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Schecter 006 Elite
List: $980
The last time a Schecter guitar tried to sway me from buying something else, it distinctly featured a sillhoutte of a dead cocroach at the tail end of its body, which absolutely added zilch to tone. My current encounter with one was a much pleasant one, no such pest in sight, in fact, it’s all tone & no nonsense.
The 006 Elite featured here is a simple guitar, features-wise. All the pickups you need for tonal variation (S-H pickup combo, 1 Vol, 1 Tone, 3-way toggle) & a non-string locking bridge unit that would make Les Paul proud. The message is clear, it’s for your tonal exploration, not for your surgical passtime.
Construction/ fit/ finish
With the 006 in hand, I could easily feel that Schecter got it right, physically. Construction & fittings were top notch, no comments necessary. The neck has a Fender-like width to it but not the depth, it’s slightly meatier to the touch but the C profile rear was enough to make it very playable. After the 12th fret, things might get a little too expansive for the uninitiated but not to worry, playability’s in tact. My only gripe with it was its rather dry fretboard, but that’s very normal with rosewood which is an open-grained wood type, they lose moisture quickly, especially in our equitorial environment. The ones which are more resistant are the Brazilian, close-grained variety but due to environmental concerns, even PRS avoid having it in their 20th Anniversary Std 24 model (2005). Neat bindings aplenty, coupled with a visually pleasing figured laminate top, the 006 was a winner.
Playability/ tone
The 006 was a pleasure to play, kudos to the jumbo frets but again, my dislike for finished necks was renewed. However, if you are used to countless Epis & Gibbos, you’d be playing this forever. Also, no thanks to the unmarked fretboard, less the diamond inlay at the 12th fret, fumbling fools like me would be exposed almost immediately but it’s nothing familiarity wouldn’t cure, as I quickly found out. There was no elbow area chamfer on the guitar’s tail-end but that’s what the 006’s curved top is for- comfort all round, not just that elbow area. The overall sustain of this guitar was much aided by the string through body feature, a thoughtful complement indeed.
Moving on to tone, the 006’s highlight was of course its coil tap feature via the pull-push facility at the tone knob. The default bridge humbucker was somehow inherently smooth under lots of gain, very Dimarzio-like for a Duncan Designed unit. However, upon coil-tap activation, tone was treble rich & twangy, roll the volume off a tad & you get some impressive blues crunch, this side of Fender. But the tone revelation didn’t end there, the single coil in the neck had one of the best definition for a default unit, nothing too brash or wooly, very workable tones from this Duncan Designed SC-102. The default action could use some fine tuning, it’s a little too high for comfortable fretboard acceleration, but gave enough clearance for crisp chords when you play clean.
Last say
It seems that there’s another contender in the mid-priced electric guitar range in the guise of this Schecter 006 Elite. The other 2 guitars which are worthy exponents would be Ibanez’s SZ520 & Yamaha’s RGX520. I’m satisfied with the 006 Elite but critically, the treble side cutaway should feature a longer horn, Schecter would do well to learn from Ibanez & Yamaha in this aspect as it affects the overall balance of the guitar when played sitting down. I’m also of the opinion that the neck width after the 12th fret on the 006 is a little too spacious for comfortable finger gymnastics, both Ibanez & Yamaha had this space checked, we would like Schecter to do likeweise. The 006 Elite is another proof that there are very good set-necked guitars out there which do not cost a bomb.
