Schecter Hellraiser C-1 with Floyd Rose and Sustainiac - Black Cherry

In this price range I don't think you can get a better guitar. I had always heard people say that a guitar had a playable neck, or a "fast" neck, and while I certainly have liked some necks more than others, this is the first one I feel that actually seems to make me play better/faster. This is my first guitar with a tremolo system and I was really worried about the ability for it to stay in tune, but honestly it seems to stay in tune very well, just occasionally needing the fine tuning on a string or two. The finish looks great and I couldn't find any flaws in the finish or construction. Of course the important thing is the sound and it sounds great and is quite versatile (not just metal, but good for funk, and dad rock), and I'm feeling guilty that my previous favorite Les Paul guitar is no longer what I pick up. It is much lighter weight than my Les Paul which is to be expected but I didn't realize how much I would like that.There are only two small annoyances, one fixable. The fixable one is that the locking nuts had pretty pointy/sharp corners and when playing open chords it would dig in and almost scratch. it can be filed down though. The not fixable annoyance is that the placement of the volume knob is such that i can hit it when strumming near the bridge and on several occasions have unintentionally changed the volume while playing. I'm sure I'll learn to adjust my position to avoid this, but it has bothered me enough to mention it.The Sustainiac is interesting, but I don't use it as much as I thought. More as a novelty. I do find it can add a bit of nice ring in the more subtle settings when coupled with certain pedals. I just haven't used it to be the squealing harmonics god I imagined. The actual sustain of the guitar (without the Sustainiac enabled) is actually quite good on its own.

This is an amazing guitar. Beautiful, full-throated sound, great range at both the low and high end with standard tuning and a lot of adaptability. The sustaniac is a nice functioning if you want to get a lot of harmonic edges to lead playing. I will caution that this should not be your *first* guitar. The 7th string and sustaniac both (for me at least) required a learning curve from regular playing. The fretboard is wider and longer, and the sustaniac requires a bit of practice to make sure you're controlling all the strings properly or you end up with a ton of noise. Only move on to this once you've comfortable with a 6-string. But for a guitarist with some experience, this is a good axe to add to the repertoire.

I am an aspiring player who was looking for "the next" guitar to replace / supplement my very low end beginner guitar. I saw this Schecter Hellraiser and fell in love with it. But it was way out of my price range, and with the Floyd Rose tremolo, I knew it was something I would be waiting on.In the meantime, I picked up a Jay Turser strat copy, which I LOVE and is now my main learning guitar. But as luck would have it, I managed to buy this Schecter through Amazon Warehouse - at a GREAT discount. While I am a long ways away from being able to truly play this guy (mine is nicknamed "Silent Bob" to complement the "Jay" Turser), it's a stunning instrument with an amazing sound. Turning on the Sustaniac is a great way to get the cats to scatter too.Is this a beginner guitar? I would definitely say "no". It's tricky to tune and trickier to restring - but I managed to learn how and am in love with it. "Not today, my good man. I think I'm gonna buy it."

I absolutely love everything about this guitar: looks, playability, functionality. The reason for 4 stars is that I had a very unexpected disappointing experience. When I recieved the guitar everything ascetically looked perfect, however, both switches that operate the Sustainiac pickup (the function of the guitar I was most looking forward to) were broken. The power on switch was completely seized and the three way effect switch was very loose. Now, I don't know exactly who to blame for the issue but I also don't suspect that it was Schecter's fault as they are a high quality company. I don't wish to put all the blame on Amazon but if you are seriously looking to purchase this guitar I do recommend finding a retail store that either has one or that can order one for you. I truly believe this will provide better odds of having a positive order experience, and at least that way you can look it over before you take it home. If you do purchase this guitar on Amazon regardless I hope you don't have the same problem I did. I hope this was helpful!

I have been using this guitar for 5 months now and it's amazing, the sound quality, strings and the body construction are just perfect. The Sustainiac pick up sounds incredible and was able to give me the sound that I was looking for. This is clearly not a guitar for beginners I have to say that since if you are not very experienced with the Floyd Rose it may be very difficult for you to tune this guitar. But besides that love it and I recommend it. Just to clarify I had to buy the case apart. This guitar do not come with the case.

Great guitar. Has everything you will ever need for any sound. It's just beautiful as far as fit and finish. Action was fine out of the box. It uses two 9 volt batteries which are included, one for the Sustainiac pup and one for the EMG pup. It's a bit pricey, but currently, there is not another guitar that even comes close to it it unless you have one customized. Schecter created a real "mean monster" guitar in this model and lives up to the name Hellraiser.

This is a beast of a guitar. Excellent craftmanship. I don't usually buy guitar cases but I had to get a hard case for this to protect its beauty. The guitar can play any genre and it feels amazingly comfortable. Dive bomb all you want...it will not detune. The pickups are hot and the Sustainiac is insane! All of this for under a grand? I could not believe it. May all the competitors of Schecter have sleepless nights !