Brett R. from Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Subject:
Just arrived today
Quality:
Well, Schecter likes to say (Made in Korea (unless otherwise specified)). Mine has a "Crafted in China" decal bigger than XXXX on the back of the headstock. Yeah, that just screams quality...pfffft. Not something i want to advertise or have people to see. Now I'm a little dismayed at the price.
Sound:
Sounds great. How can it be described unless it is compared with your current guitars? It is distinctive and incredibly flexible; with the tapped coils(pull up for single coil) and the individual pickup volume knobs one can dial in great clean tones.. it doesn't have to be all raw metal sound.
Reliability:
Just got it today and have been on it for hours.
Overall:
Overall its great.
Playability and Feel:
Fret board feels fantastic. Guitar itself feels good.
Tone:
Active EMG's. They are a little hotter than passives for sure, but not super-hot. These are the first active pickups I've played through and with the tapped coils/individ. volume knobs one doesn't have to worry about being too bright on clean sounds. Excellent for overdriven!
Finish:
The finish/inlays/frets have zero visible flaws.
Action:
Bad. And fret buzz over all 6 strings!!! This is my major let down. Schecter touts that its set up in California. But there is no way mine was set up at all. Even the product info/warranty card had no signatures or names on the "set up & inspected by".
Buyers beware of the "set up in Burbank" claim.
Skill Level:
Intermediate
Do you own this product?:
Yes
Michael from Goldsboro, NC, US
Subject:
excellent decision
Quality:
Definately well made. Perfect finish.
Sound:
exactly what I wanted
Reliability:
only have had it for a month
Overall:
This is an outstanding guitar. This guitar was setup perfect for me right out of the box. I've been an Ibanez fan most of my 20+ guitar playing years, and now have found Schecter to be right up there on quality and playability.
Playability and Feel:
The neck is great. Great action and playabilty all the way up to the 24th fret. I've been used to lighter basswood bodys (ibanez) but the playabilty of this guitar has me ignoring the weight of this axe.
Tone:
Tone is great for leads, and has the heavier edge when playing the low chords
Finish:
Beautiful. I got the gloss white.
Action:
absolutely perfect. I didn't need to make any adjustments.
Skill Level:
Intermediate
Do you own this product?:
yes
Date submitted:
6-14-2011
MaidenFan from Altoona, PA U.S.
Subject:
Way better than expected
Quality:
Very well made. I can't see anything wrong with it. The types and brands of materials used for this are top notch.
Sound:
This is why I didn't give it an overall 5 star rating. I know I'll rustle some feathers but I absolutely can't stand EMG's. I tried for 2 months but couldn't get a tone I was happy with. I've been playing for 27 years so I'm no newb. I went and bought DiMarzio Super Distortion and P.A.F. and installed them with push-pull Bournes pots for coil splitting and a new CRL switch. This woke up the tone beast lurking inside, if it had 24.75 scale length you could really get that Les Paul tone. I come pretty close with my Marshall and hand built pedals.
Reliability:
I've had it for about a year and I have put a ding or two but no major problems.
Overall:
Very pleased with the craftsmanship with it being from Asia. There's guitars out there that are no here near as nice for the price. Nobody believed how cheap it was but built so well!
Playability and Feel:
To me it really has a close feel to a Les Paul with a Floyd on it. I would prefer the shorter scale length though. The only other thing is the extra jumbo frets. There a little too much for me anymore. I'll have my tech file them down eventually.
Tone:
I touched on that above. The DiMarzios just give you so much more options and bring more warmth to your tone.
Finish:
Awesome. No orangepeel or anything shoddy.
Action:
For todays player it would have been perfect. I personally like .004-.006 relief and around 1\8" space at the 12th fret.
Skill Level:
Intermediate
Do you own this product?:
Yes
Date submitted:
4-13-2011
Isaac from Centralia, Mo, USA
coldrain4th@gmail.com
Quality:
Yes so far I haven't had any trouble with it.
Sound:
I like the tone. The emg's obviously help with getting some great high gain tone. Hard Rock and Metal are great with this axe- very agressive. The coil tapping is great- I doubt it's as good as an actual single coil but it gives you all types of tone combos that are good that you wouldn't otherwise have. I added a thicker block in the FR system and it added sustain and fullness- just made it even better.
Reliability:
This guitar hasn't had any problems. It feels solid and the knobs and selector are both still solid.
Overall:
I really love the feel of this guitar. It is very comfortable. I've owned a parker, bc rich, dean, and washburn. All good guitars but the neck were either to thin or the finish on the back of the neck wasn't smooth. I'm sure everyone prefers differently but this is a great feeling neck and very playable. I was so impressed that I sold my dean and parker p44, which were back ups, to get a Hellraiser avenger. Now I have two guitars that play similar and both feel great.
Playability and Feel:
This model is pretty comfortable weight-wise. I have an Avenger and it is pretty heavy. This one is a bit smaller plus it has less mass because of the FR. Like I said, I just love schecter hellraiser necks and frets. I know there are other great guitars out there, $900 guitar isn't going to pone all others. But it feel very comfortable, frets are easy to access, neck is smooth. I really felt I got my money's worth.
Finish:
The finish is great. I have the blackcherry version. The finish is just beautiful. The binding and inlays are also very beautiful. The only down side is that the gunmetal finish is slowly fading revealing chrome. I guess it gives it character but I'd like it to stay gunmetal gray.
Action:
It was ok. You should probably set it up or at least check it yourself as any guitar good or bad can need a bit of adjustment. I don't this matters much to the quality of the guitar.
Do you own this product?:
yes
ME from Japan
Quality:
it seems to be made very well but like others have said there is a giant made in korea stamp on the back of the head. but so far it is holding up well i dont see any problems in the near future.
Sound:
sounds great, i play mostly metal and rock. very easy to find the tone you are looking for.
Reliability:
had it for almost a year now and have not had a single issue with it.
Overall:
great guitar for experienced players. if you are just starting stay away from FR.
Playability and Feel:
plays great compared to my legend, and damien. to me the FR is its achillies but i am a noob to guitars and my skill level to adapt to it is not very good. PM is a PITA with this for me.
Tone:
i can not really give an accurate opinion due to the quality of amp that i was playing it through. it sounds better than my damien though.
Finish:
Black cherry finish is simply amazing. the trim however left a little to be desired on mine unfortunately it looks like the ran out of ribbon so there is a little gap.
Action:
alot of fret buzz, this was not set up in california. my friend set it up for me and it was a night and day difference
Do you own this product?:
yes
Date submitted:
16 Feb 2011
Josh Spooner from Pahrump, Nevada, U.S.A.
spoonerj@lsd49.navy.mil
Subject:
The Perfect Shred Machine
Quality:
This is the highest quality of guitar I've ever played, even more so than my Schecter Hellraiser Synyster Custom.
Reliability:
Almost unchanged
Overall:
This is the perfect guitar for anyone who wants speed and dexterity. Perfect for blazing solos and speedy riffs.
Playability and Feel:
It's got a little weight to it, but i like it that way. It's got speed for sure, you can go from top to bottom of the neck across all six strings in lightning speed. Only downside of controls is that the voulume is too close to the strings and may be bumped while playing.
Tone:
Crisp and clear. However, i did replace the pickups with Seymour Duncan Invaders. Perfection.
Finish:
beautiful and striking
Action:
Slightly too high for me, but after a quick adjustment it was right where i wanted it.
Do you own this product?:
Yes
Date submitted:
April 13th 2010
Jonathan
Quality:
Dependable enough for me to buy it. I'm a no body but I don't go throwing cash around on guitars often.
Sound:
I find it very nice, from heavy metal, to a tone perfect for sweeps and arpeggios, to a beautiful blues tone. I'm not even talking about tinkering with the push pulls either.
Reliability:
I have had mine for a week or so, but I got mine because a friend of mine who passed away was nicknamed Hellraiser due to how much he played his. It always sounded perfect.
Overall:
It stomps my higher priced guitars into the dirt and ridicules them while doing so.
Playability and Feel:
The perfect weight for an axe. It howls like a demon, looks sexy, and is the most comfortable guitar I have personally played, beating out my friends Gibson Les Paul.
Tone:
They can be what you want them to be, if you got a rig that can handle the instrument.
Action:
I was surprised on how accurate the bridge tension was on the floating tremelo system. A little out of tune but it was as close to perfect as you can get.
Do you own this product?:
Yes
Date submitted:
1/21/2010
Marshall from Shelby, OH, USA
Sound:
Tone possibilities could be infinite.
Reliability:
Not sure about reliability, just purchased.
Overall:
I've spent years looking at catalogs and drooling in guitar stores and in the end, for the money, I don't think that I could have made a better decision. The C1 FR Hellraiser is a lot of guitar, period.
Playability and Feel:
The neck feels like my Gibson Explorer. It is not a thin neck. The overall feel is a bit cramped but I think that I'll get used to it. I've been playing Explorers for 20 years.
Tone:
The tone is anything you want it to be...lots of options.
Finish:
The finish is stunning. Almost too nice to touch. I scratched it in the first 30 minutes with my right hand pinky nail.
Action:
The guitar was set up correctly for 10's, unfortunatley I play 9's.
Do you own this product?:
yes