Schecter Guitar Research C-1 E/A Electric Guitar Cat's Eye

I had been looking at this beautiful guitar for some time now. I finally jumped and received my Schecter C1 E/A today. It came with a card that said set up and ready to play. And they were right. This guitar was already set up and ready. All I had to do was bring the height of the strings a bit and tune her up. When I plugged it into my Boss Katana 50 amp it made this amp sound better than any guitar I own. I was playing some acoustic songs, classic rock and hard rock and it sounds amazing. I can't wait to use it live.

Aside from the B.S.with delivery. This is a great guitar. A Ycable, on the fly I can switch from acoustic to electric.

I had the tech change springs to 8's and set it up. When he was done. I could have used it for a lap steel. I had to take it to a Luther, to get it fixed and pay twice.

A mahogany & maple semi-hollow body + 25.5" set neck + piezo deliver unique sounds no other guitars I know do. I'm not a big fan of the way this guitar looks (veneer flame maple and reddish brown color), but the important thing is it sounds great. 14R fingerboard and X-jumbo frets are huge pluses too. A Korean Schecter means it trounces US Fenders in build quality. It is light but not super light, probably like 7.5lbs. The chamber is pretty large but the maple top is pretty thick too. The unplugged volume is not much more than solid bodies but the lower strings do have a little more resonance. Before buying I had a doubt about the pickups: Schecter's catalog says "Diamond Plus" are shared with $400 Omen. I don't know if they are really the same but these have nice vintage sounds and I have no issue. The split single coils don't produce much twang/quack, just clearer acoustic-like tones. The piezo sounds good too, even though it demands a separate amp setup. Also there is a huge volume difference especially with split single coils. I haven't tried myself yet but supposedly the outputs can be split with a stereo cable, so that feels like a must during live gigs. I prefer 25.5-scale guitars, I feel they have more clarity and this guitar doesn't disappoint. The cleaner tones are acoustic-like even with the humbuckers. The dirty tones are warm and viscous, kinda like Santana but with great clarity. I love Schecter because they build guitars nobody else does like this one.

I absolutely LOVE this guitar. First the aesthetics are astounding. I would have to be a poet to find words to describe it: mahagony body and neck, cat's eye flame maple top and matching headstock, unique sound hole rather than typical f-hole, creme bindings and pickup frames for a classy look. That's all in the specs, but it's really beautiful. Other than the beauty, the reason to get this guitar is the "acoustic" aspect: semi-hollow, piezo pickup, and mixing electronics. The guitar just sounds beautiful--it's a spiritual experience. And here is what I find beyond compelling: you can split the stereo output to tip and ring, sending the acoustic piezo pickup to one amp and the electric humbuckers to another amp--that's like having two guitars! I ordered a TC BodyRez pedal to enhance the acoustic signal (I'll update the review after it arrives) and I have a VOX ToneLab pedal on the electric signal. By flipping the lower switch on the guitar body, I can switch between the "acoustic amp", the "electric amp", or blend them with the volume knobs on the guitar. Right now, I'm having fun switching between Lynyrd Skynyrd Sweet Home Alabama and Metallica Master of Puppets—with just the flip of the switch! Continuing about versatility, the "electric" aspect is great, also. The H-H configuration is coil-tapped, so it even has an S-S config. And as I previously mentioned the H-H/S-S electric pickups can be blended with the acoustic pickup. How can a guitar have more flexibility than that? The only thing I can imagine is if it also had a middle single-coil and 5-way switch. But, a) many people feel a middle pickup gets in the way and b) it doesn't seem necessary because the piezo does a better job filling the role of a middle pickup, anyway. So this guitar has got to be one of the most versatile ever. Oh yeah--and it has jumbo frets and a set-in neck (just like the thru-neck of the Jackson Soloist, for example), so it is a shredding machine, too.

Great guitar. Great Quality & Playability. Price is very reasonable. just a really nice sounding guitar.