Schecter C-1 Exotic

Beautiful hand rubbed olive/black flamed maple top and natual mahogany back, neck and peg head. Look the rest up on Schecter's website. Or better yet, see and play one in person.

Distinct, expected, crunch sound from the Schecter Super Rocker II humbucker bridge pickup. Killer lead clarity from the neck position. And to top it all off, you can get that "Les Paul" and "Strat" sound by tweaking the V/V/T and 3 way switch, which includes coil split application.

Bought "live" from Edward's Music in NC. Had the action set to my specs. and tweaked it a little at home. I bought this guitar in May, '06. Have had little time to play with the job, bathroom remodeling, etc. Let me say this, this guitar stays in tune forever. NO fret buzz, NO flaws PERIOD! This is as close as you can get to Schecter's Custom guitars, if not one itself.

This guitar will withstand anything. I am an attack player. Did I say it stays in tune forever! Straps buttons solidly secured, solid hardware, and bending strings without breaking is a very welcome plus. The hand rubbbed oil finish is superb. I own a Yairi DY-40 CBK, Black Cutaway, and I am OCD. Enough said. The natural finish is a welcome change from the statue quo. The neck and fretboard, ebony, are smooth and fast. Wish I could keep up. This is a well built instrument.

Limited lifetime warranty. I have called Schecter on two previously owned models, S-1 Elite and C-1 Elite. Had a pot problem, no not that kind, they informed me this was an issue with the DDesigned PU's. Nice people. Don't expect any issues.

I have had, as my wife tells me, manic episodes of guitaritis. No cure except for selling current ones and buying that "last one"! Yea, right!
This one will stay in my collection. As mentioned, I own a Yairi, what a guitar, and just purchased a Guild GAD-50, Antique Sunburst. I play through a Roland CUBE 30. What's with this lost or stolen crap. Who looses a guitar, and, is guitar stealing a common thing? I have owned a 1980 Black Les Paul Custom, don't even ask, Schecter's listed above, Takamine, Breedlove acoustics and several amps. As many individuals before me, Schecter makes great guitars for the money. I can afford any guitar, but cannot justify spending the $$$$.$$ for guitars that are more of a name today than a quality instrument.

see other review for specs. Mine was a 2005 model.

Sound - was horrible. The stock pickups have magnets that are way too strong. The sustain starting at 11th fret and higher is significantly reduced due to the strength of the p'up magnet in the neck.
Also, the stock p'ups are not to be used at stage volumes, the pickups were so loose and howled with feedback like an acoustic guitar. I had to lower the bridge p'up nearly flush and stuff it with paper to make it stop howling with feedback.
I removed the neck p'up completely and installed an EMG 81 active p'up in the bridge. Unbelievably better.

I tried three different ones at Guitar Center, then bought on Ebay at cost from a dealer in NJ that couldn't move the guitar. I can't sure for sure if the factory or dealer did this, but the action was sky high, the bridge was not locked, the truss rod needed to be adjusted.

Worst of all is the sharp edges on the body of the guitar. I ended up paying $200 to get it a luthier to sand down and restained to take off the razor's edge.
After spending a total of $341 for a proper setup with a new EMG install and smoothing the edges of the body, now I really enjoy the guitar. It is a great stage guitar due to its lighter weight.

It is a sating stained finish. Obviously this will wear over time with sweat and persistent use.

I've been playing over 24 years. I've had Ibanez, Michael Kelly, Carvin, Dean, played Les Pauls, Goudin...

I'm my opinion, you can buy a $2000.00 guitar and not have to modify it too much, or buy a $500-800 guitar and take it to a shop and have it customized for $200-400. I've done the same process with Michael Kelly guitars. Cheap, but reliable Les Paul copies then throw in the Les Paul pickups. Les Paul distorted tone for under $600.00

I would not buy this guitar again. The wood is too porous on the neck. I like a much smoother neck. I give it a 7 since it can be tweaked into a decent guitar with the right hardware upgrades.

Nice black satin finish, 24 frets, coil-tapping, high output pickups, grover tuners, ebony fingerboard, and mahogony body. The perfect guitar to give a balanced sound for just about any style of music.

The sound of this guitar is amazing. With the coil-tap, it can easily get any sounds from the bluesy cleans of Stevie Ray Vaughan to the heavy distortion of Metallica. The humbuckers are full and warm, and the single coils are bright and trebly. They are the perfect balance. I play blues, classic rock, jazz, and some heavier rock and it plays all styles perfectly. It's almost perfectly quiet, though I have haer

There is some buzzing with the strings, althought it can be fixed and isn't noticable while playing plugged in. The pickups can get a boosted signal if you raise them a little closer to the strings. Overall, it is pretty well set up, but could be better.

This guitar is built very solid. The finish is nice, and the hardware is sturdy. It can easily be used on the road. I would personally never gig without a backup, but that's just me. It is very reliable.

I haven't had to try this out yet, and hopefully I never will.

I've been playing guitar for 5 years and I've owned several guitars, and this is easily the best guitar I've owned. It can get a heavy metal sound, a bright blues tone, or a clean, flat jazz tone. The coil-tap is my favorite feature on the guitar, and that alone makes it worth buying over the C-1 classic or other models, in my opinion. The only flaws I can find is the action was a bit off when I bought it, but it was easily fixed. Other than that, this is the perfect guitar for me.

Made in Korea... yuck

Passive cheap pups

cool... look crappy playability!!!

Sound ok... the pups are designed after the pups in the USA Custom Exotic. The pups seem to be cheaply made and not out into the guitar well. Very LOOSE!!!

The neck is a dream to play, but the strings do buzz even when setup correctly. the High "E" string will bend off the fret board when in any dropped tuning. The pups are garbage... and aren't hel din well at all. In fact my bridge pup fell into the hole and completly stripped the hole for the screw. The finish itself is very nice for an import rig. The bridge saddles neede to be filed due to unfinishing... causing the Low "E" string to pop off.

I highly doubt this rig will withstand and seriously stage time... definatly bring a back up rig!!! The finish on the wood is't poly'd... seems cheaply staind!!!

Never dealt with them... and never will have to. I returned this rig for a full refund!!!

I wouldn't waste your hard earned money... spend a bit more and get a Dean USA Hardtail, PRS, or a higher end ESP !!!

Everything Was Perfect

Music Style: Metal, Hard Rock

This is an amazing guitar, by far the best guitar Schecter makes. And i've done my research. I have tried almost all of their models before purchasing this one, and this one is by far superior. The only two guitars that came close to this guitar were the C1 Hellraiser (FR) and the C1 Classic, but this guitar truly leaves them sounding cheap. Especially the Hellraiser FR, which at high volumes and gain sounds harsh.

Action came amazing, i play with high action, higher than most people, so it came right at my level. The guitar was set up amazing.
Absolutely no flaws about this guitar, though the pickups i switched for a set of seymour duncans. Truly an amazing guitar.

This guitar is perfect for live playing. I use it gigging all the time. It is a classic and timeless finish and its a true classic. You can play AMAZINGLY fast on this guitar, it has the fastest fretboard of any of the Schecter models.

Schecter are known for having amazing customer support.

I've been playing for 9 years, and i have 3 other guitars. If this guitar were stolen, i would deffinitly buy another one. THis is my favourite guitar i own, or the i have seen in the market. Even though pricey, it truely is worth the price.

Made in Korea, Set up in California
24 Jumbo frets
Ebony Fretboard
Solid mahogany body and neck (laminated, not 1 piece)
Solid Flame Maple top
Satin Finish (Black antique)
2 Schecter Superock IIs (H/H)
Strat body style (actually a wee bit smaller than a strat, although shape is identical)
Grover tuners (nice)
Tune-o-matic bridge with string through body design
No accessories

Nothing in this price range can touch these features (at least for what I paid for it). I consider myself a Fender guy, but wanted some of that H/H crunch, and felt like trying something different, so thats how I ended up with the Schecter. Considered a Gibson LP studio ($$$...ouch), Gibson LP special (cheap but kinda boring and plain...and you have to put some money into the tuners, etc. to get a real high quality instrument), Epiphone Elitist LP Studio (not bad, but didnt really like the pickups, still a steal though), and finally a Fender Custom Tele FMT with SDs (my 2nd choice if I hadnt gotten this one...like I said Fenders feel like home to me).

Play classic rock and blues, and no complaints so far (this is not just a metal guitar, so dont get sucked into that). Great sustain and full sound. Played through a s*load of amps (both tube and solid state) and sounded good through all of them, nice crunch and also very clear when played clean. The coil tap is neat, doesnt sing like my Strat, but does offer some flexibility. No rush to switch out the pickups, but I like to tinker, so I might.

Guitar did need a setup, but never had a new guitar that didnt, so no big deal. Finish is fine, only flaws I noticed was that some of the binding on where the headstock meets the neck was not *completely* smooth, altough wasnt bad by any stretch. Frets were all perfect and even. Also, like other reviewers mentioned the 'flame' is not consistent over the entire top, but I think it adds to the look (which I love, and can only describe as 'exotic' hee hee). Neck is *FAST* and love the Jumbo frets.

Only complaint I have and this is MINOR, is that the body is not bound or even rounded, so when you play sitting down, your arm rests on the sharp edge of the guitar which can get annoying. Not an issue if you play standing though.

So far so good, have done a few small gigs with it so far and no complaints. Strap buttons are nice and big. Not sure about this, but my tone knob spins more freely than the volume pots. Need to go to the local guitar center to see if this is always the case...dont remember. Other than that this thing is a tank, but the weight doesnt break your back like a Les Paul for example (although is heavier than most of what Fender makes). Who gigs without a backup?

Never dealt with them.

Been playing for near 13 years (almost half my life), own a stable of Fenders and between me and my boys a crapload of amps (some good, and some, well...not). If it were stolen, I would consider getting another Schecter, but probably not this one since I dont like to buy the same thing twice. However, I do not see myself getting rid of this guitar anytime soon though. I love the look, feel and sound of it, and that you dont see them around too often.

As I see it, the weakest part of this instrument is the pickups (which arent really that weak), but most guys have their 'pet' setup which is fine, I am the same way. Don't let this discourage you from buying this guitar, as the woods alone are worth it. Spend a hundo or two and put what PUs you want in it and you will have a guitar that that can hang with (or beat) ones that cost 5x as much. I am a cheap bastard, and getting top notch performance for very little moohla makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over...I work for a living and I am sure you do to, which is why you are reading this and not throwing money around like some rockstar jerk without researching it first.

I do wish that it had a pickguard, but thats just because I am anal about my babies getting scratched and it bums me out when they inevitably do...oh well. Might fab a pickguard of my own, but maybe not (dont want to spoil the look).

Long story short, get it, you wont be disappointed.

check the other reviews

pretty hot pickups, but then again I prefer EMGs.
I think I would have prefered to see Duncans on this guitar, but the stock pickups certainly arent horrible.

The coil tap is pretty cool, but I wonder if Id ever actually use it
.

Fantastic sustain, but just looking at the specs of this guitar Im sure anybody could have guessed that.

The over all fit and finish of this guitar is amazing, though not flawless. There are some very minute errors to be found , but really take somebody who is anal about these sorts of things, such as myself, to see. However, these are the same types of things I see every day on Gibsons and the like, so for an import guitar its nothing to complain about.

The top, unlike the pictures on the website suggest is not book matched. Mine has pretty large flames on it though, and I personaly think the chaotic figure of the wood is pretty neat. Its actually the main reason I bought the guitar.

The satin finish feels great to play on. It gives this guitar a "poor mans PRS Modern Eagle" feel.

The action on mine was set up perfectly for the strings the guitar came with, but I prefer heavier strings, so it doesent matter much to me. My intonation wasnt even remotely close to being acceptable on the D strings, all other strings were pretty spot on.

Theres nothing on this guitar that would break that wouldnt on any guitar ever made period.

never dealt with them as a customer

When Schecter first became an import production guitar company I hated their stuff. I thought it was poorly made and sounded like crap. A couple years back though they really seemed to have turned things arround and actually started to turn out guitars that I could respect, and now even own.

24 frets, with excellent access to the upper frets. 25.5" scale. Mahogany bod with maple top, satin finish. 'Buckers with coil splitter built into tone knob, separate volume knobs. Tune-O-Matic style bridge (I think), very nice, with through-the-body stringing. Did not come with any accessories, even a case, so I docked it a little for that.

I play "classic" rock and roll for the most part and this guitar does the job very well. It can also scream if you want to turn up the gain, the pickups seem to be pretty hot. The sound is very malleable; with the coil-splitter deployed you get that nice out-of-phase sound, not exactly a Strat sound but very nice. The 'bucker sounds can be smooth and smokey, or biting and shrieking. With the two volume knobs, the middle position covers a whole spectrum of blended sounds.

So far have only used it with a 25-watt Fender (surprisingly good little amp) and if some thought is given to the tone settings (both amp and guitar) the sound is terrific. Great sustain. The sounds are very responsive to the picking style and intensity, which is a trait that I prize.

It is a tribute to the sound of this guitar that when I bought it, I really was in no hurry to change to a new set of strings. From the sound they didn't seem all that old, and when I changed them I was surprised to see they were visibly corroded. Honestly I haven't found much if anything to complain about sound-wise.

The guitar was surprisingly well set up off the rack. The action was about as good as I've seen. No issues at all here.

I agree with the other reviewer that appearance-wise, the finish is not going to appeal to everyone. It is kind of "raw" looking compared to the glossy C-1 classics and their fancy fretboard inlays etc. I happen to like a less-flambouyant look, but that's me. And, as in the other review, the selection of flame maple for the top is rather odd, not bookmatched at all and not a consistent grain from top to bottom. It is, ah, interesting. I guess that's what "exotic" means. :)

Everything seems very solid and well put together. I would definitely gig without a backup; a very likely scenario since it isn't like I can afford to have a collection of guitars.

I haven't been beating on it for years or months though, so take that into account.

N/A

Hopefully I won't need to put it to the test.

I started playing over 25 years ago, though the last five years I have only had an acoustic and barely touched it. I bought this guitar because suddenly I felt like getting back into playing again, and it has made me very happy with that decision!

Past solid-bodies I have owned have been a Daion (very pretty, interesting guitar, but muddy tone) and a mid-80's Strat. This one blows away either of those in pretty much every regard, especially playability and tone.

The tone and the way it can be manipulated purely by the ol' fingers is definitely my favorite feature of this guitar. I would buy it again and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to a friend. For something under $1,000 new, I would be surprised if you could find another with as good a tone and playing characteristics.

Note, my ratings may seem a tad low compared to lots of other reviewers' tendencies on this site, but I'm trying to be realistic. Make no mistake about it, I love this guitar and don't think I could have done any better without spending a lot more cash. I will save the 9s and 10s for when I get an axe that costs as much as my car in a couple years. ;-)

Made in Korea in 04 or 05
24 Jumbo frets
Solid flamed maple top
Vol/Vol/Tone (tap)/ 3-way
2 Schecter Super Rock II buckers (my new favorite p/u)
Mahogany body w/ 3 piece mahogany/ebony neck (set-neck 25.5" scale)
Antique black satin hand rubbed oil finish (creme binding on neck)
TonePros TOM w/ thru body
Grover Tuners

i play heavier stuff with equal amounts palm muting and big open chords. very schizophrenic parts jumping from one extreme to the other and this guitar is more than capable of hanging with me. clean, overdriven, fully saturated... doesnt make any difference to my axe. tonally the best guitar ive ever owned and most versatile by far. right now im only running it through a line 6 flextone 2 HD and a 5150 4x12 cab. ill tell you this as well... i was THIS close to dumping the whole rig in the trash before i plugged this guitar into it. the amp finally does exactly what ive been trying to get it to do for 2 years. the Schecter Super Rock Pro II humbuckers are supposedly designed after Schecter's Custom Shop guitar pickups. ill say if these are any step down from the original Super Rocks then id give my left testicle to have a pair of those. but anyway, these pickups are AMAZING! extremely quiet, extremely versatile (via the coil tap) and so so so so so smooth when running through high gain. i would easily compare them to EMG 81s and would of course prefer the Schecters over the EMGs given the versatility and more "natural" sound of the Super Rock Pro IIs. plus you get the coil tap and these pickups nail that sound dead on, too. great pickups for any style and probably the best for any style. in my opinion this guitar would be a fine substitute for ANY model electric guitar if price is an issue in your selection. put this up against any other axe and it will hold its own (and the price tag will win your heart for sure)

When we went to Schecter in Burbank and they pulled this out of the box my first reaction wasnt all that great. the flamed maple top isnt any where near book matched. also these are all hand rubbed finishes so ive concluded that whoever had the distinct pleasure of finishing mine was either a) five years old; b) one hundred and five years old; or c) had been around the fumes of the oil finish for one too many hours that day. it looks ok... but its no show piece by any means. the top has many asthetic flaws that you wouldnt want in a flamed top... actually i wouldnt even go so far as to call it "flamed" id probably call it a "microwaved maple top" 5 on the finish for the maple top. the rest of the guitar is beautiful. the finish everywhere is satin so if you know anything about that you know how comfortable it is to hold. you can feel the woodgrain and after playing this for the last week i dont think ill ever be able to play a high sheen finished neck again. the bridge is TonePros so its great, the tuners Grover so they work beautifully, and the binding around the neck and head stock are flawless and i think its a great touch for the natural look of the rest of the guitar. but i didnt get it for the looks anyway... i hated it, plugged it in, then loved it! only problem i had with playability was that the guitar was set up for standard tuning and we play down a step and dropped to C. so seeing as it was about 6pm and all the techs were already gone and Burbank is about half an hour from me on a good day... i just set the thing up myself at home. all in all this a beautiful looking guitar for the price tag!

Id never gig without another guitar for an infinite number of reasons. but because of my love for this guitar and the quality of the craftsmanship that appears to have been put into it i dont think ill ever need to use one. its solid as a rock and i can see myself at 50 still beating the shit out of it

the guys at schecter are frickin awesome! not only did i get the guitar at no charge but i can go back any time and have them do anything i need done right then and there (plus the HUGE artist discount so i cant complain there). we only got to meet Brian the artist relations guy but he was top shelf in my opinion. very humble and was running up and down stairs bringing us every guitar they had to play back and forth. im sure my relationship with schecter, be it for customer support reasons or anything thing else, will be a long and happy one.

been playing for 10 years and of course ive owned all the shit that everyone makes just like everybody else. and i have my faves and my "i'll never part with you for anyone" guitars and this one is becoming one of those. If it were lost/stolen id call the police, put up missing posters, stay up all night sitting on my front porch calling its name into the darkness... and probably notify anyone i knew who owned firearms to shoot every living soul they encountered under the suspicion that they may be the thief. i believe in guilty until proven innocent! then id buy another even if i didnt have the artist discount. all in all this thing is a tonal masterpiece and anyone who is looking for an axe in the $700-$800 (yea thats all it costs!!)price range should NOT overlook this guitar.