1980s Schecter Jimi Hendrix Strat

guitarz.blogspot.com:

If - as the eBay seller claims - this Schecter Jimi Hendrix Strat was made in the 1980s, then it predates Fender's Voodoo Strat by at least a decade what with its upside-down headstock and reverse angled bridge pickup (to make it sound that bit more Hendrix-y!). It's a really cool looking Strat finished all in black. I guess the use of the "Jimi Hendrix" name on the scratchplate was unauthorised. The seller says that these guitars were only in production for something like six months because of the legal issues surrounding the use of the Hendrix name.

Currently listed on eBay with a Buy It Now price of $1,500.

G L Wilson

© 2014, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - the blog that goes all the way to 11!
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Ex Pete Townshend Schecter Tele-style guitar up for grabs on EBay

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I remember seeing The Who back in the early 1980s on the Faces Dances tour. This was the period when Pete Townshend favoured hand-built Tele-style guitars by Schecter.

Here we see one of his early Schecter T-types (with written provenance, apparently) being offered for sale on EBay in the UK. However, with a price tag of £25,999 you'd need to be a seriously rabid Who fan to snap it up.

G L Wilson

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Passion in Pinstripes: the Synyster Gates Custom-S

guitarz.blogspot.com - Guest blog by Olivia Lennox:

Musician endorsed guitars go way back. Axe masters such as Steve Vai, Slash and Joe Perry have all put their name to Les Paul guitars, while Fender and Gibson also have a huge catalog of models endorsed and used by famous guitarists. Schecter have had some big name relationships over the years too, including Mark Knopfler and Pete Townshend, but it’s their long-term sponsorship with Avenged Sevenfold guitarist, Synyster Gates, that has resulted in this latest and rather special offering.

The Synyster Gates Custom-S features many of the specifications used by the Avenged Sevenfold guitarist on his signature model, including Sustainiac Stealth. This unique pickup system replaces the normal neck Humbucker and enables Gates to sustain feedback at all levels, a feature that makes Gate’s heavy attack style so distinctive.

Available from January 2012, the Synyster Gates Custom S is a startling-looking guitar. In black, three-piece mahogany and featuring silver pinstripes, the guitar is as distinctive in color as it is in design. With sleek Avenger body and clawed head, it provides a statement worthy of any hard rock or metal outfit. With left-handed models available, the price tag for the 24-fret, 25.5 inch neck guitar is $50 shy of the $1,700 mark, but it’s doubtful you’ll find a more distinctive Avenger axe for the money.

Sustainiac

Described by Gates as his “secret weapon,” the Sustainiac feature provides sustained and controlled feedback. In the position where the normal neck Humbucker pickup sits, the Sustainiac circuit processes the pickup signal and sends it to the Sustainiac driver, where the amplified note is turned into vibrational energy and fed back to the strings. The result is an ability to sustain feedback indefinitely, as if playing the guitar inches from a loud amp. Of course, the Sustainiac system can be turned off, allowing normal Humbucker tones.

Features

Gates’ signature pinstripe design is one of the most distinctive in the metal world. It works well with the Avenger shape, creating quite a unique-looking guitar that while clearly metal and rock in shape, also exudes a retro feel. Made in three-piece mahogany for extra stability, the Synyster Gates Custom-S is obviously built to last. With an ebony fingerboard that Schecter say produces a snappy and crisp attack with the density of Maple but with a stronger fundamental tone, the Synyster Gates Custom-S is equipped with a Floyd Rose 1000 Series bridge and a Floyd Rose 1000 locking tremolo system. The Synyster Gates Custom-S also has a Grover Rotomatics 18:1 gear ratio for finer tuning, Seymour Duncan Invader pickups that complement the Sustainiac system, 3-way volume toggle, on-off mini toggle, and 3-way normal-mix-harmonic mode mini toggle.

Schecter

When it comes to American guitar makers, Schecter are often overlooked with the likes of axe giants such as Fender and Gibson taking more than their fair share of the guitar world’s laurels. Yet, Schecter are a passionate guitar manufacturer and the Synyster Gates Custom-S is a good example of the dedication and fastidiousness they invest in their axes. The Custom-S had been on Schecter’s design drawing board for years, but the company always seemed reluctant to release the product to the market until they were wholly satisfied that it was not only the best guitar that they could produce, but also that it was as close to Gates’ original signature guitar.

For those not familiar with the company, Schecter was founded in 1976. Originally selling only replacement parts for Fenders and Gibsons, by 1979, founder David Schecter launched his own fully assembled electric guitars based on the Fender designs. An exclusive range, but very expensive, originally only 20 stores across America stocked Schecters. They owe much of their contemporary success to Pete Townshend of The Who, who fell in love with one of these early Schecter guitars and was the first high profile guitarist to use one on stage. Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits also used Schecter Stratocaster-style guitars to record "Making Movies", and has owned many Schecters over the years.

In 1987, Hisatake Shibuya, a Japanese entrepreneur and owner of the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, bought Schecter. Hisatake Shibuya devoted all his efforts to manufacturing high-end, expensive custom instruments. As a result, Schecter have been endorsed over the years by high profile guitarists, such as Stone Temple Pilots’ Robert DeLeo, and Jay Noel Yuenger and Sean Yseult of White Zombie. And Synyster Gates complements such esteemed company rather well.

Olivia Lennox is a professional writer and amateur singer/songwriter. Her day job involves writing on behalf of a premium sofa retailer and a number of travel blogs, but her real passion lies in strings and vinyl.

© 2012, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

Daisy Rock Powerpuff Girls Heartbreaker guitar

guitarz.blogspot.com:

We were looking at heart-shaped guitars here on Guitarz last week, and here's another that you may have seen before, the Heartbreaker from girl guitar company Daisy Rock.

This particular example is one of the company's earliest models, the Daisy Rock Powerpuff Girls-edition Heartbreaker and is one of a limited edition of 100. These early Daisy Rocks were actually made by Schecter Guitars, Daisy Rock founder Tish Ciravolo being married to Michael Ciravolo, the President of Schecter Guitar Research, and who gave a helping hand in the early days of the company being set up. As you'd expect, production soon after shifted to the Far East.

G L Wilson

© 2011, Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

2009 Schecter Stargazer

guitarz.blogspot.com:

Guitarz reader Dillon has emailed to tell us about a couple of his guitars. Here is the first one:

The black one here is a Schecter Stargazer built in '09, which is from an American brand you've never featured on the blog. I picked up this guitar for cheap and it was well worth it. The thing that attracted me was the obvious Rickenbacker-inspired styling (especially that tailpiece, I'm surprised Schecter hasn't been sued for this one) and the variety of tones; both humbuckers can be split with push-pull tone knobs to make a lot of different of tones. The thing's really a workhorse to the core, it can cover a lot of styles of music with ease. I've never been a fan of completely black guitars but this guitar really caught my eye and I still love it. If anyone reading this gets a chance to play one of these, take it for a spin. These are a lot less popular than I feel they should be, it's a really solid guitar for the price and surprisingly comfortable.

It looks like a fine guitar indeed, and something that is a little bit different. I can see the Rickenbacker vibe. And have we really not looked at Schecter guitars before?

More tomorrow...

G L Wilson

Guitarz - The Original Guitar Blog - now in its 10th year!

A Trio of Tasteless* Teles!

Top left: Squier "Rolling Rock" Telecaster
Top Right: Phil Wayne Custom "Elysian" Telecaster
Bottom: Schecter Bomber Girl

* or "tasteful" depending on your point of view, but I know which side of the fence I'm on!

Another holey guitar: The Schecter Genesis

It seems that recently I've been featuring a few guitars with holes going right through the bodies (e.g. here and here) and what do you know?... Here's another one! (I don't actively search for these, you know, I just seem to stumble upon them without even trying.)

This one is an approximately 20 year old USA-built Schecter Genesis. I've previously seen pictures of these with some decidedly over the top striped graphic finishes, but I reckon this Candy Apple Red example is quite tasteful, if indeed tasteful is the word I'm looking for considering the crazy design we're looking at here.

This example is currently on eBay with quite an attractive and affordable Buy It Now price on it.

PLEASE will someone buy it before I do, because at that price I'm finding it very hard to resist. If this was listed at the same Buy It Now price but in the UK, I would already have snapped it up. Importing a guitar from the USA involves extra shipping fees and customs charges, but despite these inevitable extras hiking up the price I'm still very very tempted (and shouldn't really...).

I mean, c'mon, how often do you see one of these?

Schecter To Introduce 30th Anniversary Collection Guitars At Winter NAMM

New Damien Collection Instruments from Schecter

Schecter debuts Hellraiser collection

Schecter Banshee 'Modern Vintage' Electric Guitar: I like the styling of this one. It looks familiar but different at the same time.

Ultra Bass Joins Schecter's Diamond Series: shades of the Thunderbird bass, I think.

Schecter redesigns TSH-1 and TSH-12 semi-hollow guitars: is it just me or do these have a Danelectro vibe about them?

New from Schecter, the Stiletto Exotic Bass

Schecter's C-1 Goes Exotic at Winter NAMM

Corsair Semi-Hollow Joins Schecter's 2005 Guitar Lineup

Schecter Updates Tempest Special for 2004: Wow! These look quite tasty.

8-String version of Schecter's Omen Bass announced

Schecter unveils Hellcat VI: Not a guitar, bass or even a baritone in today's terms, the Hellcat VI is designed to be an improvement of the '6-string bass' instrument of the early 1960s. The 30" scale, the Hellcat VI is standard tuned, but one octave below a normal guitar. Designed with input from Perry Bamonte and Robert Smith of the Cure.

Schecter introduce Baron Series Basses: These certainly look cool - Telecaster shaped body and MusicMan pickup.