Schecter Diamond Series Gryphon

Lot's of features for the money here!

I love the versatility of this guitar. I can play classic rock and when I need a bit more crunch I hit the split coil knob and go to humbucker mode. The single coil mode is so bell like with great clarity. The humbuckers have a great driving sound. Love it.

Got mine right out of the box and only needed strings lowered just a bit. Love the neck. Grover tuners, tone pro bridge. Amazing quality.

I've had mine for a year and a half with no issues at all.

I find myself playing this guitar the most. Mainly because of the perfect neck, upper fret access, and split coils. I have a LP Mahogany which is a crunch rock machine but lacks the openess of the single coils. Have a strat which just sounds thin to me all the time.

It's basic w/ three selector switches, which are metal, and it has no whammy bar. It has metal knobs, which are heavy duty.

Great sounding guitar. I wouldn't recommend this for accoustic sounds, but other than that, it plays everything. I'm playing through a vox valvetronix amp, and this guitar is very versatile with all of the effects.

Looks sleek and shiny, the action is just perfect, and the fit is unbelievable. This thing is the fastest guitar I've ever played.

High quality guitar, so it's very reliable.

N/A

I've been jamming for 3 years now, and this is the best guitar I've played yet. It's very versatile, and can be played by not only fast players, but also guys that play a little slower.

This is a 2005 Korean made US quality controlled and partially assembled 2 scale honey of a guitar. It has tone and volume controls and 3way LP style selector. The tone pot is also a push/pull coil tap that will give you single coil or humbucker variety from the Duncan designed pickups. Nice touch at this price range. Maple neck is a touch rough and not as quick as some, but nicely substantial in your hands. Rosewood fretboard is nice. The body is typical; could be more sculpted for comfort, but ok. The string through body is a striking touch that I considered as an option if buying through the Carvin Custom shop. The top is a good looking flame maple. Another reviewer mentioned the darker tone. This guitar is mahogany bodied and does have a rich deep sound that'll play country to Goth with that sweet mahogany growl. Here's the thing, I wanted an inexpensive electric guitar to play everyday and take on trips. I bought one (another maker under $200). The frets warped out after 2 months. The Guitar Center rep recommended this. I played it. Put it behind the counter. Tried a Mex Fender Tele, put it down and walked out of the store with this Gryphon. I've never bought a guitar this quickly. I own a 2004 Fender American Deluxe Strat that also has a coil tap. I traded 2 good guitars for that one. The Gryphon doesn't touch that...but baby it comes close enough for the price. Oh and it even has Grover tuners.

The Gryphon seems to cover a lot of bases: from clean sweet Chet Atkins to Jazz to Blues; it'll get dirty with glee and rock heavy with some awesome distortion. I only got it yesterday...so I haven't worked it all out. I'm playing through a Line 6 Spyder 210 and can access all kinds of amp models and effects. The Gryphon responds to them all. There is a bit of string buzz...but setup may help. The mahogany body mutes the brightness a bit, so it doesn't seem to range to good Telecaster brights but it does beg to be played a variety of ways. Good overall sound.

I didn't notice the action at the store and THAT IS A COMPLIMENT. It's comfortably low. The factory setup is very good, even with a hint of string buzz. These folks ask about a bookmatched top: at $400, who expects that? It does have a flame maple top and a nice finish. It's a classy guitar...a bit understated even with black hardware. Nice.

This seems like a well made keeper that will wear well.

They were quick to answer a question about year and model (because I had a lot of trouble finding it online at the usual outlets). You must register it with a card from the company. It comes with no manual.

I've been playing about 4 years. I have an 04 Fender American Deluxe Stratocaster and an Epiphone Howard Roberts Acoustic with lipstick pickup (reissue somewhere in the late 90s). I've bought and sold a few different types of guitars because I love guitars and like hearing the difference and feeling the character of each guitar...so I eventually came to (like the other reviewer said) buy and play what I love and what makes the sounds I like. I would've kept most all of the others, but alas...not enough $$ to pay the rent and get my fix. This filled my wishlist at a good price and I would buy another.

Ok I've had this beautiful axe about a year now, its made in Korea. its got 24 jumbo frets, execllent for soloing (can reach whole neck). You have your basic controlls: volume and tone and 3 way selector. It has 2 Duncan designed humbuckers, very nice, full and clean. It has like the tiger stripe finish thing, its sick, mine kind of changes colors in different light. it goes from grey to greenish to purple hazy and to a warm brown. But ill give it a 9 because theres no place for a whammy bar. O and it has a tune o matic bridge but the strings lock into the body from the other side. very cool.

Sounds great for rock, jazz, and stuff like that. Really it fits any style, you can acheive any sound with the tone nob and 3 way selector. no hum, sounds great with wah and distortion. has a very full sound, some what dark. Excellent overall sound

guitar is set up great, although my guitar has a large number of chips in it from abusive friends and syblings. No hum....yea....

Will definatly survive live playing, doesnt go out of tune alot, i bend a ton and i tune it once every 2 weeks. the finish does chip alot, but i think thats couse evil people abuse it. :*(
very reliable.

never called, no need....but im sure theyre helpful.

Great guitar, i guess if you wanted u could go for the Schecter C1 if u wanted to cough up a couple more hundred bucks. I love it, makes all my friends guitars suck. i do wish it has a whammy bar, but you can get around that bending.....more like puss bar.haha

Made in Korea and it is a new model ( made for Guitar Center only), so I would say '04 at the earliest. Beautiful Flame on mahogoney. 2 Duncan Designed humbuckers. 24 frets 25.5" scale, real abalone dot inlays.

I must say this thing sounds incredibly good. I mean it sounds thick and full, yet very responsive. I am impressed with the Duncan Design pick ups, and actually feel some how disappointed that I do not want to change the neck p/u. I will give it a 9 only because of the neck pick up. I will need to change it, but that is for my taste only. I recently got rid of my Wolfgang, and believe it or not, this will definately fill it's spot in my line up. I will be eliminating more guitars that I currently own, and probably going to get more Schecters'.

This guitar is flawless. Worked on by #6 at Schecter. I lowered the action to fit my taste, but this guitar is just gorgeous. Beautiful flame, and one of the best feeling necks I have ever owned. This neck is twice as nice as some 'hand rolled' necks that you will definately pay a whole lot more for.. Really impressed. After going over this guitar many times with a fine tooth comb, the only thing that could even be considered a flaw was a little roughness on the back of the neck in one spot. I am sure that will be worn away in a couple months. To date, the only guitar that I own that was at least this good or better is my Parker. I love that guitar, but I could have gotten 4 of these for that price. This catagory, a perfect 10.

I have owned Schecter gear before, and I have never been let down. I am a Manufacturing Engiineer by day, (to pay the bills) and I can usually spot the lowest bidder straight away. This thing is real true quality through out. Granted I have not taken it apart, but from the way it looks, to the way it sounds, and all mechanical parts functioning and how they feel, I am worried not at all....another 10

I have called them a time or two, and I have always been dealt with respect and a real feel of them wanting to get me an answer. I am giving this an 8 only because I cannot register online.

I have been playing along time, almost 30 years. I have gone through all the phases of guitar needs, from allot of cheaper guitars to a few expensive guitars and everything in between. I have since matured into owning guitarts that I love, period. Whether they cost thousands or hundreds. I realize that allot of cheaper guitars are made from much poorer quality componenets, but when you get into guitars like these (Gryphon), where the cost saving is a direct result of where they are made, you can get an great guitar without taking a second mortgage. (PRS is doing it now too.) I do manufacturing for a living, and all designs and testing are done here in the States, production in Asia. Once you have the process proven out, it will work everywhere. If you use components that are compatible, if not the exact same ones from here in the States, you will have a beautiful final product. This guitar is in a class by itself, really. I can't stress enough just how beautiful this guitar is, to play, to hear, to see...and on and on... if I could, I would give it an 11.

I bought this guitar just yesterday for my daughter's 12th birthday. I had been researching "affordable" guitars for about a month and had settled into a Mexican Strat or an Ibanez. The salesman at Guitar Center in Lonetree, CO asked me if I had seen the $399 Schecter. I had seen them, but had not played one. He brought one over and said that Schecter just started making these specifically for Guitar Center. Well, this guitar blew away the Mexican Strat and Ibanez. I was so overwhelmed at the sound I started questioning why I had bought a $1,200 Gibson SG. Let's talk looks - This is a double cutaway solid body. There are two finishes: One is purplish-red and the other is a Mahogany brown. We bought the latter as it showed the beautiful tiger-striped woodgrain better. The neck is rosewood on top of a maple back. The maple backed neck is smooth and fast. Now for the sound - What drives this are the Seymore Duncan pickups. These are very very strong pickups and really punch out the sound. They are set up as two humbuckers. There is one volume knob and a tone pot, along with a 3-way switch. Well, the tone pot can be pulled up so the bridge pickup become a single coil. This solved my problems as I was trying to decide whether my daughter would like the humbucker sound or the strat sound. This definitely has both! Everything on this guitar from the neck and body construction to the tuners, etc seems top shelf. My daughter had to finally grab this guitar out of my hands so she could play it. I could have gone all night! I am rating this an 8 as it does not have "tons of features," but let me assure you this is a lean and mean guitar.

My daughter is a beginner and doesn't have a particular music style right now. That's one reason I like this one so much. It really has a nice thick deep humbucker sound that shows of the distortion or can play cleanly. With the tone pot pulled up so you have the single coil at the bridge, this has a beautifully refined strat sound. So my daughter has all the options. I have a Fender Cybertwin in the studio at home that she'll use for now. What's really nice about this setup is that the Cybertwin will let her test out all the potential sounds from this guitar. So far, there is absolutely nothing on the dislikes side.

At Guitar Center, I've noticed the more expensive guitars seem to have the new stings and proper setups. The Squires and such don't. Well, with this guitar being $399 and somewhere in the price range middle, I was pleasantly surprised to see it set up so well. They did a good job with this. This next weekend, I'll change the strings and really get it cleaned up for my daughter, but she wanted to play it immediately when we got home (so did I)! Again, only positive marks here.

Only time will tell, but I know from experience whether a guitar will last. I know by holding my Takamine or my SG that they are going to last. You can feel it. Same with this Schecter. It feels longlasting and solid. Everything is tight, well balanced, etc.

Haven't tried and don't think I'll need it. If I'm wrong, I'll repost.

I've been playing guitar for 30 years and have had crappy equipment and, in more recent years, high quality equipment. I know I've gloated over this guitar, but I was really blown away by this one. My daughter is turning 12 and is a naturally talented musician. I'll admit it, I love her like no tomorrow, so I decided it was best to get her the first electric guitar and get a good one in the $300 to $400 range. Well, this was definitely at the top of the range. She will love this for years. You know, your first guitar can be like a first girlfriend or boyfriend. So it sucks if your first is really crappy and doesn't last long. My first guitar was a piece of crap and became parts many many years ago. I really wish I still had it but it just didn't last. My daughter will have this one forever! I'm really glad about that. If something went wrong with this, I'd certainly get another. It's really beautiful!