Schecter C-7 Blackjack

[telecaster90]

Short review, I guess.

Got home from school today, and there it was in a box. Hurrah!

Features-9.5

Copied from Schecter Guitar Research

CONSTRUCTION/SCALE: Set-neck w/ Ultra Access / 26.5”
BODY: Mahogany
NECK/FINGERBOARD: Maple/Rosewood
FRETS: 24 X-Jumbo
INLAYS: Black Pearl Dots
PICKUPS: Seymour Duncan JB / ‘59
ELECTRONICS: Vol/Tone/5-Way
BRIDGE: TonePros TOM w/ Thru-body
BINDING: Multi-Ply
TUNERS: Grover
HARDWARE: Black Chrome
COLOR: Gloss Black (BLK)

In the future, I want to add cream colored rings around the humbuckers LP style.

Very nice looking guitar, easy to play. 9.5 becuase of some difficulty of reaching the higher frets on the lower strings.

Sound-10

Excellent tone. I play through a Line6 Douverb with 4 channels. I have a vintage sound for my clean which sounded very gainy through the Tonezone p'up on my tele, and through the bridge pickup, it sounded good. On the C-7, the tone is excellent on the clean channel. No gainy sound. The distorted channels sound a bit mushy, but that might just be my amp. I'll have my dad try it through his MTS and see what he thinks about it.

Action-8

Like I said earlier, acces to the upper frets on the D down is hard. but otherwise, good action.

Customer Support-10

I finally found it on ZZounds after looking for a while on various other site for one. I ordered it on last Thursday, and it got here on Monday, which is today. Good service, I would say.

Overall Impression-10

I would highly reccomend this guitar to any people who aren't interesting in dealing with the hassle that comes with a tremalo(sp?). Good guitrar for the price($599 on ZZounds). The Diamond Seriers Case is good as well. It's molded to fit the guitar. This will be a great \m/ comrad for my tele and any other future guitars.

I'll post pics here tonight.

 

[Drew]

Hot. You're not making me want one of those any less, you know... If only it had a nice trans quilt top...

Enjoy that thing!

 

[telecaster90]

Hot. You're not making me want one of those any less, you know... If only it had a nice trans quilt top...

haha, I think it would look nice as well, but it looks so good black.

 

[Richardscuro]

It's interesting. My C7 Blackjack sounds nothing like any of my other 7 strings. I am not ready to write a review yet but I will tell you guys that this thing is a completely different beast than my RG 7620, my Saber 7420, or my normal C7.

 

[keithb]

Man, you can't tease like that Richard - how is it different?

 

[Richardscuro]

Sorry Keith. lol It sounds chunkier and much more present. The Duncans sound so much different than the other pickups in my other 7 strings that I have had to create new presets on my Vetta just for this guitar. Also, my other 7's sound kind of flat when I put them through my Triple Rectifier with no additional eq. This one just screams! The 26.5 inch scale length also makes it feeel very different. I cannot play fast runs as easily because the strings are so much stiffer and I cannot make all the streches on this guitar that I could on my others. But, I am sure I will get use to it.

 

[Drew]

You know, recently I've been wishing the Blaze's in my UV had a LITTLE more cut - strangely, some of the low gain sounds (like, gain at 9 o'clock on channel 3 vintage - keep in mind this is with gain-graded JJ's in the preamp of my nomad) sound absolutely ungodly, but at higher gain settings I'd like a little more, well, "scream." I've sorta been contemplating throwing in the classic Jazz/JB set, but at the same time, I really like the look of this guitar, with it's slightly yellowed pickups.

Decisions, decisions... lol

-D

 

[keithb]

Sorry Keith. lol It sounds chunkier and much more present. The Duncans sound so much different than the other pickups in my other 7 strings that I have had to create new presets on my Vetta just for this guitar. Also, my other 7's sound kind of flat when I put them through my Triple Rectifier with no additional eq. This one just screams! The 26.5 inch scale length also makes it feeel very different. I cannot play fast runs as easily because the strings are so much stiffer and I cannot make all the streches on this guitar that I could on my others. But, I am sure I will get use to it.

Thanks for the info. I'm a little afraid to buy a guitar without ever having played it, but no music stores around here carry 7-strings.

 

[7StringofAblicK]

Drew, your concern here is this: looks or tone. The fight is very difficult. I wanted to put White blazes in my Omen 7, it would freaking bad arse. But, I LOVED the tone of my JB in my C7+. Push came to shove, I got the more traditional (black pups on black guitar) but can't be more happy with the tone of that guitar. And as funny as it sounds, the Omen has the JB/jazz set (awesome to be honest, the middle position on my three way is AMAZING). My C7+ has a 59 in the neck, and it reacts well with the mahogany body, but I do wonder how the Jazz would sound in it....

 

[jacksonplayer]

I just got one of these a couple of weeks ago and I'm gonna post a review shortly. Should I do it in this thread or start a new one? BTW, it will be a highly positive review...

 

[Metal Ken]

I agree with this review entirely. Except i would rate the setup it comes with higher. It comes set up great out of box. The only reason you'll need to adjust is to double check the factory setup (Due to shipping) or if you want to change strings.
My only complaint WAS the pickups, but they're growing on me. I think i might just get rid of the 59 in the neck instead of taking them both out.

 

[jacksonplayer]

Ok, here are some comments that amount to something of a review. I basically agree with everything Telecaster90 said, but I'd like to elaborate.

TONE

Far and away the best-sounding 7-string guitar I've ever owned (and I've owned a bunch). Just tons of luscious, crunchy tone. Kind of hard to say exactly what it reminds me of. I'd like to say it goes into Les Paul territory, but it's not quite that thick and doesn't have that upper-mid 'honk' that LPs often have. But the Blackjack's tone is richer and more 'singing' than most neckthru guitars I've owned. That maple set neck/mahogany body combo is just right, and the Duncan JB-7 is the perfect bridge pickup for it. The 59 neck pickup isn't too bad, but I'm not sure--the cleaner tone of a Jazz might be a better fit for what I do. This guitar's tone kicks ass over all those basswood Ibanezes. (the fancy mahogany Ibanez 7s are a different matter, probably). And the great thing is that the Blackjack's sound is very versatile--It will do the heaviest metal or shred stuff you can imagine, while cleaning up nicely for some fusion. Another positive factor in the guitar's sound--the extended scale. It's not overdone, but it definitely results in a clearer, cleaner sound even though massive distortion. And I think it aids the crunch factor, too, since you use tons of gain without it turning into mush.

PLAYABILITY

--The 26.5" scale takes getting used to, no doubt about it. It took me a couple of days of heavy playing to feel totally comfortable. Basically, it has a similar effect as moving up a string-gauge size on a 25.5" guitar. Your shredding will take a little while to catch up, but you CAN shred on this guitar, I assure you. If anything, the bigger, wider real estate up in the guitar's upper register actually makes it *easier* to shred on that part of the neck, since there's more room for your fingers to fly about!

--The effect of the 26.5" scale on the low-B is PHENOMENAL, but not overdone--it doesn't make it sound like a bass string, in other words. The is the first seven I've played where the low-B responds and sounds just like the low-E. I have a riff I'm working on that involves power chords entirely rooted on the low-B, and this is the first guitar where they didn't sound weird or 'unintonated' somehow.

--The 23rd and 24th frets are very difficult to reach. Well, you can reach them with your pinky, but forget about playing any fancy stuff on those frets. Schecter really should have made the lower cutout deeper, so that you could easily reach those frets. Not a huge deal, but kind of a pain, all the same. Otherwise, upper fret access is very nice, just like on a neckthru guitar.

--The neck is thick, but jeez, it's not a baseball bat. It might be too much for you Ibanez guys, though. To me, the neck falls very nicely in my hand, and provides a lot of leverage for string bending, which requires more force due to the increased tension of the 26.5" scale.

--The frets are well finished--definitely to the standard of a serious musician, not a kid playing junk on the first three frets. Sure, if you buy a $$$$ USA guitar you'll get smoother frets, but not thousands of dollars better. No level problems on the frets, either. Woohoo!!!

BOTTOM LINE

This guitar is simply an outrageous value at $500 and change. I've never a played another guitar (six or seven string) in this price range that didn't either sound like crap or have lots of cheap hardware and poorly finished frets.


Ok, what *don't* I like about it, or what would I change about it if I could?

--unattractive piece of rosewood used for the fretboard. I'd have a guitargasm if this thing had an ebony fretboard.

--Grover tuners are ok (better than the crap you get on most sub-$1000 guitars), but I'd rather have Sperzels.

--The previously mentioned access problem with frets 23 and 24.

--I wouldn't mind it if the fretboard had a slightly flatter radius. But don't get me wrong, it's pretty flat as is. I'm just a radical that way.

--This guitar hasn't magically made me 22 years-old again and a hit with the young ladies...yet.

 

[Metal Ken]

I'm actually ordering sperzels for mine \m/

 

[eaeolian]

--This guitar hasn't magically made me 22 years-old again and a hit with the young ladies...yet.

I *HATE* it when they don't do that...

Given your pickiness with guitars - I'm fairly certain you've owned 90% of the production 7 string models ever made - I'll have to check one of these out.

Just what I need, another guitar to buy...

 

[eleven59]

Just what I need, another guitar to buy...

Isn't there a rule around here that you're supposed to say that with enthusiasm?

 

[eaeolian]

Isn't there a rule around here that you're supposed to say that with enthusiasm?

You've obviously not met my wife.

 

[jacksonplayer]

I *HATE* it when they don't do that...

Given your pickiness with guitars - I'm fairly certain you've owned 90% of the production 7 string models ever made - I'll have to check one of these out.

Just what I need, another guitar to buy...

Given the primo sevens you've already got, I can't imagine that you'd need one of these--however, it would kick major ass as a replacement for your H-207. It would also provide you a substantially different tone from your Jackson for studio work. However, it's possible you'd find the Blackjack a tad too thick in tone for what you guys regularly do. Loomis seems to do okay with it, though...

There's always another guitar to buy...

 

[jacksonplayer]

You've obviously not met my wife.

Even though I've only met her at that one gig, your wife seems pretty cool about stuff like that. My wife has slowly been coming around to the realization that she married an addict. A guitar addict, that is...

 

[eaeolian]

Even though I've only met her at that one gig, your wife seems pretty cool about stuff like that. My wife has slowly been coming around to the realization that she married an addict. A guitar addict, that is...

I think you're addicted to buying and selling them. You've been through more than I've owned in the couple of years I've known you, I think.

I'll still check one of these out - maybe we'll grab a beer or dinner at one or the other's place sometime, and I'll check yours out then. After all, we KNOW GC around here won't have anything but a 7321.

 

[jacksonplayer]

I think you're addicted to buying and selling them. You've been through more than I've owned in the couple of years I've known you, I think.

I'll still check one of these out - maybe we'll grab a beer or dinner at one or the other's place sometime, and I'll check yours out then. After all, we KNOW GC around here won't have anything but a 7321.

Like the guy who says he should never have taken that first drink, I still regret that first visit to eBay...