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Schecter Diamond series only
- Thread starter camsterx
- Start date
Bassist4Eris
Frat-Pack Sympathizer
Welcome to Talkbass! I have a Schecter Stiletto Studio 8. Right now I've got the stock EMG pups, but I'm interested in an upgrade, so hopefully we'll get some good suggestions.
I have a Schecter Diamond Stiletto Deluxe. It has G&B pickups with 'Schecter' written in white on the front. The screws are mounted at each corner.
Either I've broken the pickups or they were broken to begin with. They have really low, uneven output across the strings. Schecter didn't stick with this design for long, as they started putting EMG DC35 style pickups in the Stiletto range. What is interesting is that a DC35 will not fit in my bass. From memory, the routes are 34 mm wide in my bass whereas most soapbars seem to start at 38 mm width. The pickups in my bass are 110 mm long, which is oddly oversized. I guess Schecter used the exact same pickups in their 5 string Stiletto models and knew that this G&B pickup would sense both string configurations.
The one pickup that would fit is the Bartolini models designed to fit Cort Curbows, which also happen to fit Cort A4 basses. The problem is that these are more expensive than the bass itself...
One thing to note; Schecter's wiring dress was disgusting in this bass. Some wires had their insulation melted from being in close proximity to the iron when the installer was soldering another section of the bass. The hot lead from the battery clip was awkwardly spliced at a point that was shrouded in black electrical tape. Why they didn't use heatshrink is beyond me as the electrical tape was unwinding and making a sticky mess of the interior.
Either I've broken the pickups or they were broken to begin with. They have really low, uneven output across the strings. Schecter didn't stick with this design for long, as they started putting EMG DC35 style pickups in the Stiletto range. What is interesting is that a DC35 will not fit in my bass. From memory, the routes are 34 mm wide in my bass whereas most soapbars seem to start at 38 mm width. The pickups in my bass are 110 mm long, which is oddly oversized. I guess Schecter used the exact same pickups in their 5 string Stiletto models and knew that this G&B pickup would sense both string configurations.
The one pickup that would fit is the Bartolini models designed to fit Cort Curbows, which also happen to fit Cort A4 basses. The problem is that these are more expensive than the bass itself...
One thing to note; Schecter's wiring dress was disgusting in this bass. Some wires had their insulation melted from being in close proximity to the iron when the installer was soldering another section of the bass. The hot lead from the battery clip was awkwardly spliced at a point that was shrouded in black electrical tape. Why they didn't use heatshrink is beyond me as the electrical tape was unwinding and making a sticky mess of the interior.
Bassist4Eris
Frat-Pack Sympathizer
Wow, that's surprising to me. You bought this bass new? The control cavity in my Stiletto Studio 8 is very professionally done: neat and well-shielded, with very clean and solid soldering. It's one of several things I noted with satisfaction when I took delivery of the instrument.
I guess it depends on the guy doing the job at the factory.
Bass was second hand, but the owner was a teenage kid who had never looked at the wiring. The finish was intact on the screws of the battery compartment, which suggests minimal tampering.
I guess the bass is an early production model. The finish has yellowed considerably (tan line photos if you want?) and the hardware is black. The pickups are market "Schecter" which never cropped up on the later models I remember seeing in shops.
The insulation was partly melted on the wiring on the blend pot. Because they used small pots it is pretty cramped on there. I was surprised to see that the wires were tack-soldered onto the pot however, rather than properly through the eyelets. A lower-wattage soldering iron with a fine tip would have done (says he who uses a high watt iron all the time).
Worst of all, the battery box didn't fit the cavity corner it was screwed down in. The battery box was a piece of bent metal, that was screwed into the cavity floor. The cavity floor was so badly routed here that there was a rising ramp of wood next to the potentiometers that did not look intentional at all. The battery box was folding in on itself due to its cramped location, and as such a PP3 battery could not be made to properly fit in the box. A dedicated battery box route, outwith the control cavity, with a quick-release cover would have been a much better option. As such, removing the back cover is a hassle and the screws already spin freely in their holes suggesting that the tap is already worn out in the wood. In such occasions I tend to coat the tips of the screws in Titebond 1 and screw them in. The glue makes the wood expand to fit the screw, and it hardens the wood as well. Great for bridges when you want a solid contact.
How would I check? There is a gaudy "Made in China" sticker on the headstock volute, but I don't recall seeing a s/n anywhere.
Bassist4Eris
Frat-Pack Sympathizer
Perhaps they've improved them over the years. Mine is (IIRC) 2010.
FWIW, mine's MIK.
I was wrong, it says "Crafted in China" on the volute sticker.
More weirdness.
The tuners are black no-name Grover mini copies. I took them off to properly clean the headstock. On re-tightening, the barrel nut stripped most of the thread of the tuner. Now it tightens to a certain point and flakes out, becoming slack again.
Lastly, the potentiometers were mounted on an insane number of those gripped stand-off things. Usually pots will have one each, to grip the wood slightly and stop the pot hunting around. When I took out the preamp I was left with 20+ of these things.
