NGDx3: Schecter C-7 Apocalypse, KM-MkII, and Agile Intrepid Pro!

[LeviathanKiller]

Agile Intrepid Pro

Schecter Keith Merrow KM-mkII

Picture to show off the body contouring. Very comfortable body imo

A nice jacquard strap to keep it classy

Schecter C-7 Apocalypse

Those red coils are never as noticeable as they imply in product shots. Only in bright direct sunlight can you see red really.

 

[LeviathanKiller]

The Agile Intrepid is right up there with the two $1000 Schecters. The only thing lacking are nicer pickups, locking tuners, and stainless steel frets for me personally.
KM-mkII is a blemished guitar. You'll notice a black streak on the body if you look for it.
The pickups on the Apocalypse are currently my favorite pickups I've ever played. The clarity, bite, and girth those things have are VERY impressive. The low A bite it has is something I wish my other guitars/pickups had. The body contour isn't as comfortable as the KM-mkII or the Intrepid Pro. The Intrepid Pro has the most comfortable body I think I've played followed closely by the KM-mkII. The lower left bout contour the Intrepid has is perfection. Probably won't be my last Intrepid I get due to that fact.

Pickups on the KM-mkII are decent. I feel that the Nazgul is a lot warmer than everything else I have but they have a lovely growl to them. Apocalypse pickups surpasses them though. The Intrepid has Duncan Blackouts for right now. They're better than EMGs but still not that inspiring for me. They will be replaced with something in the future, I just haven't decided yet between BKP Impulses, Black Hawks, Juggernauts, Elysian Modern winds, or the Fishman Fluence Tosin set. The Nazgul/Sentient set in the KM-mkII may get replaced as well but they're here to stay for a good while just so I can get used to them for reference purposes.

The C-7 Apocalypse is surprisingly lightweight. Even more surprising when in comparison to the KM-mkII which is also swamp ash.

Coil split is, imo, pretty bad on the KM-mkII. Just, overly thin, harshly bright. The C-7 sounds very nice coil split though. Odd, considering the Nazgul/Sentient set is darker than the Apocalypse set when in full humbucker mode.

The Schecter are 26.5" scale length and the Agile is 28.625".
Agile Intrepid is a mahogany body.

I can't think of much more to say right now but if you have any questions, ask away. That's the whole purpose of sharing this thread really, just to help other people make an informed buying decision if they were considering any of these for themselves.

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

3 gorgeous guitars, congrats!

Interesting with the Schecter Apoc pickups, I have a limited edition Gibson Les Paul Menace that also has the see-thru bobbins and they show through a lot better than these Schecter's seem to. Must be just a different plastic that isn't as transparent on the Schecter's, kind of a bummer that you can only see it in certain lighting conditions, the pickups on my Gibson show through in any lighting condition.

 

[Masoo2]

What tunings are you planning on keeping them in?

I've been thinking about picking up a 7 string Intrepid for a while now and throwing it in Drop D or maybe a bit lower like Drop B or Drop A

 

[LeviathanKiller]

Right now, I've been keeping the KM-mkII in drop A and the Intrepid is also in drop A. I love drop A on my 28"ers actually. I haven't been playing the Intrepid a whole lot because of the pickups though. I have a Septor Pro which feels the exact same (except for that sweet feel-good body contour that the Intrepid does) but it has BKP Aftermaths which I enjoy the sound of more than the Blackouts.

The C-7 Apocalypse is in drop G. I may take it up to A, but it's nice having at least one guitar in a different tuning and those pickups do so well with the lower tuning.

All of the guitars I currently own came shipped in drop A, even the two 28.625" scales I own from Agile. At some point, I'll have more guitars in different tunings but for now I've just been learning the feel and sound of each instrument and comparing them to each other in order to find out what pickups I want to buy for some of them. It's a lot easier to make the comparison when tuning isn't a factor.

 

[Masoo2]

but for now I've just been learning the feel and sound of each instrument and comparing them to each other in order to find out what pickups I want to buy for some of them. It's a lot easier to make the comparison when tuning isn't a factor.

That makes sense. Drop A is really nice, for sure if I get a new nice 7 I would stick it in Drop A.

Still want like a 30 inch 7 string Agile though, or maybe 6 string.

 

[Anquished]

Nice guitars dude, its a shame that the pickups in the Apocalypse aren't as red as they are in the advertisements.

 

[Zado]

I'm always saying that Schec pickups are great, but noone seems to listen

Happy NGD man!

 

[FILTHnFEAR]

I played a 6 string Apocalypse through a 50 watt 5153 a while back and was pretty impressed with the tone. Too bad they didn't have the 7 string version.

The pups were world's better than all the stock pups in the several other guitars I tried that day. Very articulate. Split coils were very nice as well. Guitar was super lightweight indeed.

And I agree, the red pups were nowhere near what the ads would have you believe. Still cool looking though.

Congrats on the new axes.

 

[MTGeezy]

What is that around the nut of your guitars? Just like a custom band instead of like a hair tie or what? Looks sick. I love that apocalypse.

 

[gunch]

how is the cepheus bridge compared to the OG hipshot stuff?

 

[LeviathanKiller]

I'm always saying that Schec pickups are great, but noone seems to listen

Happy NGD man!

They are BKP level imo. Clarity, attack, that low string bite mmm..., very modern sounding and they split perfectly. Have yet to play pickups that split better than these.

What is that around the nut of your guitars? Just like a custom band instead of like a hair tie or what? Looks sick. I love that apocalypse.

GruvGear FretWraps. They're supposed to be $30 for a 3-pack, can be had for ~$18 right now, but someone was incredibly stupid for a whole week back in October and I bought two 3-packs for $6 a piece. Much better than the hair ties imo and it was a no-brainer getting them for $2 per wrap

how is the cepheus bridge compared to the OG hipshot stuff?

Feel-wise or something else? Feel-wise, they have no difference for me personally. I bought one Agile with a TOM after saying a few years back that I'd never buy a TOM again and I regret it so bad because I should've kept my promise. haha Cepheus fixed and the Hipshots both feel super comfortable. There's other qualities about the Intrepid Pro that are more noticeable that make it one of the most comfortable guitars I've ever owned. The scale length, the finish (not sticky) and the bout contour.

The Schecter KM-mkII comes in at 2nd place I'd say for most comfortable. It's also the thinnest Schecter I know of. VERY VERY unlike typical Schecter stuff actually. I believe the make 1 was more Schecter style with body contouring and stuff. This KM-mkII has a fairly thin neck (I'm cool with larger necks so it may not be that thin for some of you) and a pretty thin body too.

 

[luislais]

What a beauties!!! Congrats!!!

 

[MTGeezy]

Is the neck on the apocalypse a satin finished neck? Or what is it?

 

[LeviathanKiller]

Yes, as is the Agile

 

[MTGeezy]

Yes, as is the Agile

Yummy. Can’t get behind gloss necks.

 

[Señor Voorhees]

So Schecter is having a cyber monday deal on their hot pickups. I went to their website because I DESPERATELY wanted the apocalypse pickups, and that was just the nudge to get me to do it. Just as a heads up, they come in two flavors (which I didn't know about until looking on their site.) One is transparent where you can plain-as-day see the copper wire. The other, which is the set you apparently have, are much darker. Still transparent, but not nearly as much. As soon as I saw there were two options, I thought of this thread actually.

 

[Zado]

Yep here they look way more reddish.

 

[bostjan]

Happy NGD x 3 !

I, too, had an Agile with Blackouts, and I, too, thought they were okay, but severely lacked personality. I replaced mine with Elysian TAP modern hot winds, and I am 100% pleased with the sound now. I've never tried those Schecter Apocalypse pickups, though. Man, the finish on the Schecter Apocalypse looks spectacular!

Cheers!

 

[Lasik124]

Great Pics, Great write up, what I come to this site for

Love that C-7