Man, I am just really impressed with some of the Asian beauties hitting the market lately. drool
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Schecter Apocalypse basses
- Thread starter el_Bajo_Verde
- Start date
Totally loved the hell out of the Schecter Apocalypse the other night when I stopped by a guitar center to kill time before a gig. Of course whenever I’m in the market of a new instrument it has to be in the $1k price range. That just goes to show you who I am...
I've had this bass about 2 months and I'm not any less floored by the tone than the day I received it. The finest instrument I've played in years in both tone & playability. It is incredible.
Thank you for your feedback. This makes me more inclined to save a little towards it now drool
Could you tell me a little more on your experience with the bass in said “tone & playability Bloo?”
The overall range & variety of tone(s) on hand, in a single instrument, is just unbelievable - parallel mode for modern highs, single coil mode for upper-midrange bite, series mode for thickness/growl/punch. The Schecter USA Custom Shop pickups are some of the best sounding pickups I've ever heard - and coupled with all that coil tapping - whew! This thing is flat out amazing. It shines across multiple genres.
I've had a few Schecter Stiletto models and those are great instruments, but the Apocalypse has got much more meat on the bone so to speak, in the way of fullness - even though they are passive, the pickups in the Apocalypse are a lot more powerful (about twice as loud) & have a lot more beefiness to the tone than any of the Stiletto models I've had - but then again the EMG's in those are voiced intentionally for uber-clarity, especially in the top end. I dig the EMG tone, but they don't have the beefiness or the volume of the Schecter USA pickups. The Apocalypse double J Humbuckers can get a crystal clear, modern top end in parallel mode but the top end frequencies are voiced lower than EMG's - and come across as more natural and less "active/hyped" but still very clear, if that makes sense. I hope the one you tried out had a decent (new-ish) set of strings on it to really showcase the true tone of the instrument & the coil tap modes. EMG comparison aside, the Schecter USA pickups are simply some of the best sounding pickups I've ever had, including many of the high dollar aftermarket brands. I don't know if Schecter USA Custom Shop sells pickups directly, but if not, they should.
As far as playability, I like really low action and the Apocalypse did not fuss one bit about giving it up - I guess that speaks to the great fretwork/nut/overall build quality. The B string is incredibly clear & defined - and mean sounding. One of the best I've ever experienced on a 5-string. It's also one of the lighter 5 strings I've had as well - a pound or two lighter than the Stiletto models I've owned. Basically, it's all around home run in every manner. It's got a thinner neck (front-to-back) than the Stilleto models and feels like a "fast" neck in that regard - but not an uber-thin pencil neck. Feels familiar & perfect to me. It may perhaps be one of the most expensive models at the moment in the Schecter lineup, but it's worth every bit of the extra money over the models just beneath it, price-wise IMO.
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Wow, can’t tell you how moved I feel from reading your in depth experience of the Apocalypse. Hopefully when I’m near a guitar center that has one on floor I’ll play at it again but, from what I remember it felt really good around the neck like of an Ibanez bass which are one of my top favorites. I’ve never been a fan of Schecter until I picked up the apocalypse and really loved it for its neck thru design and incredible tone. Since I had a very brief moment with it due to the store closing, that’s all I had gathered from my experience..
Edit: I will have to admit one flaw from the apocalypse, idk if it was from people abusing the instrument but when dialing the tone knobs, one of the knobs fell off and I had a hard time sticking it back in without it looking like it was broken 
Thanks for the kind words - yeah, I'm pretty stoked about this instrument, I guess it shows. I truly have not been this impressed with an instrument in years. Funny you mention Ibanez - I have an SR1305E that is pretty lonely these days since I got the Apocalypse. To be really honest, the Apocalypse is a better instrument - at least for me. It's just as light, built just as well, and the tone (although subjective) is hands down better with the Apocalypse, IMO. I'll be keeping the Ibanez, it's not going anywhere anytime soon, but still left wondering what will become of it down the road. But anyway, the Apocalypse sure feels like a new level of quality from Schecter that I've not experienced before in other models - and that's always a very good thing to see from a company. It's not that other Schecter models don't have most of the same core fundamentals like dual carbon reinforcement rods, neck-through, etc. but there's something pretty magical with the neck-thru Swamp Ash body, coil tapping, ebony board, Schecter USA pickups in the Apocalypse model that sure came together in a pretty amazing way - well worth a second look.
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Schecter has the largest collection of left handed models of any company I can think of but unfortunately I don't think the Apocalypse has not been offered yet as a lefty. Perhaps a lefty version is in the works? Not sure.
Edit: I will have to admit one flaw from the apocalypse, idk if it was from people abusing the instrument but when dialing the tone knobs, one of the knobs fell off and I had a hard time sticking it back in without it looking like it was broken
That's definitely GC abuse - sad, but par for course.
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Holy cow!
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It's a great instrument, but GAS got the better of me (thanks TB)!
I've been on a real P/J kick in the last year and I ended up using the Apocalypse as a partial trade in on a Yamaha BB2025x. I do miss the Apocalypse's tight B string and the variety of tones but ultimately, a P/J is where my heart is at the moment.
OK thanks for the update. That GAS is hard to resist. I had a Schecter C4 for many years and loved it, but traded it in a couple of years ago because I needed to go short-scale, due to a number of physical reasons related to ...<gasp>....aging. But I often think about that Schecter. Of all the basses I've owned, that was my favorite. So it was interesting for me to see your review of the Apocalypse from a year ago.
I do miss the light weight of the Apocalypse - definitely one of the lightest 5 strings I've owned in quite some time.
Tagging onto this old thread.....
I have an opportunity to buy an apocalypse EX - It's the extra long scale version. As I understand, this was intended to be set up for BEAD. I normally just play EADG. Can this be set up for EADG? Will there by any problems other than finding extra long strings?
I have an opportunity to buy an apocalypse EX - It's the extra long scale version. As I understand, this was intended to be set up for BEAD. I normally just play EADG. Can this be set up for EADG? Will there by any problems other than finding extra long strings?
There's no reason you can't set it up EADG; uprights are tuned EADG and have scale lengths over 40 inches. (I've considered getting an EX for D-standard or C-standard tuning.) You may want to go with slightly lighter strings than you usually use to keep the tension similar. As you say, the biggest challenge will be finding the strings. Remeber: it's the winding length that matters. This bass can be set up string-though or top-loading, so that gives you additional options for winding length.
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Thanks. Makes sense. It's only 1" though right? Does 1" really make a difference? (that's what she said.....)
It seems standard strings come with plenty of length. I'm always snipping off at least 6' of string when I change. With the 2x2 headstock configuration, would standard length strings work?
