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Got a new guitar!!


Mesh

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On 9/4/2020 at 2:14 PM, Mesh said:

I'm looking for a guitar that's very versatile in tone and plays comfortably/built well. Just not sure if the Sustaniac's neck position pup draws a lot of interference/radio noise etc...?

The "very versatile in tone" is best met via humbuckers that are clean, hot (catch harmonics), and can be split. The "plays comfortably" comes mostly from the feel of the neck (for you), and that the guitar has been PLEK'd (either when built, or after the fact).

I forget if you like to tinker or not (HUGE caveat to the following), but you can achieve the split coils on any humbucking guitar without altering the appearance via Seymour Duncan Triple Shot Mounting rings (can buy cheaper as a pair, and come in flat mount/arch top versions) and most humbuckers (that have 4 wires out, exposing the individual coils). These allow you single coil, parallel wired, series wired (by pickup) in addition to the selector switch(es) they feed. On most guitars, rolling off the volume knob slightly will take the "sting" out of the harmonics (without a treble bleed mod installed, which is easily identifiable if you look at the volume pot) - for hot PUPs, the frequency rolloff can actually be good for versatility.

If a neck already feels good for you (something you own now, with neck radius and scale you like), PLEKing a guitar that has never been (some newer guitars get PLEK'd by default now, but good to check on). I refretted my first guitar to a set radius and bass frets when I first got it... the guy who PLEK'd it said that neck should be compound radius to play best, so he PLEK'd compound radius into the frets, and PLEK'd a new nut to boot. Talk about a night/day modification to what was already there.

If you like to tinker, it is about $600 and a bit of elbow grease to take any guitar (+ two new PUPs) to do this. In my case, I have two switches to "select" the PUPs (I had to route/drill the second one)... either up is "on," both up is series, both down is parallel (in addition to how the Triple Shots are set). I also replaced the tone pot with a push/pull switch to control out-of-phase between the two PUPs. I replaced the PUPs in mine with Dimarzio D Activator Neck/Bridge (DP219/DP220) which were touted at the time to be the highest output passive pickups on the market (I personally detest "active" anything, since I hate swapping batteries). The guy who PLEK'd it asked me if they were active because when he checked it afterwards he was surprised by the output it has.

I have never used the Sustaniac PUPs, but read on them a while back. Again, the active issue for me, but it is similar to an E-Bow, takes the driving PUP offline when functioning as an E-Bow, and is limited to the guitar it is mounted on. Digitech's FreqOut pedal was on sale a while back for $99, and I didn't really read up on them till the sale was over, but I liked the features of that guy more since it is more versatile and can be used on any guitar.

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Very useful info Mettelus. Sadly, I'm not a 'tinkerer' with fixing the inners of a guitar and that might be a bit over my paygrade.     :P

Speaking of the sustainiac,  I do have that freqout pedal and thinking it's probably pointless in getting an guitar with the sustainiac. So, I'm looking at guitars with different pickup configs, but   still    one with a Floyd Rose.  Regarding PLEK,    Sweetwater does have a PLEK Pro machine and once I decide on the actual guitar, will definitely check if it's PLEK  d or not. 

Thanks again for all the details....greatly appreciate it. 

 

I'm a bit hesitant to buy a used guitar  without being able to test it first.  Although you (Brian) had a bad experience with Schecter, I do like what they have to offer and having a tough time finding a bad review on them.   

Also been considering this model:

  

 

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After a lot of thought and reading up on the various models, I got the Schecter C-1 FR-S SLS Elite model. 

She plays extremely smoothly and the tones are very good. More than the sustainiac pup, I liked the fishman pup. It's very quiet on all settings has a nice/pleasant bite/response (not even the slightest buzz noise from the pups).  They're some hot pups.

She's very easy to play and the build quality is quite nice. Checked all the frets and no problems there as well.

Yeah Craig, will need to giver her a name soon.

Overall, I am very happy with her and will definitely spend more time getting acquainted 😉

 

 

20200913_215805.jpg

Edited by Mesh
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Congrats Mesh on a fine axe! I had the C-1 Hellraiser similar to the first  pic. The one with the deep reddish finish. Build quality was second to none. Could belt out some very complex interesting tones from the pick ups. I love the way that guitar looked. 

Mine didn't have the FR  or the sustainiac which was the main reason I sold her. Otherwise it would have been one to hang onto. Probably could have outfitted my C-1  with those but not enough time in the day to do it. Made more sense to just get something else.  Then I ended up playing keys so I drifted away from it.

Do you have an amp or will you play it through a computer sim? I like the finish on the one you bought. They made thousands of those red ones and you can find them used all over the place on the used market. The one you picked has a more neutral look to it and I might not have immediately identified it as a Schecter.

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17 hours ago, Mesh said:

She plays extremely smoothly and the tones are very good. More than the sustainiac pup, I liked the fishman pup. It's very quiet on all settings has a nice/pleasant bite/response (not even the slightest buzz noise from the pups).  They're some hot pups.

She's very easy to play and the build quality is quite nice. Checked all the frets and no problems there as well.

Audio or it didn't happen.........

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7 hours ago, Starise said:

Do you have an amp or will you play it through a computer sim? I like the finish on the one you bought. They made thousands of those red ones and you can find them used all over the place on the used market. The one you picked has a more neutral look to it and I might not have immediately identified it as a Schecter.

I do have an old Mesa amp (Blue Angel 1x12) which I haven't played in over 10 years. I do all my playing/recording after  everyone's in bed and  can't really use it at the moment (without waking up the neighborhood). So, it's all through amp sims. Would love to get it fixed (replace the tubes etc..) and use it again.  It has   a beautiful /buttery clean tone that's a joy to play through. Hopefully someday will do that. 

Of note, I wanted to get the Antique Fade Burst model:  https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/C1FRSEltAFB--schecter-c-1-fr-s-sls-elite-antique-fade-burst,

but they were out of stock and I really wanted get the guitar. I'm happy with the    finish on this, but I still think the Antique looks better. More importantly,    I'm very    happy with  how it plays/responds .   

@paulo: I'll see if I can conjure up some noise and post it.  🙉

 

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I’m late to the party.

I’ve got a Schecter Banshee Elite 7FR-S. Has been a killer guitar from the day I got it. Love the action. Love the sustaining for recording at lower volumes while still getting feedback effects. I’m sure you’ll enjoy your SLS Elite

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