Thumbs up for the honesty on the guitar. Hey, every company now and again can have one "slip through the cracks" as you stated, but that was beyond a reasonable exception from the rule. Hopefully Schecter sees this and fixes the QC issue asap.
It's pretty rare for Schecter to have QC issues, not to say that it doesn't happen. I have gotten lucky with 5-6 Schecters that have come and gone through the collection without any issues.
I've had a few over the years. Including exclusively playing a C1 Elite and an Omen 6 for a couple of years. Every Schecter I've touched, including my buddies Banshee, has been stellar. This sheds light on the possibility inspection doesn't include plugging it in and actually playing/listening to it. God damn, what a bummer.
Eh I’ve had like 6-7 schecters over time and 3 of them had bad QC issues I needed replaced afte they were they were great apart from the small string buzz I could just never get away. Also they never really intonated totally perfect okay for live not okay for studio
Played a brand new Schecter SLS today and it was absolutely amazing. Never seen a bad Schecter. Mine are fine and everyone I know who plays one has been flawless. Hate it happened to you.
Fixing a guitar that has quality issues like the one in the video is not a good practice. It excuses the poor quality and supports it. Companies rarely change unless revenue and profit are effected. If people continue to purchase and accept subpar products, it eliminates the motivation for the company to improve. I used to fix minor things on new guitars, but I refuse now and immediately send the guitar back. If you find one problem, odds are there are more and you may not notice those until it's too late. Vote with your dollars folks, it's the only way the companies and manufacturers will hear you. Also, if time is money, what is the net cost of the guitar to Kyle?
I agree on that, time is very much money. It is really tempting to fix the issues though because I'm thinking it's already here, it's not that bad, I don't want to spend the time to send it back and wait for a new one 😂
100%. Don’t excuse issues just because it’s an affordable line. CNC machines cut the guitars to very exact specifications. There’s a minuscule margin or error or it’s a faulty piece of wood. Those guitars should be recycled for wood pulp or something. QC for these companies won’t improve if they don’t see instruments coming back.
I bought a Jackson Rhodes v and was so happy with the quality on the outside for a $450.00 guitar…until I looked in the trem cavity.One of claw screws is at a 45degree angle sticking out sideways.But the thing is it plays and sounds great as it is! Do I just leave it like that and wait till something snaps on me?!
Very fair points. I think, however, that what Kyle did here by bringing this to the attention of possibly thousands, or tens of thousands of potential Schecter customers in an honest straightforward way is arguably far more damning to Schecters bottom line. Am I going to buy that guitar after watching Kyle’s video? Nope!
Don’t apologize I would be so stressed and pissed!!! Thanks for continuing on and pushing through. I’m new to your channel and enjoy what you’re doing so, keep doing what your doing !!🤘🏻😎🤘🏻
Even if not for the shitty shim in the bridge pin slot, grounding is still usually an issue with the coated bridge. I have a black coated tune-o-matic and ended up sanding off the finish on the bushing and stud to the raw metal for a better connection for the ground. Helped a ton.
Love the honesty, man. I've not played a bad Schecter, however I've not played one made in the last 5 or so years. All of my schecters but one are 10 to 20 years old and from the Korean factory. Great guitars
I have 3 Schecter guitars...absolutely love each one of them. It all started with my Damien Elite FR-6. Came with Gotah locking tuners, EMG 81/85 humbuckers, and a Floyd Rose Special. Second I went with a Hellraiser C-1 FRS. l really like the Sustaniac/EMG 81 combo and the Black Cherry finish. My latest and favorite is the Schecter C-7 Apocalypse FRS Red Reign.
I bought a brand new Demon 7 during the Pandemic. Plays absolutely great and never had a single issue. Still has the QC Sticker from their factory so I know mine was number 49 of that run and who inspected it.
On the ESP/LTD guitars, they use a larger bushing for the stop bars. They use a metric post but a SAE bushing width. I always have to look for replacements every time I swap hardware on an Eclipse. It looks like they just used a normal metric bridge stud there, which is why the hole is too big.
I have ALWAYS loved Explorer, V, Iceman and Destroyer models. I recently bought a Gibson RD reissue and it's THE guitar I've always wanted and never knew about.
I drove up to sweetwater and picked up a E1 FRS a few weeks back and love it so far. ZZounds has always taken care of me in the past so hopefully they help you out. Their parent company American music supply is usually pretty fair too. I might look into a evil twin next. my favorite guitar is my C1 Apocalypse so having the same neck finish but satin paint might be the right combo.
I recently purchased a new epiphone jerry cantrell wino. Same deal. Ground issue. The ground wire at the bridge was lose. I returned it and they gave it back to me still no good. I fixed it myself. I was very disappointed But now the guitar is working correctly I'm loving it.
I felt the same way as you did when I bought and returned a $1700 Jackson Concept Series King V. Whoever did the QC on that guitar did it with their eyes closed!
Ordered a gen 1 schecter Keith Merrow sig back in the day. Neck and fretwork was awesome...BUT... straight out of the box it was a very scratchy sounding volume knob with a similar issue you had with feedback. Had to take my brand new guitar into the local shop (who was not the original seller as i cannot buy schecter in my area) and had to pay for a complete rewiring. Sounds great now but really put a damper on the new guitar day experience, and added to the cost. I dont wanna say I'll never buy schecter again but i would 100% be looking at other companies first.
I got an Epiphone Lazarus from Sweetwater a couple months back. Everything on the guitar was great except for the bridge volume knob was extremely hard to turn between the 7 to 9 position. No way you could roll it with one finger. It didn't get damaged in shipping since it was in a case and the box showed no signs of damage. I contacted my rep who sent the issue to the repair shop. First I was sent a solid shaft pot when I needed a split shaft pot. Then they sent me a Gibson branded split shaft which was better than what came in the guitar. Even though it was a small issue, it took over a week to get resolved. I wasn't going to send the guitar back just because of one pot which I could replace. Plus the guitar otherwise played great and had a wild flame in the mahogany on the back of the headstock!
I recently got a Schecter from Zzounds. I am very grateful to them because without them allowing me to pay over 6 months I would have never been able to afford or get the guitar. I am very happy with my purchase. I did have to do my own setup and cut the nut better. For a $1300.00 guitar should not be an issue but no major issues. I got a Hellraiser Hybrid PT with Ultra Violet finish and EMG 57/66. This axe is a beast. Congrats on the NGD. Sorry for the issues but it happens.
This is why I went with an Ibanez. I was looking for a new guitar as my first one that is brand new. After seeing some Schecter reviews about the input jack, finish issues and problems with the nut or something. Once I saw electrical issues, I decided to roll with a new RG. Both actives, slightly different with Fishman’s instead of EMG’s. The RG was a bit more expensive but looks and plays phenomenal. One day I’ll get a Schecter hellraiser like the signature one that Jeff Loomis had. That was such a great guitar for the price, at least for a 7 string.
Funny, to me happened when i got my own RG7... grounding issues, frets a bit too sharp on edges and a small defect on the binding (for some reason, the laquer had a bit of the color of the body right under the lacquer, so unscrappable without removing all the lacquer... not big deal, but it will be always there, judging you from the 15th fret...), the guitar sounded awesome, but needed so much extra work after being so hyped and also not being exactly a cheap investment, i got really dissapointed...
I've dealt with so much customer service bullshit in the past week, I had audio monitors fail under warranty, my computer keyboard stopped working, Walmart broke my window during an oil change, and I feel every bit of the frustration you feel about this guitar hahaha. 😂 There's just so much shit that gets past the QC anymore. It's easier than ever to return items, so they don't bother to spend the money QCing each item. There really is no QC for any companies anymore, they'd rather deal with angry customers than make it right the first time it seems.
Noticed the Splawn amp in the background they are located a rocks throw away from my house in our little town, I get excited when I see their stuff anywhere.
I bought this exact guitar in July 2022. 2 months into owning it my bridge pickup completely stopped working. Schecter sent a new pickup but same issue. Dealer ended up having to rewire the entire guitar; bad solder connections, bad wire insulation, etc. Hopefully Schecter helped out the dealer afterward because it was a big job.
My Schecter SLS had two neck pickups in it and the coil split for the bridge wasn't wired in and didnt work. I don't think the new Schecter's are any different than any other guitar coming from WMI. They're good most of the time but when you prioritize quantity over quality this happens.
Bought a "blemished" Ibanez SRF706 bass from zZounds back in 2019. When I first played it, I found the bridge pickup to not be fully functional. Assumed it was possibly broken. Opened it up and foud a FOUR STRING bass pickup in a SIX STRING bass. QC are always human...
I’ve been having problems with schecter here lately. I bought a banshee with the sustainiac, and FR. It was advertised as setup to play. I got it home, immediately had to reset the Floyd rose. Noticed there was a burr on one of the screws for the Floyd rose, so it didn’t dive correctly. Instead of a smooth dive it would do dives in stages. I sent it back 3x to get repaired. Never got fixed. Ended up getting a full refund. Now I have a Damian elite that won’t stay in tune for nothing. If we’re being forced to pay upwards of 750, we expect quality.
I just bought a Schecter Omen Extreme. Beautiful guitar! However, I had a very similar experience. The guitar was super noisy out of the box...the noise went away when touching the pots. Checked with a multi-meter and found the bridge was not grounded. Open the cavity to find NO GROUND CABLE from the bridge. There was a piece of wire in the post hole, but it was just a fragment of wire. I ran a wire from the post hole to the first pot and the noise disappeared. Very irritating since Schecter and the store I purchased it from claim to inspect the guitars...
I have 53 guitars and there's something wrong with each and every one of them. Most are small issues that don't affect anything. The smallest of issues come from my 28 Gibsons which have tooling marks on the fretboard since they still have nibs. Except my 2015 LP. No nibs, no tooling marks. Perfect build.
Funny this is an "Explore-esque" video. A couple of years ago I bought a 7-string ESP LTD EX-307, from Zzounds. The costumer service I received was horrible when I called them to inform the big/back point was broken/ chipped!
Can Fishman Fluence pickups actually be microphonic? As far as I understand, the coils are printed on a solid PCB, and thus shouldn't have loose coils to vibrate in a microphonic manner. I thought their inability to become microphonic over time was one of their selling points. Hmmm. Either way, QC problems on a new instrument are definitely frustrating. Happy that you got it sorted out, mostly.
I recently bought a new schecter 8 string multiscale Omen elite, made from the indonesia factory, and I had to do a lot of set up work... 4 of the 8 grooves cut in the nut were too low causing it to sound like a bango as the strings rattled on the first fret. There was a scratch along the edge of the guitar that needed a touch up. The 24th fret was too high on the high e string and had to sand that down to get the 23rd fret note to sound out. One of the tuning knobs its kinda janky when you go to tune. The string action was all over the place and the pick ups were really low. After all that, I absolutely am in love with the guitar and it sounds and plays amazing... I bought it from drumcity guitarland and it said on their website they set up the guitars, it definitely was never touched.
I just want to add, I reached out to drumcityguitarland and they hooked me up with a contact to schecter who is sending me out a replacement tuning knob. Shout out to both of those companies for good customer service.
Wow! I recently bought a Schecter Banshee Mach 6 ($1600 guitar) and it is easily the best guitar I’ve played. Incredible QC as well! Hopefully, Schecter can lock down their control. They are offering some of the best price/performance guitars available currently.
I bought a Hellraiser Hybrid C-1 a few years ago. It was my first Schecter guitar, and the QC was terrible. One of the knobs was somehow pressed down so hard into the body of the guitar that it had bitten into the wood and wouldn't turn. At first I thought it may have happened during shipping, but there was no damage to the box. And upon further inspection it was cross threaded and installed at an angle. I still have no clue how it got pressed down into the body of the guitar though. The input jack was also missing a nut to hold it in place. I thought I may have gotten a dud so when I was recently in the market for an affordable explorer shaped guitar I ALMOST bought this exact one. It had the features I liked, and I do love the look. Based on this video I'm glad I didn't. I ended up going with a Snakebyte (in the new camo finish), and not only was the QC fantastic but it was set up spectacularly out of the box. Schecter may be a great company, but I don't trust their QC.
Hell yeah brother im glad you put schecter guitars on blast. You are completely correct ! A guitar that costs that much shouldn't have any problems, especially when its stamped by quality control Schecter USA. YOU HAD EVERY RIGHT TO GO OFF !
The shim on the bridge post is very common, normally posts are 1/2 inch and drill bits sale 1/2 inch so the shim is for it fit right, if you use a drill bit smaller the post may crack the wood, the issue here was the pickups, and the qc person who didnt check it out right
Finally someone who has the same opinion as me on the fishmans PU. I've struggled to find the right adjectives, but you nailed it in that description! great video, and too bad about the guitar.
Every Schecter I've had was almost flawless. One of the last the body mounted EMGs could not be raised close enough to the strings without the mounting screw popping out. I've had more problems recently with Jackson guitars.
With direct mount pickups you need to put more foam underneath to raise them and use longer screws. But judging by the description you probably are raising them too high anyway already.
I love Schecter but you’re totally on point with this. This should’ve been raised up at the factory, but at the very least QC should’ve picked up on this when it got to the US. I’m wondering if QC playing tests just involve a clean channel to determine “is there signal, yes/no” and after that three second test of “is it making noise through an amp” that box is checked. Obviously a test with some gain would’ve caught this. If Schecter isn’t checking these guitars for signal with some gain that’s concerning because, well look at the designs - they presumably know their target market. Stands to reason these are guitars for high gain applications, so test accordingly.
I bought a B-stock Amarok from Harkey Benton. When I first got it, i couldn't really find anything wrong with it other than a tiny superficial scratch on the back of the body and I couldn't get the low E intonation right. Something I've fixed the intonation, but over time I noticed the frets were bevelled on too much of an angle which makes the low E and high E to want to slip off the fretboard. I e-mailed Harley Benton, sent photos and video of the issue and they emailed me back with, it's within the standard angle. So I never was able to send it back. They were OK to talk to, but fixing the issue was not in their books.
I understand how you feel. I bought a LTD arrow and was so excited but when I picked it up at guitar center it was is terrible condition, dirt and dust all over it and the Floyd was so far forward it was ridiculous. Ended up sending it back for a replacement, got the replacement, it was clean but the Floyd is messed up, doesn't sit flush with the body, tuners are so hard to turn, the string blocks were installed wrong causing strings to pop out. I'm just sick of fixing stuff that I shouldn't have to, if I spend $800 on a guitar, it should be pretty much perfect when I get it other than just a simple setup on how I like it.
They could of at the very least, dowelled the hole and re-drilled it to the correct size. I’ve had this issue with an Epi SG before, which I fixed using epoxy resin, then re-drilled when it was cured. I also had a Washburn where the nut wasn’t even secured. The strings on that had a lot of buzz, so I took the strings off to check the nut and it popped right out as soon as tension was released on the strings.
A kind of interesting explorer esque shaped guitar I know of is the Hagstrom Fantomen. Strange Gibson RD/Explorer model, decent electronics, dense body, 25.5 in scale, it’s a fun piece of hardware
i had my share of problems with mass produced guitars so i finally paid the piper and dropped $2200 on an ESP Eclipse a couple years ago. it's been the end all be all of guitars for me. right out of the box i picked it up and it was like finally coming home. that was it for me. i sold all my other electrics because now everything else just feels like playing a toy by comparison.
I had a bad experience with Zzounds, thankfully it was cheap, i bought a new Kramer Baretta special. Before i even played it i clipped out the the little capacitor that prevented the volume from swelling, neck needed to be sanded and conditioned, and restrung. While doing that I found a bunch of scratches and when i finally plugged in the pickups were going in and out, im assuming the wire to the pickups need to be resoldered. Wasnt happy but at that point could not return it
I used to always be super jealous of my old high school buddy's Schecter C1 Lady Luck because it just seemed so pristine for a mid range superstrat-ish guitar back in the mid 2000's, it's a shame to see such a goof up by them. I'm a big fan of the explorer body style and enjoy my Dean Z79 for both sitting and standing play.
I just spent 1400 on a shecter e1 fr with sustaniac. It was mostly flawless except for 1 tiny area of the binding. Nothing to be too upset about. But for 1500 i would expect it to be dang near perfect. But it plays perfect so i decided to just keep it and deal with the blemish. It is one of the best guitars i have ever played so im glad i didnt send it back.
The explorer shape Guitar was the first few modification builds I made. Because. Straight lines.. mostly straight lines. Easier to do. Too many curved. Like a double cut away carved top. Difficult to start out with just garage guy toola . Like 3" ×21" belt sander. 7.4" Circular saw.. cordless drills. Ect..
Wow, great timing, I was literally just thinking about buying one of these soon. Any chance you'd check out the Jackson Demmelition explorer? The hardtail model looks pretty sweet.
Dont let this discourage you. This happens to every guitar company. No company can be perfect 100% of the time. I've owned 11 schecters and never had a single problem. I own 4 atm including 2 schecter Evil Twins, the V-1 & the Solo-II.
I am cracking up at the pickups feeding back every time you speak 😂. For real though, hope you get this one replaced or repaired and can enjoy it properly one day.
The bottom line with most manufacturers, but ESPECIALLY cheap outsourced ones is just because you're a Luthier doesn't mean you're a player that can feel or even hear problems, and just because you work in a guitar factor that doesn't necessarily mean most guitarists would consider you a Luthier. In the mass produced stuff, Carvin and PRS were the only favorites that really have been putting out more or less flawless instruments for like 30 years. Ibanez Japan did a great job for a long time. Ihaven't played any in the last 15or ao years. Everything else has been a bunch of compromise and too high a chance of getting a lemon for me to ever consider ordering blind.
Literally just bought a Yamaha trbx 604 from zzounds off of reverb for like 100 dollars off the other day and it should come tomorrow. Crazy that I see you mentioning them, hope that bass comes perfect because as a recently turned 18 year old highschool student I am not rich
That grounding issues sounds very similar to what Glenn Fricker expieranced with a Harley Benton explorer a few months ago, something to do with the paint they used for the bridge
Sorry to hear about the guitar. That is unacceptable for any new guitar, let alone one in that price range. I only own one Schecter, a 2010 made in Korea Diamond that I picked up in near mint condition for $150 (with a quality gig bag). That guitar is phenomenal and one of the best guitars I own. I still remember not believing the guy was actually going to sell me the guitar at that price and trying to leave as quickly as possible before he changed his mind..
All import guitar brands have seen a decrease in QC in the wake of the pandemic. It's rare for Schecter to have such atrocious QC issues, but there have been more reports of duds leaving the factory than usual in the last couple of years. QC does seem to be returning to normal (as in pre-pandemic) levels in 2023 so far, but a good chunk of imported axes made from mid 2020 to late 2022 will have moderate issues it seems.
I just bought the same guitar, but it is a C1. I am having all kinds of tuning issues. I was able to intonate the guitar, but my low E is always out when I play an E power chord. It also wants to fall out after about 10 min of playing. This is my first guitar with locking tuners. I can tune up my old 38 special budget Schecter faster, and it holds tune better than my new $1400 guitar...
That honestly sounds like the feedback Glenn and Andrew baena got on those cheap matte black Harley bentons, which turned out to be the coating on the bridge as in the powder coating was too thick and it wasn't grounding properly
I have a bunch of Schecters, recently the QC has been horrible. My buddy bought a Reaper fan fret, $1250.00 guitar, and it was maybe one of the worst guitars I've ever seen. Build quality, wood selection, fret finish, end to end a pile of trash... He sent it back, and bought a Harley Benton 7 string for a 1/4 of the price and it is a beast! Schecter needs to tighten up, for real!
I recently purchased my first Schecter (Demon8) and the nut on it is low which causes a lot of buzzing on the 7/8 string on the 1/2 fret even when setup with a high action, relief, and fretwrap. I purchased it as B-stock with a finish issue, which it has one that you have to look for to see, so no worries there 👍But with as much as I saved buying Bstock paying a local luthier $50 to replace the nut at worst if not $20-30 to shim the one it has it's still a win🤷 Sad to see such a major issue like this on a $1k+ guitar. Wow!! I would have sent it back myself.
You'd be surprised if you took apart your other guitars... I have a $5,000 PRS 10Top that has all kinds of "unsightly" cuts and grooves behind the electronics cover...Both Gibby LP's look like Hellen Keller did the soldering..Custom Shop Strat had unpainted/unfinished areas under the bridge..All great guitars and I wouldn't give any of them up. I'm sure Schecter would send you a brand new guitar lickity split (..you being a big UA-camr and all..).
I agree, all guitar brands have these issues, whether people know it or not! Many guitars are 1mm away from having a bad wiring connection, just how it goes.
The grounding issue was actually a blessing in disguise. Without it, the shoddy bridge post situation would have come to light way later. This isn’t even a QA issue, it’s a production issue. Any body with a wrongly drilled hole, should end up on a pile as either firewood or wood for other purposes. It should never become a guitar anymore, imo…
I bought a Schecter E1 apocalypse about a month ago, and the ground wire to the bridge was sheared off. Such an awesome guitar but obviously there QC wasn’t up to par.
My GF got me the Purple limited edition Sustainiac system Quilted maple burst E1 with composite fretboard and stainless steel frets with carbon fiber binding, 3 piece neck, the Sustainac is AMAZING for leads and also instant feedback and with the REAL Floyd Rose its just my dream guitar. QC Destroys my newer ,2021 Jackson Kelly KEQX green quilted top. The Korean Samick Factory makes LTD, Schecter and more, the Kelly was Indonesian factory.
Spent over $2k on a Fender Ultra V. Same type of grounding/shielding issues. Nothing that couldn't be fixed but for the amount of money I was quite pissed off. I fixed those issues by shielding the cavity and now it's dead quiet but it seems many of these flagship high-end name brand guitars lack some of the very basic professional features that should make that instrument turnkey without the need to modify or repair. I've gotten better quality import instruments.
After watching the whole video, those guitars should have the post holes checked for appropriate size before they hit the pain shop. And if the whole is too big, the proper fix is to glue in a dowel, and re drill it. That guitar never should have left the wood shop with that issue. And I have NO idea how the fishman is microphonic since those pickups coils are printed on a circuit board.
I got a Schecter SLS Elite as well, most expensive guitar I own, and as I took it out of the box I noticed that the bridge pickup was pushing against the strings...so I leveled it out and started playing it a bit...minutes later I'm realizing it sounds horrible and notice again that the pickup is up against the strings. Essentially came to realize they had somehow screwed up the threads on the Fishman mounting bracket and the foam was just shoving the pickup up the screw. I can screw it down and it'll hold for about 10 minutes of playing but always ends up against the strings. Even sent it back to SW and they sent it back to me saying they didn't find anything wrong with it. Good times
I am with you. I love my Schecter guitars but I have had issues with their quality. I bought an apocalypse 7 string and it came strung with a .064" in both the E and B strings. Easy fix right? Not when the nut is ground to the .064" :/ I tried a .052 for the E string and all I got was buzz when playing the string open.
I agree with your frustration when you get a guitar it should at least work properly. I could easily let a cosmetic blemish pass depending on the size & where it's located but it had better work when you buy it.
Dude I bought 2 Schecters last year both have had electronic issues. 1 guitar the switch was just barely touching the foil in the electronic cavity and when I'd switch to the neck pick up it would short out. I had to put a little piece of electrical tape between the switch and the cover. The other guitar the switch is not working properly sometimes I switch to the neck and back to the bridge but half the output signal goes away, and if I barley touched the bridge pickup up while playing the was a chance it would just cut out. Opened it up unplugged the fishmans ad re plugged em in is did not fix it . I ended up sending that guitar back to Schecter and the fixed the pickup but not the switch and then proceeded to tell me the guitar was now out of warranty.
Typed @ 2:59. Pointy explorer guitars rock....(so says the guy with a '76 Explorer & an early 90's MIJ Kelly) But perhaps my opinion is too biased :) Doesn't matter what shape...style ya play...strings you use....if it makes you smile....it's a beauty day. That guitar was wired on a Monday I suspect....mass in a guitar is your friend, from a sonic perspective....cheers dude..!!
I know that there is probably gonna be some monkey that comments "Active pickups don't need grounded...". While that is true, the strings sure as hell do. Ground the bridge like on passive's and it will also ground the strings, and avoid the issue entirely. Sorry you got a lemon this time man, it happens to all brands from time to time, but there is still no excuse.
The most inexcusable thing about this guitar was the shim in the bridge bolt hole instead of properly repairing the oversized hole. If anything else it should have been fairly discounted and quality control should have made certain that it was grounded properly. It seems quality assurance was completely negligent on this guitar. It makes me wonder how many others left the factory in similar condition?
It will never stay in tune as long as that compensated nut is on there. I don’t know what it’s made of but they’re crap. I made my own out of a graph tech nut and now it stays in tune.
Thanks for the Video 👍😎 Thumbs Up. I have similar story, WMI Korea with USA Inspected Sticker in it. ESP LTD Ripped Alexi Signature. 1979€ for the guitar and i had couple of frets playing the same note, Little scratches in finish and bigger Ding in FR Cavity hole. Also, FRT-1000 was missing a saddle 6 side pole which makes the saddle sit down lower than other strings. (their fix was raise the action so high than it wont "matter" if you only play truck driver chords.., yeah, like this particular axe was for that,.. No it's not cheap acoustic). Also, 1st string fine tuner hole was drilled a bit backwards so tuner won't roll more than around 50% before it gets stuck. Going beyond that WILL strip the whole thing. As we know, Fine tuners in Floyds are in baseplate, so it's a huge bummer. Can't believe this was inspected in the USA. Too bad i can't attach any pictures to prove the case. The thing is, as i've heard similar cases from others, that WMI Korea has lowered QC. I already knew Floyd Rose has lowered their QC. But let's add ESP's own inspection to that. .. And i LOVE ESP Guitars. Uneven frets, not working Floyd, lil dings and scratches. 2k guitar..., I mean whatta hell. I wasn't expecting Harley Benton. And Sorry Harley Benton for that. 😑😑😑😑😑
Thumbs up for the honesty on the guitar. Hey, every company now and again can have one "slip through the cracks" as you stated, but that was beyond a reasonable exception from the rule. Hopefully Schecter sees this and fixes the QC issue asap.
It's pretty rare for Schecter to have QC issues, not to say that it doesn't happen. I have gotten lucky with 5-6 Schecters that have come and gone through the collection without any issues.
Tbf, my KM7 Mk3 was built pretty poorly and sounds like bongwater
I just got my first schecter, banshee mach 7, and it's insane how well built it is for an import, I was honestly surprised
I've had a few over the years. Including exclusively playing a C1 Elite and an Omen 6 for a couple of years. Every Schecter I've touched, including my buddies Banshee, has been stellar. This sheds light on the possibility inspection doesn't include plugging it in and actually playing/listening to it. God damn, what a bummer.
Eh I’ve had like 6-7 schecters over time and 3 of them had bad QC issues I needed replaced afte they were they were great apart from the small string buzz I could just never get away. Also they never really intonated totally perfect okay for live not okay for studio
@@jimmybags1494 that’s the best guitar schecter make it’s the only one I miss
Played a brand new Schecter SLS today and it was absolutely amazing. Never seen a bad Schecter. Mine are fine and everyone I know who plays one has been flawless. Hate it happened to you.
I’ve been playing Schecter since 2007. Every one was perfect! The SLS Elite series is amazing!!
Fixing a guitar that has quality issues like the one in the video is not a good practice. It excuses the poor quality and supports it. Companies rarely change unless revenue and profit are effected. If people continue to purchase and accept subpar products, it eliminates the motivation for the company to improve. I used to fix minor things on new guitars, but I refuse now and immediately send the guitar back. If you find one problem, odds are there are more and you may not notice those until it's too late. Vote with your dollars folks, it's the only way the companies and manufacturers will hear you. Also, if time is money, what is the net cost of the guitar to Kyle?
I agree on that, time is very much money. It is really tempting to fix the issues though because I'm thinking it's already here, it's not that bad, I don't want to spend the time to send it back and wait for a new one 😂
100%. Don’t excuse issues just because it’s an affordable line. CNC machines cut the guitars to very exact specifications. There’s a minuscule margin or error or it’s a faulty piece of wood. Those guitars should be recycled for wood pulp or something. QC for these companies won’t improve if they don’t see instruments coming back.
I bought a Jackson Rhodes v and was so happy with the quality on the outside for a $450.00 guitar…until I looked in the trem cavity.One of claw screws is at a 45degree angle sticking out sideways.But the thing is it plays and sounds great as it is! Do I just leave it like that and wait till something snaps on me?!
@@garyhundsrucker7771 wait till it snaps 😂
Very fair points.
I think, however, that what Kyle did here by bringing this to the attention of possibly thousands, or tens of thousands of potential Schecter customers in an honest straightforward way is arguably far more damning to Schecters bottom line.
Am I going to buy that guitar after watching Kyle’s video?
Nope!
Don’t apologize I would be so stressed and pissed!!! Thanks for continuing on and pushing through. I’m new to your channel and enjoy what you’re doing so, keep doing what your doing !!🤘🏻😎🤘🏻
Props for the honesty. Not many YT guitarists would release this video tbh!
Bravo Kyle, for the can do follow thru, and I'm sure Shecter got the message too!
Even if not for the shitty shim in the bridge pin slot, grounding is still usually an issue with the coated bridge. I have a black coated tune-o-matic and ended up sanding off the finish on the bushing and stud to the raw metal for a better connection for the ground. Helped a ton.
Love the honesty, man. I've not played a bad Schecter, however I've not played one made in the last 5 or so years. All of my schecters but one are 10 to 20 years old and from the Korean factory. Great guitars
the korean ones are generally top notch i dont know where they are making them today
I have 3 Schecter guitars...absolutely love each one of them. It all started with my Damien Elite FR-6.
Came with Gotah locking tuners, EMG 81/85 humbuckers, and a Floyd Rose Special.
Second I went with a Hellraiser C-1 FRS. l really like the Sustaniac/EMG 81 combo and the Black Cherry finish.
My latest and favorite is the Schecter C-7 Apocalypse FRS Red Reign.
I bought a brand new Demon 7 during the Pandemic. Plays absolutely great and never had a single issue. Still has the QC Sticker from their factory so I know mine was number 49 of that run and who inspected it.
On the ESP/LTD guitars, they use a larger bushing for the stop bars. They use a metric post but a SAE bushing width. I always have to look for replacements every time I swap hardware on an Eclipse. It looks like they just used a normal metric bridge stud there, which is why the hole is too big.
I was looking into those Weber speakers not that long ago, now I REALLY wanna see a demo on them 👀
LOL for a minute there I actually put my hand over my strings and thought it was me. Keep up the great content Kyle. Love your Channel man.
Your honesty about your frustration earned my subscription.... Looking forward to watching more of your content.
I have ALWAYS loved Explorer, V, Iceman and Destroyer models. I recently bought a Gibson RD reissue and it's THE guitar I've always wanted and never knew about.
Thanks for keeping it real instead of hiding things to please a manufacturer
I drove up to sweetwater and picked up a E1 FRS a few weeks back and love it so far. ZZounds has always taken care of me in the past so hopefully they help you out. Their parent company American music supply is usually pretty fair too. I might look into a evil twin next. my favorite guitar is my C1 Apocalypse so having the same neck finish but satin paint might be the right combo.
I recently purchased a new epiphone jerry cantrell wino.
Same deal.
Ground issue.
The ground wire at the bridge was lose.
I returned it and they gave it back to me still no good.
I fixed it myself.
I was very disappointed
But now the guitar is working correctly
I'm loving it.
I felt the same way as you did when I bought and returned a $1700 Jackson Concept Series King V. Whoever did the QC on that guitar did it with their eyes closed!
I have this exact same guitar. Mine had zero QC problems. It's my favorite guitar and I play it all the time.
Ordered a gen 1 schecter Keith Merrow sig back in the day. Neck and fretwork was awesome...BUT... straight out of the box it was a very scratchy sounding volume knob with a similar issue you had with feedback. Had to take my brand new guitar into the local shop (who was not the original seller as i cannot buy schecter in my area) and had to pay for a complete rewiring. Sounds great now but really put a damper on the new guitar day experience, and added to the cost. I dont wanna say I'll never buy schecter again but i would 100% be looking at other companies first.
I got an Epiphone Lazarus from Sweetwater a couple months back. Everything on the guitar was great except for the bridge volume knob was extremely hard to turn between the 7 to 9 position. No way you could roll it with one finger. It didn't get damaged in shipping since it was in a case and the box showed no signs of damage. I contacted my rep who sent the issue to the repair shop. First I was sent a solid shaft pot when I needed a split shaft pot. Then they sent me a Gibson branded split shaft which was better than what came in the guitar. Even though it was a small issue, it took over a week to get resolved. I wasn't going to send the guitar back just because of one pot which I could replace. Plus the guitar otherwise played great and had a wild flame in the mahogany on the back of the headstock!
I recently got a Schecter from Zzounds. I am very grateful to them because without them allowing me to pay over 6 months I would have never been able to afford or get the guitar. I am very happy with my purchase. I did have to do my own setup and cut the nut better. For a $1300.00 guitar should not be an issue but no major issues. I got a Hellraiser Hybrid PT with Ultra Violet finish and EMG 57/66. This axe is a beast. Congrats on the NGD. Sorry for the issues but it happens.
Preach brother! Your not bashing just honest 🎉
This is why I went with an Ibanez. I was looking for a new guitar as my first one that is brand new. After seeing some Schecter reviews about the input jack, finish issues and problems with the nut or something. Once I saw electrical issues, I decided to roll with a new RG. Both actives, slightly different with Fishman’s instead of EMG’s. The RG was a bit more expensive but looks and plays phenomenal. One day I’ll get a Schecter hellraiser like the signature one that Jeff Loomis had. That was such a great guitar for the price, at least for a 7 string.
Funny, to me happened when i got my own RG7... grounding issues, frets a bit too sharp on edges and a small defect on the binding (for some reason, the laquer had a bit of the color of the body right under the lacquer, so unscrappable without removing all the lacquer... not big deal, but it will be always there, judging you from the 15th fret...), the guitar sounded awesome, but needed so much extra work after being so hyped and also not being exactly a cheap investment, i got really dissapointed...
I've dealt with so much customer service bullshit in the past week, I had audio monitors fail under warranty, my computer keyboard stopped working, Walmart broke my window during an oil change, and I feel every bit of the frustration you feel about this guitar hahaha. 😂 There's just so much shit that gets past the QC anymore. It's easier than ever to return items, so they don't bother to spend the money QCing each item. There really is no QC for any companies anymore, they'd rather deal with angry customers than make it right the first time it seems.
Damn! You have had a bad week, and we're only 6 days into the month! 😩😂
Broke a window .... 😮
How the hell did they break a window during an oil change?! wtf.
(I'm a mechanic). Sorry you've had such bad luck the past week.
Noticed the Splawn amp in the background they are located a rocks throw away from my house in our little town, I get excited when I see their stuff anywhere.
I bought this exact guitar in July 2022. 2 months into owning it my bridge pickup completely stopped working. Schecter sent a new pickup but same issue. Dealer ended up having to rewire the entire guitar; bad solder connections, bad wire insulation, etc. Hopefully Schecter helped out the dealer afterward because it was a big job.
My Schecter SLS had two neck pickups in it and the coil split for the bridge wasn't wired in and didnt work. I don't think the new Schecter's are any different than any other guitar coming from WMI. They're good most of the time but when you prioritize quantity over quality this happens.
Bought a "blemished" Ibanez SRF706 bass from zZounds back in 2019. When I first played it, I found the bridge pickup to not be fully functional. Assumed it was possibly broken. Opened it up and foud a FOUR STRING bass pickup in a SIX STRING bass. QC are always human...
I’ve been having problems with schecter here lately. I bought a banshee with the sustainiac, and FR. It was advertised as setup to play. I got it home, immediately had to reset the Floyd rose. Noticed there was a burr on one of the screws for the Floyd rose, so it didn’t dive correctly. Instead of a smooth dive it would do dives in stages. I sent it back 3x to get repaired. Never got fixed. Ended up getting a full refund. Now I have a Damian elite that won’t stay in tune for nothing. If we’re being forced to pay upwards of 750, we expect quality.
I just bought a Schecter Omen Extreme. Beautiful guitar! However, I had a very similar experience. The guitar was super noisy out of the box...the noise went away when touching the pots. Checked with a multi-meter and found the bridge was not grounded. Open the cavity to find NO GROUND CABLE from the bridge. There was a piece of wire in the post hole, but it was just a fragment of wire. I ran a wire from the post hole to the first pot and the noise disappeared. Very irritating since Schecter and the store I purchased it from claim to inspect the guitars...
I have 53 guitars and there's something wrong with each and every one of them. Most are small issues that don't affect anything. The smallest of issues come from my 28 Gibsons which have tooling marks on the fretboard since they still have nibs. Except my 2015 LP. No nibs, no tooling marks. Perfect build.
Funny this is an "Explore-esque" video. A couple of years ago I bought a 7-string ESP LTD EX-307, from Zzounds. The costumer service I received was horrible when I called them to inform the big/back point was broken/ chipped!
Can Fishman Fluence pickups actually be microphonic? As far as I understand, the coils are printed on a solid PCB, and thus shouldn't have loose coils to vibrate in a microphonic manner. I thought their inability to become microphonic over time was one of their selling points. Hmmm. Either way, QC problems on a new instrument are definitely frustrating. Happy that you got it sorted out, mostly.
No they can't be microphonic at all. Its literally impossible. There's something else going on there
I recently bought a new schecter 8 string multiscale Omen elite, made from the indonesia factory, and I had to do a lot of set up work... 4 of the 8 grooves cut in the nut were too low causing it to sound like a bango as the strings rattled on the first fret. There was a scratch along the edge of the guitar that needed a touch up. The 24th fret was too high on the high e string and had to sand that down to get the 23rd fret note to sound out. One of the tuning knobs its kinda janky when you go to tune. The string action was all over the place and the pick ups were really low. After all that, I absolutely am in love with the guitar and it sounds and plays amazing... I bought it from drumcity guitarland and it said on their website they set up the guitars, it definitely was never touched.
I just want to add, I reached out to drumcityguitarland and they hooked me up with a contact to schecter who is sending me out a replacement tuning knob. Shout out to both of those companies for good customer service.
Wow! I recently bought a Schecter Banshee Mach 6 ($1600 guitar) and it is easily the best guitar I’ve played. Incredible QC as well! Hopefully, Schecter can lock down their control. They are offering some of the best price/performance guitars available currently.
I bought a Hellraiser Hybrid C-1 a few years ago. It was my first Schecter guitar, and the QC was terrible. One of the knobs was somehow pressed down so hard into the body of the guitar that it had bitten into the wood and wouldn't turn. At first I thought it may have happened during shipping, but there was no damage to the box. And upon further inspection it was cross threaded and installed at an angle. I still have no clue how it got pressed down into the body of the guitar though. The input jack was also missing a nut to hold it in place. I thought I may have gotten a dud so when I was recently in the market for an affordable explorer shaped guitar I ALMOST bought this exact one. It had the features I liked, and I do love the look. Based on this video I'm glad I didn't. I ended up going with a Snakebyte (in the new camo finish), and not only was the QC fantastic but it was set up spectacularly out of the box. Schecter may be a great company, but I don't trust their QC.
Hell yeah brother im glad you put schecter guitars on blast. You are completely correct ! A guitar that costs that much shouldn't have any problems, especially when its stamped by quality control Schecter USA. YOU HAD EVERY RIGHT TO GO OFF !
The shim on the bridge post is very common, normally posts are 1/2 inch and drill bits sale 1/2 inch so the shim is for it fit right, if you use a drill bit smaller the post may crack the wood, the issue here was the pickups, and the qc person who didnt check it out right
Sorry to hear that dude, I hope it will work itself out in the end 🤘🔥🔥🤘
Finally someone who has the same opinion as me on the fishmans PU. I've struggled to find the right adjectives, but you nailed it in that description!
great video, and too bad about the guitar.
Damn, that , looks sick. the flat finish looks so good for the explorer style.
Every Schecter I've had was almost flawless. One of the last the body mounted EMGs could not be raised close enough to the strings without the mounting screw popping out. I've had more problems recently with Jackson guitars.
With direct mount pickups you need to put more foam underneath to raise them and use longer screws. But judging by the description you probably are raising them too high anyway already.
I love Schecter but you’re totally on point with this. This should’ve been raised up at the factory, but at the very least QC should’ve picked up on this when it got to the US. I’m wondering if QC playing tests just involve a clean channel to determine “is there signal, yes/no” and after that three second test of “is it making noise through an amp” that box is checked. Obviously a test with some gain would’ve caught this. If Schecter isn’t checking these guitars for signal with some gain that’s concerning because, well look at the designs - they presumably know their target market. Stands to reason these are guitars for high gain applications, so test accordingly.
I have a jackson jelly, and yeah, that rear bevel is like an anti-neckdive lever you can just lock your elbow into. It feels so secure and solid.
I bought a B-stock Amarok from Harkey Benton. When I first got it, i couldn't really find anything wrong with it other than a tiny superficial scratch on the back of the body and I couldn't get the low E intonation right. Something I've fixed the intonation, but over time I noticed the frets were bevelled on too much of an angle which makes the low E and high E to want to slip off the fretboard. I e-mailed Harley Benton, sent photos and video of the issue and they emailed me back with, it's within the standard angle. So I never was able to send it back. They were OK to talk to, but fixing the issue was not in their books.
I understand how you feel. I bought a LTD arrow and was so excited but when I picked it up at guitar center it was is terrible condition, dirt and dust all over it and the Floyd was so far forward it was ridiculous. Ended up sending it back for a replacement, got the replacement, it was clean but the Floyd is messed up, doesn't sit flush with the body, tuners are so hard to turn, the string blocks were installed wrong causing strings to pop out. I'm just sick of fixing stuff that I shouldn't have to, if I spend $800 on a guitar, it should be pretty much perfect when I get it other than just a simple setup on how I like it.
Great video. That amp collection is next level, btw. I think that's a worthwhile investment.
They could of at the very least, dowelled the hole and re-drilled it to the correct size.
I’ve had this issue with an Epi SG before, which I fixed using epoxy resin, then re-drilled when it was cured.
I also had a Washburn where the nut wasn’t even secured.
The strings on that had a lot of buzz, so I took the strings off to check the nut and it popped right out as soon as tension was released on the strings.
I've got fishermans in my Explorer, they aren't the ceramics but they are killer for E standard and Drop D
A kind of interesting explorer esque shaped guitar I know of is the Hagstrom Fantomen. Strange Gibson RD/Explorer model, decent electronics, dense body, 25.5 in scale, it’s a fun piece of hardware
i had my share of problems with mass produced guitars so i finally paid the piper and dropped $2200 on an ESP Eclipse a couple years ago. it's been the end all be all of guitars for me. right out of the box i picked it up and it was like finally coming home. that was it for me. i sold all my other electrics because now everything else just feels like playing a toy by comparison.
I had a bad experience with Zzounds, thankfully it was cheap, i bought a new Kramer Baretta special. Before i even played it i clipped out the the little capacitor that prevented the volume from swelling, neck needed to be sanded and conditioned, and restrung. While doing that I found a bunch of scratches and when i finally plugged in the pickups were going in and out, im assuming the wire to the pickups need to be resoldered. Wasnt happy but at that point could not return it
I used to always be super jealous of my old high school buddy's Schecter C1 Lady Luck because it just seemed so pristine for a mid range superstrat-ish guitar back in the mid 2000's, it's a shame to see such a goof up by them. I'm a big fan of the explorer body style and enjoy my Dean Z79 for both sitting and standing play.
I ask the same thing about Arcade1up cabinets.
I just spent 1400 on a shecter e1 fr with sustaniac. It was mostly flawless except for 1 tiny area of the binding. Nothing to be too upset about. But for 1500 i would expect it to be dang near perfect. But it plays perfect so i decided to just keep it and deal with the blemish. It is one of the best guitars i have ever played so im glad i didnt send it back.
Lemons happen, I've experience that, too. BUT, it absolutely leaves a sour taste. I completely understand the mood that will put someone in.
The explorer shape Guitar was the first few modification builds I made. Because. Straight lines.. mostly straight lines. Easier to do. Too many curved. Like a double cut away carved top. Difficult to start out with just garage guy toola . Like 3" ×21" belt sander. 7.4" Circular saw.. cordless drills. Ect..
Wow, great timing, I was literally just thinking about buying one of these soon. Any chance you'd check out the Jackson Demmelition explorer? The hardtail model looks pretty sweet.
Dont let this discourage you. This happens to every guitar company. No company can be perfect 100% of the time. I've owned 11 schecters and never had a single problem. I own 4 atm including 2 schecter Evil Twins, the V-1 & the Solo-II.
I am cracking up at the pickups feeding back every time you speak 😂. For real though, hope you get this one replaced or repaired and can enjoy it properly one day.
Great review and thanks for your honesty.
I have a Michael Kelly that came with a case and an Epiphone MKH in bone white. I’m generally surprised that they don’t include cases.
Wow I usually swear by the Korean factory
I have the solo 2 evil twin on order
Guitar looks sick though tbh
Damn.. send it back bro!! That’s uncalled for!
The bottom line with most manufacturers, but ESPECIALLY cheap outsourced ones is just because you're a Luthier doesn't mean you're a player that can feel or even hear problems, and just because you work in a guitar factor that doesn't necessarily mean most guitarists would consider you a Luthier. In the mass produced stuff, Carvin and PRS were the only favorites that really have been putting out more or less flawless instruments for like 30 years. Ibanez Japan did a great job for a long time. Ihaven't played any in the last 15or ao years. Everything else has been a bunch of compromise and too high a chance of getting a lemon for me to ever consider ordering blind.
Literally just bought a Yamaha trbx 604 from zzounds off of reverb for like 100 dollars off the other day and it should come tomorrow. Crazy that I see you mentioning them, hope that bass comes perfect because as a recently turned 18 year old highschool student I am not rich
That grounding issues sounds very similar to what Glenn Fricker expieranced with a Harley Benton explorer a few months ago, something to do with the paint they used for the bridge
Oh yeah that's right. Thick black paint messed with the ground. I forget how he fixed it.
Sorry to hear about the guitar. That is unacceptable for any new guitar, let alone one in that price range. I only own one Schecter, a 2010 made in Korea Diamond that I picked up in near mint condition for $150 (with a quality gig bag). That guitar is phenomenal and one of the best guitars I own. I still remember not believing the guy was actually going to sell me the guitar at that price and trying to leave as quickly as possible before he changed his mind..
I recently had an issue with Schecter too. Guitar wouldn’t intonate, couldn’t adjust saddles. Immensely frustrating.
Please give a more in depth review on the Weber speakers you mentioned. Especially appreciated if the VHT gets some time on them!
All import guitar brands have seen a decrease in QC in the wake of the pandemic. It's rare for Schecter to have such atrocious QC issues, but there have been more reports of duds leaving the factory than usual in the last couple of years. QC does seem to be returning to normal (as in pre-pandemic) levels in 2023 so far, but a good chunk of imported axes made from mid 2020 to late 2022 will have moderate issues it seems.
I just bought the same guitar, but it is a C1. I am having all kinds of tuning issues. I was able to intonate the guitar, but my low E is always out when I play an E power chord. It also wants to fall out after about 10 min of playing. This is my first guitar with locking tuners. I can tune up my old 38 special budget Schecter faster, and it holds tune better than my new $1400 guitar...
How, how, HOW is this even possible?
That honestly sounds like the feedback Glenn and Andrew baena got on those cheap matte black Harley bentons, which turned out to be the coating on the bridge as in the powder coating was too thick and it wasn't grounding properly
Same issue, slightly different cause yeah
I have a bunch of Schecters, recently the QC has been horrible. My buddy bought a Reaper fan fret, $1250.00 guitar, and it was maybe one of the worst guitars I've ever seen. Build quality, wood selection, fret finish, end to end a pile of trash... He sent it back, and bought a Harley Benton 7 string for a 1/4 of the price and it is a beast! Schecter needs to tighten up, for real!
I recently purchased my first Schecter (Demon8) and the nut on it is low which causes a lot of buzzing on the 7/8 string on the 1/2 fret even when setup with a high action, relief, and fretwrap. I purchased it as B-stock with a finish issue, which it has one that you have to look for to see, so no worries there 👍But with as much as I saved buying Bstock paying a local luthier $50 to replace the nut at worst if not $20-30 to shim the one it has it's still a win🤷 Sad to see such a major issue like this on a $1k+ guitar. Wow!! I would have sent it back myself.
You'd be surprised if you took apart your other guitars... I have a $5,000 PRS 10Top that has all kinds of "unsightly" cuts and grooves behind the electronics cover...Both Gibby LP's look like Hellen Keller did the soldering..Custom Shop Strat had unpainted/unfinished areas under the bridge..All great guitars and I wouldn't give any of them up. I'm sure Schecter would send you a brand new guitar lickity split (..you being a big UA-camr and all..).
I agree, all guitar brands have these issues, whether people know it or not! Many guitars are 1mm away from having a bad wiring connection, just how it goes.
The grounding issue was actually a blessing in disguise. Without it, the shoddy bridge post situation would have come to light way later. This isn’t even a QA issue, it’s a production issue. Any body with a wrongly drilled hole, should end up on a pile as either firewood or wood for other purposes. It should never become a guitar anymore, imo…
I bought a Schecter E1 apocalypse about a month ago, and the ground wire to the bridge was sheared off. Such an awesome guitar but obviously there QC wasn’t up to par.
I have an SLS Evil Twin and love it. Sorry you had to go through so much bs.
That's awesome that fluence added coil splitting.
My GF got me the Purple limited edition Sustainiac system Quilted maple burst E1 with composite fretboard and stainless steel frets with carbon fiber binding, 3 piece neck, the Sustainac is AMAZING for leads and also instant feedback and with the REAL Floyd Rose its just my dream guitar. QC Destroys my newer ,2021 Jackson Kelly KEQX green quilted top. The Korean Samick Factory makes LTD, Schecter and more, the Kelly was Indonesian factory.
This is nuts. I just got this exact guitar model on reverb. And it absolutely will not stay in tune! Currently it’s with a guitar tech. We’ll see.
Spent over $2k on a Fender Ultra V. Same type of grounding/shielding issues. Nothing that couldn't be fixed but for the amount of money I was quite pissed off. I fixed those issues by shielding the cavity and now it's dead quiet but it seems many of these flagship high-end name brand guitars lack some of the very basic professional features that should make that instrument turnkey without the need to modify or repair.
I've gotten better quality import instruments.
After watching the whole video, those guitars should have the post holes checked for appropriate size before they hit the pain shop. And if the whole is too big, the proper fix is to glue in a dowel, and re drill it. That guitar never should have left the wood shop with that issue. And I have NO idea how the fishman is microphonic since those pickups coils are printed on a circuit board.
When an active pickup is not grounded the strings grab all the background noise like an antenna
I own that same guitar I got about 3 years ago. Mine came flawless and is my favorite guitar that’s not a Kiesel.
I got a Schecter SLS Elite as well, most expensive guitar I own, and as I took it out of the box I noticed that the bridge pickup was pushing against the strings...so I leveled it out and started playing it a bit...minutes later I'm realizing it sounds horrible and notice again that the pickup is up against the strings. Essentially came to realize they had somehow screwed up the threads on the Fishman mounting bracket and the foam was just shoving the pickup up the screw. I can screw it down and it'll hold for about 10 minutes of playing but always ends up against the strings. Even sent it back to SW and they sent it back to me saying they didn't find anything wrong with it. Good times
I work at a well known music shop ( not GC lol) and I still buy from Zzounds! They're amazing!
I laughed way to hard thank you Kyle haha. The arm gestures 👌🏻
I like the two Explorerish shapes that PureSalem in Florida put out. Both have a really fat sound.
I am with you. I love my Schecter guitars but I have had issues with their quality. I bought an apocalypse 7 string and it came strung with a .064" in both the E and B strings. Easy fix right? Not when the nut is ground to the .064" :/ I tried a .052 for the E string and all I got was buzz when playing the string open.
Holy shit Balaguer mentioned I love them so much
I agree with your frustration when you get a guitar it should at least work properly. I could easily let a cosmetic blemish pass depending on the size & where it's located but it had better work when you buy it.
Dude I bought 2 Schecters last year both have had electronic issues. 1 guitar the switch was just barely touching the foil in the electronic cavity and when I'd switch to the neck pick up it would short out. I had to put a little piece of electrical tape between the switch and the cover. The other guitar the switch is not working properly sometimes I switch to the neck and back to the bridge but half the output signal goes away, and if I barley touched the bridge pickup up while playing the was a chance it would just cut out. Opened it up unplugged the fishmans ad re plugged em in is did not fix it . I ended up sending that guitar back to Schecter and the fixed the pickup but not the switch and then proceeded to tell me the guitar was now out of warranty.
Great video, Kyle. Honest videos like this go along way. Relatively new subscriber, loving the content. Thanks man!
Typed @ 2:59. Pointy explorer guitars rock....(so says the guy with a '76 Explorer & an early 90's MIJ Kelly) But perhaps my opinion is too biased :)
Doesn't matter what shape...style ya play...strings you use....if it makes you smile....it's a beauty day.
That guitar was wired on a Monday I suspect....mass in a guitar is your friend, from a sonic perspective....cheers dude..!!
I know that there is probably gonna be some monkey that comments "Active pickups don't need grounded...". While that is true, the strings sure as hell do. Ground the bridge like on passive's and it will also ground the strings, and avoid the issue entirely. Sorry you got a lemon this time man, it happens to all brands from time to time, but there is still no excuse.
The most inexcusable thing about this guitar was the shim in the bridge bolt hole instead of properly repairing the oversized hole. If anything else it should have been fairly discounted and quality control should have made certain that it was grounded properly. It seems quality assurance was completely negligent on this guitar. It makes me wonder how many others left the factory in similar condition?
It will never stay in tune as long as that compensated nut is on there. I don’t know what it’s made of but they’re crap. I made my own out of a graph tech nut and now it stays in tune.
Thanks for the Video 👍😎
Thumbs Up.
I have similar story, WMI Korea with USA Inspected Sticker in it.
ESP LTD Ripped Alexi Signature.
1979€ for the guitar and i had couple of frets playing the same note, Little scratches in finish and bigger Ding in FR Cavity hole.
Also, FRT-1000 was missing a saddle 6 side pole which makes the saddle sit down lower than other strings.
(their fix was raise the action so high than it wont "matter" if you only play truck driver chords.., yeah, like this particular axe was for that,.. No it's not cheap acoustic).
Also, 1st string fine tuner hole was drilled a bit backwards so tuner won't roll more than around 50% before it gets stuck. Going beyond that WILL strip the whole thing.
As we know, Fine tuners in Floyds are in baseplate, so it's a huge bummer.
Can't believe this was inspected in the USA.
Too bad i can't attach any pictures to prove the case.
The thing is, as i've heard similar cases from others, that WMI Korea has lowered QC.
I already knew Floyd Rose has lowered their QC.
But let's add ESP's own inspection to that.
.. And i LOVE ESP Guitars.
Uneven frets, not working Floyd, lil dings and scratches.
2k guitar..., I mean whatta hell.
I wasn't expecting Harley Benton.
And Sorry Harley Benton for that.
😑😑😑😑😑
Edit ://
Subscribed.
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