Canada

Hello all I'm asking for opinions on Schecter basses as my daughter is really bugging for one. I've heard excellent things about their guitars and have played along with a few of them so I know they are quality instruments. But are their basses up to the same snuff? Let me know what you think.

Hearing great things about an instrument unfortunately does not work for everyone. I heard great things about Warwick basses so I bought 2 over a series of years. They are expensive, look good and sound great but... They are neck heavy and the necks are fat which make quick fret hand work hard to do at times. My first bass was an Ibanez. Looked great, the pick-ups were not as hot as the Warwick but the neck was as thin as a ruler and lightning fast to play on. So whether its an Ibanez or a Schecter have your daughter follow the 3 guidelines often thrown around by bass magazines/books, famous players, bass teachers, etc:

1) How does the instrument feel to play. Put a strap on the bass. Does it neck dive? Is it heavy? Too light, etc? If its a 5 or 6 string bass a common problem is finding a bass with a tight (not floppy 5th string). Of course, the bass might just be out of whack and only need a string change, truss rod adjustment or it may need the action to be lowered or raised.

2) How does it sound? It may look cool or have blue sparkles on it but once you plug it in how does it sound when you play with both pickups on, with some added bass, etc? Do you want an active(pre-amp) or passive bass? Is there a lot of fret buzz? Will the music store do a free string set-up/neck adjustment for you if the intonation is off? If you are paying big bucks then negotiate a free set-up beforeyou purchase the instrument.

3) How does the instrument look? Okay it feels great, sounds great but its got a pea soup green color to the neck and body. Unless you like the way it looks then maybe buying one in a natural wood color or gloss finish might look better.

Just because Schecter makes great guitars does not mean their basses will be the bomb. In the end, if you have the cash and your daughter settles on a Schecter, get her to go with her senses like in the 3 suggestions above. Hit the Schecter website as well so she can look at some basses that look cool and then shop around looking for that bass and give it a try.

Hope that helps.

Schecter basses are fine. My brother who majored in bass at Humber college bought one from Axe music in Edmonton for about 800.00cnd
If what you are looking for is an solid entry level instrument you might want to consider a Fender P bass made in Korea. I forget if Jet Landry music still exists in Sudbury but you might want to check out their prices. In Toronto you can buy a Fender P MIK for about 325.00cdn.

thanks for the thoughts. I had pretty much the same things in mind but trying to reason with a teenager is nigh on impossible for the most part. I was about the same way at her age so it's like karma or something. DeepEnd yes Jet is still kickin here in Sudbury but I'm probably looking at a trip to Guitar clinic to see about a schecter to let her try it out. I won't buy any instrument that doesn't meet my criteria for sound and playability along with good function, weighting etc.