wurstbrot1984
Member
I just watched it and came so hard I had to lay down for a minute. What a stunning piece of art.
Schecter KM-7 (Keith Merrow) Signature Thread
- Thread starter MikeH
- Start date
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I just watched it and came so hard I had to lay down for a minute. What a stunning piece of art.
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TedintheShed
Retired bassist pretending to play guitar
Zado
Well-Known Member
They really are a Guitar Research facility
LeviathanKiller
Knee-shooting Archer
I want one. Not to play, but to slowly and gently caress at night.
wurstbrot1984
Member
The 2018 Schecter KM-7 MKII Fishman. Luckly they sent me pictures before sending it out. Glue spots all over the place, trussrod access ugly as fuck, dent between neck pickup and fretboard, binding dirty as hell. 
ImNotAhab
ChronicUnderachiever
I wonder the signature issue will be on the MKIII import? I'm still probably going to buy one at some point though.
I just noticed too that there is no binding anywhere on the MKIII... That should reduce some of the more aesthetic issue that come up.
EDIT: At 5:40 ish they show a KMI getting some Fishmans installed and it looks like they are routing out a bigger cavity. It was assumed anyway that a retrofit is going to be a serious pain.
I just noticed too that there is no binding anywhere on the MKIII... That should reduce some of the more aesthetic issue that come up.
EDIT: At 5:40 ish they show a KMI getting some Fishmans installed and it looks like they are routing out a bigger cavity. It was assumed anyway that a retrofit is going to be a serious pain.
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Zado
Well-Known Member
they tend to had fancier stuff applied to their guitars,which probably leads to problems for WMI workers. Dunno. Not funny tho, that's one of the reasons why I wouldn't purchase another non-USA Schecter.
TheArsonistsDaughter
Well-Known Member
Man wurstbrot1984, you're having a heck of a bad run of luck with these. Some of the issues along the edges look to me to be maybe shipping issues...where the edge of the fretboard or headstock is rubbing, but man, you've been through a few.
I feel lucky about my MK1...I don't really see any issues, but since it's used (and I paid a used price) I'm not too worried about it. I have a used MK2 incoming...arrived at the local GC today actually...and you've got me nervous about what I might find...
Good luck in getting a good one!
I feel lucky about my MK1...I don't really see any issues, but since it's used (and I paid a used price) I'm not too worried about it. I have a used MK2 incoming...arrived at the local GC today actually...and you've got me nervous about what I might find...
Good luck in getting a good one!
crwnedblasphemy
all things metal!
That looks terrible.
TedintheShed
Retired bassist pretending to play guitar
Man wurstbrot1984, you're having a heck of a bad run of luck with these. Some of the issues along the edges look to me to be maybe shipping issues...where the edge of the fretboard or headstock is rubbing, but man, you've been through a few.
I feel lucky about my MK1...I don't really see any issues, but since it's used (and I paid a used price) I'm not too worried about it. I have a used MK2 incoming...arrived at the local GC today actually...and you've got me nervous about what I might find...
Good luck in getting a good one!
I've had no issues with my MK II although the electronics have been known to go bad.
TheArsonistsDaughter
Well-Known Member
My used MK2 came in to GC today... and yeah the vol pot needs replacement and unfortunately there are some deep dings in the neck from shipping that might be a deal breaker for me...bummer as I like the body profile. Waiting on them to fix the vol knob and then I'll spend some time with it to see if I can live with the dings...
If you didn't send the pictures I wouldn't have believed an issue like that can happen with today's production methods. All wood parts are basically CNC routed or cut with jigs (e.g. all fret slots at once with a "barrel" holding 24 saw blades in exact distances), so how did this go wrong? Unacceptable even for a cheap Chinese guitar...
farren
Well-Known Member
Sure. The distance from the end of the fingerboard and the 1st fret's crown is shorter than the distance from the crown of the 1st to the crown of the 2nd fret. Even with the fingerboard shortened as is traditional to accommodate compensated nuts, the distance from the end of the fingerboard to the 1st fret crown should STILL be longer than the distance from the 1st to 2nd fret crown.
The board on my guitar was over-shortened significantly, necessitating a 2.8mm ebony shim which extended the nut to 1st fret interval from 34.5 to 37.3 mm. If one actually wanted to keep the poor quality compensated nut (yours is probably damaged at the breaking point of the B string, particularly if you set the witness point as one must do with bass strings and heavy guitar strings), they should add a thinner shim and reinstall the compensated nut. A shim of 1.5 mm would bring the distance from nut to 1st more in line with what a lot of luthiers remove from the fingerboard when fitting a compensated nut (shortening that first interval by .05", or 1.27 mm, is a common amount).
I am not a compensated nut fan, though, and certainly am not a fan of the cheap one that came on this guitar. I would have replaced it even if the fingerboard had been cut properly.
I can't say with confidence all MKII's are this dramatically overcut (I am glad Schecter didn't circumcise me), but I'm sure all fingerboards are cut slightly short to make up for the compensated nut as is common with necks made with compensated nuts in mind. If they were all this overcut, though, I doubt Keith would have used one as his workhorse guitar--I'm sure he would have sensed right away that my guitar was totally off.
If anyone is concerned about their own MKIIs, first ask yourself if it intonates well. If it does intonate well and you're not having any issues with a marred string breaking point affecting tone or pitch stability, you have no problem and you shouldn't obsess over measurements.
If it doesn't intone well or is simply unplayable as mine was, confirm by measuring so you know what you're dealing with. Get a cheap digital caliper and measure the intervals I've mentioned. 1st to 2nd crown should be 35.2 mm (it's the same on both of my Schecter 7s with nominal 26.5" scale, made 10 years apart), and end of fingerboard to 1st crown should be something like 36.0 mm to accommodate the compensated nut. Again, mine was 34.5 mm which is just nuts. It's easier to measure this interval accurately if you remove the nut first.
If you confirm you have a problem, get a black Tusq XL PT-6748 nut, an ebony ukelele bridge (cheap on eBay or Amazon) or some ebony pen blanks, 320 or 400 grit sandpaper and maybe a jig saw or coping saw, some superglue, and start shaping your shim. You should get it to sit flush with the very center of the fingerboard before finally gently shaping the radius to match by holding the shim at an angle as you draw it over sandpaper laid flat on a table. Depending on how cautiously or casually you sand, the whole job, including nut installation, shouldn't take two hours. The nut slots required very little work as the PT-6748 is made for Schecter's nut shelf depth.
This was almost certainly just mis-scripted CNC. "We know we need to cut the nut to 1st interval short, but how short? Hmm, how about even shorter than the 1st to 2nd interval? Uhh sure, that should work..."
That's part of the problem with compensated nuts. Everyone has a different theory as to how they should be implemented. This particular cut conforms to no expert's idea of how to do it, though. I've read countless explanations of the logic and benefit behind them and I still don't see any good reason for them. My best guitars with regular nuts intone as well as anything could that isn't true temperament.
Note I got this guitar used (and I think I know why the guy sold it). It's a 2017 serial, and for all I know, it was a very early instance before the CNC script was fixed (if it ever was--I have to think it was, though, because I know plenty of other people even more sensitive than I am would have mentioned such a problem were it a widespread one).
skmanga
Well-Known Member
i did notice with my KM7 km2, the low b acts finicky regarding intonation and i had to adapt my technique a lot more for it than say my old ibanez 7421
Im going to have to find a way to measure
Im going to have to find a way to measure
DIOBOLIC5150
Well-Known Member
I've never had any intonation issues with a MKII. Never even heard of this issue. Mine intonate better than most guitars I've played.
TedintheShed
Retired bassist pretending to play guitar
I just changed my strings and used a .64 on my MK II (LaBellas). It intonated perfectly on my Peterson.
Jonathan20022
Engineer
I had an earlier KM7 and the screw/saddle for the low string was way too short to intonate in B Standard which is what I play in. Found it really weird, the screw would detach from the saddle after loosening it as much as I could.
Stuck_in_a_dream
Well-Known Member
IIRC, that was an old issue with first run of KM7 MKI. Schecter quickly rectified it by sending shorter screws to affected customers, in my opinion, this issue was not a big deal at all. The current issue reported by @farren is far more serious as the compensated nut seems to be incorrectly installed and to fix it, you need to detach the nut, put a carefully measured shim to extend the fretboard, then reinstall the nut. That is not something I would do to be honest, I'd just return it right there and then.
I don't have a dog in this fight, but that KMII in the pictures looks fine to me. Buncha cork sniffers around here. Crank that bad boy up, rip some dark tunage and stop worrying about sissy crap man. That guitar is LOADED with features for the price its offered at. Keith can design one mean guitar.
