All user reviews of 4/5 for the Schecter Hellraiser Solo-6

This is one of the newer Schecter models. This is the Hellraiser Solo-6. It is Schecters take on the classic single cut design. This guitar has a real metal edge to it. This guitar is made to compete with the ESP LTD EC models. The ones that come with active pickups. The design of this guitar is very similar. This guitar has a mahogany body. The ones with quilt finishes come with maple tops on the mahogany. The one I am reviewing in this review has a solid mahogany body. The neck is 3 piece mahogany as well and it has set neck construction. The neck has s 25.5 inch scale more suited to tuning down than the traditional Les Paul scale. The fretboard is rosewood with 24 jumbo frets. Up top on the headstock you get locking tuners and the bridge is a locking tonepros unit just like on the ESP models. The pickups in this guitar are a set of active EMG's. It has an 81tw in the bridge and an 89 in the neck. The 81 is a familiar pickup but this one has a single coil mode, and not many companies use the 89. The 89 is like an 85 but with single coil mode. The controls you get are two push pull volumes with a master tone and a 3 way toggle on the upper bout.

UTILIZATION

I find this guitar pretty comfortable. I naturally like arch top guitars with tune-o-matics. They seem to fit me the best. The Tonepros bridge on this guitar is one of the best tune-o-matic units on the market. It is a locking bridge so it doesnt fall off when you are changing strings. Schecters have a little bit bigger necks than what you find on most modern guitars. If you are use to thin necks I would recommend the ESP alternative over this one. The neck on this model is a bit chunky but it is still comfortable. The locking tuners are Schecter locking tuners but they do the job well. I think every hardtail guitar should come with locking tuners nowadays.

SOUNDS

Schecter was smart in using the dual mode EMG pickups. I dont think any of the other guitars that this guitar is competing with has the dual mode EMG pickups. I say dual mode because they are not really splitting the coils. You cant split an active pickup. These EMG's are essentially two pickups in a single case. So the 81tw and the 89 each have a little single coil packed in with them to simulate a split tone. The 81tw is a newer EMG design. For the longest time if you wanted the brutal 81 tone that brutal tone is all you got. Now you can get some EMG single coil tone with it. It essentially has the EMG SA stuck in with it. This is their fatter sounding single coil model. It gives you some beefy single coil tone with the crushing 81 tone. I believe the 89 was their first dual mode pickup. It is similar to the 81tw but the base of the pickup is an EMG 85. This could have been called the 85tw. I am a fan of the 85 and 89. They have a fatter overall tone than the 81. They give you a smoother lead tone and a better clean tone. The single coil in the 89 is fat as well and it matches up well to the humbucker tone.

OVERALL OPINION

Schecter is putting out good guitars nowadays. I think most people are leery of them because they are not ESP. Schecter has been around since the late 70s but they only appeared on the major scene in the last few years and have been trying to take on ESP ever since. Schecter is kind of the unknown guitar company. Most people would not be able to tell you where Schecter is from although they are American very few of their guitars are made here. With ESP if you get a made in Japan ESP you know its good and the others are still not bad. It is kind of hard to tell a good Schecter from a bad Schecter you kind of have to take them all at face value. This guitar has a setup that many people want nowadays and is a good and more versatile alternative to the ESP benchmark.