I own this guitar, and I love it. My only complaint is the maddening inlays on the neck, but in the store the neck feel was so awesome that it screamed “buy me!”. I tried five of them when I was shopping, all were very nice and setup perfectly. The five-way switch does not do pickup phasing, it’s for coil-tapping each humbucker for single-coil sound. And, yeah, it’s two knobs. But try playing one if you can, its really an awesome, shreddy guitar, and the coil tap makes it pretty versatile. And adding a phase switch is certainly doable via your friend, but tricky with that five-way.
I guess my other complaint is that Schecter’s web site is a miserably awful piece of Flash crap, so I can’t send you a link to the C-1 product page. It’s impossible as far as I can tell. Sorry.
Also, Paul Reed Smith, a very well regarded maker of very expensive custom guitars, has a lower priced line of guitars that are pretty good AFAIK. See here. I played one at GC the other week, and it seemed pretty good, although GC had string the thing with 8’s :rolleyes:, so it was like playing a guitar strung with hair. Despite that, I’d very much like to try that axe with normal weight strings; it felt very very solid, and the neck feel (despite the hair) was very very nice. ETA: aw, crap, I didn’t notice that that model is only 22-frets. Bah. Here’s the 24-fret version
Hey, here’s something pretty close: an Ibanez Artist. Four knobs, and two “tone switches” which I’d bet are phase and coil tap, but the site doesn’t say. It looks like 23 frets, weird. It’s also around 3 grand; oh, well.
I’m thinking that I’m looking for a new 20-year-old supermodel girlfriend, when the old hag that’s been with me for most of my life still gives the best blowjobs ever. It truly looks like the S300 is exactly what I want, and I don’t have to go to eBay to find one.
What concerned me was spending more on repairs and refinishing than the instument is worth. (After all, the price tag was $150, though I just traded something else in.) But the guy at GC said something that (har har) struck a chord with me. He said that it’s worth what it’s worth to me, and if I truly love it, it really doesn’t matter what I spend on it, because I’ll get the instrument I really want.
Wisdom, that.
I think that what really disappoints me is the rush I’d get of taking a shiny new instrument home. There are cheaper ways to feel good.
I’m now thinking about what color to get it painted. It seems like it originally came in white and black, or natural wood for the S300-A (which mine is not). Classic original color or something a little more bold? I’m thinking candy apple red.
If you’re putting the patient on the table and there is no chance (or realistic ability) to maintain collectibility (I suspect that is the case) - then go for it!! Heck, there are some really out there paint jobs - you should let your imagination run wild!
Well, to paint it you probably need to strip off the old paint first. There may or may not be pretty wood under the paint, but if there is you could go with the natural look and the guitar will look like its in original shape (hardware issues aside). It’s also a lot less work than painting.
Actually, I won’t. I can pay someone else to do that for me. Honestly, I think I’d probably screw it up and make it look like hell. OTOH, I do have an old bass that would make a good guinea pig.
I don’t know what the wood looks like, but I’m sure it’s not ash. It’s not an S300-A, it’s an S300-D, meaning that under all that paint are some DiMarzio pickups.
I was just reminiscing about doing that mantle and painting that apartment. It was a year of pure hell, and in the end it still looked like crap. And all on the say so of someone who convinced me that “It’ll be easy.”
If you saw the job I did an that apartment, you’d know why I’d rather trust a classic instrument to someone who’s not a danger to himself and others.
Well, I actually have stripped a guitar, and it really was easy. The fiddly part was removing all the hardware, the neck, etc, but that consumed little time. The stripping was cake. Having said that, and having attempted home improvement and regretted it, I understand your apprehension.
There’s a new eBay listing for one of your guitars - a link is in the Gear Page link I have earlier in this thread. I got an email notification about it…
Honestly, I think I’d probably screw it up and make it look like hell. OTOH, I do have an old bass that would make a good guinea pig.
