I bought the most crabcore instrument ever.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Wed May 21, 2014 9:55 pm

Schecter Stiletto Custom 5 in Satin Natural. It's an extra long 35" scale five string bass. I am so ready to join a mallgoth band now.

Oh, and that Jazzmaster to the right was my latest project before that. It's a Jazzmaster built like a Johnny Marr Jaguar. It's got a Mastery Vibrato, Staytrem Bridge, Johnny Marr wiring configuration, and knobs moved to be closer to where they are on a Jaguar so they don't get in my way when I'm stumming. It's a Squier body, custom pickguard, Seymour Duncan SJM-1 pickups, and a Fender Marauder neck (for that 22nd fret I love). So I basically made it as Johnny Marr Jaguar as possible while keeping the Jazzmaster scale and pickups.

But back to the Stiletto Crabcore Custom. What an incredible piece of worksmanship for the price. Made in Indonesia. I got it (store demo) for less than $420. The neck is simply beautiful, as they always are on Schecters. It's so light and easy to play that I have had no trouble adjusting to it, and I'm coming from a 30" scale 4-string here. Unfortunately, the factory setup is clearly for virtuosos who like to tap between their slapping breaks. There is zero relief and the action is low as shit, very little sustain. The overall sound is also very much for that kind of playing, as well. I have to turn the treble down to get a sound I like, but then there's no real definition to it. Do not like.

I'll be working to reverse that. EMG pickups will be taken out, Duncans put in. EMG Active EQ will be taken out, and I'll use a 4-way rotary switch to enable pickup switching, which I've never had on a bass but I've experimented with individual volumes and balance on guitars and never liked them, so I don't want them on a bass, either. Also, there will be a series configuration for ultimate fat sound. I'll be installing D'Addario Chromes for that smooth, warm sound. Can't wait to get all this work done! The 35" scale is great. Everything just feels really tight. Because of that B string, if I need to play fast, I can do a lot of the faster stuff higher up on the fretboard. I honestly find it easier to play a 35" scale 5-string than a 34" scale 4-string because of this.

If you're willing to do a little bit of work to get it to be a little less cheesy, these Schecter basses are amazing. In playability, they're simply superlative. Just play one. You'll love it. They're so light, too. I tried a bunch of Fender and Squier 5-string basses, and they got a sound I love, but their feel is simply not for me. They are made for huge black men with gigantic frames and basketball-gripping hands, not for little girly men like myself. Now, I'll do everything I can to make my Schecter sound like a Fender.

theshadowofseattle · Post by **theshadowofseattle** » Wed May 21, 2014 9:59 pm

Noirie. · Post by **Noirie.** » Wed May 21, 2014 10:17 pm

I hope you've got a receipt.

That Jazzmaster is cool tho.

finboy · Post by **finboy** » Wed May 21, 2014 10:35 pm

theshadowofseattle wrote:

Nick · Post by **Nick** » Thu May 22, 2014 1:36 am

It all makes sense.

Fakir Mustache · Post by **Fakir Mustache** » Thu May 22, 2014 9:25 am

nah, for crabcore you need a bigger body so you can get into crap position and not have the neck flop over, and probably in black finish.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Thu May 22, 2014 3:36 pm

Nick wrote:

It all makes sense.

Only the greatest rock bassist in the last 20 years. He rewrites the textbook on melodic playing. His part on "Blurry Eyes" is rather amazing. He plays these intricate parts that mesh into the song so well that you don't even notice them until you really listen. Even on ballads like "Honey," he is usually doing interesting things. And yes, being able to play his more recent material that uses a five string is a big part of my motivation. He is the soul of that band. His Lakland and Zon are well out of my price range, unfortunately.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Thu May 22, 2014 3:39 pm

Fakir Mustache wrote:nah, for crabcore you need a bigger body so you can get into crap position and not have the neck flop over, and probably in black finish.

true, but that doesn't change the fact that crabbers always have Schecter.

mixtape · Post by **mixtape** » Thu May 22, 2014 3:57 pm

Yeah, I tried one of those Schecter Stiletto basses once (the four-string version), intent on not liking it, but that neck was beyond lovely. At the time, I walked away, because it was not a practical financial decision and I didn't want to muck around with active electronics, but I definitely understand where you're coming from.

And here I thought "crabcore" was just a careless misspelling of "crapcore."

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Thu May 22, 2014 6:16 pm

It's 'coz they look like crabs, hehe.

Of course, the Schecter headstock completes the look.

Josh · Post by **Josh** » Fri May 23, 2014 12:36 am

omg. so this is a popular thing?

love that Johnny marr jazzy though, thing looks fun.

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Fri May 23, 2014 8:59 am

Schecters are great guitars hiding behind the aesthetics of a 14 yr old who obsesses about getting a tribal tattoo as soon as they're old enough.

Fakir Mustache · Post by **Fakir Mustache** » Fri May 23, 2014 10:13 am

honeyiscool wrote:It's 'coz they look like crabs, hehe.

Of course, the Schecter headstock completes the look.

You sure that's not an ESP or Ltd? They have some with headstocks like that.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Fri May 23, 2014 5:16 pm

That's a Schecter Hellraiser/Omen or whatever.

I imagine if you're solely into metal, Schecter probably manifests itself as the Epiphone option. Their guitars are affordable and decent and they do many different styles, a lot of them are just more hard-rock/metal oriented.

A number of them have appealed to me over the years... though it's seldom a surprise for me which ones they've been.

BillClay · Post by **BillClay** » Fri May 23, 2014 9:13 pm

ekwatts wrote:Schecters are great guitars hiding behind the aesthetics of a 14 yr old who obsesses about getting a tribal tattoo as soon as they're old enough.

Schecter's image and fan base may be shit, but I've always been impressed by the quality of there stuff and price.

honeyiscool · Post by **honeyiscool** » Fri May 23, 2014 10:47 pm

ekwatts wrote:Schecters are great guitars hiding behind the aesthetics of a 14 yr old who obsesses about getting a tribal tattoo as soon as they're old enough.

I honestly wouldn't even have given them a second look except that I'm a fan of Daisy Rock guitars. Since Daisy Rock has pretty much the same construction as Schecter, I became a huge fan of their necks. For their bolt-ons, Schecter/Daisy Rock uses a very hard maple with a satin back finish. Tilt back headstock so you don't need string trees for proper break angle, but with a volute and scarf joint so they don't break if you drop them. Plus, they usually give you Grover tuners to go with it. Sometimes the nuts are a bit poor on the lower end models, but that's something that's easily addressed. I don't really care for their set necks and neck-throughs as much not because they're bad, but because I think their bolt-on necks are much more special.

It's really something how much value Schecter tries to give you in their guitars. When you spend get a mid-range Schecter, usually you get brand name pickups (mostly Duncans in their passive guitars, EMG in their basses and active guitars) that at the very least give you solid resale value if you sell them. Even their standard strings are Ernie Ball. Usually there are solid electronics, sometimes with coil splits. Grover tuners and Graph Tech nuts are pretty standard. On higher end stuff, you'll see stuff like Hipshot bridges. Their locking tremolos are usually Floyd Rose branded stuff, usually Floyd Rose Special at the least, not the cheap Licensed by Floyd Rose crap. Each price increase usually has very specific upgrades that represents a good value. If you're a kid who wants a guitar that comes pre-hot rodded w/ everything necessary and you like the aesthetics, I don't know of a better value out there.

WayToHip · Post by **WayToHip** » Fri May 23, 2014 11:53 pm

Happy NBGD Honey (lulz). I'm wondering if you have any balance issues, thats a tiny body with a longer, fatter (wider) neck and extra metal on the headstock. also, you should do an demo, after the mods.

damienblair17 · Post by **damienblair17** » Sat May 24, 2014 8:33 am

I'm so glad someone else likes schecter as much as I do (although I'm kind of a big fanboi, so who knows).

I have the 4string version. Love it, active pickups and all. It's an earlier model with individual volume for each pickup rather than master/blend. I picked it up right when I started playing and find it works best for folky stuff, surprisingly.

Here's a picture from a few years ago or something.

Happy new bass day!

brainfur · Post by **brainfur** » Thu May 29, 2014 3:38 pm

i played a schecter v that was cool once but in general they look really bad id rather play a fluorescent ibanez

NickD · Post by **NickD** » Thu May 29, 2014 5:44 pm

I've got a Daisy Rock 12 string and I've got to agree that they are great quality.