New Schecter Short-Scale Banshee bass

[Lammchop93]

Saw this today. Looks really cool, and I like the color options. I’ve owned a few schecters, and they were all top notch, especially for the price point.

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[hypercarrots]

i like the grey one and the gray one

 

[Naviiin]

Love this.

 

[Axstar]

Everybody is making a retro shortscale these days!

 

[Matt Wilson]

That is a great headstock and a very nice design overall. Was gonna get a Mustang....

 

[John Stephen]

I like! Especially the blue.

 

[jeff7bass]

Carbon Grey wow....

 

[Deleted member 268085]

Coming Wednesday! Going to restring it with the La Bella flats (760F-MUS) designed for the MIA Mustang.

 

[John Stephen]

Nice! I will look forward to your review.

 

[Deleted member 268085]

Finally showed up last night, after spending a weekend in a truck on the East Coast, the 3 day drive, and another day in a truck in 115°F heat (ambient). Retuned it and let it rest overnight. Will spend some time with it tomorrow.

First impressions are excellent. No complaints (yet) on the build quality. One minor niggle is the A string could have been cut a little longer to add a third wrap to the post. Volume and Tone pots feel nice and solid (unlike my Ibanez SR Mezzo; cheap controls). Came strung with Ernie Ball Slinkys (45-105) that feel pretty good. I'm going to play them a bit before restringing with La Bella DTFs.

Love the neck profile (not a tree trunk like the original Precisions). Smooth and fast.

This is my third Indonesian-made guitar. So far, so good!

More later.

 

[Deleted member 268085]

I'll start with this. If I wait until it's formal and nice and neat, then who knows.

I love this bass! It's my new daily player. String spacing is a little tighter than on an SG (1 3/8" vs 1 5/8" E to G spacing at the nut), which suits me just fine. Two of my other 3 basses were more expensive, but the Banshee has absolutely the smoothest, fastest neck. The SG neck is finished the same as the body, and is a little bit sticky. The Ibanez neck is reasonably close to the Schecter. The neck on my '63 Fender J repro feels like fly paper compared to the others. Some day, it'll get a new neck and bridge. Or sold.

I restrung it straightaway with La Bella's, so I can't speak to how the stock Slinkys (45-105) play.

While the bridge supports top load in addition to thru body stringing, I decided to try the 760F-MUS Deep Talkers. They're a slightly lighter gage than the 760FS-S 45-105 sets I have on the SG and Ibby. At 43-60-82-104, they're not much thinner, but they have noticeably less tension than the standard set. Should be really good for bending and vibratos, but will take be a bit of time to get used to. The 760F-MUS set is made specifically for the MIA Mustang, but fit perfectly on the Schecter. The only 'surprise' was the red silk instead of black (which I'd have preferred). If black becomes a requirement, I can always top load a set of the 760FS-S strings.

And a shout-out to Schecter for using a Black Tusq XL nut on a sub-$1000 guitar! And light weight vintage tuning machines!

It's proving comfortable to play, with nice contouring for the right forearm and belly. Hangs easily in playing position.

Mine weighs exactly 8 lbs, easily tolerable for me.

Setup. In one word...superb! Low, very playable action. Properly intonated (ever so slight adjustment needed on one string). The La Bella DTFs slotted right in.

The rosewood fretboard is much darker than the other rosewood fretboards I have. Looks great with the Carbon Grey body.

Control knobs are large, solid and operate smoothly. They feel like they'll hold up to regular use.

Construction is excellent. I've found no finish flaws. And the 5-bolt neck feels really solid.

In my opinion, this is a super value. Great playing. Great looking. Very well made. Now that I've gotten my hands on one, I am SUPER, SUPER happy that I didn't spend $1250 on an MIA Mustang. The Schecter Banshee is an outstanding bass for $700.

Have a great low-end Sunday!

 

[Eon Sky]

I'll start with this. If I wait until it's formal and nice and neat, then who knows.

I love this bass! It's my new daily player. String spacing is a little tighter than on an SG (1 3/8" vs 1 5/8" E to G spacing at the nut), which suits me just fine. Two of my other 3 basses were more expensive, but the Banshee has absolutely the smoothest, fastest neck. The SG neck is finished the same as the body, and is a little bit sticky. The Ibanez neck is reasonably close to the Schecter. The neck on my '63 Fender J repro feels like fly paper compared to the others. Some day, it'll get a new neck and bridge. Or sold.

I restrung it straightaway with La Bella's, so I can't speak to how the stock Slinkys (45-105) play.

While the bridge supports top load in addition to thru body stringing, I decided to try the 760F-MUS Deep Talkers. They're a slightly lighter gage than the 760FS-S 45-105 sets I have on the SG and Ibby. At 43-60-82-104, they're not much thinner, but they have noticeably less tension than the standard set. Should be really good bending and vibratos, but will take be a bit of time to get used to. The 760F-MUS set is made specifically for the MIA Mustang, but fit perfectly on the Schecter. The only 'surprise' was the red silk instead of black (which I'd have preferred). If black becomes a requirement, I can always top load a set of the 760FS-S strings.

And a shout-out to Schecter for using a Black Tusq XL nut on a sub-$1000 guitar! And light weight vintage tuning machines!

It's proving comfortable to play, with nice contouring for the right forearm and belly. Hangs easily in playing position.

Mine weighs exactly 8 lbs, easily tolerable for me.

Setup. In one word...superb! Low, very playable action. Properly intonated (ever so slight adjustment needed on one string). The La Bella DTFs slotted right in.

The rosewood fretboard is much darker than the other rosewood fretboards I have. Looks great with the Carbon Grey body.

Control knobs are large, solid and operate smoothly. They feel like they'll hold up to regular use.

Construction is excellent. I've found no finish flaws. And the 5-bolt neck feels really solid.

In my opinion, this is a super value. Great playing. Great looking. Very well made. Now that I've gotten my hands on one, I am SUPER, SUPER happy that I didn't spend $1250 on an MIA Mustang. The Schecter Banshee is an outstanding bass for $700.

Have a great low-end Sunday!

That's a beautiful instrument and I love that headstock design. Congratulations, and play it in good health!

 

[dalkowski]

Don't love the name but dang if it doesn't seem to check all my boxes...

 

[Deleted member 268085]

Don't love the name but dang if it doesn't seem to check all my boxes...

They used their Banshee guitars as the design motif for the new bass, so gave it the Banshee name, too.

Here, I don't mind it. But it's a really good thing Ford never repurposed 'Edsel'.

 

[dalkowski]

They used their Banshee guitars as the design motif for the new bass, so gave it the Banshee name, too.

Here, I don't mind it. But it's a really good thing Ford never repurposed 'Edsel'.

Figured that much. See also: G&L's new Fallout basses.

Wonder if an "Edsel" bass would sell... Would have to have a lot of push-buttons.

 

[John Stephen]

Congrats! From your description, it sounds like a winnah.

 

[Maxdusty]

Wow...looks sweet. Congrats.
To be honest, the price might be a little high in the ultra competitive short scale bass market these days (wow, it seems like everyone and their grandmother is making them). If the price lowers by around $100 it should be a good option to consider. Seems like the budget tier is around $189-250, with the next tier starting at $399-699.

 

[Pep]

My Carbon Silver Banshee Bass will arrive tomorrow. Really anxious to play it.

 

[boscobound]

The Banshee short scale is advertised by Schecter as having carbon reinforcing rods in the neck. However, on some of the dealer sites the carbon rods aren't mentioned in the specs. Anyone know if their Banshee actually has the carbon reinforcing rods? If this bass does come with them should the neck be more stable as far as needing less seasonal truss rod adjustments as a typical maple neck without the carbon rods?

 

[Outbush]

I'll start with this. If I wait until it's formal and nice and neat, then who knows.

I love this bass! It's my new daily player. String spacing is a little tighter than on an SG (1 3/8" vs 1 5/8" E to G spacing at the nut), which suits me just fine. Two of my other 3 basses were more expensive, but the Banshee has absolutely the smoothest, fastest neck. The SG neck is finished the same as the body, and is a little bit sticky. The Ibanez neck is reasonably close to the Schecter. The neck on my '63 Fender J repro feels like fly paper compared to the others. Some day, it'll get a new neck and bridge. Or sold.

I restrung it straightaway with La Bella's, so I can't speak to how the stock Slinkys (45-105) play.

While the bridge supports top load in addition to thru body stringing, I decided to try the 760F-MUS Deep Talkers. They're a slightly lighter gage than the 760FS-S 45-105 sets I have on the SG and Ibby. At 43-60-82-104, they're not much thinner, but they have noticeably less tension than the standard set. Should be really good for bending and vibratos, but will take be a bit of time to get used to. The 760F-MUS set is made specifically for the MIA Mustang, but fit perfectly on the Schecter. The only 'surprise' was the red silk instead of black (which I'd have preferred). If black becomes a requirement, I can always top load a set of the 760FS-S strings.

And a shout-out to Schecter for using a Black Tusq XL nut on a sub-$1000 guitar! And light weight vintage tuning machines!

View attachment 3920161
View attachment 3920162

It's proving comfortable to play, with nice contouring for the right forearm and belly. Hangs easily in playing position.

Mine weighs exactly 8 lbs, easily tolerable for me.

Setup. In one word...superb! Low, very playable action. Properly intonated (ever so slight adjustment needed on one string). The La Bella DTFs slotted right in.

The rosewood fretboard is much darker than the other rosewood fretboards I have. Looks great with the Carbon Grey body.

Control knobs are large, solid and operate smoothly. They feel like they'll hold up to regular use.

Construction is excellent. I've found no finish flaws. And the 5-bolt neck feels really solid.

In my opinion, this is a super value. Great playing. Great looking. Very well made. Now that I've gotten my hands on one, I am SUPER, SUPER happy that I didn't spend $1250 on an MIA Mustang. The Schecter Banshee is an outstanding bass for $700.

Have a great low-end Sunday!

Thanks for the review - I am really interested in this bass. How would you characterise the sound? I play a PJ bass which is very versatile and I love but for the playability and lightweight of the shortscale added to what appears to be inherent quality I am wondering about maybe investing.