One of the first things you notice when you pick up a
Schecter is that they’re designed to be played with ease—they’re some of the most comfortable guitar designs on
the planet. Most of them have pretty traditional design elements,
but without the hang-ups you sometimes get with
traditional designs.
The other thing you notice is that they’re pretty sharp.
The Solo-6 Custom comes in three striking colors: faded
vintage sunburst, dark vintage sunburst, and gloss black
with gold hardware. For this review, I got the dark vintage
sunburst model, and when I took it to an open-mic night it
turned quite a few heads.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Great Features—Some Stealthy, Some Not
When the Solo-6 Custom review guitar showed up at my
house, it came strung with a set of D’Addario .010s and
was ready to be played. All I had to do was tune it. And
that was a breeze, thanks to the chrome Schecter locking
tuners. I could have unboxed this guitar at a gig and had
no problems all night. The craftsmanship is top notch—I
couldn’t even find any finish flaws. You can’t say that about
a lot of new guitars.
The Solo-6 Custom has a ton of bells and whistles, so don’t
let the traditional look fool you. It comes stock with USA
Seymour Duncan pickups—a Custom-Custom bridge unit
and a ’59 in the neck position. The electronics are of good
quality and will likely provide many stress-free years of
service. The Master Tone knob also functions as a coil tap,
and I found that very useful, especially in tandem with the
bridge- and neck-pickup Volume controls. Both Volumes
provided a nice sweep and cleaned up heavily distorted
tones well. Another nice touch is that Schecter added
rubber grips to the speed knobs for better control.
The chrome bridge and tailpiece are both from TonePros,
and the added sustain they provide is noticeable and appreciated. The 24 3/4"-scale Custom features
a mahogany body with a carved, flamed maple
top. The neck is also mahogany and features a
GraphTech nut and an ebony fretboard decorated
with pearl split-crown inlays. The neck
and body are wrapped with a multi-ply, crème-colored
binding that is the perfect touch for
this beautiful, great-sounding guitar.
The cutaway at the neck joint is very smart
and comfortable when playing higher up on
the neck. The flatter radius and bigger frets
allow you to easily bend without fretting out.
The neck is a little thinner than I’m used to,
but it’s a very comfortable C shape that most
players should also be comfortable with.
Further, the nut was cut perfectly, and I didn’t
run into any string-slipping or tuning issues.
The back of the body has a slight contour that’s
less annoying than some single-cut guitars, and
many players will find that this feature makes the
Solo-6 more comfortable to play live than similar
designs. The neck angle is straighter and less
dramatic than traditional single-cuts, too. This
allows the pickups to sit in the body more, which
I believe yields better bass response and more
of the sound of the wood to come through.
Plugging In
I tested the Solo-6 Custom with my Mad
Professor head and 2x12 cab and my Fender
Deluxe. The tone of the guitar is more
aggressive and leans more toward modern
sounds than vintage. That said, the Duncans
are smooth and responsive. The bridge
pickup has a lower-mid growl that makes
it perfect for drop tunings and full power
chords. The ’59, on the other hand, gives you
a beautiful, creamy tone that makes you want
to play the blues all night long. In the middle
position, the blend of the two pickups is very
nice and a bit Jimmy Page-like.
When you pull up on the Master Tone knob,
you split both the bridge and neck pickups.
This instantly turns the guitar into a Tele-style
instrument. I found the single-coil sounds
very useful and versatile. The split middle
position is great for playing clean with chorus.
Single-coil mode means you get the 60-cycle
hum when you engage your distortion pedal
or amp, but this is a small matter considering
you have six sounds to choose from.
Give It a Whirl
Did I mention that this guy lists for just under
a grand? It retails for $999 and streets for
around $700. That’s a deal in any economy.
With this guitar, Schecter proves you can still
get a great guitar for not a whole lot of cash.
In fact, I’m pretty sure that, by the end of the
open-mic gig I took the guitar to, a few guitarists
in the crowd had decided to head to
their nearest Schecter dealer to check one of
these bad boys out. And I would have rated
this guitar the same way if it cost $1200 or
$1400 bucks. So if you’re in the market for
a versatile single-cutaway guitar with a few
tricks up its sleeve, give the Schecter Solo-6
Custom a try.
Buy if...
you need a quality guitar with
lots of pro features and tone but
you’re on a budget
Skip if...
you have a bigger budget and prefer
an instrument with a more traditional
look and feature set.
Rating...
