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Schecter S-1 Plus Reviews  5 / 5 based on 3 reviewsThe local Guitar Center had this instrument as a floor display model. They dropped the price down to about $450 because of a ding in the back; it was a minor problem, but the price drop was enough to make my dad open his wallet.
Well... where can I start? A lot of the hot guitars I've seen recently have been shaped like ninja-stars, all points and sharp edges. But this is classy; the flame-top maple looks awesome, and it contrasts nicely with the rosewood neck... plus the mother-of-pearl fret inlays look INCREDIBLE... they really give this axe some eye-candy points.
As I'm a beginner, I can't really say what is great and what isn't about the playability, sound, or mechanical operation. I started out playing a buddy's Squire Strat, which was heavy and had a lot of fret buzz. But when I hefted this thing, I noticed that it was LIGHT, although it was a little unbalanced towards the neck. Plus the strap kept slipping off the front peg... it wasn't a major problem, but just a little embarassing sometimes.
When I plugged it into the Crate MX-10 amp that I had, the sound was extremely clear, and the notes would sound for at least half a minute... there were times when I got annoyed at having to mute the damned thing after I brushed a string. I played around to get more crunch, with mediocre results... until I pumped the thing through a Boss MT-2 Metal Zone distortion pedal. I kid you not, I almost started crying, it sounded so amazing.
Again, I'm a newbie to the world of guitars, but the men at the Guitar Center were not... and when I brought it in to test the pedal out, they were all over it. One of the guys there latched onto it and WAILED on it like there was no tomorrow. He said that he was surprised that a guitar with such a low action didn't have any fret buzz. This guitar's speed is limited only by my lack of talent!!
All around a great, wonderful, spectacularly awesome guitar!!
It's unbalanced towards the neck.
Excellent construction and quality. Aside from the nick in the back, it is solid and beautiful. Although it is Korean-made, I cannot see any wear-and-tear causing serious problems for this guitar.
If you're looking for a guitar that can make any sound you want, play as fast as you want, and look as good as your girlfriend on prom night, the Schecter S1-Plus is your best bet! G-Flem rated this unit on 2003-01-07. I bought this guitar at a guitar center store for about $450 (they gave me a discount because it had a few scratches from being played in store). This was my first guitar, and it was between it, and a similarly priced strat. I chose this guitar because it felt "right", looked good, and had a chunkier sound which i prefered over that of the strat.
This guitar has been a good choice for me. It really does have a similar feel to a les paul for only a fraction of the price. It is comfortably shaped, and the neck is a good size and shape. The flame maple is good lookin, and the diamond inlays are also nice looking (although i dont know what they are made of so i cant testify to the quality of the material. The guitar stays in tune nicely, with its grover tuners, and the strings are easy to change.
Without a pick gaurd, scratches do accumulate around the pick gaurd area, which is unfortunate but not a big deal. One of the strap pegs keeps coming loose, and I wish there was a second tone knob, but theres nothing i really dislike about this guitar. Just those few minor things.
Besides for the the loose strap peg, which would probably stay if i tightened it enough, id say the S-1plus is built pretty well.
Bottom line is i believe sincerely that this is one of the best guitars for under 600 bucks (and you can mostly likely find it for closer to 550). THe guitar looks good, sounds good, and is affordable enough for beginners, yet of good enough quality to last for many years as the guitarist improves. I have no problem giving this guitar a 5/5 Al J rated this unit on 2003-01-05. I bought this guitar brand new at Guitar Center in Cincinnati, for $525, about 6 months ago.
I bought this guitar as an upgrade to my arsenal, since it seemed a lot more powerful and playable than my Fender Standard Stratocaster. After sitting in the store and playing every two thousand dollar gibson they had, I still liked the sound of the S-1 Plus better than any of them. the pickups are clean and punchy, the neck is very smooth and playable, and intonation is good. I also don't get any fret buzz like I did on my strat. It looks great, has real good grover tuners and a nice auto-tune bridge, which makes the strings a heck of a lot easier to change than with the trem bridge on my strat. The humbuckers with this unit have allowed me to create a lot of new sounds, as the 3 control knobs (2 volume, 1 tone) allow me to control the neck/bridge pickup mix, and then control the overall tone. It isn't near as heavy as some of the gibsons I played, but still has a nice resonant wood (sounds good unplugged), and the through neck makes it even nicer. Plenty of frets to play as high as you want. Did I mention the beautiful flamed maple top?
My only complaints are that the nut is a little high, so you have to take it easy on playing in the lower frets, if you overgrip, you'll go out of tune a little bit. I'm thinking about having the nut replaced, since that's a pretty easy thing to do I figure. I wish it had a seperate tone knob for each pickup, which would allow me to make even more sounds.
Excellent construction over all, make sure you spend plenty of time checking it out to make sure you get a good one, since these are foreign made, I'd bet a few duds might slip through. Mine however, has been excellent overall. Not the best looking neck wood in the world, but not bad either. The one complaint I have about it is that when I first got it, my thinnest string would constantly break, as soon as I started playing it. A trip back to the store revealed that there was a small burr in the bridge, which the string was vibrating against, and then breaking. A deft move with a pocketknife got rid of that though, and it has been great since.
Overall, an awesome guitar. Looks great (mine is red, by the way), sounds great, and plays great. For the money (1/4 of similar sounding gibsons), it's great. I have heard some people say they might replace the pickups, but mine have been great. Just take time to inspect it, and it will be a great working man's axe for years and years. I think Schecter is a really cool company, they make all sorts of custom guitars, and aren't afraid to try new things (the through-body string mounts on the C-1 series for instance). Sam Schutte rated this unit on 2001-11-01.
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