What would you say they sound like? Are they good? What are the main differences between them and music man basses?
Schecterās get pigeonholed as being metal, and they certainly do that, but they are versatile and modern. But that goes with a caveat that Schecter has a lot of configurations. They make P, PJ, Jazz, and dual humbucker models. So they have a variety of voices.
Iāve got a D4 Devil custom sat in my rack right now and itās great.
Good neck, easy to play, great tonal options and not heavy.
I was this ā ā close to getting a Schecter when I got my Ibanez. Only reason I got the Ibanez was because my GF was getting it for me as a gift and she liked the look of the Ibanez better.
That would be a tough choice @JustTim
Iāve got both
They tend to have a louder, more high fidelity, modern sound. Usually active pickups with high output. They sound much more like Ibanez than Music Mans.
Yes - they are quite good. Iāve had several students come in with cool looking Schecters and they played well, had good electronics and were solid basses. I canāt speak for their entire line, but the few that Iāve encountered have been good.
I havenāt seen a design of theirs that is modeled off of the Music Man, but their sound and design does remind me a lot of Ibanez. Sleek, and modern with the active electronics. Different from Ibanez mainly (to me) in the styles and shapes and the necks - Ibanez tend to have more tapered and thinner contour necks than Schecter (or anyone else, really).
Iāve become a major Schecter fan boy as of late. A lot of their instruments are very āmetalā looking, but they are also very versatile in sound. A lot of the sound depends on the model and they have LOTS!!!
Check out my post here on the SLS Elite bassā¦
There are a couple good videos in that post, but this is the one you wantā¦
Spoiler alert⦠I JUST bought the Schecter SLS Elite Bass (in black fade burst) and I can say this bass, pickups, and pre amp combo live up to the hype!!! Iāve had it just a week today and it is incredible. I havenāt had time to do the full write up and post it yet, mostly because I havenāt put it down long enough. The classic/funk/modern voicing switch is great, in fact I like itās clean tones a LOT! You want a little clank? set it to modern! Want the midās scooped out set it to funk. Want a classic bass tone⦠set it to classic. Then there is the push pull volume knob that gives you all the same options but in single coil mode, which kind of makes it sound like passive pickups (imho). And you can sculpt all of these with the pre amp which is also VERY good.
Iām coming to the Schecter from a B-stock (for a small blemish) Ibanez SR370E. Nothing wrong with the Ibanez, but itās not on the same planet as the Schecter. But the Schecter is literally $1000 more than I paid for the Ibanez too. The Schecter sounds⦠ummm⦠cleaner? clearer? much better note clarity!!! (ya thatās it, LOL) It makes the Ibanez sound muddy, but thatās one thing that pre amp gets dinged for anyway.
I will say the Ibanez neck and the Schecter neck are VERY similar. I may have to break out the calipers and measure to see how close they are because playing I really donāt notice a difference.
I had my bass quest narrowed down to the Schecter SLS Elite and the Schecter Stiletto Stealth. I really like the Stiletto Stealth because it has 2 very different pickups and they sound very different soloed (oh and itās like $800 cheaper than the SLS Elite). But I have liked the Fishman pickup and preamp in every bass Iāve heard it in, so I set fire to a credit card and itās mine now!
I also am a fan of their P-4 Exotic and J-4 Exotic basses, and they are not metal looking at all. If the Exotic came in a PJ config it would have been a much harder choice.
Anyway, you canāt go wrong with a Schecter!
L8r
Chris
Thank you everyone for the helpful information! I will probably ask for a Schecter for xmas