Schecter will always have a special place in my heart. One of my first guitars ever was a early 2000’s model C-1. Since then, the C-1 has been one of my favorite Schecter guitars, alongside the Banshee models. We’ve done reviews of a few different C-1 models, such as the C-1 Custom and the SLS C-1 FR. Today, we’ll be taking a look at the C-1 Classic, the reimagining of a classic Schecter model that delivers high end appointments at a budget.

We’ll start with the specs!

Features:

– Mahogany Body

– Arched Quilted Maple Top

– Maple/Walnut Neck

– Rosewood Fretboard

– Natural Binding

– Abalone Tree of Life Inlays

– Graphtech Ivory Nut

– Neck-Thru w/Ultra Access

– 25.5″ Scale

– Grover Tuners

– TonePros T3BT TOM Bridge w/ String Thru Body

– Seymour Duncan JB/Jazz Pickups

This guitar is absolutely beautiful. I was caught off guard when I saw that the price tag read $899. The “Antique” finish and “Vine of Life” inlays give it a really classic vibe. Couple those with the gold hardware and natural binding, and this guitar is an absolutely gorgeous specimen to admire.

The TOM bridge featured on this guitar is quite comfortable. Many modern players these days tend to avoid TOM styles for some reason. I really enjoy it on some guitars and on this particular model, I felt it was a good choice. The Grover tuners are quite good quality, although I generally upgrade all of my guitars with locking tuners.

(If you want to learn how to do a tuner upgrade, check out our guide: How to Install New Tuning Machines.)

Tone:

Despite the sexy look, the highlight of this guitar is the sounds that it can manage.

Similar to the C-1 Custom that we recently reviewed, the C-1 Classic features the classic combination of Mahogany and Maple.  These tried-and-true tonewoods deliver a balanced, warm sound with a low-mid focus. Thanks to the solid mahogany body and neck-thu construction, this instrument offers a ton of sustain.

Schecter made the decision to put on of my favorite Seymour Duncan pickup combos in this guitar. The Seymour Duncan JB/59 set.

The JB is crafted with an Alnico-5 magnet, and a fairly hot wind to achieve a really nice balance of distortion and clarity. The low end is really powerful and the mid range is very apparent. Single notes offer a nice, vocal-like quality, and chords maintain clarity and sustain.

The versatility the JB offers is the reason why it’s one of my absolute favorite bridge pickups of all time. It feels at home for any genre, from metal to jazz.

For more information, be sure to check out our full Seymour Duncan JB Review.

Other than the pickup choice, the guitar also features a 5-way selector which can run the pickups in series, or in parallel. This offers an even bigger selection of tonal possibilities.

Build Quality:

The Korean Schecter guitars tend to maintain a pretty great quality standard these days. I’m almost always totally happy when playing one. Unfortunately, the C-1 Classic that I played had some issues. Nothing too crazy, but some things to point out.

(Before you read on, don’t forget that we offer our Free Guitar Enhancement Package, and our intense quality inspection checks will make sure that your guitar is perfect before getting it. So if you are interested in a C-1 Classic, we can guarantee that yours won’t have any of the issues we found on this one)

So, as far as the issues I found, I noticed a few major scratches on the 12th and 13th frets. No dings, but very noticeable scratches. The other issue was the input jack. The solder joint itself must have been weak because the signal had some issues if you moved the cable around. Not a horrible problem, but not something anyone wants on a brand new guitar.

Other than these problems, the neck felt great, all the fret ends were really smooth and had no playability issues, and all the hardware felt like it was really high quality.

Final Verdict:

The Schecter C-1 Classic is a beautifully looking and sounding guitar. Although we found a few issues with it, I wouldn’t mind having a more perfect specimen for myself.

The standout feature was how amazingly versatile the guitar sounded. It wouldn’t be out of place in any guitarists collection.

 

Tone – 5/5

Build Quality – 3.5/5

Features – 4/5

 

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This article was written by Zac Buras, our editor located in Louisiana.

 

 

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