NGD: Schecter CR-6

[Jsil13]

For the past few months I've gone back to the music of my youth playing,writing, and recording metal tunes. My old metal guitars have long since been sold off, so I was writing most of them with my Jaguar, and recording them with either my coral pink Telebird with an SD Lil' 59er or my non-reverse firebird/jazzmaster with Mcnelly Cornucopia pickups. While those guitars are great for my rock and alt country stuff they weren't really right for thrash or death metal riffs.

So I have been looking for something affordable that would fit what I was looking for. Originally I was thinking Floyd Rose, but I have vibratos on 3 or 4 guitars already and I haven't dealt with a Floyd in years, so I changed my mind to hardtail. Double humbuckers, black hardware, reverse headstock, 24 frets, and I wanted something transparent green like my old main guitar a Jackson Rhoads. I already have enough weird shaped guitars so I wanted to go with a super strat shape. I was going to go with a Jackson Dinky, but then I remembered how good Schecters felt whenever I played them. Once I narrowed it down to the model and color I watched Reverb for awhile and then randomly thought about searching Guitar Center's used stuff and found one for a really good price.

Here it is. A Schecter CR-6 in aquaburst. Mahogany body, poplar burl veneered top, super thin maple neck, wenge fretboard, matching reverse headstock, Schecter USA Apocalypse II pickups that are coil splittable, Black Tusq XL nut (which I use on all my builds) and all in all a very comfortable lightweight guitar. Most of my guitars have Warmoth standard thin C shaped necks and this is definitely thinner than those. This is more like an Ibanez Wizard neck.

 

[brookdalebill]

Mean green!

 

[Jsil13]

And since I can't leave thing well enough alone I'm already planning on some mods. I've never had locking tuners, but I think I'm going to go with the Hipshot Grip Lock open geared tuners on this one. I'm so used to vintage style slotted tuners. I think my 1959 Melody Maker is the only guitar I have without them.

I already ordered some black heavy knurled knobs and an black aluminum switch tip.

I've been looking at pickups since before the guitar even got here, and if I do decide to change them I'm going to try out the Seymour Duncan Black Winters. They were designed for black metal which I enjoy, but they are also used by the band Skeletonwitch which I love.

 

[VonBonfire]

Nice axe, beautiful finish, attractive headstock shape. Schecter has some really high quality stuff at sane prices, even a couple interesting semi-hollows. Guitar Center used is how we get most of our guitars around here. It's really the only part of MF-GC that I care much for. Play it often.

 

[Dismalhead]

Very nice! Congrats!

 

[RobRiggs]

Can’t go wrong with a Schecter. I’ve got a few and they’re the best bang-for-the-buck axe out there.

 

[Jsil13]

Nice axe, beautiful finish, attractive headstock shape. Schecter has some really high quality stuff at sane prices, even a couple interesting semi-hollows. Guitar Center used is how we get most of our guitars around here. It's really the only part of MF-GC that I care much for. Play it often.

I don't mind the pointy Jackson headstock, but I like this one too. It's much better than their 3 per side headstocks.

 

[VonBonfire]

I don't mind the pointy Jackson headstock, but I like this one too. It's much better than their 3 per side headstocks.

All the reverse headstock strats I used to have were much easier to tune on the fly so reverse headstock is good design IMO. Nice.

 

[Tone Quest]

Very cool color. Nice find.

 

[Winky]

Very nice indeed. Does the reverse headstock help with bends on the lower (pitched) strings? You know for the "pre-bends of doom" sort of thing?

 

[Dan R]

I like it. I won't be playing any Black Metal. How about Black Crowes?

 

[schmee]

I've often wondered if one of those type of guitars would work for me. I had a Dean years ago that was darn good.
I'm thinking of trying to find a Gibson scale with a long top bout/strap attachement like that so the guitar hangs in a range that would make reaching the nut easier for an old guy like me.
But many of the Jackson, Schecter I have picked up to play have a terribly thin flat neck......... This one's neck? Scale?

 

[stormsedge]

Sweet! HNGD! Cannot beat a Schecter.

 

[Jsil13]

Very nice indeed. Does the reverse headstock help with bends on the lower (pitched) strings? You know for the "pre-bends of doom" sort of thing?

I haven't noticed too much of a difference, but I haven't restrung it with my preferred gauge yet and I'm not sure what they have on there.

I've often wondered if one of those type of guitars would work for me. I had a Dean years ago that was darn good.
I'm thinking of trying to find a Gibson scale with a long top bout/strap attachement like that so the guitar hangs in a range that would make reaching the nut easier for an old guy like me.
But many of the Jackson, Schecter I have picked up to play have a terribly thin flat neck......... This one's neck? Scale?

The neck on this is very thin. Ibanez Wizard style thin. 25.5" scale length with a 14" radius. Jumbo frets. I can bust out the calipers later and see where it's at. Marginally smaller than the Warmoth Standard C shape.

I like it. I won't be playing any Black Metal. How about Black Crowes?

I have other guitars for the rock stuff.

Coral Pink Telebird

Non Reverse Firebird/Jazzmaster

Partscaster Jaguar

Non Reverse Firebird Baritone

And my 1959 Gibson Melody Maker with 60's SG Special P90s that I'm currently making a more traditionally shaped pickguard for.

 

[Jsil13]

Well I ordered my locking tuners. I like the look of the open gears. Plus the open geared tuners have a higher ratio of 18:1 as opposed to the closed back which are 15:1. Not crazy about the Hipshot buttons, but they are easily replaceable. I didn't need these, but I'm going to keep whatever parts I take off of this for my next build.

 

[Jsil13]

Well those didn't take long to get here. These look very nice. They came with their universal mounting plate, but I don't think I'm going to need it. Unfortunately I won't be able to install them until Saturday unless I get up early and do it before work tomorrow.

 

[TX_Slinger]

After having a Schecter Hellraiser Extreme for a couple years I really appreciate their product. Had it been a hardtail I would've kept it. I replaced it with a PT variant. The USA pickups in some of their Import models is really a killer combo.

 

[Jsil13]

After having a Schecter Hellraiser Extreme for a couple years I really appreciate their product. Had it been a hardtail I would've kept it. I replaced it with a PT variant. The USA pickups in some of their Import models is really a killer combo.

I used to have several Floyd Rose guitars back when I was doing the Dimebag thing bending harmonics up super high. Even my other guitars with trems I don't use it that much. I kind of just wanted this one to be a basic kind of bare bones guitar.

 

[Jsil13]

Got the tuners installed. Wasn't sure if I needed to use the universal mount plate, but I did. The whole thing took about ten minutes. Kind of bummed you can see the old holes still, but I didn't have to drill any new ones so that's a plus. I also conditioned the wenge fretboard while I had the strings off. It looks so much better not being dried out. The first string up with the locking tuners went well. It definitely is pretty easy, but I can string up something with vintage tuners just about as fast.

 

[mimmo]

Congratulations!