Schecter KM-7 (Keith Merrow) Signature Thread

[Chri]

I literally just shipped this guitar back to the place I purchased it from today. It's a great guitar, well built, and sounds amazing IMO. No flimsy neck issues like the video of the Legacy in this thread. However, it took a beating during shipping. Same thing happened to the first Tao-7 I received. Now, I'm debating whether to roll the dice with a replacement or spend a little more on a Mayones or Aristides. If anyone buys this guitar, the Schecter sgr-1c case isn't the best fit.

I really wish they would stop recommending that as the case for these
The neck doesn't seem to want to fit into the slot, and it makes it seem unstable as hell.

I want this model of the mkiii, so sad to hear but the sgr1c case fits my lambo green version perfectly.

By lambo green, you mean the MKIII with the FR? I'm surprised to hear that it fits in there safely.

 

[Briz]

I really wish they would stop recommending that as the case for these
The neck doesn't seem to want to fit into the slot, and it makes it seem unstable as hell.

Yeah, there's pressure on the neck, given that it sits at a slight angle instead of flush. At home, this may not be a huge issue. However, the guitar was shipped in the case, which leads me to believe the damage came from this method of shipping + the carrier. For example, the majority of the fretboard damage is right where the case meets the neck - around 9th - 13th frets, on the bass side only. Additionally, there aren't any closed compartments in the case, which is poor design IMO. The case keys, Allen wrench, and case candy likely caused some of the cosmetic issues. I say "some" because there were a few other major cosmetic issues (large dents in the body and chips on the neck and around the headstock binding). I have an older Banshee-7 with thicker body + a bolt-on neck and the case fit it perfectly.

 

[BusinessMan]

I really wish they would stop recommending that as the case for these
The neck doesn't seem to want to fit into the slot, and it makes it seem unstable as hell.


By lambo green, you mean the MKIII with the FR? I'm surprised to hear that it fits in there safely.

Ya the one with the FR. What’s the issue with the case? It’s the first I’m hearing of one. The guys at DCGL (where I bought) said this was the proper case for it so that’s why I bought it.

 

[dirtool]

 

[Surveyor 777]

Ya the one with the FR. What’s the issue with the case? It’s the first I’m hearing of one. The guys at DCGL (where I bought) said this was the proper case for it so that’s why I bought it.

I can't directly comment on what they're saying but I'm going to take a guess:

I have a KM Mk I and a KM Mk III. They are both in Schecter cases. With the MK I, the body is thick enough so it fits just right in the case, with the neck being supported "just right" with the padding in the case.

With my MK III, the body is quite a bit thinner, so it sits "deeper" in the case, if that makes sense. So that means the neck isn't completely supported by the padding in the case; the neck is more resting on the padding closer to the body and not even touching the padding by the headstock area. So when I shut the case, I'm assuming either the headstock buries itself in the padding on the top part (the top half of the clamshell) of the case OR the top part of the case presses down on the neck, thereby raising the very butt end of the guitar off the floor of the case - essentially suspending it in air.

A remedy (which I haven't done) I believe, would be to place something in the case, some sort of "shim" in the body cavity area of the case, then place the guitar in the case so it raises the entire body of the guitar, which then flattens the angle of the neck - so then the neck will be lying completely on the case padding, rather than just resting on a little portion of it.

 

[Chri]

Ya the one with the FR. What’s the issue with the case? It’s the first I’m hearing of one. The guys at DCGL (where I bought) said this was the proper case for it so that’s why I bought it.

See the above replies.

It just doesn't seem to fit properly around the neck. With mine I would have been scared to travel or ship with it like that. It would push up on the neck, while simultaneously push down around the headstock. It seems like it's designed around the C series guitars, and ones with similar builds.

Maybe Briz and I both just got bad examples of the case?

 

[Briz]

I can't directly comment on what they're saying but I'm going to take a guess:

I have a KM Mk I and a KM Mk III. They are both in Schecter cases. With the MK I, the body is thick enough so it fits just right in the case, with the neck being supported "just right" with the padding in the case.

With my MK III, the body is quite a bit thinner, so it sits "deeper" in the case, if that makes sense. So that means the neck isn't completely supported by the padding in the case; the neck is more resting on the padding closer to the body and not even touching the padding by the headstock area. So when I shut the case, I'm assuming either the headstock buries itself in the padding on the top part (the top half of the clamshell) of the case OR the top part of the case presses down on the neck, thereby raising the very butt end of the guitar off the floor of the case - essentially suspending it in air.

A remedy (which I haven't done) I believe, would be to place something in the case, some sort of "shim" in the body cavity area of the case, then place the guitar in the case so it raises the entire body of the guitar, which then flattens the angle of the neck - so then the neck will be lying completely on the case padding, rather than just resting on a little portion of it.

You're correct, well stated. One caveat: The best remedy would be for Schecter to work with their vendors to design a case that fits the thinner body neck-through models instead of expecting customers to figure out ways to make it work.

 

[Surveyor 777]

You're correct, well stated. One caveat: The best remedy would be for Schecter to work with their vendors to design a case that fits the thinner body neck-through models instead of expecting customers to figure out ways to make it work.

Yep, I agree.

That just got me thinking about something. Several years ago I bought an Ibanez S6570 (Prestige). It comes in the Prestige case that, from the outside, looks just like any other Prestige case. But if I remember correctly (will have to look at it again), I believe it is molded differently inside than the RG Prestige cases. Meaning, the body insert part is not sunk in so deep, so the body and neck fit in it just like an RG would in the other cases - so no weird neck angle. And since the horns are shaped differently than the RG's, it's molded to fit those snugly - rounded corners, not the sharp points like RG's.

So yes, Schecter should do something like that.

 

[BusinessMan]

See the above replies.

It just doesn't seem to fit properly around the neck. With mine I would have been scared to travel or ship with it like that. It would push up on the neck, while simultaneously push down around the headstock. It seems like it's designed around the C series guitars, and ones with similar builds.

Maybe Briz and I both just got bad examples of the case?

Thanks for the replies @Chri and @Surveyor 777 . My immediate thought was to throw some extra rags or something along those lines to bring it up a bit off the floor as a shim. I’ve traveled with it in the case when I was working out of state, I never issues with thought so maybe I got lucky. Guitar still plays hella good.

 

[Yul Brynner]

They should do the mkii body style with Schecters inline headstock

 

[Sparky8691]

So after years I finally decided to buy my holy grail - the KM-6 Artist guitar. It was the last one on Thomann. I have to say that I'm completely disappointed. For the price, I expected something better than a classic Korean guitar, and I got much less than that. Even guitars at half the price have more features than this. I attached photos so judge for yourself.

1. The bridge pickup is shifted downwards towards the potentiometers, so the magnetic poles do not align with the strings. The pickup touches the opening at the bottom and has a large gap at the top.
2. There are gaps between the glued parts of the neck, as if glue is missing. These gaps can be felt when running a fingernail over them. This is noticeable on the body, neck, and headstock.
3. The thing where the guitar strap attaches is drilled off-center.
4. The tuning machine for the D string was completely crooked. This could be partially corrected because the screws holding the tuners were all significantly loose.
5. The nut is really high and poorly glued with gaps. Also, due to its height, when I press the first fret, the tone is significantly higher than it should be because the string is high above the first fret.
6. Swamp ash part is oversprayed with top dark color but I was not able to take a photo of it.
7. The top is misaligned by at least 5 mm and not "book matched" properly.

I don't know guys. I'm deeply disappointed.

The KM-7 III Artist I got was one of the last from Thomann. They only had the 'trans black burst' finish left so was a little disappointed not to get the beautiful crimson blue finish. Typical that when I was looking back at Thomann a while later, just out of curiosity to see if they still had KM models left, they then had the blue crimson model available. This was like a day or two after the return window but I wouldn't have chanced returning just to swap the colour anyway. But did make me wonder how they seemed to be the only retailer left with stock and somehow came up with stock for the blue crimson model a month after selling out of the trans black. Perhaps they found some in their warehouse or their Schecter distributor had a final amount of stock to deliver.

I did notice a couple of minor QC niggles on mine but nothing that would make me want to return it. I haven't done as through a check over as you though so maybe will have a look out of interest!

Like you I did feel the nut being higher than I would've expected on a sleek shredder's guitar. Mine has no gap like there is in your images though...that does look pretty bad!
I just felt that playing on the first fret felt a little different to my other guitars and realised it was seemingly because of the nut being a bit higher. I just put it down to being a characteristic of that Ernie Ball compensated nut. The height is only really noticeable for me on the low B string though...I haven't done much setup work before but I'm sure lowering the action on the bridge will get that string height to a level that feels right.
The glue that attaches the nut looks a tiny bit messy (at least on the player's side) but that area feels smooth so I don't think that really matters.

Were there the same two finishes available for the KM-6 III Artist as the KM-7? As the poplar burl top in your pictures looks nicely figured. The black/grey-ish burst finish on mine does cover a lot of the natural wood figuring but that seems to be typical for any of the trans black burst models I've seen online. So I wonder whether you have a different finish altogether or if the paint is lighter on yours.

The one thing I can say that I don't like about the guitar is the thin & metallic acoustic tone. Was surprised as swamp ash is meant to be a nice resonant body wood, and my Schecter Reaper-6 (also swamp ash, ebony fretboard, similar construction - set neck) has a lovely acoustic sound. I know stainless steel frets can have an effect (the lovely smooth bends outweigh that though) but I reckon it's largely down to the brass string ferrule block at the back....going to see if I can get that removed. Obviously Keith prefers to have that which is fair enough, it's a signature model and I'm sure it has a benefit for his tone...making it snappy and metallic. Just not a fan of it myself. I do practice acoustically a fair bit, especially if it's later in the evening, so having a pleasant acoustic tone is something I appreciate. And the KM-7's metallic tone does creep into its amplified sound too i.e. heavy palm muted chugs on the lower strings have a metallic clang. Overall the guitar feels great to play though so I am intending on keeping it and doing what I can to improve the acoustic tone.

 

[Northfall]

I went and did it again. They gone done multiplied when I wasn't looking!
This time actually a MK-II ! Interesting feat, no flamed maple top.
Also has a 3 stamp in back of headstock. Thinking it was factory thirded and they left the flamed maple top off for w/e reason.
I got it for a great deal, it sounds great - and I really like the way it looks w/o the FMT better imo. Behold.
Sounds great in Drop F#

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

I went and did it again. They gone done multiplied when I wasn't looking!
This time actually a MK-II ! Interesting feat, no flamed maple top.
Also has a 3 stamp in back of headstock. Thinking it was factory thirded and they left the flamed maple top off for w/e reason.
I got it for a great deal, it sounds great - and I really like the way it looks w/o the FMT better imo. Behold.
Sounds great in Drop F#
View attachment 140370

That is so cool!

MK-II's are soooo good.

 

[Flick]

That is so cool!

MK-II's are soooo good.

Agreed. I like the IIs the most out of the KM series. I like the added weight and thicker body style. My II weighs 20.5 oz more than my III.

 

[aWoodenShip]

Finally getting around to changing out the pickups on my Mk III artist as I don’t like the KM Fishmans at all. My research has shown there’s a good chance I’ll have to route the cavities bigger if I go with another brand of pickups, so I’m hoping to potentially just swap to open-core moderns and pray I like them more. Having never really worked with active pickups, has anyone done this swap and can confirm that it’s just a direct plug and play and the controls function normally without redoing the wiring?

 

[Seabeast2000]

Finally getting around to changing out the pickups on my Mk III artist as I don’t like the KM Fishmans at all. My research has shown there’s a good chance I’ll have to route the cavities bigger if I go with another brand of pickups, so I’m hoping to potentially just swap to open-core moderns and pray I like them more. Having never really worked with active pickups, has anyone done this swap and can confirm that it’s just a direct plug and play and the controls function normally without redoing the wiring?

Are you looking to go with another active pickup? I ran into the same limits on a MK3 Hybrid, just went with a passive 7 and updated the pot/wiring. Oddly the Mk1 I have is routed square and I could probably squeeze an active in there, but no battery box, etc. That particular Fishman was incredibly underwhelming.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Fishman to Fishman should be direct plug and play. EMG should be the same unless you're using TW pickups

I do think that DiMarzio pickups should fit the routes too tbh. I don't wanna assume but yeah DiMarzios don't have baseplates sticking out the corners

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Are you looking to go with another active pickup? I ran into the same limits on a MK3 Hybrid, just went with a passive 7 and updated the pot/wiring. Oddly the Mk1 I have is routed square and I could probably squeeze an active in there

The Mk1 had covered passives so the routes had to be bigger, which means you can pretty much put anything in there except soapbar EMG sized pickups.

The Mk2 and Mk3 had standard passive routes so your options are smaller

 

[aWoodenShip]

In an ideal world, I would just switch to passives like the Jupiter rails or something bc I know I like them and don’t have much experience with Fishmans except the KMs. If all that’s needed to get them to fit is just shave some metal off of the plate, I’d rather do that than route the pickup cavities larger. I couldn’t find anyone that had done the exact swap to moderns so I wanted to make sure there was nothing overly unique about the way the KM7 is wired that would prevent me from simply swapping out Fishmans.

 

[bjjman]

Finally getting around to changing out the pickups on my Mk III artist as I don’t like the KM Fishmans at all. My research has shown there’s a good chance I’ll have to route the cavities bigger if I go with another brand of pickups, so I’m hoping to potentially just swap to open-core moderns and pray I like them more. Having never really worked with active pickups, has anyone done this swap and can confirm that it’s just a direct plug and play and the controls function normally without redoing the wiring?

Did you end up making the change? If so, are you happy with it? I am planning to do this exact swap for the bridge but there aren't any open cores available in Australia as yet. I quite like the Moderns I have in another guitar that's tuned to Drop C, so I'm hoping they should be a good fit in this as my KM7 is in standard tuning.