Are Schecters really worth it?

[katzentacle]

I was thinking about getting Omen 6 or Demon 6 in the future, but based on what I saw they're overpriced and you could get something better with these money or get something with similar specs and sound a lot cheaper. Is there something I'm missing, or you're just paying for the brand?

 

[rokket2005]

If it's in your price range and it inspires you to pick it up and play it's worth it to you. I'm not into most of them, but every brand has it's fans.

Your opinion is the only one that matters cause you're the one paying for and playing it.

 

[budda]

I was thinking about getting Omen 6 or Demon 6 in the future, but based on what I saw they're overpriced and you could get something better with these money or get something with similar specs and sound a lot cheaper. Is there something I'm missing, or you're just paying for the brand?

How did you reach that conclusion?

 

[Marked Man]

The MIKs are some of the best bang/buck out there.

 

[Baelzebeard]

Schecter seems priced competitively with similar brands in the market, like Jackson, Ibanez, or what have you. With comparable quality and consistency.

Can you get a cheaper and simultaneously better guitar? Sure, but it's kind of up to luck. Some of the Harley Benton guitars seem to get good reviews. But I'm sure they make some real dogs too. But I've picked up some real cheap Jacksons at Guitar Center that were very....meh...

Mine the used market if you really want value.

 

[MetalDestroyer]

Never thought I’d hear “paying for the brand” used to describe Schecter. Sure makes me feel old and out of touch.

Back in my day Schecter was the bang for buck off-brand alternative

 

[katzentacle]

How did you reach that conclusion?

In my opinion they have cheap sounding pickups. Recently I was thinking about getting an 8 string and I was comparing Omen 8 and Cort KX508. They have pretty similar price, but Cort is A LOT better quality and sound-wise. It has 26.5-28 inch scale, locking tuners and better pickups

 

[katzentacle]

Never thought I’d hear “paying for the brand” used to describe Schecter. Sure makes me feel old and out of touch.

Back in my day Schecter was the bang for buck off-brand alternative

I'm not saying they're bad. They're great guitars, but I believe other brands have better/cheaper alternatives. I may be wrong, so that's why I'm asking other's opinion

 

[MetalDestroyer]

I'm not saying they're bad. They're great guitars, but I believe other brands have better/cheaper alternatives. I may be wrong, so that's why I'm asking other's opinion

Calling Cort a brand is an interesting take. They make a lot of the guitars you’re comparing against and Cort the brand is the house brand of that factory. Similar to FGN with Ibanez or Samick in Korea. It’s like buying the generic brand stuff at the grocery store - of course it’s cheaper

 

[budda]

In my opinion they have cheap sounding pickups. Recently I was thinking about getting an 8 string and I was comparing Omen 8 and Cort KX508. They have pretty similar price, but Cort is A LOT better quality and sound-wise. It has 26.5-28 inch scale, locking tuners and better pickups

So you’ve gotten hands on multiple guitars of each brand and model to reach this conclusion?

 

[katzentacle]

So you’ve gotten hands on multiple guitars of each brand and model to reach this conclusion?

Unfortunately I haven't seen any schecters in psychical stores in my country, but I've compared different demos of few different schecters with demos of guitars I've played irl and judging only by the sound, schecters sounded similar or a bit worse

 

[spudmunkey]

Unfortunately on-paper specs and subjective preferences for pickup tones aren't the only things that effect a guitar's price and quality. QC and the fit-and-finish of the final product can add cost. The same factory can offer multiple levels of fret-finishing quality for example, to hit different price points. "Locking" tuners isn't a quality level. There are some that are less smooth, have a lower ratio, have thinner plated finishes, etc. There are non-locking tuners that cost more than some locking tuners, for example.

 

[Nobody]

Schecter are awesome and as a huge Avenged fan, I play them or played. I recently got an Omen Elite that had a lot of QC issues. Instant return. I want the Sunset Extreme but cautious as I’ve read a few people on Reddit complaining about more QC problems.

 

[nightsprinter]

Demon 6 is a good utilitarian choice. A "it gets the job done" guitar.

 

[USMarine75]

I have 3-ish and I’ve played a bunch more.

Nick Johnston U.S.A. SSS Strat - yes.

Nick Johnston MII (Diamond Series) HSS Strat - prob everything you could ask for in a HSS S-style guitar except maybe SS frets? I think I paid around $650 new which is an absolute steal. Ebony board, roasted maple neck, locking tuners, NJ single coils and a ‘78 bridge HB (JB clone?) and push pull split, alder body, and what I think is their in-house or licensed Wilkinson 2-post vintage trem. Sound 8.5/10, playability 9/10, QC 9/10, looks 9+/10. Zero issues.

And I have a Nick Johnston MII PT on the way which I’m sure will be similar to the above.

I’ve also played many others - the C1 and C6 were killer guitars especially for the money. The only advantage I give LTD over Schecter is that a lot of my LTDs came with SD pickups.

FWIW I did play my Epiphone ES-335 right before and I will say the Epi stock HB pickups sounded much better than the Schecter bridge HB through my Victory RK50C. But the neck singles on the Schecter were amazing. The harmonics you get from the neck are crazy and the middle single is great for rhythm. It wasn’t as good in the 2 and 4 as I expected but then again I’ve been playing my U.S.A. Cory Wong Strat so that has spoiled me lol.

 

[Church2224]

USA Schecters are some of the best guitars out there.

The Korean Made Schecters are also incredible for the price.

 

[STRHelvete]

Back in the early 2000s I tried a Schecter Hellraiser and what I think was called an Exotic or something. HATED them. The wood felt dense and dead. NO resonance. The Hellraiser finish felt super goopy like they dipped the whole thing in some heavy shellac or something. They sounded terrible..everything about them were just god awful. I hear they've changed a lot since then though and from what I can tell they seem pretty top tier.

 

[Neon_Knight_]

In my opinion they have cheap sounding pickups. Recently I was thinking about getting an 8 string and I was comparing Omen 8 and Cort KX508. They have pretty similar price, but Cort is A LOT better quality and sound-wise. It has 26.5-28 inch scale, locking tuners and better pickups

I believe the Korean Schecters are manufactured by Cort.

 

[budda]

Unfortunately I haven't seen any schecters in psychical stores in my country, but I've compared different demos of few different schecters with demos of guitars I've played irl and judging only by the sound, schecters sounded similar or a bit worse

and these demos were the same person comparing them directly without changing any settings?

I find it hard to believe one has better pickups than the other at the price point. If you're not comparing a 26.5-28 schecter to the 26.5-28 cort then its not even a good comparison because those are two wildly different guitars before pickups enter the equation.

Go try some guitars.

 

[CanserDYI]

Are schecters worth it? Schecters are worth it at basically every price of entry. You get a lot at the bottom tier and you get a ton at the top tier.