen wrenches to adjust the bridge.

This guitar is for rock/metal/blues.
I run it through dunlop volume -> bad horsie 2 wah pedal -> Digitech 2101 L.E. preamp -> ADA microtube 200 amp -> peavey 4x12 -> crate 4x12.
This guitar has depth...punch...balls.
This is the first fixed bridge guitar I've ever owned and I'm loving it.

This guitar comes strung with 10's. The action is a great compromise for chording and solo work. The ones guitar center had on display were "ok" but the one that came out of the box is just beautiful, definantly check to see if they have more than one.
Having delt with gold hardware in the past I immediatly put wide stick clear tape over the guitar's pickup covers, you can't tell the difference and I don't have to worry about cleaning them. The rest of the hardware I wipe down after playing, this guitar is worth at least a little bit of pampering. I've had it a month so far and still have yet to pick up either of my two Ibanez guitars or my yamaha RGX-1221S.

What a funny question, ("Will this guitar withstand live playing?)... as opposed to?
The gloss finish is pretty thick, but anytime you ding a guitar it's going to leave a mark...too bad, so sad.
Gold hardware (see above), does no one make gold hardware that doesn't get messed up in 1 second flat?
Anyone who goes to a gig with only one guitar is either a moron or the quickest string changer in the west.

I've never had any dealings with Schecter.