Reviewed by:
Zar938, on november 14, 2007
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Purchased from: Pawn Shop
Features: The Schecter Stiletto Custom-5 bass offers phenomenal tone, a fast neck, hot EMG pickups, thunderous low end and a snappy high end. A great bass for beginners or pros. The Stiletto Custom-5 bass also features a mahogany body with a figured maple top, rosewood fingerboard with 24 jumbo frets, Grover tuners and a 2-band EQ. // 10
Sound: The Schecter Stilleto 5 is a great all around bass, with the 2 band EQ and the EMG-Hzs I'm able to dial in all kinds of tones, good for any style of music, I can even get a nice sounding slap tone. very versatile. The S-Tek bridge, looks complicated, but is actually extremely easy to understand and works well. It gives the bass great sustain, and overall sounds great. As mentioned the EMG H-Zs have a wonderful tone, and are very versatile when coupled with the 2 Band EQ. They have a wonderfully punchy sound that's good for anything from punk to jazz. Plus they look really nice on the bass itself.With the two band EQ you can actually hear the difference between the two pickups, and overall I like their positioning. I've had this bass tuned both EADGC and BEADG, and I've liked it both ways, I felt that they've both come in handy in certain situations, and both have fitted my playing needs. From reviews I've read it says that the 35 in scale helps the B string from being too floppy and I find that for the most part this is true, while the string is still pretty floppy, it's not nearly as bad, or have as muddy a tone as most 5ers I've played. // 9
Action, Fit & Finish: The action needed to be set up properly, seeing as I got it from a pawn shop, so I can't really say much about factory settings, but after that I've had no problems with it, no fret buzz, and it's extremely comfortable. Other than that there was nothing wrong with it, this bass is built like a tank. The Bridge is wonderful, great sound, but a little difficult to put the strings on, as they tend to come out of the slots. There weren't any flaws on it, which is a testament not only to Schecter's high quality, and the previous owners standard of ownership. // 9
Reliability & Durability: This bas is extremely durable, the front of the body is pretty much scratch proof. Everything on this bass hardware wise is durable and built to last, although it looks like the satin gold might wear off after a while. The top strap button is nice, but I needed to put a strap lock on the bottom, as my strap occasionally came off. This bass is built like a beast. I've had it for over a year, and the most I can say is wrong with it, is the small chip in the headstock I got when I smacked it into a cymbal pretty hard once at a gig. The front of the body doesn't scratch at all, even when using a pick (on occasion I've even used a metal pick and it still looks factory fresh) the same can't be said about the back, as it is slightly easier to scratch, as my back has a few nicks. The 6 bolt on neck is very nice as well, it give it almost the same sustain as a neck through because it's fastened so well. // 9
Impression: This bass is so versatile, that it works with everything I play, from punk to metal, jazz, rock, even slap. I can't even really find too many flaws in it. I've been playing for about three years, and haven't bought a better bass yet. The thing I love most about it is the look, IMO this is the sexiest looking bass on the market. Don't get me wrong, I love the look of a white P Bass with black pick guard, or that natural tone of a Warwick Thumb, but in my mind nothing compares the look of this bass. It has a two tone natural finish that just blows my mind every time I look at it. It has satin gold hardware, those EMG pickups which I mentioned look very nice. The S-Tek bridge, the offset dot inlays (I love these so much) a beautiful rosewood fretboard, neck with two mahogany racing stripes, and the fact that the body itself is almost impossible to scratch. Bottom Line this bass is the most beautiful bass I have ever seen in my life, I don't care what custom shop, or however many stringed bass you show me, nothing compares to this. // 10
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