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What's Wrong With Schecter Basses?

#141
jertravis said:
Purchased a Diamond Series Blackjack on a whim from MF DOD. I love just about everything about it except the TONE! Sounds metallic/clattery. Shipped it back to Schecter they replaced a preamp set up and new strings (?) Made no difference. Tried to sell on CL for a loss....no luck. I've decided to keep it and try to figure out how I can change the tone. I guess I should start with different pickups(has SD's) or by pass the preamp. Anybody have suggestions? I have been using my P for gigs but it's heavy and I have a sore back by the end of the gig. Maybe I'm to old for this! (61)
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I know what you mean, I bought a Blackjack 4 recently, just to see what Duncan's new "Blackout" electronics were all about. The bass has the most unusual sounding high freqs I've ever heard. Extremely brittle sounding. I searched the Duncan site, as far as I can tell, both the pickups and preamp are USA-made Duncan stuff, and not priced cheaply either.

Seems to me that the Blackout elecs were purpose-designed. Maybe for the "metal" crowd, who might appreciate an uber-aggressive sound. The Schecter Blackjack can certainly roll that way.

But I wanted a different sound, still modern but a little smoother. So I installed a used set of Seymour Duncan Phase 2 humbuckers. Same size, dropped right in. That tamed the crazy high freqs, but the stock preamp is still a little too edgy sounding for me.

I have a different Duncan preamp I can try next. Hopefully I can make it sound more interesting, because I love everything else about the bass. Such as....

Mahogany body
3-piece mahogany neck, set-in construction, nicely carved volute
Ebony fret board
Carved top, quilted maple, with fancy binding, matching headstock
Gorgeous satin 3-tone sunburst
Weighs a smidge over 8lbs
Plays itself, balances perfectly
 
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#143
because so many people that never have even touched one, offer their preconceived negative thoughts as gospel....."it's no fender". I played schecters for years and had great luck. They are way better than any fender you will find comparably priced. Enjoy your bass and feed the haters beans!!
 
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#147
JSandbloom said:
Huge? Sounds like a cardboard box with a pickup to me!
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I've never bought the line that weight == tone. I've had too many feather-weight and chambered basses that sounded great without breaking my back. I made an exception with the Schecter, but I normally don't buy any bass that is over 9lbs unless it is going to hang on the wall. I just can't carry them for 3 hour gigs.
 
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#150
[skyraider] said:
I've never bought the line that weight == tone. I've had too many feather-weight and chambered basses that sounded great without breaking my back. I made an exception with the Schecter, but I normally don't buy any bass that is over 9lbs unless it is going to hang on the wall. I just can't carry them for 3 hour gigs.
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I have a hard time believing that anyone who has stepped back and listened to a full band mix can say that a feather weight bass has the same midrange punch as a 8-10lb bass. I've done it with similar pickup configuration bass, and the difference is night and day. The lighter basses seem to have a huge scoop in the mids that need to have a mid control to compensate for. Which the schecters I've owned only were 2 band. Mids as we all know are your presence in a mix, without them you are nothing or a 90's fusion bass player.

If theres an argument then lets get out our recording interfaces and do a test!
 
#151
My lone 5-string is a Schecter Studio 5. It's really nice, and I've had it for 7 years without any complaints. It's hardly my main bass though, I bought it to play with some stoner metal guys I'm friends with, who happen to like floppy guitar strings. Those guys never knocked the brand when I got it, but mentioned that they never saw anything from them that interested them. This other guitarist they knew showed up though, and when I pulled out that bass, he looked at me like I just strapped on a banjo.
 
#152
JSandbloom said:
I have a hard time believing that anyone who has stepped back and listened to a full band mix can say that a feather weight bass has the same midrange punch as a 8-10lb bass. I've done it with similar pickup configuration bass, and the difference is night and day. The lighter basses seem to have a huge scoop in the mids that need to have a mid control to compensate for. Which the schecters I've owned only were 2 band. Mids as we all know are your presence in a mix, without them you are nothing or a 90's fusion bass player.

If theres an argument then lets get out our recording interfaces and do a test!
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Amen.. I showed how crappy my fender jazz bass was in another posting that i'm sure everybody hated.... haha.

I also owned a schecter orange studio 5 bass.. which sounded ok in the low end.. I remember it had EMG pickups.. which I traded in to Sam Ash for another bass.. i probably should have kept the pickups.. but other than that, the bass wasn't boom.. it was just another thin sounding clickity clak bass..
 
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#153
JSandbloom said:
I have a hard time believing that anyone who has stepped back and listened to a full band mix can say that a feather weight bass has the same midrange punch as a 8-10lb bass. I've done it with similar pickup configuration bass, and the difference is night and day. The lighter basses seem to have a huge scoop in the mids that need to have a mid control to compensate for. Which the schecters I've owned only were 2 band. Mids as we all know are your presence in a mix, without them you are nothing or a 90's fusion bass player.

If theres an argument then lets get out our recording interfaces and do a test!
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Well, you'd have to have two instruments with identical electronics, identical preamp settings, identical strings, pickups the same distance from the strings, but ONLY different wood weights recorded using identical recording gear for such a test to have any merit. Otherwise the comparison won't be valid. Otherwise the comparison would really be a comparison of electronics, not of wood weights. IOW, you'd have to eliminate all variables except for the weight for the test to work.

But since I've gotten LOTS of compliments on the tone of my lightest basses from seasoned musicians, bassists, audience, sound pros, etc., I'm going to assume that weight isn't the deciding factor.
 
#155
I had a model T that was so sick. Only reason I traded it was I went to 5 strings. Always lesser expensive instruments tend to gain a bad rep from those that have limited smarts. Fact is, Schecters are super solid instruments no doubt about it.
 
#156
even-the-son-of-god-is-disappointed-thumb.jpg

[skyraider] said:
Well, you'd have to have two instruments with identical electronics, identical preamp settings, identical strings, pickups the same distance from the strings, but ONLY different wood weights recorded using identical recording gear for such a test to have any merit. Otherwise the comparison won't be valid. Otherwise the comparison would really be a comparison of electronics, not of wood weights. IOW, you'd have to eliminate all variables except for the weight for the test to work.

But since I've gotten LOTS of compliments on the tone of my lightest basses from seasoned musicians, bassists, audience, sound pros, etc., I'm going to assume that weight isn't the deciding factor.
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I feel like the point was completely lost…. Anyway I will take my 10lb passive 70's Precision and get my naturally fat tone and you balsa wood bass playin' bloats can tweak your 30 band onboard eq's and sonic maximizers and do you do what you guys do. :-)
 
#157
[skyraider] said:
A while back I was talking to a seasoned bassist about my instruments and I told him I have a Schecter Studio 5 fretless. He kinda wrinkled his nose at that like I'd just farted or something. I asked him what he thought was so awful about it and he said something like "I dunno... Just... Schecter??" To which I responded by enumerating the things I liked about the bass, such as the tone, the appearance and playability. He just shrugged it off with "I guess..."

So I've had this bass for about three or four years now and I still like it. Still have only one real complaint about it, and that it the weight-- it's a bit on the chunky side. But since it's fretless I only play it on the occasional acoustic gig, where I'm sitting down.

So I'm curious to see if this guy is just being a bit snobby or if they have somehow gotten a bad reputation for some reason that I'm unaware of...?
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Don't feel bad. I sold an 810 cab once and the buyer came to pick it up. Talked shop a little. Talked about his fenders. He asked what I was playing So I told warwick thumb neck through 5 string as it was my main bass at the time. He'd never heard of it.

As for schecter the dealers don't really carry them around here. Same deal with G&L. The only schecter I've played through my own rig was a stiletto studio 5 a bassist in a band we played a few shows with had. i don't remember it well, I've probably played a hundred basses since then. But i remember thinking it was a good value. It wasn't a neck through warwick but for the money it was a pretty good bass.
 
#158
Acoustic356 said:
To quote Taylor Swift: "haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate... So shake it off.... Shake it off."

If you stay around the forum long enough, you will find that people dislike everything from Fender basses to Fodera basses. If you're happy with it, I wouldn't worry. The only time you really have to worry is when you get a recording contract, and the engineer recording your first album has a bias against the bass. Many famous musicians have changed brands/basses over trivial stuff like that.
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yeah sure, show me a post with someone who hates a Fedora bass.. please show me.. haha
 
#159
JSandbloom said:
I feel like the point was completely lost…. Anyway I will take my 10lb passive 70's Precision and get my naturally fat tone and you balsa wood bass playin' bloats can tweak your 30 band onboard eq's and sonic maximizers and do you do what you guys do. :)
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Why would I want a 10lb bass when I love the sound of my 8.2lb bass? And when everyone who hears my "balsa wood" bass gushes over the tone, it just makes the idea of lugging around a boat anchor seem ridiculous.
 

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