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Schecter Stiletto Studio 5 - Good Bass?

D

dubbroc

Aug 26, 2010
29
0
California, San Jose
www.myspace.com
#1
Hi,
Shopping around for a bass I ran into this the Schecter Stiletto Studio 5. Its everything I want especially at a low price of $749. How is Schecter as a company? Will the bass last and not fall apart a few months down the road? I noticed Schecter sells guitars at Best Buy, kinda made me think twice about the company. I just want to make sure. Any feedback is appreciated thanks for your help.
 
#2
I've had mine about two years, which might as well be a day around these parts, but the only thing I've had to do to it is replace the strings...and one battery.

It sounds great, it feels good, and it was inexpensive.

Schecters are reliable, high-quality instruments, especially in the upper Stiletto range. Some people don't dig their sounds, and they don't get much love here on TB (mostly, in my opinion, because Schecter is not Fender) but they are still good stuff.

To add:

At one point, after reading on TB about how a good setup can make an instrument so much more playable, I decided I needed to get mine setup. I didn't have any problems with it, but the local music store only charged $25, so I took it in. I had had the bass for abou 1.5 years and I figured maybe it was due. Their bass tech called me a few hours later and said "So...what do you want me to do with this thing? The neck is straight, the action is as low as it can get without becoming a rattle factory. There isn't much to do." So, we talked about it for a minute and decided there wasn't much to do. I went to in to pick it up, and he said he took the strings off and conditioned the fretboard, and polished the frets for me (and put the strings back on of course). He charged $5 for the work.
 
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#3
I bought the Schecter Stilletto 5 fretless about 3 months ago-have already logged 30+ gigs with it, generally playing it about 1-2 hours at each gig (it shares time with my Ibanez SDGR 6 fretted), and it's one of the most beautiful, well-set up basses that I've ever played, hands down.
Go for it!!
 
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#4
There's nothing wrong with Schecter as a company, but you can tell the difference between a $300 Schecter and a $700 Schecter. In the Stiletto line, the difference in quality really seems to hit at the $500-$600 point. The Custom, Studio and Elite have some upgraded hardware options, as well as higher quality electronics and body woods than the Deluxe or Extreme. I've known several people that have owned, and gigged, the Studio and were very happy.

Ultimately, like any bass, you have play a Schecter to see if you like the sound of it. If you do, buy it and you'll find that you'll be in the company of a very satisfied Schecter owners on TB.
 
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#6
I owned a Studio 8 for a couple of years and loved it. I only sold it because I'm becoming much more old school in my old age. I have to admit, I've become your classic "P Bass with flats" snob. The only thing that gives any element of modern cool is the fact that my P is a 5-string.

The guitar tech at the shop where I bought the Schecter always raves about their basses. He said of all the basses that he works on that are built overseas and set up here in the states that Schecters are the highest quality and the best value. he's at Drum City Guitar Land in Wheat Ridge, CO and you can find them on the web. I'm sure if you called him and asked him why he feels that way that he'd be happy to talk to you. He's a very cool guy and has been the guitar tech there forever.

Hope that helps.
 
#10
I have owned a Schecter Stilleto Custom 4 for six years and its been a very "road-worthy" bass. I used it for studio and stage, it always gets a lot of compliments on the finish (quilted Black cherry, a popular finish for Schecter) and paid $625 new from a local shop.

My complaint about the bass is the EMG Hz pickups; (which was previously mentioned in this thread) the pickups are hot and treble heavy, the other issue I had came just before a major gig my band was playing when the battery had lost its connection with the points in the battery box causing a loss of sound altogether...I panicked and quickly switched to an MM Stingray back-up. I had my bass tech remedy the issue the week after the gig and all has been well since. I still play it frequently but its not my may bass much these days.

I would say go ahead and buy it, just be aware that you may want to swap pre-amp and pups during your ownership.
 
#11
christamofo said:
I'm looking to buy one too,

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I have no idea if this one is one of the good ones though?

any advice would be very welcome thanks chaps.
Click to expand...

That'd be about $465 USD, which is a little higher than that same bass can be had for in the US.

http://www.worldmusicsupply.com/schecter-c4-black-cherry.html

But as that color is no longer manufacturered on the C-4, I'd say it's going to be a good deal.

The C-4 is a good instrument, even if not as awesome as the higher end Riot or Stiletto instruments. It's definitely a good piece of hardware, though.
 
#13
HaMMerHeD said:
That'd be about $465 USD, which is a little higher than that same bass can be had for in the US.

http://www.worldmusicsupply.com/schecter-c4-black-cherry.html

But as that color is no longer manufacturered on the C-4, I'd say it's going to be a good deal.

The C-4 is a good instrument, even if not as awesome as the higher end Riot or Stiletto instruments. It's definitely a good piece of hardware, though.
Click to expand...

Wow, this is second hand so I'm offering them £200 and no more.

Thanks for the info.
 
#15
I guess it all depends on what kind of sound you want out of it. I think it's a pretty versatile bass.



This is a video of me playing my Schecter Stilletto Elite 5. It's modded a tad bit to accommodate tuning it EADGC instead of the low B. But 99% of everything in this video is stock equipment. Give it a spin. Maybe it'll give you some insight on if it's right for you or not.

I got a slick deal on mine because of a couple minor chips in the finish at a store for $450 instead of the ~800 range :)
 
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#17
I have to say that I'm very impressed with Schecter. I was in my local store last weekend and I picked up a Riot 4 Deluxe that they had on clearance for $212. I figured for that money, I didn't have much to lose so I bought it after playing around on it. Now, I can't put it down. The set-up is first rate and it plays very well. With the current electronics package (Schecter branded electronics) it leans towards the rock sound which is fine since that's what I've been playing on it. My Lakland 55-01 just sits there and stares at me as I play the new Riot. It plays so easily and has such a nice rock punch that I have a hard time not playing it. I will admit that in the future, I'll be putting in a set of USA barts and electronics just because I would like to be able to get some of the jazz tones (music, not jazz bass) that I get on the Lakland. Even with that expense thrown in, I'll be way under the actual value of this instrument.

I say go for it.
 
#18
Schecter has a long history of high qaulity guitars and basses thats well deserved. The wood choices for the bodies of late doesnt suit me except for the very few with mahogany body. Surpisingly they have used this wood for one of their more inexpensive new models the Riot. When I tried several schecters yrs ago I found the bolt on necks more comfortable then their neck thru body ones. I did own one of their trem equipted guitars yrs ago, but it didnt last due to poorly done trem pocket which didnt allow for any useful amount of upward bend when I set the guitar up for my pref of very low action. They didnt cut the rear of the floor to proper depth for those of us who prefer full floating & very low action.

The emg hz sopabar pups and the stock 2 band eq's are good imo. More for those who prefer crunchy voiced pups rather then smooth. However if I owned one again Id replace the active eq preeamp and perhaps switch to active emg pups. Depending how I liked the change a diff preamp gave it. Id use the basslines blackout 2band as replacement due to better imo upper treble choice for its selectable treble freq's.

All that said, Id prob go for a similar price range ESP Ltd instead. Cause to me their qaulity for price is a little higher. With the exception of the Schecter Riot with its mahogany body simply out of body wood pref.
 
#19
darkstorm said:
if I owned one again Id replace the active eq preamp and perhaps switch to active emg pups. Depending how I liked the change a diff preamp gave it.
Click to expand...


I have a 2008 Stiletto Elite 5, that I really like, but in order to get the tone I was looking for I swapped out the EMG-HZ pickups and replaced them with a new pair of EMG-40P5 active pickups. I also replaced the stock EMG-BTS preamp with a new Aguilar OBP-2TK preamp. Now it's killer. Although EBMM are my main basses, this bass is a fine addition to my arsenal.

TD
 
#20
NBD...well sometime in the future. I am resurrecting this old thread for didn't see a need to make a new one. After a discussion and working on a song and finding songs that appeal to me played on a 5 string I decided I am going to pursue to get one. However, between credit card debt, and recent big purchases at the earliest I can even consider doing this would be the month of my birthday (May). However, doesn't cost me anything to obsess and shop around.

I own a Fender Elite American P-Bass and I love it. The controls are a bit overwhelming for never quite know what works for me and etc. It's like a maze with no exit but I am really not complaining. With that said as much as I love Fender and was thinking of going Fender I also thinking I want to go with another brand just to change things up; hell my acoustic bass is also a Fender.

So I am doing Google searches and YouTube and so on for the fact is I don't know bass brands nearly as well as I know guitar brands. There are brands I never even heard of and found bass's as much as 15k new. So this is going to be a process but a fun one I am sure.

Anyway, the reason I resurrected this thread is on a 6 top bass list I saw this and remembered my favorite sales guy said he is a Schecter guy. This one caught my eye:
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Specifically this one:
stiletto-studio-5-ff-hsn-tilt.png


Also, I am giving serious thought of going fretless. In addition to this project I have plans to visit this store for to my understanding the owner is a bass player himself, and the store has a wide variety of bass's which I don't see all that much these days even at GC. Don't get me wrong they have a selection but it's not nearly as extensive as their guitar selection.

Here is the store in case you are wondering. If anyone been to it love to hear what you have to say about it. If you can think of another store within reasonable driving distance (2hrs tops) from Fairfield County CT I am all ears.

Alpha Audio Works

Forgot to add, my $$$ limit is 3k.
 
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