groundzero
10-29-2005, 09:29 PM
I've had this bass for a while and haven't gotten around to doing a review, so I guess now is as good a time as any.
Schecter Diamond Series C-5
Information from the Schecter site:
http://schecterguitars.com/spec.asp?id=87
CONSTRUCTION/SCALE: Bolt-on / 35"
BODY: Mahogany w/ Figured Maple
NECK/FINGERBOARD: Multi-Laminate Maple & Walnut / Rosewood
FRETS: 24 Jumbo
INLAYS: Vector
PICKUPS: EMG HZ
ELECTRONICS: 2 Vol w/ EMG Active 2-Band EQ
BRIDGE: S-Tek
BINDING: None
TUNERS: Grover
HARDWARE: Satin Gold
COLOR: Antique Amber (ANTQ)
SUGGESTED RETAIL: $769
STREET PRICE: $500
FEATURES (3/5):
This is the only area of the bass that disappoints me, so I'll get it out of the way first.
The C-5 has a 2 band EQ and a volume knob for each pickup. The EQ is fine; it's nice for quick changes and you can use your amp for more fine tuning. A 3 band would be cool but definitely not required. The active preamp lets you get a nice range of sounds.
The two volume knobs would be MUCH nicer if they were in a volume/blend configuration rather than a volume/volume config. This is something I would change if I knew how.
The string spacing is somewhat smaller than average for a 5 string. I like this because it fits my hands well, other people may not.
CONSTRUCTION (4.5/5):
This bass is solid from top to bottom. The tuners stay in tune wonderfully; if it's just sitting on my stand I can pick it up after not playing for 3 or 4 days and only have to tune one string, if that.
The 35" scale is almost a necessity for a 5 string. The low B is nice and tight. The truss rod came perfectly adjusted; my action is lower than any other bass I've played and I love it.
The frets are all solid and I can't find any dead spots on the neck. The neck itself is beautiful and plays like a dream. The vector inlays are definitely a lot nicer looking than just a couple dots, but they're not too over the top either.
Access to the upper frets is pretty good; hitting 18+ on the B, 20+ on the E and 22+ on the A is a bit tough but all the rest are easily reachable, which I'm thankful for.
The pickups are seated nice and solidly; they don't budge a millimeter when I rest my thumb on them. The pots turn nice and smoothly with no crackling. The strap pins are completely solid; I've have to tighten the pins on my other bass quite a few times but I've never had to touch these. The input jack is solid; I've had no problems whatsoever with it.
The S-Tek bridge is amazing. It makes changing strings a breeze and it gives the bass a ton of sustain. It does make adjusting the action and intonation a bit tougher because you have to first detune the string, then adjust, then retune. This, however, is a small price to pay.
The mahogany body makes this bass pretty heavy; it's heavier than any other 5 string I've played. With that said, it's still perfectly balanced. I get no neck or body dive at all while playing; I credit this to excellent strap pin placement. The dense body wood gives the bass a nice, rich tone and heaps of sustain.
Schecter basses all come stock with Elixir strings. I can't believe more manufacturers don't ship their basses with high-end strings; it really makes the bass so much mroe pleasant to play. I've since restrung it with Rotosound strings because I can't afford Elixirs (I'm a poor college student, you know).
This bass looks fantastic. I fell in love with it the second I laid eyes on it in the shop. The black cherry finish is alright, but I have the antique amber finish and it looks stunning. The quilted maple top has an amazing grain. There's a strip of cream colored binding all around the bass that when paired with the sating gold hardware ties the whole thing together in one big package of aesthetic bliss.
One isssue I have run into in intonating the B string; after I restrung it not long ago I couldn't get the intonation quite right. I'm going to try again later and see if it was just an issue that day (humidity, etc).
EDIT: My B string now has proper intonation; it was just that day I guess.
The only reason I give this a 4.5 is that a set neck or neck-through would have given me even more sustain and the intonation issue. I have no other complaints/suggestions to Schecter for the construction of this bass; it's amazing.
SOUND (4.5/5):
I love the sound of my C5. It's very, very versatile. The active EQ lets me do quite a bit, and when paired with the pickup blending I can get almost anything I want. The only thing I haven't gotten from it is a real P-Bassy sound, but since I can't stand that sound it doesn't bother me too much.
The EMG pickups give me crisp, clear highs for tapping and slap (I rarely slap though). Cutting the highs and boosting the bass slightly gives me a warm, synthy, Amanda Woodward-like tone that I use when playing with my band.
Playing with the blending of the pickups can get me thin, harmonic-friendly tones or thicker, warmer tones. I really can't find anything I don't like about the sound of the bass.
VALUE (5/5):
If there's anything Schecter has going for them, it's value. Every Schecter bass I've played has outperformed basses costing twice as much. I hear people knocking Schecter and saying "Buy a Spector instead!" but with Spectors at (usually) twice the price it's not fair to say that. For $500 I don't think you can find a better value than this bass.
OVERALL (4/5):
I've had this bass for about a year now and I feel like I have enough experience with it to give a good review.
I've played it at home with a bunch of different amps (Rogue 15w practice amp, Behringer/Hartke 4x10" half stack, 70's Ampeg 15" combo), played at shows through a PA, and recorded at a professional studio (recordings are on our band's page at http://www.myspace.com/thecouncilrocks ) and it has never let me down.
I've gotten nothing but compliments about it. A ton of people have told me how beautiful it looks. I've let several other people play it and they all love it.
The few minor problems I've mentioned are just that: minor. I would recommend this bass to anyone looking for a great value in the $500 price range. I can almost guarantee that you will not be disappointed.
And now your favorite part: pictures! Please excuse the artsy photos; that's the side of me that like amateur photography showing through.
http://www.rit.edu/~sjl7678/images/basses/schecterc5/schecter0.jpg
http://www.rit.edu/~sjl7678/images/basses/schecterc5/schecter1.jpg
http://www.rit.edu/~sjl7678/images/basses/schecterc5/schecter2.jpg
http://www.rit.edu/~sjl7678/images/basses/schecterc5/schecter3.jpg
Schecter Diamond Series C-5
Information from the Schecter site:
http://schecterguitars.com/spec.asp?id=87
CONSTRUCTION/SCALE: Bolt-on / 35"
BODY: Mahogany w/ Figured Maple
NECK/FINGERBOARD: Multi-Laminate Maple & Walnut / Rosewood
FRETS: 24 Jumbo
INLAYS: Vector
PICKUPS: EMG HZ
ELECTRONICS: 2 Vol w/ EMG Active 2-Band EQ
BRIDGE: S-Tek
BINDING: None
TUNERS: Grover
HARDWARE: Satin Gold
COLOR: Antique Amber (ANTQ)
SUGGESTED RETAIL: $769
STREET PRICE: $500
FEATURES (3/5):
This is the only area of the bass that disappoints me, so I'll get it out of the way first.
The C-5 has a 2 band EQ and a volume knob for each pickup. The EQ is fine; it's nice for quick changes and you can use your amp for more fine tuning. A 3 band would be cool but definitely not required. The active preamp lets you get a nice range of sounds.
The two volume knobs would be MUCH nicer if they were in a volume/blend configuration rather than a volume/volume config. This is something I would change if I knew how.
The string spacing is somewhat smaller than average for a 5 string. I like this because it fits my hands well, other people may not.
CONSTRUCTION (4.5/5):
This bass is solid from top to bottom. The tuners stay in tune wonderfully; if it's just sitting on my stand I can pick it up after not playing for 3 or 4 days and only have to tune one string, if that.
The 35" scale is almost a necessity for a 5 string. The low B is nice and tight. The truss rod came perfectly adjusted; my action is lower than any other bass I've played and I love it.
The frets are all solid and I can't find any dead spots on the neck. The neck itself is beautiful and plays like a dream. The vector inlays are definitely a lot nicer looking than just a couple dots, but they're not too over the top either.
Access to the upper frets is pretty good; hitting 18+ on the B, 20+ on the E and 22+ on the A is a bit tough but all the rest are easily reachable, which I'm thankful for.
The pickups are seated nice and solidly; they don't budge a millimeter when I rest my thumb on them. The pots turn nice and smoothly with no crackling. The strap pins are completely solid; I've have to tighten the pins on my other bass quite a few times but I've never had to touch these. The input jack is solid; I've had no problems whatsoever with it.
The S-Tek bridge is amazing. It makes changing strings a breeze and it gives the bass a ton of sustain. It does make adjusting the action and intonation a bit tougher because you have to first detune the string, then adjust, then retune. This, however, is a small price to pay.
The mahogany body makes this bass pretty heavy; it's heavier than any other 5 string I've played. With that said, it's still perfectly balanced. I get no neck or body dive at all while playing; I credit this to excellent strap pin placement. The dense body wood gives the bass a nice, rich tone and heaps of sustain.
Schecter basses all come stock with Elixir strings. I can't believe more manufacturers don't ship their basses with high-end strings; it really makes the bass so much mroe pleasant to play. I've since restrung it with Rotosound strings because I can't afford Elixirs (I'm a poor college student, you know).
This bass looks fantastic. I fell in love with it the second I laid eyes on it in the shop. The black cherry finish is alright, but I have the antique amber finish and it looks stunning. The quilted maple top has an amazing grain. There's a strip of cream colored binding all around the bass that when paired with the sating gold hardware ties the whole thing together in one big package of aesthetic bliss.
One isssue I have run into in intonating the B string; after I restrung it not long ago I couldn't get the intonation quite right. I'm going to try again later and see if it was just an issue that day (humidity, etc).
EDIT: My B string now has proper intonation; it was just that day I guess.
The only reason I give this a 4.5 is that a set neck or neck-through would have given me even more sustain and the intonation issue. I have no other complaints/suggestions to Schecter for the construction of this bass; it's amazing.
SOUND (4.5/5):
I love the sound of my C5. It's very, very versatile. The active EQ lets me do quite a bit, and when paired with the pickup blending I can get almost anything I want. The only thing I haven't gotten from it is a real P-Bassy sound, but since I can't stand that sound it doesn't bother me too much.
The EMG pickups give me crisp, clear highs for tapping and slap (I rarely slap though). Cutting the highs and boosting the bass slightly gives me a warm, synthy, Amanda Woodward-like tone that I use when playing with my band.
Playing with the blending of the pickups can get me thin, harmonic-friendly tones or thicker, warmer tones. I really can't find anything I don't like about the sound of the bass.
VALUE (5/5):
If there's anything Schecter has going for them, it's value. Every Schecter bass I've played has outperformed basses costing twice as much. I hear people knocking Schecter and saying "Buy a Spector instead!" but with Spectors at (usually) twice the price it's not fair to say that. For $500 I don't think you can find a better value than this bass.
OVERALL (4/5):
I've had this bass for about a year now and I feel like I have enough experience with it to give a good review.
I've played it at home with a bunch of different amps (Rogue 15w practice amp, Behringer/Hartke 4x10" half stack, 70's Ampeg 15" combo), played at shows through a PA, and recorded at a professional studio (recordings are on our band's page at http://www.myspace.com/thecouncilrocks ) and it has never let me down.
I've gotten nothing but compliments about it. A ton of people have told me how beautiful it looks. I've let several other people play it and they all love it.
The few minor problems I've mentioned are just that: minor. I would recommend this bass to anyone looking for a great value in the $500 price range. I can almost guarantee that you will not be disappointed.
And now your favorite part: pictures! Please excuse the artsy photos; that's the side of me that like amateur photography showing through.
http://www.rit.edu/~sjl7678/images/basses/schecterc5/schecter0.jpg
http://www.rit.edu/~sjl7678/images/basses/schecterc5/schecter1.jpg
http://www.rit.edu/~sjl7678/images/basses/schecterc5/schecter2.jpg
http://www.rit.edu/~sjl7678/images/basses/schecterc5/schecter3.jpg