ShortScale.org

I ordered a Schecter Hellcat VI a week and a half ago and it's finally here! I've been lusting after a Fender VI for over a decade, but, well, they're pretty hard to get and expensive… The Hellcat VI is about the closest you can get, and at a decent price. I ordered it from ProGuitarShop, taking advantage of their free international shipping and 10% off on Fathers' Day sale.

The box arrived, lookin' fine, and it was well packaged with bubble wrap and double boxed.




It included a small patch cable, and, of course, the allen wrenches to get it all set









The G string was off the saddle coming out of the box

and there are a couple small dings in the finish around the jack… but it's not big enough to worry about.


First impressions are relatively solid. I've played a Fender Jaguar Baritone Custom a bit ago, and the feel is similar. I was surprised when I picked up the box from the post office by how light it was; certainly much lighter than my Jag and even my basswood Jazz Bass. Other than the small dings near the jack, the finish is pretty nice, and the tort looks ok, though busier than I tend to like.

The action is a little low out of the box, the E and A strings have some buzz. Shouldn't take much effort to get it set up well. There's a fair degree of tone flexibility, and it'll take a bit to go through the pickup combinations (10 of them) to find what I like best in what situations. So far the middle pickup in humbucker mode is sounding pretty sweet.

Full chords far down the neck are a bit muddy, but higher chords ring nicely with an interesting voice. This thing will probably make a nice addition to my band setup in a few applications.

More thoughts later; I'm a little cramped for time right now, so can't play and write

Nice, I unpacked several Schecters' the other day and 3 of them had some strings off the saddles. Not sure why but probably just a rapid stringing system of some kind. That & shipping guitars with little string tension (good), saves someone, somewhere... some time.

All in all I find Schecters to be really solid guitars with really good QC, that's the important thing.

jealous.

endsjustifymeans wrote:jealous.

+1

Arr. Already regretting sending away my baritone today.

I must insist that you do an demo

Ive been ogling that thing for years

Ankhanu wrote:The G string was off the saddle coming out of the box

oh well, send it back. you did get the warranty didn't you?




...acshully, I've been looking for a nashville style bridge like that with the brass saddles. I can't find them anywhere though.

I'd always dismissed Schecter as a Metal only guitar company, but after seeing one of their PT Fastbacks, an Ultra III and this Hellcat, I'm interested in what else they might have to offer in near future. Looks like a sweet instrument

That is one cool guitar. I'm starting to have some faith in Schecter

colabonham wrote:That is one cool guitar. I'm starting to have some faith in Schecter

They are certainly stepping up their game in the design department.

On a side note, I just visited their website, which reads SCHECTER GUITARS - NEVER FORGET. Why, I don't know, but it gave me lulz.

This thread is in the wrong part of forum.

Evidently no-one cares anymore.

Still, nice Ankhanu, them pups look interesting.

its not a 34" bass right?

isn't it like 32 or 30 or something?

30", like all the best baritonezzzzz.

robroe wrote:its not a 34" bass right?

isn't it like 32 or 30 or something?

Aye, this is a shortscale 6 string bass. It has as much right to be hear as bronco basses.

Been spending the past hour or so since getting up playing around with it, started using some chorus and playing along to some tracks off Disintegration… pretty happy so far
I ran it at really low volume when I got back to the apartment last night (around 11ish) with some distortion and it held up really nicely with the Fulltone DP-1. I look forward to giving it a workout when I jam with my band next. It won't chord in the low frequencies super well, I'm pretty sure, but higher up it's sounding great.

Justyn wrote:I must insist that you do an demo

Ive been ogling that thing for years

Will try. I'm going to try recording it some time today… I only have video on my phone and the built in iSight on my Mac… I'll look into video later.

BillClay wrote:I'd always dismissed Schecter as a Metal only guitar company, but after seeing one of their PT Fastbacks, an Ultra III and this Hellcat, I'm interested in what else they might have to offer in near future. Looks like a sweet instrument

Same here. Most of their stuff is shyte, but the Hellcat VI and Ultra III in particular are really nice designs... and the build quality seems solid enough.

jcyphe wrote:This thread is in the wrong part of forum.

Ah, touche; I thought 30", shortscale... but yeah, I suppose it's not expressly in the list. It can be moved.

Ankhanu wrote:It won't chord in the low frequencies super well, I'm pretty sure [...]

That's a shame. Do you think a pickup swap or a different string gauge would tighten things up?

I've been wanting one ever since seeing Kestrel's in the picture thread.

scandoslav wrote:

Ankhanu wrote:It won't chord in the low frequencies super well, I'm pretty sure [...]

That's a shame. Do you think a pickup swap or a different string gauge would tighten things up?

I've been wanting one ever since seeing Kestrel's in the picture thread.

If you really want to chord all over the neck, you're probably better off with a baritone guitar. These really are basses.

endsjustifymeans wrote:If you really want to chord all over the neck, you're probably better off with a baritone guitar. These really are basses.

Just a string change to baritone strings and tune up (!) to A-A or B-B and it's a baritone guitar. That's the only difference.

endsjustifymeans wrote:If you really want to chord all over the neck, you're probably better off with a baritone guitar. These really are basses.

I do chord on my 4-strings and 5-string too; with relatively similar muddy results in the low positions, so I doubt there's be much difference changing pickups or strings... though there aren't too many options in string gauges for this style instrument.

I'm testing out the viability of different playing styles on it; I have preconceived notions of what it's good for (I have been listening to different players of the Fender VI and Danelectro VI types for a few years, and the different ways they've used them), but I still have to test these things out myself I have no interest in converting to standard baritone tunings, I'm a bass player primarily and I want this to be both a stand in for my basses and an interesting melody instrument as well. I have read of the Fender VI and the Hellcat VI being quite nicely set up in A or B tunings, however, it's not an uncommon "mod".

This is my first bass with humbuckers in it, and I am liking the extra depth they provide. I'm not sure I'd want them on a full scale 4-string, but on this, they're pretty nice... Mind you, I'm mostly playing with a pick on the VI, whereas I finger pick on a standard bass; the single coils help maintain some of the snap I want in my tone fingerstyle, I think. As one would expect, there is an output loss when coil tapping the humbuckers, but in some positions the tonal difference isn't very strong.

benecol wrote:Just a string change to baritone strings and tune up (!) to A-A or B-B and it's a baritone guitar. That's the only difference.

That and 2-2.5" of scale length. Most baris I've seen are 27.5-28".