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Schecter Ultra
List: $850
You’d be forgiven to have mistakenly thought that the Schecter Ultra was a Gibson Firebird from a distance; there’s enough attributes to have made it a passable Firebird model anyway. In fact, the Ultra has enough physical traits to make it a tele/ explorer copy but then again it’s a unique guitar per se, visually & tonally.
Construction/ fit/ finish
The Ultra joins the market as an affordable set-neck unit, well-made & worth every cent in terms of construction & fittings. The sunburst model I played was a little messy finish-wise at the neck-body joint but it proved to be a one-off as others in the shops showed no such neglect. You’d be forgiven to think that the raised centre marked a through-neck construction but it’s a clever ploy by the manufacturer to visually enhance the overall aesthetics. There were no other physical anomalies to report, the Ultra had been well-made & attention to details was of a fine offering.
Playability/ tone
The neck of the Ultra is of a wide/ slightly fat profile, nothing as meaty as the PRS version. It remains playable across the fretboard but felt a little constrained at the treble-side cutaway. The overall feel is splendid but it’s not as shred friendly as I would have wanted it to be. Unplugged, the Ultra sounded bright; a typical mahogany affair this one.
What do you expect from a guitar of this calibre- super shred tones/ thunderous bass? Not quite my friends, the Ultra here offers some splendid crunch, this side of Slash. The bridge Duncan Designed humbucker has enough bottom end & midrange for meaty power chords. The neck counterpart has a very ’59 vibe to it & more importantly, a very well defined tone can be heard here, none of the muddiness you’d expect. I’m also pleased to report the rich harmonics from this guitar, especially the from the bridge humbucker, so players who are particular about picking dynamics would do well to check this guitar out.
Last say
The Ultra to me was an ugly duckling until I plugged it in only to discover the beautiful swan tones. It’s not a shred tool by any means but one can always adapt to it along the way. My gripe here was only the 2+4 tuner configuration, I kept reaching for the bass side to access the D string; something many players need getting used to. The set neck cutaway would be better off if the neck joins the body at later frets to cater to further access, instead, what we have here is a typical Les Paul restrictiveness. If you are in for a non-mainstream design with all the cool tones on board, the Ultra would be a natural choice, however, do not expect to acquire a form-fit hard case for it easily.