S-1 Review

It has 24.75" scale and a set neck. The body is mohogany and the neck is rosewood and it features 22 jumbo frets, excellent Grovere tuners, TonePros Tom system, chrome harware, a beautiful creme colored binding on the neck and goergous mother of pearl 3-ply crown inlays.

Features:	9.5
Sound:	9
Action:	7.5
Reliability:	7.5
Impression:	9.5
Overall rating:	8.6
Users rating:	8.7
Comments:	25

overall: 8.6

Featured review by: Bass90, on april 10, 2006

Price paid: $ 500

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: This is a 2005 Korean made Schecter S1 but 100% set up in the United States. It has 24.75" scale and a set neck. The body is mohogany and the neck is rosewood and it features 22 jumbo frets, excellent Grovere tuners, TonePros Tom system, chrome harware, a beautiful creme colored binding on the neck and goergous mother of pearl 3-ply crown inlays. Mine came with a stunning see thru-cherry color finish. Its pickups are a decent pair of Duncan Designed HB-102s passive pickups in both the neck and bridge positions. However when I later changed the pickups it had a label of HB-103 so I wasn't really sure. Anyway it also comes with a 2 volume control and 1 tone control and a three way selecter Switch. All very nice features. // 10

Sound: I play anything from pop-punk all the way up to death metal and I have to say that this guitar unfortuntley does not cover them all. I run it through a Line 6 Spider II 30 Modeling amp with a little reverb and it sound spectecular at first. The Duncan's sound very rich and full at first but they start to wear out and get deep. They give out good distortion but not enough for soloing. You can solo, but you would mabey want a distorion pedal for it. The thing plays chords like butter. My favorite thing about the Duncans is that you can get that heavy "chug chug" when you palm mute. I love the Grover Tuners. They keep the guitar in tune for a long time. However like I said before, the Duncans wear out after a while and start to sound horrible. After having them in (a little over a year), I decided to change them to the almighty EMG 81/85 combination. Now it sounds like a Demon thanks to the wood quality of the S1. In conclusion about the sound. The S1 sounds beautiful at first but after at least a year of playing with it. You would want to pull out the Duncan pickups and put in somthing else. // 8

Action, Fit & Finish: When I got the guitar. The action was to high so I lowered it a little and it sounded perfect. It was set up at a factory. My only grudge about the S1 is the body. It looks goergous but accessing the higher frets is a pain in the ass due to the SG sort-of body but other wise every thing was perfect. // 8

Reliability & Durability: The S1 is a durable guitar but its extremley fragile. I sligltly bumped into a wall while I was playing it and cracked the head stock a little bit. It can easily be scratched because of the thin finish. However, none of this effected the sound of the guitar what so ever so the I was pleased with. // 8

Impression: I've been playing for 2 years now and I play anything form punk to metal. The S1 covers almost every style at first but then starts to wear out and sound like crap after a year. The only issue is the Duncan pickups. They go from amazing to horrbile in a year. I love the quality wood of the guitar, it's finishes and its look but I've grown to hate the Duncan Designs (luckliy I replaced them with EMG 81/85). If the guitar were stolen, I would defentley hunt the guy who took it or just buy another one just due to the fact that the guitar is just sooooo goergous. I would defentley recommend this guitar, but only if you decide to replace its stock pick-ups with somthing else after you have it for a a little over a year. It is also a good buy and can hang with the big brands such as PRS and Gibson if you do decide to replace the pickups. // 9

overall: 8.6

Reviewed by: decamel, on january 06, 2009

Price paid: $ 400

Purchased from: Musicians Friend

Features: Parts mostly made in Korea, setup in the US. This is the Vampira Limited Series. All white, with a special paint job and red bat fret inlays. With a picture of the original Queen of scream Vampira herself on the body. Out of the box this comes with very nice Seymour Duncan picks, great sound and tone. Came with a hardshell Coffin Case as well, which just adds to the effect. // 9

Sound: Since I generally just play different styles of metal this look fits great. However the tone I've found is good for blues, country, metal, just about anything I've played this fits. The only place you might run into a problem is the strings. I've used all kinds of different strings and gauges to find the best sound. For my tastes and for the ease of playing I've found the Ernie Ball Classic.10 gauge fit the bill the best here. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The factor set-up was fairly complete. However there was a noticeable buzz on the top two strings with anything close to heavy gauge strings. Slight ajustments of the bridge and truss would needed to correct this. As well as matching adjustments of the pickups to compensate for that. The tuners are good enough, though if you're going to do a ton of bending I would recommend an upgrade there as well. The flat black finish is a nice touch on the tuners, however I think that Schecter could have found something a touch more exotic looking for this while keeping with the Standard quality of tuners that are had here. // 7

Reliability & Durability: Probably the most durable guitar that I've played in a long long time. While this is no Les Paul or Strat, this is no slouch either. It's been dropped a few times in the case (not from high though or with great speed) and nary an issue was had after. The internal wiring seems slightly less then perfect so be warned here. I've had to adjust that some, and tighten up the jack for the cable often. To the point that I've changed them out with something higher end to get it to stay put and sound good at all times. // 7

Impression: Overall for the money, if you can find a good used one you cannot go wrong. Sadly Schecter has stopped making these new, though I have read in a few places this might be reissued during the summer of 2009. If that is the case and there are some slight upgrades this would be the perfect guitar for home for anyone, and great for almost any show or practice that you might be in. // 10

Comments

[foundation_7]

nice review extremely well writtin out of all the reviews i looked for for this guitar this has been the best one

[foundation_7]

i wanna buy that guitar

[ias05]

im gonna buy that guitar

[blink-182.5]

The S1 is a durable guitar but its extremley fragile.

then how is it durable?

[alfiebradic]

i cant realy see the point of buying 1 instead of an SG.

[synysterSG]

is this kind of like the same as the vengeance just with like different fret inlays and stuff?

[guitarist41]

This is a terrible review.

[nAILZ]

alfiebradic wrote:

i cant realy see the point of buying 1 instead of an SG.

dude no ****ing way. for what you pay you get waaaay better action out of an s1. they may be a bit heavier, but they're extremely smooth and much better for metal based play, and still really good for any other style. i've played them before a few times and they blow an sg out of the water.

[TheFallen1328]

It looks goergous but accessing the higher frets is a pain in the ass due to the SG sort-of body

The SG-type double cutaway body makes it easier to access higher frets.

not a well written review

[slashNpage77]

my brother has an S-1. i've played it a few times, and its pretty nice. pinch harmonics come really easy. the neck isnt super fast, but its better than a majority of guitars of the same price. schecter makes a great instrument. and they have some of the best prices out there.

[EldonsName24]

Sweet! Zacky Vengeance plays this one except it's Left-Handed and Red (Rock On Zacky)

[Ben_Vengeance]

I've got a Vengeance Custom in left-handed

it's virtually the same guitar just swap the duncan designed with proper duncans and it's got a few different graphics on it.

really decent guitars though, but you're right about the fragile thing, the see thru cherry finish over it cracks really easy

I recommend these to very careful people XD

[=-P]

Hey!
They Dont Sell Theses In ireland!
And All the online shops ive tryed dont have them in white!
Where The Fook Can I Get one????

[IPlaySchecter]

If you are mostly into metal, i recomend just buying a hellraiser. They come with active EMG's. And just my opinion, they are alot better looking.

[dsguitar]

I think schecter could charge $2000 for there guitars but they don't the charge 1/4 of that so that rocks. The Zacky Venengence version of this guitar is sexy though.

[enselmis]

lol first guy probly just doesnt know how to change his strings, "it sounded awesome but then it started to suck after a year" yeah strings dont last that long lol

[J.J.G.]

IPlaySchecter wrote:

If you are mostly into metal, i recomend just buying a hellraiser. They come with active EMG's. And just my opinion, they are alot better looking.

yeah they bring the new generation emg 89tw.

[fretsonfire74]

I'm not usually a big fan of Schecter's, but that's really nice.

[tristan_deity]

lol what an ugly rip on an SG, i do like shecter though, hellraisers are amazing

[No Seatbelt]

I wish they still made the S-1 Elite. I put EMG 81/85's in my Elite and it's the best f*cking guitar I've ever played. It's got a great neck and is an absolute joy to play. I suggest you all try out an S-1. And the S-1 beats an SG anyday. There is no comparison. It's like comparing Kat Von D to Rosey O'Donnell.

[meanppls7]

TheFallen1328 wrote:

It looks goergous but accessing the higher frets is a pain in the ass due to the SG sort-of body

The SG-type double cutaway body makes it easier to access higher frets.

not a well written review

actually no i played this today and i just couldnt really play past 19th fret. the cutway wasn't wide enough and I DONT HAVE big hands or fingers. i've played an SG so i know what to compare it to.

[meanppls7]

actually im not even sure if it was 19th fret or 17th...

[IKnowItsWrong]

About saying it sounds like crap..
doesn't it sounds crap with the EMG's ?
Modeling amp and active pickups ?

[iron_maiden93]

You were playing out of a Line 6, that's why it sucked. Sexy guitar, if i had money or a job, or any source of income rather than 20$ every 2 weeks from my mom, i'd buy it. Now i feel like a little kid...

[nacho_man715]

meanppls7 - it was the 19th. i have the same problem, but that's my only complaint after 2 years